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Original poster

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

257 replies

Southerngal5 · 09/02/2022 10:39

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...

OP posts:
Waxonwaxoff0 · 09/02/2022 16:38

@SartresSoul

The mega rich won’t be obviously but they never are. Everyone else will be. Tbh, I’d argue the middle (like us) will be affected more. I’ve noticed the disparity lots recently. We don’t have free dental care, free prescriptions, free eye tests and glasses, free school meals, money towards uniform and school trips, free school transport.. I could go on and the tories seem to always support those on UC as well. We have to pay for everything ourselves and we genuinely struggle to get through each month as it is. No idea how we’ll cope with the energy increase in particular.
I am a single mum on minimum wage and I do not get free school meals, money off school trips or help towards uniform! Only unemployed parents or those on disability benefits get them free, all working parents have to pay for them.
TabithaTittlemouse · 09/02/2022 16:39

@Lightning020

Surely a haircut is essential as a service. I cannot cut my own hair well and believe me I have tried.
We know from lockdowns that they aren’t.

I definitely need the hairdressers to stop me looking like a wildling.

ivykaty44 · 09/02/2022 16:40

No, the billionaires that have doubled their wrath during covid will not be affected, nor the multi millionaire

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Cost of living
Turmerictolly · 09/02/2022 16:41

.

Lightning020 · 09/02/2022 16:42

I like having a fringe. I have tried going to the cheap barbers for a dirt cheap no appointment needed £7 dry cut but they cannot layer it and my fringe and hair look a bushy mess if not cut well.

sleaf · 09/02/2022 16:45

Looking at recent threads it seems most of MN can afford endless multiple holidays, days and nights out, weekly Waitrose shops, new houses and cars etc...so the rise in the cost of living won't affect them and we're bound to see smug posts about it.

sleaf · 09/02/2022 16:49

@2bazookas

We'll have higher bills.

And the infinite security of knowing it won't matter at all.

This did not happen by fortune, chance or by accident. It was my deliberate policy and agenda since age 13 when my lovely/tough/foolish/resilient mother warned me never to repeat her mistakes; I listened and didn't. Of course I made different mistakes of my own but money isn't one of them .

@2bazookas well aren't you lucky to not have to worry. Typical smug MN attitude.
Orangesandlemons77 · 09/02/2022 17:33

I hope they don't increase the cost of school meals. Already seem to be paying lots to top up Parentpay. I'm on PIP /ESA and don't qualify for free school meals either.

TheMeditativeRose · 09/02/2022 17:38

I think part of the point is that everyone is being pushed down a financial rung or two just now. It’s not unrelated.

Just as happened around the recession. So after successive crises people end up pushed further and further down.

As a society, any type security has already vanished for a lot of people and it will disappear for a lot more.

Some people are doing very well out of it though. I think ore is better directed at those people who are actually benefitting/profiting rather than shouting down people who aren’t destitute yet but who are nonetheless worried about being squeezed.

This detracts from the bigger picture and often doesn’t help those who are struggling the most in any real way.

Blankscreen · 09/02/2022 17:41

I think if you were struggling before or only just making ends meet then yes it is going to really hurt w

here I live sooo many people are going away skiing at half term which costs ,£££. Others are spending £15k going to Dubai people like that aren't going to notice a few £££ here or there every month

DressingPafe · 09/02/2022 17:47

I was raised in poverty and it took me very many years into adulthood to break out of it. So at this point, no I won't starve or freeze but I'm still gutted that most of the "treats" will have to go. I wouldn't ever voice it in RL but here, on an anonymous thread, I'm being honest. It doesn't mean I don't have any care or thoughts for those worse off than me. I've been there so I know exactly what it's like and of course I appreciate not having to suffer that again. But yes I am sad I had a taste of a better life and now it's going to get harder again.

qualitygirl · 09/02/2022 17:48

We have no mortgage and electricity is the only bill we have that we theoretically cannot drop out of if the shit hits the fan. Every other bill I have is one I opted for and I can change. I'm not worried right now, just annoyed that the prices have increased to be honest. But that's not to say things won't change if it gets worse.

Canaloha · 09/02/2022 17:51

@PinkyU

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?

So people can only post if they're living in poverty? There's a range of people on the site and people can choose which threads they want to read and partake in. As others have pointed out there's a knock on for everyone, if people don't have money for luxuries that likely leads to job losses etc for people in those sectors.
Blossom64265 · 09/02/2022 18:00

Recognizing the impact at all levels, including the emotional impact is not a bad thing.

Do you want the government to enact policies to make things better? To do that you need votes. The middle class people who are worried about losing their cushions have more in common with the people who are struggling to feed their children than with the financial elite.

Someone like op isn’t a member of the uber-wealthy. Her interests are aligned with those who are dealing with poverty. Yet a reaction like this might make her wonder where she really falls.

MarshaBradyo · 09/02/2022 18:05

Unfortunately the very wealthy can find ways to expand that even in the last two years

But the huge costs of the pandemic will hurt many

Dentistsinthefreemarket · 09/02/2022 18:15

It is unfair to criticize someone who is worried but not destitute. They've acknowledged that they're not on the breadline, it's not a competition to see who will be the poorest when all is said and done it will affect everyone even if indirectly.

WowIlikereallyhateyou · 09/02/2022 18:47

I think too many people, ( caveat ), not all, live well beyond their means, so when something like the energy situation or interest rate rises go up they are royally screwed. These are the people driving cars, they cant really afford, and going on holidays they can’t really afford, but they do these things on credit because they want to be seen to have it all. This seems to be particularly within the middle classes. Why not have a lesser car/phone/holiday or save up for it till you can afford it. Everyone seems to want to have everything now, without taking responsibility.

Notcontent · 09/02/2022 18:57

It will have a knock on effect. I am ok financially at the moment but feel quite financially vulnerable as I am a lone parent. So I am trying to cut spending on things as all my bills and my mortgage are going up.

scooterbear · 09/02/2022 18:57

I've jsut been made redundant. I she savings and a few job interviews lined up. But I'm literally Terrified about what my energy bill will be and for the first time in my adult life I'm really worried about money.

Heidi451 · 09/02/2022 19:01

Well, the fuels bills are going to cripple us. We live in a very old drafty house.

We both lost our occupations during Covid and are part of the army of "self-unemployed" - not on any benefits but hoping to find some business to keep going. For 2 years, no meals out, entertainment, hair cuts, no pub, clothes, holidays. Absolutely nothing spent except absolute essentials. No mobile phones -just landline. No Sky or Netflix or TV.

Our car has been sold, nice jewellery sold, furniture and other valuables sold - we have 2 chairs and a table left now as the rest has gone. Can't use the fireplace as landlord doesn't want to pay to re-line the chimney.
Garden turned over to growing veg. Slow cooker, deep fat fryer and sacks of bread flour, potatoes and lentils.
We are surviving by the skin of our teeth. We have no money BUT
we have no debt.

I really, really feel for people who can't repair things, make things, grow things, cannot cook food or bake bread from scratch, and people who are ill, old or have little children and need to be comfortable.

My heart goes out to those people.

TheWayTheLightFalls · 09/02/2022 19:05

Personally, no it won’t, or is unlikely too. But I run a food bank and the numbers of people visiting just go up and up and up.

Lightning020 · 09/02/2022 19:09

Heidi I really admire your ability to go through what you have done and yet incredibly have no debt. Wow.

SandysMam · 09/02/2022 19:20

Heidi I appreciate you had a business that you probably loved but if that is gone, can you not just get a job to bring some money in in the meantime?

Lightning020 · 09/02/2022 19:24

Care work jobs are easy to get I hear Heidi. I would do that. But none of my business really. May need a car though .... good luck anyway.

latetothefisting · 09/02/2022 19:34

@PinkyU

“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.

May as well just fold MN completely then if we can't talk about any topic if there is a possibility someone else might have it worse. Style and beauty? Insensitive twats, some people can't afford to buy anything Anything childrearing? Upsetting to those struggling to conceive Being bullied in work and want advice? How ungrateful, you're lucky you still have a job. Received homophobic abuse? How dare you complain, at least it's not illegal, you're lucky to live in the UK and not Nigeria God forbid you want recommendations on holidays, restaurants, beauty treatments....

As pp's have posted, its useful to know how cuts will affect everyone, not just those at the bottom of the ladder. The 'squeezed middle' or the 'just about managing' will be the ones needing to cut their occasional treats, or, even more significantly donations to food banks etc just at the time those struggling the most will be needing them even more.