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...

Presumably these people (as do most!) have bought their phones through whoever they're contracted with? So say £50/£60 per month for however many months, isn't handing over £1k+ all in one go... plus there's a whole range of upgrade programs to think about.
The contract could be 6m/12m/24m in, were they thinking about cost of living back then? Probably not.
Then on the flip side, technology enhances our lives both in essential (keeping in contact) and non-essential ways. But it also ages quickly and you could soon find yourself with technology that doesn't work as you need it to, so an upgrade is necessary.
Yes, you can view it as a luxury but really technology is an essential part of life now. You can't really get very far without it.

@IRememberXanadu

I earn a little above the average, my son is in receipt of PIP. On a personal level I am not worried about the current situation. I’d rather not see my money disappear to the utility companies, but I have no mortgage, no childcare costs, no car. I can absorb food price rises and still pay for the gym, my nails and to eat out.
I am however very worried about what all this means for people and families who do not have the cushion I do, like my parents, my next door neighbour, my nieces and nephews who have young children.
I am sure there are many people like me who may have a moan and express an opinion about the current situation without being personally hammered by it.

It's you, that's missing the point, OP. You.

You're making value judgements based on such limited information that it's making you look extremely silly - and GOADY.

Accept price hikes? How are you planning on fighting them?

Surely if you are watching the pennies, even an extra £10 a month counts? It's not just expensive phones; it's the tablets in additions to phones and laptops, it's the nail appointments, smoking, etc. Surely when you add it all up, it amounts to quite a bit. How many people even smoke nowadays?! Not that many, and in particular not many well off people. I also don't know anyone whose spent more than a couple of hundred on a laptop/tablet in the last few years. Many people have a laptop through work and tablets, if people have them at all, aren't something that gets replaced often. I agree some people spend a lot on their nails though! And I'm jealous they can afford to do so!

Should they get rid of their cars as well? Non essential - they could walk to work and camp along the way! Really this could go on forever and is just a silly argument.

Besides, I moan because I work 50 hours a week and my DH works even more than that. I want a good standard of living for it. Two full time working people shouldn't be worried about the cost of energy or groceries. I refuse to be grateful to eat and heat my house. It's a low bar for a first world country.

And again - I'm not talking about phones in general - I'm talking about expensive phones and luxuries in general. But if some posters try to speed read when they can't and miss my point, that's on them.

yep you are talking in general. So general that it's actually bollox.

You have no idea if those women's phones were £1000 or refurbished, paid off, 2nd hand or paid for monthly. Or if like some people they earn their living using them.
( my phone is essential for my work)

You just don't know.

What you're saying sounds cliched and ignorant tbh.

@IRememberXanadu I bet you only buy bare minimum basics if you ever when you donate to a food bank as well because, you know, beggars can't be choosers.

I bought my DS a crappy 20 quid Nokia phone as he starts secondary soon. I read on a thread that kids are picked on for not having a smart phone, and that the OP shouldn’t be a dick by depriving her child. I had my iPhone for 6 years before it fell into a lake. I’d have happily used it for another 6. Looks like I’ll have to give mine to my DS and upgrade hen my contract is up. Sadly, smartphones are part of life.

My phone is literally my life line bought outright 4 years ago
I've swapped my sim to a cheaper provider for £10 a month
I'd cut down on food to afford it

That's a bit dramatic. People in the UK have no idea about how the majority of the world lives. I'm from eastern Europe and broke there means broke. Not have an iphone & go on holidays kind of broke.

It's a valid point to raise that people complain but won't do anything to help themselves. You can get a £300 smartphone that works just fine, why does it have to be an Iphone for £1000+?

Same goes for cars. People spending so much money on cars it's shocking.

People on this thread complaining about being out of touch when they seem out of touch themselves having no clue what the world is like outside of the UK and how in most places contract or not many people cod never afford or dream of having an iphone.

I 100% agree. This race to the bottom mentality is really old.

It's ironic that you think that's what's happening here, when in fact you are the one seeing a brief, incomplete snapshot of someone else's life and making all sorts of sweeping judgements about them.

Is this the person you want to be, a mean-spirited, po-faced curtain-twitcher who tears others down when they're struggling? Why?!

Are mobile phones the new "flat screen TVs" that all these mythical benefits scroungers have?

@IRememberXanadu not speed reading - trying to open your mind to the fact that not everything is as black and white as the daily mail would have you believe.

One off selling my phone won't make a difference to the bills overall, but the reduction in the £1k a month nursery fees next year would have done.....Until the mortgage rates jumped and the elec bills doubled - are people not allowed to express their annoyance at this for fear of your judgement?

But I agree with a previous poster I doubt you could tell at a distance whether the women had ' expensive phones' anyway.

Can I also add that I am also very worried about the cost of living going up, not necessarily because I will struggle myself - I haven't always been well off, I'm still not really now and I feel so so lucky - but I am very worried about the effect that this will have on so many millions of families, financially, socially and in terms of mental health. I'm really worried. Maybe the women in the petrol station are kinder than you are worrying for other people too.

You can't really surface judge. DH and I have an ok combined income; according to IFS, we are in the top 10% of households in terms of income. No DC. We don't have a car even though I would say its quite common in our patch of zone 3 london, my phone screen is cracked, DH's phone is over 5 years old. We don't have a TV, let alone a flat screen one. Both take our lunch to work. DH recently even stopped paying for public transport because he cycles everywhere (granted his bike is £800 but he would probably recoup that cost within a year). We mainly shop at Aldi. (with some small things bought at Waitrose). Pet is a hamster so no money spent on doggy daycare etc.

But I am 100% that our outgoings are higher than most people in this country, esp those who are not paying childcare.

After tax income is £5k and we save £1k. Mortgage is £1k. Our bills/council tax are average as we live in a 2 bed flat. The main reason is because we go to my home country every year and its a long haul flight and we have lots of weekend breaks too. We eat out every week. We often treat our family members. DH often gives his younger sister money. I buy department store makeup (but I don't do my nails and dye my hair at home and cut my hair once a year). We also have an expensive fridge and washer dryer (but they are energy efficient so will save us money in the long run).

I have a nice new iPad and a decent laptop - both provided by my employer for work, I didn’t pay for them. Lots of employers also provide phones - you don’t know if they paid for them.

OP is not saying phone is not a necessity, but that how much you spend on it is a choice .Which I think is a valid point

Increasingly, interacting with the state, eg for benefits, council tax etc is done almost exclusively online. Do you think the economy is in the state its in because of a shiftless, feckless underclass squandering their money on fripperies? This sort of thinking has been with us for centuries, but Christ, it’s still tiresome when you come across it.

You're being a dick, but I guess you're OK with that, or you wouldn't have posted.

I have an iPhone that’s around £700 and all
i pay for it is £7.99 a month on a SIM only deal. It was a phone that was upgraded and I had the one that was no longer needed. So I wouldn’t read too much into what people are paying for tech nowadays.

That ^^
I can be in a brand new 90k Range Rover. It's not mine!

So whilst the oil and energy companies rake in obscene amounts of wealth for their shareholders leaving many people vulnerable and unable to afford the basics, we should look at and blame those that are more vulnerable for not managing their money well enough? I just don't understand the logic. It sounds like your saying people shouldn't complain and just be more careful with their money which deviates away from the fact that right now these companies are robbing people. It's criminal.