Do you feel sad at being priced out of little luxuries?

[corkface]

Everything keeps getting more expensive and this month it is hitting home that little luxuries I used to be able to enjoy occasionally and never took for granted are just getting too expensive at a time when more and more of our income is going on bare minimum necessities.

This morning I met a friend for a walk, we used to go for tea and a slice of cake after to chat in the warm but its just too expensive now. I thought I'd bake a cake and take it with me next week with a flask of tea for after our walk but when I priced all the ingredients that was too expensive as well.

I am grateful I have a place to live and can still cover my bills but it just feels like every little bit of extra money we might have to do the odd nice thing is being squeezed out of us. Its quite depressing.

It's probably some but definitely not 'most'. Credit is widely available and used by many people, especially for bigger purchases.

And then paid off. They're not funding cafes and concert tickets with an ever expanding credit card debt!

I think with cakes you have to pick and choose if you want to minimise the cost. Things like chocolate seem to be super expensive now.

So something like lemon drizzle is probably cheaper:

2x eggs 50p
1x lemon 40p for a big one or 45p for 2 small ones
Sugar 275g - 30p
Butter 125g - £1
Flour SR - 10p (78p for 1.5kg)

So that's less than £2.50 and it will do about 8 decent slices of cake.

The trouble here is that you can't buy two eggs but most people do use up eggs and the flour, butter and sugar will keep long enough to use in a few weeks time.

I know 💔. I used to be able to treat myself to a cheapie steak from lidl on else a week. £4 . Now I can't justify spending that on one meal for just me.

I totally agree with this. I claim UC on top of work and had a second job but by the time I considered travel costs, tax and the 55% taper rate I was only about £10 better off after working a 6 hour weekend shift. I gave it up as I reckon I can do stuff to save myself £10 on that day. Food prep for the week, gather up windfall, log splitting so cheaper food and free heating. The best way is to upskill / get a promotion so you work the same hours but take home (marginally) more money.

Erm.. yes many are. I know many who do this.

I don't bother going out for coffee much anymore on a regular basis. Mainly because so much of the coffee is awful & expensive. We're v lucky because I bought dh a Sage coffee machine & a Sage bean grinder a few years back & we now have access to the best coffee whenever we want it.

That machine is worth its weight in gold & is used multiple times every day as dh works from home & i work from home 2 days a week. We love lazy weekend mornings with our coffee & our books too

My two main personal indulgences are books - always have been & i can't imagine life without them. I suppose I read quite niche books which unfortunately often means ordering online as they're not always available in our local waterstones. I still buy from there too as I'd hate to see it go out of business! It's always busy though so hopefully that's a good sign

I also love fresh flowers & most weeks but a bunch or two in the grocery shopping. We were v v early adaptors to Aldi & have been doing 99% of our shopping there for about the past 15 years or so. They have fantastic fresh flowers especially in the summer when they have the seasonal ones like scented stock or peoneys etc.

Eating out has become v expensive & you really need to know where you're going as so much is substandard for the price

Our city has some fantastic independent places & on occasion we're happy to support them

We rarely do takeaways anymore (i lost 2 stones last year so had cut them out for health reasons) but teen often gets a McDonald's at lunch time etc

I know we're v lucky that we can still afford these small luxuries but I can 100% see how steeply prices have risen in a v short space of time & i can fully understand how so many people are feeling v squeezed now.

Anecdotes are not data. The vast majority of people in those cafes can easily afford their coffees and cakes, and a lot more.

You said “they’re not” so I was correcting you, many are.

No. Perhaps many you personally know are. That doesn't mean many people in general are. They're not.

Nothing has changed for me i still get my coffee my skin care holidays etc.

Credit is a huge problem, you seem to be in denial about that. Maybe too comfy in your middle class bubble? Pointless argument, people ARE using credit to fund their lifestyles whether you like it or not.

I don't really care about the point so much as people can do what they like with their finances, but if you are so ready to dismiss the idea that loads of people use long term credit for luxuries because it's 'anecdotal', how can you be so sure that most are not doing so? Have you personally done research into this or like other posters is it just your opinion?

We are fortunate to have good incomes and in theory, have a healthy disposable income after bills & food. And yet most months it really doesn’t feel like it. DH & I were shift workers when younger and so going out for a midweek lunch was a semi regular thing for us. 30 years later and with better incomes and I baulk at the cost.

I’ve never had a takeaway coffee habit, but it’s not just the essentials. Lots of things in modern life cost more. We were married before paying for broadband and mobiles was a thing and yet although you can have basic contracts, it’s hard to avoid such costs entirely.

I resent being priced out of eating out more often. I'd just like to be able to afford it more than once a month. This week I went out for dinner with my oldest friend - nice but not posh restaurant in London. We had two main courses, two rice dishes, one salad and a bottle of the cheapest wine. £95.00 for the two of us.

I would love to be able to say "ah fuckit, let's have a takeaway tonight or go to the local pub, or let's go out for Sunday lunch" if the adult DC are around but sadly we can't. Our joint income is about £80/90,000 but our mortgage is very low and we have no childcare costs and we go away once a year, if that, so I don't understand why we can't afford it .

One thing I won't give up on is coffee/tea/cake in a nice cafe every now and again, especially if we're out all day.

I spent my entire childhood going for days out, and having a 'picnic' sitting on a scratchy rug on damp grass. Fish paste sandwiches and weak squash, with a pithy tomato or half a kit-kat if I was lucky.

Am I sad about not drinking coffee in coffee shops any longer? On a personal level, only in horrible weather. When the rain and wind is relentless, and meeting a friend indoors but getting out of my house would be nice!

And no, the local church coffee morning does not cut it for me.

Today it is a lovely day and I took my flask of coffee out with me as I usually do. It’s great quality coffee, brewed just the way I like it and more flexible.

I don't either to be honest? That's the same household income as us and we have a medium sized mortgage, childcare bills and an annual holiday and we can afford to sometimes go 'fuck it let's get a takeaway' so I am genuinely struggling to understand how you can't!

@Jellycatspyjamas

interesting because you can certainly grab basic food, couple of drinks, bus fare (no train) and see a band for £30 a head here. Yes you are restricted on food choice but there’s several options at £10 a head, beer is between £2.30 (Wetherspoons) and £6 a pint typically. You can always find a band on for free at weekends

The fact I drink ale definitely is cheaper I do admit. Off to my local now for a pint and a free gig!

Thought of this thread today. Went for a walk in a country park. Decided to get an icecream and then didn’t due to the price (£3 each , for a small one!).

i think probably because you’re comparing the price of a takeaway to restaurant meal at £47.50 for 1 person. That’s expensive, where I’d live it would pay for 2 people to eat and drink.

But I wasn't comparing anything. That was exactly what that poster said she can't do - she said: I would love to be able to say "ah fuckit, let's have a takeaway tonight or go to the local pub, or let's go out for Sunday lunch" if the adult DC are around but sadly we can't. - we can do those things, so I was confused why she can't on the same income and much lower outgoings. Rereading it I wonder if she's also thinking of paying for multiple adult DC. I can see how that makes it much more expensive, though I could afford to buy my DC a fair few adult portion takeaways or pub meals a month for the cost of the nursery and wraparound care bill!

I’d disagree about ‘much nicer’! At a cafe you get to sit indoors, the coffee is almost always made using a professional machine, and the cake has been precision honed to be appealing!

30 years ago when every (woman…) one baked, maybe, but that skill is on the retreat!

Yep, we used to have lunch out regularly at the weekend but it’s just too expensive now. I used to work part time when DDs were younger and have been full time for 3.5 years now but feel like my quality of life is the same if not worse than it was before (no childcare bills now and have actually changed job so had a pay rise too)