How much worse can the cost of living get before society breaks down?

[TheGardenRose]

I'm genuinely getting worried. Weekly shop now £72. It was around £40-50 not so long ago.

So you’ll be manning those baracades then? Or do what most do which is get on with it the best way they can?
Massive civil unrest? A few hotheads me thinks, same as always.

It's not 2020 though, is it?

@whymadam Clearly not the same planet as you 😆😆

What would that do to the numbers?

I get what you say. 50% of the population is okay, yes, but general downhill trajectory of UK and economy will reduce that. OP seems to imply she was doing OK, now not doing as OK. Letting go of cleaner is the tip of the iceberg. Civil unrest won't be a thing, but sadly we are nowhere near economic rock bottom #bracebrace

A lot of people are struggling in this country. Not everyone has a safety net. Hard to imagine if you're comfortably off. I've worked in the care sector and seen some heartbreaking financial-catastrophe situations. It shouldn't happen in a wealthy country like UK, but here we are.

@whymadam Where did I say otherwise? I said many people own their own homes outright or have small mortgages….

The numbers won’t have changed that drastically in 6 years.

I think there will be riots this summer or next 😔

Perhaps the increasing costs will be the kick up the arse that some people need to put in a bit more effort and improve their circumstances.

Many people are mortgage free or have small mortgages so whilst higher food & utilities costs are frustrating they still have the spare cash

What do you mean, what planet are you on? This ^^ is the case for me, all my friends and most of my customers. Our mortgages are small or paid off, we have no childcare costs, so whilst it's annoying to now have to pay more for groceries and utilities, it means we save less as opposed to changing our lifestyle. My friends and my customers are all still eating out and having holidays.

I'm self employed, and if people stopped having holidays I would lose my income : guess what? I've just had the best earning April on record, since I launched 13 years ago. People are still going on holiday. The restaurants and bars here are full.

I can do you one better OP. I live in a Caribbean country. By default, everything is costlier living on an island.

Our average salary here is around $9,000 per month - that is less than £1,000. University graduates make less than that entering the job market. I know people with 10+ years experience and a Master's degree making around $16-18,000 which is less than £2,000 monthly. For context, our minimum hourly rate is $20/hr. or £2.17 per hour and average house prices are between $1.2 - $1.7 million or £130-185,000. It's basically impossible for someone on a minimum or even average wage to buy a house here.

To top if off, because most of our food is imported, food is ridiculously expensive. My monthly shop works out to about $4,500 or about £500. I admit I buy certain things like extra virgin olive oil, butter not margarine etc. But that figure doesn't include anything really extravagant like alcohol/wine, salmon, steak etc.

Anyway, this isn't meant to be a race to the bottom. But it's really tough and I say that as a university graduate married to another university graduate both earning higher than average in our country, with no kids, and collecting rental income also. I do not know how average families are supposed to make it and I don't see things getting better anytime soon.

Worth pointing out that sometimes people can be visibly spending and cutting back at the same time. For example, if you're in a higher income area, one explanation for what you're seeing is that people who live there are travelling less because of costs. They may then be more visible spending money locally, because spending the BH weekend at soft play and going for a meal is cheaper than the mini break they used to do when bills were lower.

My fear is that things will get so bad I'll have to end up on that Only Fannies site showing myself just to pay those crooks at Thames Water with all their bonuses.

I'm 59. Am I not to have any dignity, even towards the end?!

I don’t really notice a crisis. I live in a deprived area in the North East of England and everywhere is rammed at the weekend. I was at the pub on Saturday and it was heaving. It wasn’t a cheap pub either.

Turkey is used to inflation - if you go to the bazaar in Istanbul you'll see shops where people buy and sell gold when they are paid. They do this as a way of hedging against inflation.

I live in a 'depressed' town on the coast where, I keep reading, we have the highest rate of people on benefits and on sickness benefits, etc; very little employment, most jobs min wage, everyone struggling, and so on.

And yet as I go around town I see the pubs and restaurants are full, the many coffee shops are thriving; lots of people eating luxury extras at street cafe tables (e.g. hot chocolate, pastries, cakes). A beach cafe near me charges a whopping £4 for a coffee in a paper cup and yet there is a non-stop queue of people standing there all day every day. Takeaway food delivery drivers have never been busier, taking £20-£50 orders to all kinds of people all over town. Hair salons, nail salons, tattoo parlours all thriving.

I was rather surprised when I went to Lidl last week: I filled a basket so full that stuff was falling out, and it only came to £32.

Is that something you are noticing?

Just heard on Radio 4 food prices have gone up 50 percent in 4 years ( I think) Possible additional 10 percent coming soon.

I think absolutely the same. If they have money to keep giving billions in financial support to all migrants and local born who ask for it, this might even never happen

I have seen countries with 1000s of abandoned village homes....was there last summer...nice little Balkan country but sad case when you look at some villages

do all mn posts always come in the minor tones and the colder hues....this country is massively rich

Apologies a bit melodramatic. Public are limited. Very.

Have you tried to see a doctor, get a MH referral recently? See CAHMS? Find a youth club?

For some? A few at the top.

all ears.

and this is the lifestyle of the people on benefits. Imagine the working folk ....spa resorts weekly, massive cars, European power trips, skiing etc.

So who are we to be lied to. We can see it for ourselves.