Is everyone going to be affected by the cost of living?

[Southerngal5]

Ie all sectors of society not just the ones who are barely getting by currently & will now pushed into poverty...
The squeezed middle will be affected & will likely have to do without luxuries they once took for granted... I'm finding it quite scary to be honest.. I know I shouldn't as we're quite comfortable & can afford our mortgage & bills but we won't have many of the "nice" things we had planned for the dc... Please don't flame me as I know there are millions worse off but I can't see prices coming down in the foreseeable future...

Anyone else?

Yes, everyone will be affected. Wages broadly static or a number of years, prices going up. Some will weather it better than others but it's not possible for people not to be affected by it.

I’m with you op. I had finally got to the stage where I could treat myself occasionally and had built up savings after coming out of an abusive marriage and now I can’t help but feel bitter that my little taste of a nicer life is going.

I’ll cope because I’ve coped before but it’s rubbish.

Yes.

I was a small business advisor when the banking crisis happened and all the very well paid bankers first stopped getting bonuses and then lost their jobs. No one cried for them but what happened was the restaurants, clothes shops, car dealerships, travel agents where they spent their money went out of business and the the places where they spent their money suffered too.

This is like that. Everyone having less to spend will affect all manner of businesses, which means jobs and the knock on effect of that.

Have you not seen the posts on here from people asking for ideas on how to keep themselves and their children warm because they can’t afford to heat their homes, or people asking for advice on cheap recipes because they need to cut their food bill to afford transport to school or work?

The post of the (disabled) person asking if she can spend all day in the library with a packed lunch and a flask just so she can keep warm, being advised that she could sit on the bus all day for heat and electricity to charge her phone.

Can’t you see how in such poor taste this is when you’re bemoaning your potential inability to provide “luxuries” to your children, while tens of thousands of children (who previously wouldn’t have) will go to bed hungry and cold over the coming days?

I already mentioned on my original post that I know I'm better off than millions of others... However I am posting about my situation & I know that there are millions who have much less than me & many millions who have more... It's all relative.

“Scary” is thinking that you may lose your home, having to pretend you’ve already eaten to your children when they wonder why you’re not eating dinner again, pretending it’s a “special dinner” as you place a bowl of cereal in front of your child because you’ve got no food, or your having a big sleepover because you it’s warmer if you all huddle together in one bed.

I know it’s relative, but come on OP.

Comments like @PinkyU really annoy me. So many people are struggling right now. Yes some are struggling more than others but that doesn’t mean those that are struggling less can’t complain. There will always be someone who is worse off. Why can’t we support everyone instead of battling in the struggle Olympics?

Personally I think it’s poor taste to dismiss someone’s concerns because others have it worse

Just think if you can’t afford luxuries, then poorer people can’t afford needs.

Everyone is going to have it hard and I havent read much about it but I am scared that we will struggle. My biggest worry is letting my girls down.

We had to move recently, our rent has increased by £500 per month, and this house is cold. The only time I put on heating is when my mum comes over. Every other day its blankets, oodies and hot water bottles. This is a choice as I refuse to pay out when we can make do with blankets. That money is better spent on other things.

My children don't do afterschool clubs, we buy everything second hand and our food is pretty basic. We have the odd treat and day out (with picnic and usually on offers), it will be hard giving those up. My girls are 13 and 9, its harder doing free activities as they get older. But we will make do, we always do.

I agree with all this & I already mentioned it on my original post. My family already try to help those less fortunate than us & always pass on clothes & children's books etc so don't try to lay a guilt trip on me. I am well aware but this post is about my feelings about my quality of life & others who are feeling overwhelmed. Dp & I saved over lockdown & had really hoped to go to Portugal for a fortnight this summer but now we've decided against it as we just don't know what's to come... I'm disappointed as we saved hard & haven't had a holiday abroad since the pandemic but I just don't feel comfortable parting with the money..

I will have to cancel my monthly pedicure. I will still have the back massage though on health grounds.

It is a real pain doing my toenails but worth all the bending down. It felt much easier to do them when younger!

Another bit of pleasure to be vamoosed.

@Mandofan why don’t we stop triage at A&E too, we should treat everyone’s injuries the same, of course the person with sprained ankle should be given equal priority to the person with the broken pelvis who should be given the same priority to the person in cardiac arrest.

Equality means those with most need are at biggest disadvantage. Equity means we take into account the emergent factors in different groups of people so they can live.

Phrasing your potential inability to provide nice luxuries to your children as “scary” at a time when people will die due to this crisis is bad taste.

I heard on LBC Radio the other evening that somebody earning 60k these days is on a par with being a milkman in the 1980s. I was quite shocked. I am nowhere near earning that myself but I guess it is higher accommodation that does it. Then again surely the 1980s had really high interest rates? Though properties were considerably cheaper then!!

A friend of mine has a beautiful hair salon & has said business is much quiter than a normal Jan /Feb with more people resorting to DIY colours, not many blowdrys or expensive colour treatments anymore...

@CrinklyCraggy

Yes.

I was a small business advisor when the banking crisis happened and all the very well paid bankers first stopped getting bonuses and then lost their jobs. No one cried for them but what happened was the restaurants, clothes shops, car dealerships, travel agents where they spent their money went out of business and the the places where they spent their money suffered too.

This is like that. Everyone having less to spend will affect all manner of businesses, which means jobs and the knock on effect of that.

Funny you mention the banking sector as those are the ones you'd think would be able to weather this better than most...

I don’t know how it will go. I think we will struggle. First to go will be the kids clubs which give them so much enjoyment and stops them feeling bored. That makes me feel so guilty. Trips out etc won’t happen. Then we will have to hope we can afford the necessities but who knows. We don’t have much else we can cut down on.

I went to Bicester village and Brent cross last weekend and it was really packed. I only bought some discounted skincare but everyone else had large bags. I guess some people may not feel it as much.

Inequality has grown since the last financial crisis so the rich are really really rich. We might be near the stage where a rich person is eating a burger encrusted with gold leaf and wagyu beef while a person literally faints from hunger outside the restaurant...

@Mandofan

Personally I think it’s poor taste to dismiss someone’s concerns because others have it worse

I completely agree. Am I not allowed to be annoyed that my lifestyle will change? It's not a race to the bottom. Life fundamentally isn't fair.

Well yes everyone will be affected. No one has unlimited money and everyone buys things therefore everyone will see price increases encroaching on what they buy whether it’s baked beans or caviar. The difference will be the amount of pain it causes which will obviously be a scale from significant for those on low incomes to negligible for the wealthy.
Crinkly is right about the knock on effect as well. People on here are nasty towards those who are saying they’re now struggling to afford a nanny or cleaner but we want people to afford those things as they’re providing jobs.

@Lightning020

I will have to cancel my monthly pedicure. I will still have the back massage though on health grounds.

It is a real pain doing my toenails but worth all the bending down. It felt much easier to do them when younger!

Another bit of pleasure to be vamoosed.

This is what worries me most, the way it will spiral. So the pedicurist who was feeling quite comfortable and like one of the people who would "manage" the increased costs, suddenly has her income cut. So she eats out once a month instead of once a week, which means the restaurants need fewer staff, which means they buy less in the shops etc etc

Even if people get by as individuals, the knock on for society as a whole is huge.

Yes, my much anticipated comfortable retirement will be less so. Particularly given the rampant inflation on the horizon, but I’m getting too old and creaky to earn much so there it is.

Some people will be wealth enough to absorb all the rising costs without seeing a fall in their living standards. Some might be optimistic that this is a temporary bump and happy to dip into their savings to keep things ticking over as usual.

My opinion is that people should be able to talk about what they are giving up without shame. It is the uncertainty that is scary.

And it will impact on everyone.

Those better off now will still have to reduce their spending so the cleaner, gardener, person that does their ironing etc will all lose customers. Visits to beauty salons, hairdressers etc will be reduced.