I earn £81,000…

[Sueretiredawhileago]

And (although clearly I am not on the breadline and understand how lucky I am compared to others) I have very little spare money. I am a single (co) parent and I live in London so mortgage is a lot. I used to have loads spare and felt ‘well off’ but now I’ve had to cut down on all the little spending I once never gave a thought to. No quick coffees, pastries for breakfast, no brunches, no magazines, new lipsticks etc etc.

If I can’t afford these things I don’t understand how ‘they’ keep saying that consumer spending is still strong and driving inflation. Who the hell has the spare money??!!!

Qntld this is why people treat you as a joke moaning your arse off.

@Againstmachine sure! Except I’ve done no moaning. You’ve just not understood my question in my original post. Don’t worry about it.

anyway, from the news yesterday, it seems the economy is being quite severely hit now and they’re worried about a recession. So I guess more people like me are buying less coffees now!

Which is a big problem. The discretionary spending of those with more disposable income (and that's not necessarily those with the highest incomes either) is other people's jobs.

@Sueretiredawhileago I agree but you won’t get much ‘symapthy’ on here.

£81,000 is £4,064 a month after tax.

It costs me that much a month to have two in nursery.

I can appreciate why as a single parent in London things feel tight.

It’s crazy though.

Even on 81k....the likely mortgage on that income would be £324k with a 10% deposit- gives you £356k home, which is more likely a one bed flat in somewhere a bit shit in London zone 4. If you want a two bed somewhere in London... on that, it aint going to be a nice home, unfortunately.