When will the cost of living crisis end?

[butternutsquashed82]

I am a single mother. I work full time, I don’t earn loads but enough not to be entitled to any UC childcare help which is what I need. Every day the news is more doom and gloom and every day I hear Labour wanting to do anything but help working people! I don’t see the point in working full time when I have to pay £1500 a term for wraparound care, but I also can’t afford to not work full time. I’m being pushed into debt as electricity bills rise, petrol rises and food prices rise! It is really effecting my mental health. I genuinely don't know what to do! I’m not sure anyone has any answers but instead of screaming into the void I thought I would post here!

Ocado has never been the cheapest place to shop though has it?

I'm not saying that's not more expensive than it used to be... but you could easily fill your fridge for well under £200.

Except freedom of movement will lead to
another wave of
east European immigrants

Why do you think that?

Ask on your journal under payments to have the property disregarded as you are taking steps to sell ask for it to go to a decision maker. You can read more about Uc capital disregards here data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2025-0364/026._Capital_disregards-Guidance_V30.0.pdf

She's not getting UC

@FrauPaigethanks for your kind words and lovely reply! I am so frustrated! I’m happy to even sell at what I paid for it which so far would be an £80k reduction! (I got it a long time ago)! Just want stability for me and my daughter! I really appreciate your intel. Could we see any positivity? I do feel so frustrated with Trump and the US, who keep exacerbating financial turmoil across the world! Xxx thanks again for your lovely reply

I’m not doing the same as many here and trying to calculate what you earn or not . The reality is that as a single parent you can be on 50k and will be feeling the pinch . I never earned this much ( wages are around 70k ) and have so little left because as you say everything increases , heating oil more than doubled form last year , council tax 20% , food a good 15% more . It’s everything and the other just one wage it can be scary . I’m no longer a single parent but I’m the main earner I still fill it and my husband has been off sick due a lot or injury the last 5 months . It’s not easy

Hi OP. Why is it not selling? Would it help if you lowered the price or is it because of ground rent / lease length? Can you not live in it in the meantime?

We've been reliant on imported food for more than a century. When WWI broke out, we imported 60% of food, with 78% of wheat coming from overseas.

It's not solar and housing that has caused this, although housing development should be primarily focused on reusing brownfield sites because it makes more sense. Solar can actually boost yields on farmland by providing shade and creating a microclimate that protects plants- look up agrovoltaics. There have been efforts to integrate livestock with solar on farmland too, with panels providing shelter for sheep or goats on exposed land.

As you said, historically food is still very cheap. The same is true of consumer goods, particularly clothing. We just don't feel well off because many of us had a taste of an even better life just 10 or 15 years ago.

Cost of living will continue to rise. There's not much we can do about it.

It won’t end, due to the constant wars, the tax/grabbing government and the relentless march of AI. These are the glory days compared to what’s coming.

So your share of freehold flat is either priced too highly or the service charges are too high. You could always try to sell it at auction.

The reliance on imports is increasing. Of course solar panels reduce available land - no plants do not grow as well in shade - a basic understanding of photosynthesis should make that clear. Not to mention the pollution of land caused by solar panels.

There are crops that do well with semi shade and work in solar panel set ups. Leafy greens like kale, and lettuce both benefit from it. It helps prevent water loss and bolting.

This is especially important given the climate trend towards drier, hotter summers in the UK.

I'd love to see more large roofs retrofitted to take solar, but solar on farmland doesn't need to be a disaster. I'm also not convinced it's a major factor in an increase in food imports and would love to see your data on this. It's interesting looking at the categories of what things are majority produced in the Uk, and what is primarily imported. There's a great chart of production ratios at that link.

Despite what the solar and environmental lobby state, Solar panels lead to pollution of heavy metals from stand degradation and break down of panels including from storm damage or microfissures in the glass. Cadmium and zinc levels have been found to increase around solar farms. Shading increases growth of microtoxin producing fungi. Plus rainwater run-off can lead to soil degredation. Some plants may survive under partial shade but the area under solar panels is in too much shade for plant growth; the partial shading is only the area next to the panels. The idea of agriculture alongside solar farms depends on higher panels and wider spacing to allow machinery access (though this is also restricted by the stands themselves) which doesn’t reflect uk solar farms. At best they force a shift from arable farming to some livestock grazing (though cf pollution). Figures given for land use are also disingenuous as always state as a proportion of uk land use which includes urban areas and upland areas of Scotland, not bmv (best most versatile) arable land; 59% of solar farms are on bmv land, principally in the SE.

over 771,000 ha of farmland has been lost since 2000 with the rate of loss proposed increasing over the next few decades.

The only way it could end is if we went through a 10-20 year painful ‘adjustment period’ involving various mild human rights abuses. But nobody wants that so we need to soldier on with spiralling costs, stagnant wages and endless immigration.

Whose human rights are being abused when known immigrant terrorists and rapists are allowed to stay in the uk? Or when immigration levels mean the food, health provision, energy and housing costs become unaffordable?

Hi OP. I hear you, it's awful.

And yes Labour do naff all to help working people, in fact they do everything to harm us. Who can they tax more to pay more benefits, as they said themselves. They are the benefits party, dependency on the state is their ideal voter.

However we are where we are, in a cost of living crisis with Labour in power, and lots of awful powerful men causing unnecessary havoc around the world.

My plan is to keep my head down, reduce costs as much as possible (if possible). Keep calm carry on until better times. Which will come, but I think we're are in it for the long haul until then.

Given that the housing market is dead at the moment, your way around this in the short term is economising to keep you out of debt.

Look at every single thing you purchase regularly, from apples to breakfast cereal to coffee. Eat vegetarian one day a week.

Move to own brand groceries, buy your cleaning products at the £ shop, look at your broadband and phone contracts. Turn your heating down one degree and wear a sweater. Use your water heating for 10 minutes less each day.

Look for alternative cleansers & shower gel. Move from washing tabs to powder (it's more effective & better for your machine anyway).

Where is the father? Does he pay any child support?

I know, particularly as it is harder now to get bad tenants out, but it's one way of getting more money in.
Have you spoken to letting agents about what it could rent for?

@GingerBeverageyes! I would get a fair return but to be honest I don’t want to wait another whole year (plus the hassle of renting it out) to be in a position to sell again. I just want to move on and be able to have the stability of a home for me and my daughter! Xxx appreciate your advice

@WhitegreeNcandlethe father does! He pays what he is meant to -£300 a month!

Unfortunately, life is going to get worse and worse as populism puts idiots in charge, in the pay of billionaires, and the climate crisis makes food more expensive, life more difficult, and increases migration.

Our standard of living will decline from now on. I can't see any other outcomes. I'd love to know if other people can.

@HotGrapefruitmight as well give up then!

Well, no, but I think we need to focus on finding happiness in the little things, enjoying what we can and when we can. Expecting life to return to what it was like 10 or 20 years ago will lead to disappointment.