To be absolutely fucking amazed how much money people have?

[HiggsBoson]

I thought we were in a recession.

I thought people were genuinely struggling.

DP and I certainly do as we are on low incomes, but we try to be grateful for what we have.

How is it then, that so many people can afford ipads, clothes from the likes of Joules and Boden, Mercedes and Audis, Hunter wellies for their kids ffs, expensive overseas holidays and huge 10/20/30K weddings?

Honestly I'm quite baffled. Everybody seems to have an ipad - they're £500!!

What's going on?

[Ivytheterrible]

Looks can be very deceptive! We are not fabulously wealthy but my DD wears Joules clothing most of the time. My SIL works there so only pay 50% of retail. It all gets ebayed after she has grown out of it so her clothing is cost neutral if I do this. Works out cheaper than buying supermarket clothing!

[Cakecrumbsinmybra]

But are you really seeing more spending, or just noticing luxuries more because of the recession/cut backs?

From a personal POV it's really difficult to comment because recession came at a time when we renovated our house/had kids, so our priorities for spending changed massively at the same time. And despite DH having a much larger than normal salary, I've always been a bargain hunter, cheap-clothes-buyer, because of my upbringing and the fact that I've never personally had a large salary.

[HalfSpamHalfBrisket]

As pizzaqueen says - there are bargains to be had and appearances may be deceptive.
I am a VERY savvy shopper - I get good quality clothes off ebay, use Tesco points to get free holidays, and use cashback mobile phone deals etc. So it may appear I am spending loads of cash whilst in reality, I'm not. (The fact I do scrimp around for deals betrays me as not being one of the super rich though because then I just wouldn't care how much anything cost!)

[MTSgroupie]

The recession means that some people's job are at risk and some are unemployed but for the rest its business as usual.

In my case, I haven't had a pay rise in the last few years but since I'm paid a lot more than the national average to start off with, it's not hurting me. My mortgage is cheap, inflation is low. So overall life is good

[CreatureRetorts]

I wonder the same as you OP but think I live in a bubble (SE London) where there's highly paid professionals. A mile down the road, it's a less affluent section of society - I see people in the supermarket counting the pennies.

I've also noticed more begging on the trains and in central London. People coming up to me for money, asking me for work etc.

We have good salaries, however our joint income has fallen back to where we were about 7 years ago. We've had to cut back - gone are the days of 2 holidays a year, we don't buy brands and rarely buy new clothes (only for the kids). My take home pay has gone down again this month by a big chunk too.

It's hard but It's forcing us to be more careful with money - not a bad thing.

[havingamadmoment]

I may be totally wrong here because this is just based on people I know but in my experience people I know of my age (twenties) have very little that has been affected by the economic changes. We have no house of our own, no car, no debt, no credit card. We are on an average income but our outgoings are small so we afford iPads, computers etc but we have no real assets.

People I know who are say late 30s and above seem to have large mortgages and many many set demands on their income like loan repayments, credit cards and cars. However they do have property wealth.

Perhaps it's a case of not comparing like with like.

[pickledginger]

People can also choose how to buy things. Someone who has a 4 bed detached house in a nice area with a shiny new Audi on the drive may be mortgaged up to the hilt and be paying for the car monthly. Someone in a 2 bed terrace in a cheaper area with a 7 year old ford parked out front may actually own all that outright.

[overprotection]

The fact is that if you haven't lost your job or had your hours cut, the 'economic downturn' doesn't affect you at all. So there is no reason to cut back (assuming you have managed your finances sensibly in the first place).

That said I think a lot of people are still addicted to credit.

[Hassled]

Higgs - you're right and that was pretty insensitive of me. Yes, I'm assuming a level of disposable income. What I should have said was that people prioritise how they spend their disposable income if they have any, which of course many people don't (and for years and years that included us).

[Flisspaps]

Perhaps the people who can't afford Boden, Mercs or Hunters are at home, saving what little they have, so you don't see them.

DD's Hunter's were a Christmas gift from her Godfather. She's worn them daily for 4 months. There is a hole in the heel and I can't afford to replace them. She'll have to go back to her £5 Tesco boots.

Our car (second hand Mondeo) is on the drive. We cannot afford the £800 repair bill to make it roadworthy after a wanker garage owner sold us a dud and refused to take it back. We're having to wait to see if Barclaycard will give us a Section 75 refund before we can use it.

Our last holiday was a week in a B&B in Llandudno with an 18mo in a travel cot and twin beds. We had no holiday last year, or this year. This is the first year in 5 that DH hasn't been at risk of redundancy.

We don't have an iPad. In fact, our PC can't be switched off because it needs restarting about 30 times to get it going again.

It's 20fucking13. We both have degrees. He's in a good job. I'm trying to find one, but the equivalent of my salary will go on childcare.

[spanky2]

Why are some people replying then saying it's none of your business . If it is none of your business don't reply ! I wonder how people afford stuff . I have just paid out over £400 on my cat this last two months so maybe that's why I have no cash!

[marjproops]

DC has an old nintendo ds that her aunty gave her (when aunty upgraded), a playstation that was very kindly donated by someone who knows i struggle, our tv i saved up a year for, most of our furniture is donated, i manage food and clothing (hardly for me, all for DC).

never had a cred card and never want one. if i want something i save. always been that way.

got an old style mobile phone, i couldnt give a fig about thel latest gadget, a phones a phone. no designer stuff ever.

but we're sort of ok. never been able to afford a holiday, just the odd day out here and there.

yes OP i wonder too, and yes i am also jealous.

as a fulltime carer ill never be able to get a mortgage, but the ideal place to live, and afford anything halfway decent.

but i have a good eye for bargains too, so somehow mangae to, even if its only a couple of ppounds a week, put away for emergencies.

also wondering why so many houses have been sold and bought. can understand the selling but the buying?

[HiggsBoson]

EXACTLY Fliss.

Cheers Spanky

[AKissIsNotAContract]

There's rather a large gap between the rich and the poor though. I was just reading an article about the increase in people using food banks. How you perceive the wealth of the country depends on the people you are exposed to.

[IfNotNowThenWhen]

The thing is, people who have decent jobs, own houses etc, have not really suffered in this recession. The hits are being taken by those below them on the economic chain.
Professional jobs have been pretty safe-not all, but like Clouds said, most professionals who took redundancy found work again soonish, (in my experience only I should add.)
My friend who gets paid £400 a day as a consultant still gets that. My lawyer friend has had several pay rises since 2008.
Cleaners/ shop workers haven't had rises, and food has gone up MASSIVELY, as has VAT, which takes a much bigger % out of people on lower incomes money.
Also, fewer people can get a mortgage, and so are renting, and paying more than a mortgage.

[LynetteScavo]

I have no idea.

This bemuses me daily.

[HiggsBoson]

DP earns £16K :( Love him though! We have one preschool DD and I work 3-4 evenings per week to make ends meet.

I feel (and I know it ain't healthy or right) envious, especially when I come on MN and see all the 'rich' posters on here.

There seems to be more and more affluence out there despite all the news reports on the country's failing finances!

[freddiefrog]

We're very fortunate as we are better off now than a few years ago

DH has worked his way up his profession and is now quite senior and earns a good wage

We also inherited a house, which we decided to rent out as we struggled to sell it, which covers most of our living costs here.

I also work part time

We are lucky that we have a decent disposable income.

We do have an iPad, I have an iPhone, DH likes gadgets and I love clothes and fashion. We don't have loads of expensive holidays every year, I'm afraid of flying, so we camp in the UK.

We don't have any debt, we do save, put money away for the kids future and donate to charity, we don't spoil the kids and we appreciate everything we have. We don't spend like its going out of fashion, I don't have a wardrobe full of designer clothes, and the kids aren't awash with expensive crap, but at the same time we don't skimp or go without either.

We are fortunate, but DH has worked really hard to get where he is career-wise so we enjoy the benefits.

[LynetteScavo]

oh, someone will come along soon OP, and tell you they live a jolly life on an income of 18Kpa.

[HiggsBoson]

Helpful post IfNot Now - this is something I need to understand :) Gorgeous song btw

[HalfSpamHalfBrisket]

No amount of prioritising is going to make the cost of a flight appear is it?
Erm... yes, it can do. Shop at Tescos, convert clubcard points to Avios = return flights to Europe for £30 tax each.
Or look out for Ryanair/Easyjet sales - flights to be had for £20+ all in.
(...I did a long weekend in Venice for less than £100 total for 2 people inc. flights, accommodation and airport car parking).

I appreciate that if you need money for rent/mortgage/bills this may seem flippant BUT there are ways to get a few days away without it costing a packet. (Sun £9 holidays is another one).

[landofsoapandglory]

We don't have any debt and our housing costs are low. All of us are on PAYG phones. Neither DH or I smoke, we don't eat takeaways hardly ever, we shop in Lidl &Aldi and top up in Tesco. I buy a lot of my clothes in Primark, New Look and Dorothy Perkins, very rarely do I buy any Boden or anything of that ilk.

I still shop like I did when DH was earning a lot less money, tbh.

We do have iPads, laptops and newish cars. We usually have a holiday abroad each year, this year it is costing nothing due to a refund from last year.

My sister bleats that we have 'better' or more things than her, but she smokes like a chimney, goes to the pub 2-3 nights a week, eats lots of takeaways and 4 out of 5 of them have iPhones.

[Want2bSupermum]

A couple of things come into it but almost none of these people will be putting money away for their retirement, have more than 6 months of living expenses in cash and be paying off their home (interest only mortgages are a bad rental contract with a bank IMO).

lessmiss I think the same thing all the time. We moved to the US and DH is earning a lot these days. When we visit home I am shocked to find out friends have moved into very expensive homes. When I asked my Dad about it he said that he thinks a lot of people are buying homes and renting them to their kids. The kids qualify for housing benefit and therefore the government is in effect buying a home for them. I have no idea if this is true or not but it is the only logical explaination that I have heard. As far as I am concerned there is no way that a family with 1.5 jobs which bring in no more than 40k a year plus two children can afford a 500k house. If anyone is able to do it please do share!

[Goodwordguide]

But, (and this is a big but of course), assuming you have kept your job, then you may have more disposable income - many products eg, cars, holidays, supermarket deals, get cheaper in a recession. Mortgage rates are ridiculously low at the moment.

People have very different spending priorities as well. Our car is ancient (and mouldy!), we hardly ever use it so practically no petrol costs, and our holidays usually consist of camping, we don't have Sky etc but I spend quite a lot on food and extra-curricular stuff for the children.

I don't know how younger people afford to buy a house though, especially in London - 1 bed flats in our area started at £250,000

[thefirstmrsrochester]

My best friend works part time, is a lone parent (her ex says he can afford £0 in support for their 3 dc) and makes what she has stretch amazingly. Her dc have laptops, ipads, expensive footie strips, swankly clothes, concert tickets & holidays.

She doesnt waste a thing foodwise, she shops around, researches every single thing she buys to see if there is a cost effective option, she enters (and wins startlingly often) radio phone-in competitions and the like. Family passes to expensive attractions, 2 x bikes, a huge TV, vouchers for a holiday and other thing (she donated an xbox she won to school to raffle as her ds already had one).

She worries about money all the time, counts every penny, cries about it to me some times. But as far as outward appearances go, her dc have everything and more.

Others will be like her, others will use credit, others will have the disposable income, others will work all the hours god sends to make ends meet.