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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think that financially, Covid hasn't changed much for many people.

299 replies

blueblueblue101 · 21/08/2020 10:23

I keep hearing that we are in a recession that will be the longest and deepest in history. Yet when I look around, no one seems to be financially hit. Plenty of people going out for their meal out to help out. People still able to afford holidays. No one around me has been made redundant and no one I know seems to be remotely concerned about what the future holds in regards to finances Meanwhile, I am eaten up with worry that we'll lose our jobs our home etc.

OP posts:
TryAnotherNickname · 21/08/2020 11:50

Taking @GabsAlot’s example - no venies being open since March means: venue staff including cleaners and security and Marshalls having no work at all. Freelance musicians have not been able to play and don’t earn on other sources. The catering concessions haven’t been open so no drinks orders or food wholesaler business which goes back to supply / demand and lower pay for the producers; the venue has asked its landlord for a rent reduction or rent holiday which may or may not be granted and may or may not leave the landlord in arrears with its mortgage. Repairs haven’t been carried out to the building (I know that’s the case for the Donmar and some w end theatres) so trsladesmen are lower on work (maybe that means they put off buying a van for a year but also they cut down on their outgoings). It’s a long list of people with less money to spend in their local shop / Zara online / their mortgage. That means lower takings for shops and where do you think that leads us? Do you actually understand that, op?

beguilingeyes · 21/08/2020 11:51

I think the worst is yet to come. The effects of the furlough scheme ending and the possibility of a no-deal Brexit on the horizon (will make the March food shortages look like childs-play) will be devastating.

I work on the outskirts of the City Of London. It's a ghost town. All those white-collar workers working from home means that all the hundreds of sandwich places, bars and restaurants are doomed.

Personally speaking I'm probably a bit better off than usual, simply because we're not going out/going on holiday but a lot of my friends are musicians and are earning _nothing I;m really worried about them as I think that gigs are a really long way off.

Rafflesway · 21/08/2020 11:51

DH and I are fine as we are mortgage free, have good pensions/savings and took early retirement a few years ago.

Had this happened 20 years ago we would have been well and truly shafted. ☹️ Both worked in industries which have been completely decimated by the lockdown etc. 😡

I thank God every day we are in the position we are but feel physically sick for those suffering the devastating effects. Been there/done that and know well the sickening, sleepless worrying involved. 😢

HaveYouSeenMyFriendKimberley · 21/08/2020 11:52

I read that during the Great Depression in the US a majority still had jobs. Many people do / will just carry on. The issue is the substantial minority in trouble.

SerenityNowwwww · 21/08/2020 11:53

I know people who have lost jobs. Not in the ‘service’ industries but office jobs.

Silvercatowner · 21/08/2020 11:53

This reply has been deleted

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KoalasandRabbit · 21/08/2020 11:53

Covid has changed this adversely financially for everyone we know in the private and self-employed sectors, its only the public sector ones who have kept their incomes.

Worst hit by far are the self-employed - I've not been able to work for 6 months as SN child and no school for them but they need 1 to 1. Others run businesses that have been forced to close for months. Husband works in private sector - he's been busier than ever as lots of staff furloughed and they are making redundancies, just first 50 at the moment and he is safe but lots of the admin / support staff have lost jobs as well as all from their catering company.

KoalasandRabbit · 21/08/2020 11:56

We also lost £1600 on having to cancel this year's holiday abroad but insurance won't cover it as FCO says can travel even though your not allowed in. First time in my life I've lost money on holiday plans.

LightAsTheBreeze · 21/08/2020 12:00

It’s a bit early to say things haven’t changed as people are still on mortgage holidays, furlough and stuff like that, NDN was made redundant though from an office job a couple of weeks ago and another one is on short time on furlough.

blueblueblue2020 · 21/08/2020 12:00

I feel I didn't explain myself well at all. I didn't say that we've not been affected, both of our jobs are at risk as we've both been furloughed hence why I said I feel eaten up with worry. This post came from a place of bitterness. Within my social circle, which granted isn't huge, everything seems to be hunky-dory. Two friends were furloughed (which they enjoyed) but both are now back at work. One is now talking about having her kitchen done. I see people eating out and on the surface, they seem carefree. Meanwhile, I am worried to death that we are very likely to both face redundancy in the coming month. In my social circle, yes, everything seems to be going amazingly well for people - still shopping at Waitrose and going out for meals. It's a bitter pill to swallow when you 'seem' to be the only one. Of course, I see the businesses closing. But surely there must be someone else out there whose life is slowly falling apart while your friends and family seem to be absolutely fine as per bloody usual. I'm fucking sick of it. We've already lived through the 2007/8 recession, I was a child of the 80's watching my parents clinging onto our home by the skin of their teeth.I'm battling with two Chronic illnesses. But no, as above, I am not particularly bright. I am so fucking done with this world and the people so quick to jump in and attack.

BreconBeBuggered · 21/08/2020 12:00

What's the point of this kind of 'I'm alright Jack' kind of post? Most people aren't affected by tons of things. Doesn't mean they don't exist, or won't affect you in the future.

OrangeBlossomsinthesun · 21/08/2020 12:01

If your job has not been affected and you're still earning then you might well be saving money by not going out and so on.
But anyone in an industry affected, like hospitality, music, tourism, especially if self employed has been well and truly fucked.
My earnings have dropped 50%. Where I live (not the UK) there is NO help.

MonkeyToesOfDoom · 21/08/2020 12:01

@Silvercatowner

This has to rate as the most ignorant, complacent and stupid OP I have ever read on Mumsnet. It's scary that we have a democracy when people such as the OP exist.
Sadly it happens frequently on MN. Some people here live in a seemingly small and protected bubble with no idea what goes on outside of it. The thought that some people have less than £1k a month to live on baffles them, their car and mobile probably cost that a month.
NotMeNoNo · 21/08/2020 12:01

DH's successful small events business may well not survive. I've narrowly missed redundancy. We will never be the same and are managing precariously on one salary.

blueblueblue2020 · 21/08/2020 12:01

@Silvercatowner Cheers for that. May as well just top myself eh?

DontDribbleOnTheCarpet · 21/08/2020 12:02

My business had increased its turnover by 400%. My husband is a pensioner so no change there. Son works in a bakery so all fine.

However, we all have eyes and we all know that we are the exception rather than the rule. Driving instructors, hotels, pubs, cafés, gyms and so many others have been devastated. All it takes is a little thought to see that everything is not fine and there is likely to be a huge impact on many, many people. It must be heart-breaking to lose your livelihood and then see people like you claiming that there just isn't a problem and it's all stress about nothing.

NoSquirrels · 21/08/2020 12:03

OP, report your thread and get it pulled. If you start again with your latest post people will be more understanding. Flowers

Yoloyohol · 21/08/2020 12:03

I'm sorry you're feeling worried, but you're right to be, the knock on at social levels 'beneath you' will eventually damage you too, one way or another. Seriously count your blessings and try and think a bit.

Here things are already getting beyond desperate for many of us. Some of us are still mourning lost friends and relatives, trying to pay of very unexpected funeral costs, with other bills becoming debts and our industries remain completely shut, and we can't get work, and have had either very little or no help.

Because of the industries we're in, many people we know are without any work or assistance.
Every member of this family has been thrown out of work simultaneously. We normally help each other out automatically, but how do we do that now?

The benefits system apparently wont help with rent, CT, or bills, for adult children sharing homes, even in their 40's. They're told they don't legally have to pay their way, so don't pay, because we wont help you.

Doorstep lenders are normally regarded as for people on benefits with dodgy credit and sudden needs, but there's suddenly a whole new raft of customers turning to them (including me) because they're all that's affordable and available anymore.
That in turn is likely to fund the drug trade, and the end users are likely to turn to crime to fund their use, but there's little we can do about it even though we know that's how it works.

'Eat out to help out' is just another thing we can't do that we know we'll be having to pay for everyone else doing, later. Holidays are something we'll be unlikely to look at for years now.

One dc has actually been getting regular interviews and being told they're very employable and have come in as official second choice a couple of times but lost out to people with decade plus experience now taking graduate entry level jobs.

We're really scared of what will happen in October.

I'm trying to hold us all together on almost nothing and the future, especially tbh for me, isn't looking ok.

blueblueblue2020 · 21/08/2020 12:03

@MonkeyToesOfDoom Another one quick to jump in and make assumptions. Didn't you read the part where I said I am terrified of losing my job? Of course, it's fucking well impacting me.

NoSquirrels · 21/08/2020 12:05

[quote blueblueblue2020]@MonkeyToesOfDoom Another one quick to jump in and make assumptions. Didn't you read the part where I said I am terrified of losing my job? Of course, it's fucking well impacting me.[/quote]
Your latest posts are t showing you up as the OP, bluebkueblue. Report your thread and start again, because this thread won’t get better. Do t torture yourself.

Bekksy · 21/08/2020 12:05

I work in London. People have discovered that they can work from home and organisations will be questioning if they can save money by downsizing office space in the city. Some have already gone to full remote. This will seriously impact the businesses in London that support these businesses. Be it catering firms, the thousands of coffee shops/lunch spots, the pubs that were always bustling after work, the plant guys that keep the plants watered in these buildings, the rail and tube networks. Lunch used to be a a social event.. Now you grab toast/sandwiches/leftovers in the kitchen.

We can hope that this will be a good thing long term amd we can decentralise and create jobs outside of the cities but I think a lot of people are going to lose their jobs.

LightAsTheBreeze · 21/08/2020 12:06

OP, it looks like you have namechanged slightly so it’s difficult to see when you post.

lifesalongsong · 21/08/2020 12:06

@Silvercatowner

This has to rate as the most ignorant, complacent and stupid OP I have ever read on Mumsnet. It's scary that we have a democracy when people such as the OP exist.
Really? I can only conclude you haven't read many threads.

Nowhere does the OP say she think no one has been hard hit, she's reporting her lived experience, mine is fairly similar, I know one person who is under threat of compulsory redndancy, I know others who have been happy to accept voluntary, I know one self employed person whose business is temporarily on hold but on the whole my friends work in jobs that aren't long term affected - food retail, teachers, doctors, factories, offices that haven't had to close.

There's no doubt at all that many people haven't been affected, the logical opposite isn't that no one has ffs

Nosuchluck · 21/08/2020 12:07

We’re about £1000 a month better off as have no commuting costs, work lunches out etc plus have saved about 14k from cancelled holidays. However pension pots are down about 150k.

Yoloyohol · 21/08/2020 12:07

I've just read your later post. Re read what you first wrote as an opening post, and you'll see why you got jumped on. It comes over as I don't believe there's an issue, though I'm worried.

From your second post that wasn't what you were trying to say.