Is spending to help the economy not tank on your mind d?

[EinsteinaGogo]

Hi all,

We had people round for a bbq last night - really, really nice to see people properly again.

We got to talking about how we've been very lucky to work from home, saved on commuting costs, Prets lunches and coffees etc, and I talked about how I've been glad to stop spending on frivolous things and would try and continue to save where possible.

I was kind of a lone voice, as the general perspective was that (if you could afford to) you should be pumping your cash back into the economy right now. Use it or lose it.

Also started talking about pension schemes etc., and how we need to spend to ensure investments don't crash.

Do you have the economy on your mind too, and have a 'spend to support it' mindset?

I'm more scared about being laid off in future so want to build as much buffer as possible... am I in the minority?

@LaurieMarlow & @googlyf 👍🏻

Somewhat. My household income hasn't been affected much and we spent less during lockdown: it surprised me how much less actually, as we already didn't have things like high commuting costs, coffees and buying lunch at work, car loan etc.

We have saved a good chunk of that money but have also tried to support local businesses, partially because the smaller shops and markets felt safer than supermarkets but also because we know they need support to keep going. We were ok with spending more to do that and plan to continue, because I think they need my support more than supermarkets and Amazon (didn't use the latter anyway) who've increased profits during this.

I'm not going to deliberately be like ooh, how can I spunk an extra £400 this month, but I won't feel any guilt about doing it if it's something I want and it will help keep someone in a job.

It is on my mind. We're not buying things we don't want but we're definitely still buying things, we've also continued to pay our cleaner.

We're still saving as we're not paying any train costs, no nursery fees (although I've offered to donate the saved fees to their equipment fund), no meals or nights out (we have had some takeaways though).

Oh and we saved several thousand by not going on our holiday. We've booked a couple of things in the uk instead

@Pumpertrumper I don’t think you need to worry about the big corporations. Tesco can ride this storm out pretty easily

Also my concern is what the economy will look like in 6 months time. Furlough hasn't ended & If thousands continue to wfh or increase their wfh capacity this will have a big impact.

We can't afford to. DH's wage went down to 80% of his usual but none of our outgoings reduced and our landlord expected full rent. We are going to be very careful now in case there is another lockdown. I think many others will be doing the same.

Also, meant to add we haven't saved anything. DH always walked to work so no commute costs and his lunch was leftovers of the previous evening meal. We have never bought takeaway coffee etc.

@ssd
I wouldn’t rather, nobody would ‘rather’ go on UC but the squeeze middle has been a big thing since long before CV. My DH already loses a high portion of his income to student loans and professional yearly fees. Neither of which gives us a tax break, so he gets the equivalent of £10k less salary than he should on paper. We are tied to an expensive area and moved house weeks before CV hit so would now be in substantial negative equality to move house. I would be very shocked if anyone paid what we’d paid for this house in the current climate. So moving isn’t even an option.

We get no help, not even child benefit (which we would if student loan...etc deductions were taken into account. We couldn’t pay our mortgage or afford to live at all if income tax were raised substantially. Also DH’s crazy long hours and shift Rotas impact my ability to work (We have a baby) so no if income tax were raised substantially we’d be better off financially for DH to drastically reduce his hours, me increase mine and claim every top up available via UC. I’ve spent a good amount of time on ‘entitled to’ figuring this all out.

Also, our situation is not uncommon, my mums group on WhatsApp of other seemingly very ‘middle class’ earners are saying the exact same. It’s not that we want to go on UC it’s that many young families with one ‘high earner’ will be unable to afford life after income tax hikes.

@Gulabjamoon

have you been back to your local high street since CV hit? I have, lots of big stores gone. Debenhams, oasis, Cath kidston...just to name a few. Of course supermarkets will survive. They never shut!

Shops will need all the luck in the world if they bring this in.

.........................sorry this

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/3951678-Face-masks-for-shopping

We're not spending at all other than necessities but we're usually quite frugal anyway.

We're in the saving for the uncertainty camp, once we have our emergency fund then we are planning to funnel all we can to the mortgage. We are financially cautious after previous redundancies, it took years to recover from that.

Im not doing ANY Christmas shopping if its still like this in a few months time. It will be too stressful.

I am out of work so won't be spending any thing I don't have to for a while.

No because I literally just started earning again and DH isn't working at the moment so there is nothing spare. Paying the mortgage and eating is all we can afford.

I haven’t really saved anything, anything I’ve had extra due to lockdown has gone on paying off debt instead.

I'm not spending any differently to before the lockdown apart from reduced children's activities, and the income is about the same, minus a drop in interest rates on saving and investments 😞 but I wouldn't spend any differently to how I would anyway. I'm sure the tax man will come and sort it all out later though - not looking forward to the next budget!

We are making an effort to spend but locally where possible. We are lucky to have saved during this period and now things are opening up we want to try to support our local economy as much as possible.

We are spending, keen to support both local companies and national ones.

Bought new household furniture from a local company, takeaway lunch from independent tea rooms and haircuts for the kids this weekend. Every little helps

Will start spending soon, mostly on trades - big house renovations, professional garden redesign etc
Prioritising made in the UK, even if it costs a lot more.

No I'm not spending. Nobody tells me what to do with my own money!

I was on maternity leave when lockdown started, went into WFH part time and now not paying childcare So saving £400 a month roughly from that Plus OH is working as normal. We get a takeout a few times a month And got some nice bits for the garden but other than that we are saving a lot more that we normally would. No extra clothes we don’t need, popping into cafes, restaurant meals for lunch. Will spend as needed but not for the sake of it like we were.

We are luckier than most financially. We've just come on holiday to a UK location where we can safely social distance and that desperately needs the tourists here spending. I'm trying to spend wherever we can - treats for the kids, tourist clothes and souvenirs, trips & tickets, meals out etc. I love this place & it's people and I want them to be able to earn the living they deserve