To be concerned with the cost of living crisis?

[tontown]

Admittedly I live in a naice area of London so perhaps it's a bit of a bubble. I'm very anxious about the cost of living crisis & if you read the papers lots of comments along the lines of "worst drop in living standards on record" etc. I've been much more cautious with energy usage & am conscious about wasting money & saving what I can but then I look around & see restaurants are packed, house prices keep rising & wonder if I'm being over cautious.

@HMSSophia

It's widening the country's haves and have nots. I have, so it won't really effect me, but I volunteer in a food bank and omg the last few weeks have been increasingly miserable and will only get worse imo. Don't vote Tory is all I can say.

^this

I remember it getting like this in the early 1990s, my mum was a single parent and had mental health issues and struggled to get work.

All we had in the house was flour and porridge oats at times. Used to run out of electricity all the time, sometimes we only had the light of the gas oven in the evenings.

Absolutely and utterly grim as a child.

For that reason alone, the Tories deserve to fuck off. They’ve got enough money, they don’t need power over the have nots as well.

Maybe I'm naive but I thought recessions (not saying we will have one) could impact almost any job, although granted there is huge demand in tech

It wouldn’t impact on all jobs equally. Think - in a recession, people have less disposable income. Less spending on luxuries like eating out, cinemas etc etc. those sorts of businesses will struggle and jobs like that go. A bit like what happened during lockdown - but the reason for not spending was covid, not lack of money.

Well the lockdowns and pyjama days at home had to be paid for somehow. Wonder if the lockdown enthusiasts are feeling good about the disaster they advocated for. All that money printing and ‘stay home, save lives’ will cost far more lives.

@tontown

Experience tells me that once interest rates rise further then there will be a huge impact.

On one hand I thought the BOE would only increase them by another 0.5% as they won't want to do too much economic damage. But I guess if people are still spending & house prices rising they may think we can take more hikes. We have a fixed mortgage with a few more years so I'm very conscious what rates may be like in the future.

Have you considered a high inflation rate is doing a lot of damage?

I'm terrified of this. Barely getting by already.

@sst1234

Well the lockdowns and pyjama days at home had to be paid for somehow. Wonder if the lockdown enthusiasts are feeling good about the disaster they advocated for. All that money printing and ‘stay home, save lives’ will cost far more lives.

What a cuntish thing to say.

I’ll think you’ll find that a) debt levels were high before covid b) Brexit has damaged our economy more than covid did and c) austerity has fucked us over too.

If people weren’t put on furlough they’d have ended up on benefits which would have been worse for the economy.

It wouldn’t impact on all jobs equally

I never said it would...

Have you considered a high inflation rate is doing a lot of damage?

Nope, what's it got to do with a cost of living crisis thread 😆

Am I an upper lower income person? I’ve always had to cut back, can’t afford to save it’s always living month to month but always getting by, albeit with the help of family until I pay them back after I get tax credits or monthly salary. The hike in prices of utilities has scared the shit out of me and worry how I will cope when the prices really hike.

@sst1234

Well the lockdowns and pyjama days at home had to be paid for somehow. Wonder if the lockdown enthusiasts are feeling good about the disaster they advocated for. All that money printing and ‘stay home, save lives’ will cost far more lives.

Nothing to do with lockdown.

Forget the Aussie context, applies to UK, and explains why governments have money when they want to have it:

I’m on my arse already. Feeling rather bleak to be honest and I’m usually the optimistic one.

We should be able to cover the mortgage and bills, but we have already cut out any luxuries so our local takeaway/nail salon/meat box etc spending has already been stopped. I know we were fortunate enough to be able to have that discretionary spending and to be able to tighten our belts without worrying too much about paying bills, but now those companies won't be getting that cash from middle income families like mine, so it is a worrying trickle down affect and many small businesses will probably not survive this crisis. Meanwhile the big energy companies to whom people are being forced to divert larger parts of their income to are raking in billions in profits, and the government couldn't care less as long as their rich donors and their own private companies are thriving.

@tontown

naice dreadful word I can't get past it

I agree but it's a Mumsnet word & very apt.

Ha! I thought it was a typo and people were being mean!

@sst1234

Well the lockdowns and pyjama days at home had to be paid for somehow. Wonder if the lockdown enthusiasts are feeling good about the disaster they advocated for. All that money printing and ‘stay home, save lives’ will cost far more lives.

Absolutely agree. Also they were all about saving the elderly and vulnerable from covid but seemingly it's okay that people will die from illnesses exacerbated by living without sufficient heating or nutrition this winter.

Absolutely agree. Also they were all about saving the elderly and vulnerable from covid but seemingly it's okay that people will die from illnesses exacerbated by living without sufficient heating or nutrition this winter.*

There is nothing that can be done about that. The oil companies and electricity companies have to be allowed to make their profits. Particularly EDF which is owned by the French government, it is especially important that we are all subsidising cheaper electricity in France.

@twominutesmore

It is only just starting. When people start cutting back on the non-essentials, business suffers and jobs are lost. You are wise to be saving and cutting back.

Exactly this. The better-off people who are trying to cut costs will get rid of their cleaner or cut her hours, hoover their car themselves rather than take it to the valeters, take a packed lunch to work rather than going to the local sandwich shop, cancel their gym membership or their children's mandarin lessons.

Which means all the people providing these services or running their businesses have a huge impact on their income.

it's not clear to me that OP is vulnerable.

We aren't all in this together, we aren't all vulnerable to it.

So I can't say if OP is BU or NBU to worry a lot about this issue.

I think it's completely reasonable to be concerned about it. The warnings have been coming for quite a while though but in usual British fashion I think many have had their heads in the sand about it.

Obviously how it effects people is disproportionate.
I have lived both ends surviving on £20 a week and now able to have a small buffer and a mortgage.

There are things which can help, from community larder or surplus food schemes which don't need a referral, likes of freecycle to examining every cost and putting payment plans in place if needed. It still won't save many from making the decision between fuel and food but it will help a bit.

We examined everything a while ago and have cut back already so that we don't have a cost shock and I keep a tight budget on a spreadsheet.

YANBU to be concerned, but as much as it stings, there is a significant number of people who won't really see much day-to-day change.

I know the media (and I include forums like Mumsnet in that) is often full of doom and gloom, but many people have lived their lives with no real impact to their quality (of living) since COVID hit.

As always, many people work in industries that don't really get impacted by recessions as they're "essential industries" and the work will always be there. If you're also fortunate enough to live in a cheap area (in comparison to your income) with no dependents and leftover money each month, it's relatively easy to just cut back on some luxuries and cope just fine.

But whenever those people post on here or on other websites, they get shot down and told they're being insensitive or selfish to speak about their lives.

I wonder just how much people must earn in order to be in a position to send 1 or 2 dc to private school, go on long haul holidays, live in large detachable homes, drive Range Rovers. Surely they are not all in debt

I wonder this too. DH and I are comfortable and are mortgage-free. Yet we often feel like the poor relations. Goodness knows what some people must earn.

At least Rishi knows what a (obscenely rich) women is. Just think about how much worse it would be if the Chancellor was confused about these things.

Well, we both earn OK wages but I'm keeping a close eye on luxuries. I'm buying cheaper moisturiser than my usual. I bought my child clothes for summer last Sunday but those will have to do her until I buy more clothes in September. I'm generally being a bit more mindful. We're going to a gig tonight and I bought some cocktail tins in lidl to bring in in my large handbag. The tins are one euro 49 compared to buying drinks in the venue. Small venue and they won't check bags. We need improvements to our house but I don't want to use our savings to buy new windows, so we'll just sit tight.

it's not clear to me that OP is vulnerable.

We aren't all in this together, we aren't all vulnerable to it.

I'm not vulnerable in that I have a job. However I very much need my job to pay the mortgage & dont have family to rely on. My job is public sector so some security but not 100% safe & no inflation busting pay rise.

So there are others much worse of then me but rising bills do impact me so I don't think i'm unreasonable to be concerned.

In OP's case, being concerned seems to mean being careful with money. There's a lot of merit in being careful with money even when there isn't a cost of living crisis.

Maybe I'm naive but I thought recessions (not saying we will have one) could impact almost any job, although granted there is huge demand in tech.

I'm a supply teacher and have never been busier. Schools are practically fighting over me! Not exactly well-paid, but I can't see the demand going down any time soon. Dh is a teacher too (senior leadership). I'm beginning to try to reduce energy use etc, having never really had to before.