to ask why life is so expensive?

[clam]

It's just one thing after another. We're on a more-than-reasonable income, yet if I feel we're struggling to stick within our means, how the hell are others on a lower budget coping?
Every month I think things will calm down, but this month alone we have haircuts needed for all, a trip to the vet (£60) 2 dental hygienist appointments (£50 each!!!!!) and a check up (£35, no NHS available), new tyres needed for the car, MOT coming up, dd has only one pair of wearable shoes other than school ones, ditto ds and his feet have grown, ds theatre trip for drama GCSE, next installment of dd's school residential trip, music lesson fees due for the new term, exam fee, plus we have to pay the accompanist.... you get the picture. Plus I forgot to pay off the sodding credit card last month so just got hit with a late payment fee, plus interest.

I know exactly how you feel clam - we feel the same.

One thing I did do recently was to sign up to Martin's Money saving tips and use some comparison sites. I was able to get much better deals on car insurance, building and contents insurance (Barclays has a 50% reduction for new customers), and gas and electricity.

These people rely on intertia and people just automatically renewing, as their rates go up and up.

One thing I hadn't particularly noticed before is that often when companies offer a monthly installment plan (e.g. for a year's insurance) they are essentially lending you the money and charge hefty interest as you pay it off. It's better to play the whole year up front if you can. Alternatively if you can get one of the credit cards that offer, say 1.5 years interest free (e.g. M&S, Tesco) you can pay it from that, then pay off the card be direct debit and when paid off destroy the card.

I have also found setting up online banking very useful. I check the state of my account much more regularly now and am much more aware of my financial situation.

Do only state schools set homework that requires Internet access?

Heswall my DD does homework at lunchtimes or after school in the free I.T suite.

Mainly because it is easier than me strangling her

Does her school not have this facility? Very bad if not.

So, a choice between internet or Sparkling Cat? Oooh dear.

We have "higher standards" now. Who had ever heard of a "dental hygienist" 30 years ago? And all this cooking malarky! Back in the day, a plain pork chop if you were lucky, none of this fancy Domestic Goddess Stuff. Was Fanny Craddock the first aspirational cook!

And remember, being rich is not more "things", its having what you long for.

I agree jane.

I don't think it's so much about not having a holiday - its more that some people on this thread are earning 'good' salaries, but cannot afford the things that a few years ago they would have have been able to easily afford on that particular income. It's just noticing that cost of living is going up a lot and standard of living is going down.

There are things that I cannot afford to do, that my parents and grandparents would have taken for granted - package holidays, going to the pub. Not world cruises, or anything mega expensive, but nice things that add to quality of life.

Taking my kids to Legoland for a day or two is a big financial stretch for me.

I know people have it worse - and I am truly appreciative of what I have, but there is nothing wrong in just noticing the change and feeling sad for it and worried for the lives our children will potentially be leading.

I wasn't complaining about not affording a holiday - unless you're referring to someone else. I was observing that, with the sky-high prices for flights, it seems surprising how many people seem still to be flying.

I once read that when you grow up it's experiences that you remember not material goods. I hope that will still be true of our DC.

I agree with Jane, we have a fantastic standard of living and therefore I am not surprised that we only stretch to a fortnight camping in France. Growing up we rarely ate out, as a family we do that regularly . We rarely went to the pictures , something we do without too much thought. Food was budgeted carefully, we buy within reason what we want.

I agree clam

Dh earns a good salary and we hardly spend anything on ourselves, dont drink, dont smoke etc, but due to problems with the new house (weeps) we have no extra money at the end of the month and wont have for some time. No holiday for us this year.

Its pretty depressing.

I took my mum to asda this morning. I saw some lovely wedge sandals - they were £12 - and I couldnt afford them. Its not the end of the world, obviously, but its things like that that get you down in the long run, I think....not being able to afford a cheap pair of shoes, a nice haircut, a magazine etc.

I can only assume that lots of people are relying on credit to go on hols, buy new stuff etc

I still don't understand how anyone can afford to smoke.

I don't know what a dental hygienist is I just go to the dentist for the free torture and water-boarding.

Have had teeth out at the back due to abscesses created by them filling infected teeth

Am I supposed to get the gaps replaced? They don't show and where there is one missing on the top and the bottom on the same side I just don't chew that side.

Mind you I am not as ignorant of dental issues as my BIL who was due to have a front tooth out and was not worried because it would "grow back"

But to be able to buy a pair of shoes on a whim is a luxury.

But people should be able to have some luxuries in their lives - it shouldn't be a constant grind, just for people to survive.

Particularly when the fuckers who screwed up the country are still living rather good lives and feeling no consequences.

Again, back to the original question....

The world price of commodities has shot up for a lot of things. China, India, Brazil etc. have got more prosperous, so there's a lot more demand. Hence, as I understand it, why tyre prices have doubled over the last few years - the price of rubber has gone up. Ditto fuel, which means loads of stuff goes up due to the price of shipping etc. etc.

Where this kind of stuff is concerned, I guess it's the price we pay for a more equal globe.

But something else that makes life incredibly expensive in the UK is the cost of housing- whether mortgage or rent. And that is down to the policy of successive governments (initiated by the Beast Thatcher) to encourage home ownership, get rid of social housing, and to view the rocketing cost of housing as a driver of the economy, rather than the road to misery it has proved to be.

(gets off soapbox).

Also....

We haven't always been as prosperous as we were in the years leading up to 2008. I guess most of us can remember having a lot less back in the 70s. It's just that we all got used to the spoils of consumerism in the fat days of the late '90s-early noughties, and thought that that kind of prosperity was going to last forever.

Bit of a shock, isn't it?

Inflating away the debt only works if wages rise too which they aren't. The only people getting 5% rises are those on benefits ironically.

"Smoking is not a necessity . It cannot be compared to food, clothes, petrol"

But that is, I think, the nub of this thread. It's irrelevant what we personally think is a necessity and a luxury. I guess we'd all draw that line somewhere different and probably not agree. It's the simple and rather frightening fact that things are getting consistently more difficult for everyone month by month inspite of cutting back here and there. We are all doing without a lot less than we were a year or so back.

I cant even afford george at asda!

Its fine.

Its not a neccessity.

But its nice to be able to treat oneself/ones dc every now and then. Its what makes life fun/pleasant.

I agree though that in my 1970s childhood aspirations were much less...I didnt got to a cinema til I was 13/14. Didnt have a McDs til the same age. My son doesnt believe me! My dad didnt have a car til I was 12/13 so stuff like swimming was a real treat as it was 2 buses away.

Maybe we need to learn to enjoy life more and material things less? Who knows.

stubborn agree re; housing

And I do remember the mid 80s - watching my mum and dad slowly starting to be a teeny bit extravagant for the first time in our lives. Coming home from university to find a jar of Hellmans in the fridge! Mum buying a ready-made steak and kidney pie. Dad buying a new mower insterad of getting his tried and tested (and ancient) one fixed again. And yes, I suppose I did my most significant growing up in a period of relative ease - I was a Yuppie (well a Somerset Yuppie anyway ) - I find it horrifying but somehow familiar to recognise the current 1970s vibe.

When I was a smoker (cheap tobacco) I ate hardly anything. No breakfast or lunch and something small at night which was usually leftovers from DD's supper. Smoking kills the appetite. It isn't the healthiest way to live but actually it can be quite economical.