Cost of living crisis: are you feeling it yet?

[whatthejuice]

Posting here for traffic...
Have you felt the cost of living crisis yet? Has your disposable income taken a nose dive?
I've noticed a massive increase in our food bills so that's the main difference at the moment and we probably have £150-£200 less disposable income per month as a result. I'm trying to save a separate money pot for help towards the heating bills this winter - but worried it won't be anywhere near enough to eat up the increase.
It all feels a bit terrifying at the moment, especially after I read the German government in local towns are bringing in energy saving measures already like switching lights off etc....

Unlike you though I’m not someone trying to make foreigners the scapegoat.

There's that brilliant critical thinking in action again!

@carefullycourageous don't bring logic into it! 😆

Agree, 10% inflation on food does not mean that one household's weekly food shop will have gone up by 10%, it depends on what you buy. Many individual items have gone up 20% or more.

So gutting for you. We just have to hope there are brighter, easier days in the future

We aren't doing too badly at the moment, we fixed on a low mortgage rate in January and we are still on a fixed energy bill for another year. Good has increased, but we've learnt to be a bit more savvy and offset it a bit. But, the biggest thing is that my DH has had a better job since November which has helped to keep up the amount of disposable income we have. Next year could be different though!

We also don't really use our car much!

Not yet, we have a fair income each and our mortgage isn’t excessive. We are an electric- only household and Last year we were able to put some of our savings into as many solar panels and a battery storage system as we could afford. I also recently sold my diesel chugger 4x4 on receipt of a hybrid car Im leasing. so Ive been charging the car off the solar and battery. Octopus overnight cheap charging tariff charges the battery and car. The plan was to live a little more sustainably and we knew the solar would save us money in the long term but we had no idea what a good decision it was going to turn out to be. Concerns are if octopus drops the cheap overnight tariff when our fix ends in the spring, and if mortgage rates go up substantially and stay up we may be in bother, but not due to remortgage til 2024. By then we’ll have hopefully had a couple of payrises , even if below inflation. Childcare expenses
will be over by then too so maybe we’ll swap childcare expense for a higher mortgage.

I assume @bollygu, you were referring to the foreign investors who have bought up swathes of London property only to leave it standing empty? Or at least that’s my understanding of what you said. Do correct me if I’m wrong.

Sounds like you've been super sensible.
We'll be over the early years childcare costs in 2024 too. Bring it on! 🤣

Going full time as of September. I’ll be warmer in the office……

I lost my job due to Covid and had to claim contribution-based JSA for 4 months as it formed part of my notice pay in lieu. It probably looked like I'd had a 2 year old I couldn't afford for a while there. Perhaps I should have tried stuffing him back up my birth canal or dropped him at Bath Cats and Dogs Home.

Anyway... we are ok so far. We paid the ERC to fix the mortgage for 10 years at 2%, DH changed jobs, I qualified at work, 30 hour funding kicked in in January. Without all those things I expect we'd be rapidly depleting anything we have saved.

@daisychain01 Im really confused how a shop of staple foods (bread, milk, cereal etc?) has doubled. Im a supermarket picker for online shopping and where I work this isn't the case.

We're not doing too badly. We have a modest mortgage so although I've noticed bills going up, we have enough disposable income to pay them without a huge impact on our standard of living. I'm still worried about what will happen later this year. We might have to seriously think about what we're spending but more worryingly, people who are already struggling are going to be stuffed. I earn 28k a year, DH earns 80k a year, we have no children. How the hell are people on minimum or even living wage going to manage?

@Blossomtoes yes

This is me , thankfull to be financially secure because I'm older now , this scenario in my younger years would have been difficult even with a good salary

I suppose one thing that we maybe might have done but definitely won't do now is move to a detached house from a three-storey townhouse. We've only 12ish years left to pay this off. With the rates, I cannot face adding another £200k onto what we owe in our late 30s.

I'm noticing the price increases but not feeling it yet.
I live alone in a council house (two bed) I don't have much money but I don't drive, drink, don't own a dishwasher, don't smoke or go anywhere that costs money (just a bus fare now and again)
I buy reduced food where I can and freeze it.
My broadband is free I just pay the phone rental, pay bedroom tax and have no tv subs.
I do okay, for now. But I have nothing to cut down on when the winter comes.

The people I feel for is the young ones with babies to feed and keep warm. We hear so much about keeping the elderly warm and how many of them die of the cold each year but what about all these babies? And kids with medical conditions? They're the ones that's going to really suffer.

It obviously depends on what you buy but some things have gone up a lot more than 10%

@chilliesandspices

Me and my husband are on low wages and to be honest coping just fine. 3 kids …. Council house rent, small economic cars but schools and work within walking distance. Really not worried at all. Plenty of disposable so I can only presume our outgoings are already low in comparison to others.

We know other families just like us and they’re not overly concerned.

We are doing ok. Our. Energy is fixed till march next year. We are £300 in credit and paying £70 a month.
My DP works at a supermarket so most of our meat and veg is end of day reduced sticker stuff.
I would absolutely hate to be where l was 15 years ago with 2 teenagers living on benifits. I really don't know how l would have coped.

I think a lot of old people will really suffer @Unforgettablefire. The new energy cap amounts to 50% of the state pension. That doesn’t leave much for council tax, food and everything else.

I agree with this. For low-income pensioners it will be really very tough.

We have a good household income but definitely feeling the pinch. Cutting back on the food shop just to keep it at the same cost. Eating out/takeaway about once every 2 months instead of maybe twice a month.

I think this is my worry. My parents weren't quite low income enough for a council house or benefits or school meals (we were immigrants) but they struggled. Our family of 6 lived in a 3bed terraced Victorian house. The type with a third bedroom that barely fit a single bed. If they had moved here this year I doubt they'd have survived.