To think the cost of living crisis isn't really a "crisis" for most people?

[buzzheath]

Not meant to be inflammatory at all. I'm well aware of the hardships that some people and families will face. But for the majority of people in the UK, will it really be a "crisis"? Isn't around half of the population middle class?

New head of the department. The old one left to become the headteacher of a different school

I think it’s too soon to say right now, but you can’t assume because half the country are “middle class” whatever that even means, they won’t be affected. It’s not about class or even salary, it’s about disposable income, some people earning 100k have extremely high outgoings (expensive mortgages, childcare, loans etc) and have very little disposable income, so they will be affected despite their high salaries, whereas other people earning 20k might have very healthy disposable incomes because their mortgages are paid off and they have no debt and childcare to pay.

NHS worker here. No savings- can't afford to! In a rental house that we already had to offer 25% more than it was marketed at to be able to secure it- if the landlord hikes the rent we're buggered. Car is approximately 20 years old so when the next expensive bill comes we'll probably have to get rid- have stopped using it for everything but absolute essential travel. Haven't had a holiday in years. Last went abroad in 2015. Buy secondhand where I can and cheap if new. Luckily we're veggie so whilst the food bill has gone up we're able to accommodate it so far. Childcare for three kids is a bottomless income money pit and is only getting more expensive. For reasons only known to my lizard brain I decided to fix my energy tariff on a more expensive but longer fix last year until 11/23. Once that fix is gone I genuinely have no idea how we will pay £400pcm for gas and electricity. We simply don't have the money for it.

I think a lot of people are in the same boat as me. Just about managing now but once one of those big expenses come along/ price hike then we'll go under.

But surely you would only see it as 'a bit annoying' if you don't care about others? Obviously many will be fine personally but doesn't stop them worrying for others or seeing it as a crisis because of the effect on the vulnerable.

I don't think I've grasped how big my gas bill will be from October.

Petrol prices are dropping a bit though.

It is concerning about how things might look in 6-12 months. The cost of everything has gone up, inflation is a runaway train at the moment. Worry about the likes of my Mum who has a small mortgage, modest income, not entitled to any help but still supporting my younger siblings, she takes token board from them but she was already cutting it fine before this crisis.

On the other hand, my friend has been struggling, said she had £250 to last 3 weeks, I gave her cash for fuel because she was stuck. She went on a big night out. About a week later she had a child benefit payment, blew it on new clothes, then applied for food vouchers, got them, then she mentioned how she was going to apply for vouchers for gas and electric (I didn’t even know they existed), the day after mentioning this she took her son to a restaurant for a nice meal. Yes she is struggling and I must sound so heartless because everyone is entitled to time out but in some cases (NOT ALL) priorities and money management can also cause problems.

Are you the poster who I challenged about food banks?

As for advice, I'm not going going to tell adults how to cook or what clothes to buy or how to operate a room stat.
We've just kitted one of ours with a branded full uniform for £45. Adult sizes.
Coats etc come from Vinted, we resell them when they grow out of the clothes.
We spend on average £60 a week on food from Aldi, all scratch meals.
We both work full-time.

Because mumsnet is full of the professionally offended?

Well set it out for people then, how much would a uniform consisting of the items the poster said, cost, for 3 nearly adult sized kids?

DH and I are on fairly decent wages (I’m NHS band 7, he’s self employed and very busy). We have two small children. We are struggling tbh. Fuel in particular is a nightmare but groceries have gone up a huge amount. We’re just about paying all the bills etc. but if something breaks/needs replacing etc. we’ll be fucked.

This thread is not going to age well.

Yeah, what the actual fuck?

How condescending and unpleasant can you be?

Hey OP, mumsnet is full of miserable individuals, I mean look at the titles of all the threads in trend. Anyone who gets offended and insults you for not being caring, simply scroll past haha. Even I think most people will not be affected and a minority of those struggling shouldn’t be in the spotlight. After all, we all have our own shitty little problems to focus on.

a minority of those struggling shouldn't be in the spotlight

Did I really just read that?

Many middle class people have high debt (mortgage, car loan, credit card) , and rely on their job to pay the bills. Not many payrates are inflation proofed.

If their employer or business goes bust they're in a s much of a mess as anyother unemployed person with kids to feed and bills to pay.

Even I think most people will not be affected

Even you?

We've just kitted one of ours with a branded full uniform for £45

Good for you. My DS1s PE kit alone cost £48
So go on. Tell me how I can possibly make it cheaper when I don't set the prices of these things.

I’m on a massive income but more so have a very good income to outgoings ratio.
That’s what it is all about, living within your means. If people spend to the end of their salary, even on high salaries then they will struggle with things increase. Obviously this can be harder to ride on a low income to begin with but plenty of people on big incomes will struggle because they overspend.

Are school uniforms even legally in forcible in state schools, I’m 99% sure I read somewhere that they are not. People need to take a stand against the shit if somebody told me that I needed to replace a perfectly good school uniform because the heads decided to change the colour I will be asking for a copy of the sustainability policy and (un) politely telling them to shove it up their arse.

if you can’t afford embroidered socks with the school logo on them they simply just gonna have to go without them they are nobody is going to die.