To have frugality fatigue. (Cost of living.)

@another1bitestheduck Not much point having a scrap about this. Things are sometimes complicated.
Not all pensioners have savings.

But obviously if £35k-55k is their WAGE then there won't be anywhere near that amount 'coming into the household' because various deductions will be taken first?

e.g. for £35k you will get £28,719 even if 'just' tax and NI are deducted. If you're paying off your student loan and into a workplace pension it will be more like £27k. A household with two people on that salary (so £54k actual income) still isn't exactly rolling in it, but as the pp said it will be almost impossible for one person.

Besides which, unlike pensioners, two thirty year olds on those salaries won't have had 40plus years to build up savings, or have benefitted from house price equity increases, or free tuition fees, etc.

@Londonmummy66 I totally agree. Thatcher paved the way to the greed mentality. So @Teateaandmoretea the 2 converge.

Greedy people buying property to let out to make more and more money.

Thankfully a few decent folk still plodding along.

You are an angel! And I say that as an atheist. Thank you for making the world a better place for some.

There has been a lot of time since Thatcher for more social housing to be built or the policy to be changed. It’s far more complex than that - air b and b is one current issue.

@greenday16B - it is truly shocking how much the CoL has increased in recent years and in particular housing costs. I'm afraid that PPs are correct in blaming the Thatcher years for this - if there had been no big sell off of family social housing we wouldn't be in quite the mess we are in. Also if she had been less keen on pandering to institutional investors over the sell off of our oil and gas resources we might have a decent sovereign fund to eg subsidise childcare like the Norwegians.

insights.

@Londonmummy66 No. it's not a competition for sure. Things have changed so much, so quickly.
Until fairly recently somebody saying , " Look your house is paid for and you have XXX per month extra" would have seemed pretty decent.
It goes nowhere.

Thanks for your incites, I am horribly out of date.

@greenday16B I'm afraid that it depends where they live - a family in London say a nurse and a retail worker or a nurse and a teacher - might well fall into that bracket. But after tax they won't be seeing anything like that amount of money and then they need to find rent transport etc and they'd be lucky to find anything to rent for a family that's less than £2500. Then there's probably wrap around care for the children (or nursery that can easily equal rent for 2 children), school uniform, etc

It's not a race to the bottom but I suspect that with your mortgage paid off and presumably grown up children you may well have a similar amount in the kitty at the end of the month.

Yes our rent is 1600 a month

@Katemax82 That's interesting. The last thing I want is an on line scrap but that seems an absolutely huge amount of money.
Maybe I'm just hopelessly out of date, quite possibly.
Granted our home is paid for ( Thank God) but there's nothing surplus.

70k keeps our family of 5 (nearly 6) and I get dla and Carers allowance so more like 78. But our rent is really high and we live rurally so have to drive (my husband works an hours drive away) but I thank my lucky stars every day that we have his job.

OK probably not thinking straight. Thanks

You'll see I said my concern is towards single income households in that bracket. Dual income will manage.

I think I can just about understand the pressures on people but 70K or 110 K coming into a household?

It seems an unbelievable amount of money to me. ( pensioner)

I'm worried about them going on the middle earners (the 35-55k bracket) . 2 middle earners in a home will manage, but 1 on their own will soon run the risk of losing their home if squeezed much more.

Yes, it does feel like everyone is on tenterhooks. I'm really worried about what it means for my dm if there are any other swipes at pensioners. It puts knots in my stomach.

I'm getting scared about the budget. I know it's a massive luxury but I don't want to get rid of the car. It keeps me sane.
What a shit show really.

I think there are two types of people on this thread. It’s very interesting.

Goodness yes, long term frugality, particularly that has no apparent end, only worsening, is wearing, depressing and miserable.

I think we are heading back that way after a few years of easier times and I'm hurting already.

Thank you @Autumnweddingguest I think we are singing from the same page.
It's not wrong to want better, to imagine a life which doesn't revolve around lentils. It's OK to say 'I want to earn money. To live my life rather than scrape through it.'
Use the best crockery, wear your favourite clothes. Because even Dahl can be a little better when served in your favourite bowl.

Good for you OP, hope you enjoyed it 🍻

Suggest you write a blog and make money.

Teach Chinese students on line.

Eat protein

Step away from the Dahl/ dahl.