How many people complaining they are broke have fancy devices?

[IRememberXanadu]

I was waiting to pay for petrol this morning when I overheard two ladies who were queuing up for the till next to mine, complain about the price per litre (of petrol). One way saying that she is really worried about the upcoming increase in price of electricity and gas, with the other agreeing and saying they don't know how they'll cope. While talking, they were looking at their phones - these were very expensive iPhones.

Later, I was relaying this exchange to a colleague, who said he has a friend who has also been going on and on about the upcoming price hikes and how worried he is, but also just bought (himself - it was not a gift or a work phone) a brand new iPhone.

So that got me thinking - while it's unbelievable that we are having to worry about utility prices in this country in this day and age - how many people are saying they are worried about how they will afford to heat their homes and use electricity, while still spending money on non-essentials? Of course we all need treats, but surely spending hundreds of pounds on nicer stuff when you could still buy something cheaper and put the savings towards essentials you are worried about affording, beggars belief? We are not hard up but have been thinking twice about buying luxuries when we are still in the dark about how much it will cost us to run our home, come this winter. Surely it can't be just us...

@Wealreadyknew
The opposite
I don't rationalise money wasting to appear popular.

I don't rationalise money wasting to appear popular.

😄

You heard it here first, people - if you all just stopped demanding flavoured yoghurt there'd be no cost of living crisis.

The stupid, it burrrrnnnnsssss

Yes, people in 2022 should live like it’s 1947 -1975 even though it isn’t and loads of ways of life like cheap housing, pensions and job security don’t exist any more, and people also have the added expenditure of petrol to get to a job much further away than the village they grew up in, and mobile phones to access 95% of their friends, work and kids’ homework. Genius!

@RagingWoke

Using swear words in a debate! you really are lowly.

My compassion and money lies with the real poor - 3rd world poor, not the people that post on Mumsnet about poverty.

BTW, I haven't upped my rent in 4 years it's the asset I care about rather than the profit that can be made.

No point in making it unaffordable someone has to live-in it.
Rather have the tenants I know.
Plus all my housing is with disabled charities, I want guaranteed rent not necessarily high profits.

Disabled people in this country deserve my time and money not people that get into credit card debt buying unnecessary crap and then moan about the cost of bread.

This thread escalated quickly. It went from a moan about iPhones and nails to "you deserve to be punished by God."

This thread is going going gone...

That might be stupid if anyone had said that but as no one did, it does make me wonder who is the stupid one....

When I was a teenager there weren't different flavoured yogurts in wasteful pots

🤣

I come from an Asian country with no welfare state. There are government subsidies for healthcare and free education and also most of the population live in housing that the government builds (but its not really welfare as you are expected to buy it from the government with a deposit you save yourself, and qualify for a mortgage and pay for internal renovations/maintenance; its just cheaper than buying on the private market). You get zilch if you don't work and no help with housing either. People who can't afford to buy have to live with their family. There is some help for people in extremely dire straits but its not an entitlement, its on a case by case basis. If an old person says she has no money, the government's first response is that they will help her go to a tribunal to force her children to pay for her (provided they have the money). Not to give out the cash.

But I feel much more sorry for the poor in the UK. In my home country, if someone is poor, the extended family is expected to help out. I have a cousin who is looked down upon because he refused to look after his disabled sister. You mostly have a free place to live with family. In my home country, Public transport is cheap and good so you don't need to own a car. It is cheaper to eat out than to cook at home; you can get a full meal for the equivalent of £1.50. Its more now due to inflation, but its still cheap.

In the UK, most poor people are on their own. A lot of them seem to have dysfunctional families, severe mental health problem or both. They are expected to rent even when they can't afford it. The rent takes up 50% or more of their income so even if they went without phones or heating, the room for error is very thin. And if they don't live near cheap supermarkets, they are stuffed.

A smartphone is an essential part of modern life. Perfectly good new ones can be purchased for less than £200.

A £1k+ brand new iPhone is not an essential. It is a completely unnecessary extravagance which anyone who is struggling to make ends meet should not be spending money they cannot afford on. Ditto Netflix, Amazon Prime, beauty treatments, Sky TV, computer games, takeaways etc etc.

A bowl of soapy water to wash your clothes is pure laziness. What's wrong with taking your clothes down to the stream to wash?

No, that’s not true. If you’re very poor, Sky is an absolute bargain because it entertains your kids every day for a set price. We recently spent over £200 on one zoo day, for context.

Perfectly good new ones can be purchased for less than £200.

oh please make it stop. How does everyone else know what should be doing or not doing?

Or what is 'perfectly good ' for me or my life?

The criticism on this thread is SO lazy.

Just like the OP was so lazy.

The people from the third world i.e. China and India would be laughing at us for having such low standards. While they are trying to improve their quality of living, we are looking at the past with nostalgia.

Pointing out your behaviour and assasinating your character are not the same thing.

I've had a broken toenail for years that regularly causes me discomfort that I finally contacted a podiatrist this year to get a quote for reconstruction, £45 per appointment and it may take 2 so £90, and I still can't will myself to make that first appointment because that little voice of 'you don't really need that', 'you'd be better saving or spending that on the kids', 'it's not that big of a deal'. Really, it's 'you haven't been good enough for that'.

Just in case you need the affirmation @RamblingEclectic you are good enough and you do need it, so please book the appointment.

Most of the rest of this thread is bonkers, although I enjoyed the George Orwell.

Depends on the Smartphone though, doesn’t it? Of course they’re not a luxury any more, but some people always have to have the very latest expensive one, even if their previous one still works fine.
Same as some people will get into debt in order to have a designer bag that costs £1k or more.

@onthefencesitter

A poor person in the UK lives another day.
In India - dead.
A poor person in the UK gets their cataract sorted.
In India - live with blindness.
Not the same.

That's the issue with the UK.
Lots of talk about Family but no action.
They have disintegrated the family unit so they don't help each other.
Too late to change now - too far gone.
At least stop taking out credit and loans you can't afford.
Not you OP but with people I refuse to see as poor.

Is it common to get into debt for designer bags? My impression of British women is that most don't seem to care about designer bags. The vast majority of designer bags i see in London are being carried by older British women (who look wealthy) or young international students/professionals (who are from a background where their parents tend to help a lot with their living costs so they have a lot of disposable income).

People of all ages buy designer clothes etc. It's a very common cause of credit card debt.

@TSIFT , you really have swallow the Kool Aid.

Yay but once again the fact someone is wearing designer clothes NOW doesn't mean they are BUYING designer clothes now.

You are beating people up for doing something when circumstances were different than now
I imagine you would also the ones saying that the nice guy in his designer suit shouldn't be at the food bank with his dcs. Never mind it's the suit he used to go to work but has lost his job and his dcs are hungry. Right? He should have known 3 years ago when he bought the suit he would be in trouble of cousre.

While talking, they were looking at their phones - these were very expensive iPhones

How would you even know they were very expensive? My dad gets his off eBay.