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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Cost of living crisis: are you feeling it yet?

218 replies

whatthejuice · 29/07/2022 15:50

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....

OP posts:
bollygu · 29/07/2022 20:36

@MintLampShade please don't let other posters make you feel like that. People of that ilk are greedy & self serving but can't acknowledge it so they blame others for not making the right choices.

bollygu · 29/07/2022 20:38

should say "right" choices.

GlitteryGreen · 29/07/2022 20:38

Yes definitely noticing it here.

We are in an electric-only one bed flat, and our latest bills have doubled. We used to pay about £50pcm during the summer and then £100ish during the months we used heating, whereas the most recent bills have been £100pcm for months with no heating used at all. Dreading the winter as our flat is cold but we're expecting a baby so will need to keep it warmer than we usually would. Our supplier went bust so we were moved to British Gas and now can't get onto a fixed deal because nowhere is offering them, so we are totally at the mercy of the increase in October.

Petrol is also having a big impact as DP drives a long way every other weekend - spend on that has gone up over £100 a month.

Nothappyatwork · 29/07/2022 20:43

Honestly no but i do acknowledge a bloody great payrise has cushioned me, i still live like i earn buttons but am not.
I waste a lot less food these days, we still eat out but thats cost effective for me.

Holiday was happening no matter what and will be bloody amazing, even if im sat in the dark warmed by a candle come December the photos will revive my spirits.

willithappen · 29/07/2022 20:49

Yes massively. Having to cut maternity leave short and return to work full time (not my initial plan) to even have a chance at coping through this without going into even more debt

DdraigGoch · 29/07/2022 20:59

TV - Discuss it now and tell them its terrestrial tv only
@Tessasanderson Terrestrial TV will cost £160/year. A streaming service will cost £60-£80/year. So (assuming that you aren't interested in live sport or anything else being broadcast live) you'd be better off with a single streaming service.

Pavlovascat · 29/07/2022 20:59

Rustydress · 29/07/2022 20:14

MsFrenchie doesn’t understand that peoples circumstances can change overnight. Marriages can break up, babies can be born disabled and redundancies can happen. She could develop a long term illness and struggle to work at anytime.

Obvs I hope it never happens to her but it would be great to remember that judgement, arrogance and gossip = lowest form of human intelligence.

Yup.

I made a lot of good choices. And then shit happened that was out of control, as it does in life. And I can’t claw my way back.

The assumption that I need someone else to “pay” for my family is what gets me. Many people who are struggling work full time, many work all the overtime they can.

Bad luck can happen to anyone at anytime.

HintofVintagePink · 29/07/2022 21:34

DH and I are frugal but relatively good earners. The price rise is keeping me awake at night. We are trying to put money aside but it’s hard to know how much.
Food costs are rising. We already shop at Lidl and menu plan.

TooBigForMyBoots · 29/07/2022 21:39

@Tessasanderson, broadband and mobile phones are no longer luxuries. They are needed for school, work, banking, applying for jobs and receiving benefits. I recently had to send my GP photos after a phone appointment.

carefullycourageous · 29/07/2022 21:41

Hrpuffnstuff1 · 29/07/2022 19:41

Who's starving the economy of labour?
The first cohort of ex e bloc migrants has either settled and up-skilled or moved back home and invested.
The new generations from these countries are going to Europe instead.

Dp is a first-wave migrant, she's not cleaning toilets at BMW anymore she is a head buyer, and her friend from the same village is a finance director.
There are plenty of people in this country who need to step up to the plate and make a positive contribution to the economy.

Give over, ask a farmer or hotelier if the UK has the labour it needs. As for people 'stepping up' - a govt minister suggested pensioners would have to do it. What a twat.

Sartre · 29/07/2022 21:44

Yep, we’re on our arses every month now scraping by. Never been in this situation before, certainly not since finishing uni and getting fairly decent careers anyway. Everything has increased, our gas and electric bill almost tripled overnight and the cost of every item we buy has gone up too so even an aldi shop costs a lot. Diesel too, I don’t even know where to start with that cost…

We’ve had to contemplate using a food bank towards the end of the month and if we didn’t have family willing to help out, we’d have had no choice. I say this as a MC graduate couple so god knows how people less fortunate are managing.

whatkatydid2013 · 29/07/2022 21:54

We have noticed it but it’s not been a massive deal. I’d say our shopping has gone up 15-20% and petrol is significantly more vs this time last year. On the other hand I had a 10% pay rise and we finished paying off our student loan so absorbing the extra costs hasn’t been an issue. I think we will have to rejig our finances a bit next year as when our fixed rate comes to an end in April our fuel costs are likely to go up by £300+ per month but it’s just things like not being able to go on a second holiday. For now we are just upping our food bank donations and feeling thankful it’s an irritation rather than a problem for us.

sweetdevil90 · 29/07/2022 22:01

Yup, really feeling the pinch recently tbh. Despite now having a partner and us both working, I'm finding things tighter now than I did 5/6 years ago when I was a single parent on a low income.
Had to do a food shop on Tuesday as we were desperately low on everything, but it was 2 days before payday and I only had £30 left. I explained to my 8 year old that I didn't have much money till I got paid, and he was helping me add up on my calculator the cost as we went round, I got some pitying looks. He then sighed loudly at the till that he hated being poor! Had to explain on the way home that we're lucky compared to a lot of people, we have a roof over our head etc.
I'm dreading November when our fixed rate mortgage is up. We were on 1.44%, can't find anything near that now! Looking at our payments going up by around £150pm.
I'm hoping to pick up a couple of extra shifts a month at work, which will be a logistical nightmare with childcare, but needs must and I'm lucky to have that option.

PinkPupZ · 29/07/2022 22:04

Yep and as a lone parent there is no leeway

HairyToity · 29/07/2022 22:07

We're luckier than most, and no big debts. We were hoping to do some home improvement works, that we haven't saved the money for. Oh well new bathroom can wait.

HairyToity · 29/07/2022 22:08

P. S. Also had to go cheaper on holiday this year. Travelling up to Scotland end of August as self catering is cheaper.

LimboLass · 29/07/2022 22:21

So we’ve had to cut back even more on that. “Luckily” I do intermittent fasting and eat one meal a day, which helps

Sorry for the OT but please just stop this kind of shit. In the long term it will do you no favours.

PaddleBoardingMomma · 29/07/2022 22:32

No, not yet... I mean I'm noticing increases but I'm not feeling them pinch. And that, is purely down to luck, honestly.

We have two homes, neither with a mortgage, which happened via a fluke windfall a few years ago. I am fortunate enough to stay at home with our two children, so no childcare costs.

DH is self employed and works perhaps 3-4 days a week, the rest of the time he's home to help out with the kids or household stuff.

Had this happened just 2 or 3 years ago, we would have been utterly f*cked to be frank. We were renting in an expensive area, both working 40-50 hour weeks and only had one child, who's childcare was upwards of £1200 a month alone. We were budgeted to the penny every month and scraped by.

The increases I'm seeing now would have crippled us not that long ago, I can't fathom what we would have done! That fact is terrifying, and not at all lost on me now that we are comfortable.

And I reiterate, for us it was pure luck, that's it. I feel very very sad reading comments here that people are feeling like they're letting their kids down or they're not doing something right. It's nonsense, this is a huge situation out of your control. It could effect any of us, through no fault of our own, and in my case, not effect us... again through nothing I've consciously done!

springisaroundthecorner · 29/07/2022 22:44

No. I read our meters yesterday. The electric cost last month was £70. Gas was £24.
Electric shower is on 3 times a day. We have 3 fans that have been on most of the day and night. Plus usual multitude of electrical gadgets. .
The £150 council tax rebate went straight onto our energy account, so we are in credit

Yabado · 29/07/2022 23:09

No it’s not affected us and it realistically it won’t

no mortgage / childcare above average earnings for both of us and no debt and plenty of savings

but I can see the rises in food especially in takeaways / meals out

We have gas and electric and we have always had pre payment meters and although they have gone up a bit it’s nothing like what people have been posting on here

DdraigGoch · 29/07/2022 23:50

But our electricity standing charge is now 54p per day. Which is a huge increase than what we’re used to!
Ouch! Octopus charge me 21p/day for the standing charge. The Agile unit rate is persistently high at the moment so I suppose that if they don't get you one way, they'll get you another. I just wish that the wind would pick up so generation would return to full capacity.

Tessasanderson · 29/07/2022 23:51

DdraigGoch · 29/07/2022 20:59

TV - Discuss it now and tell them its terrestrial tv only
@Tessasanderson Terrestrial TV will cost £160/year. A streaming service will cost £60-£80/year. So (assuming that you aren't interested in live sport or anything else being broadcast live) you'd be better off with a single streaming service.

As long as you can still afford to pay for your broadband every month…..if it’s a choice of food/heat/tv…….

Tessasanderson · 29/07/2022 23:53

TooBigForMyBoots · 29/07/2022 21:39

@Tessasanderson, broadband and mobile phones are no longer luxuries. They are needed for school, work, banking, applying for jobs and receiving benefits. I recently had to send my GP photos after a phone appointment.

They are luxuries in comparison to feeding your family or keeping them warm in the winter

SheeplessAndCounting · 30/07/2022 00:06

DdraigGoch · 29/07/2022 23:50

But our electricity standing charge is now 54p per day. Which is a huge increase than what we’re used to!
Ouch! Octopus charge me 21p/day for the standing charge. The Agile unit rate is persistently high at the moment so I suppose that if they don't get you one way, they'll get you another. I just wish that the wind would pick up so generation would return to full capacity.

But that's ~£16.50 per month if my mental maths is still viable. So a tiny, tiny proportion of the bills if the average bill is going to be £320 per month or so. The standing charge is a distraction. The unit charge is what will matter for 95% of households.

carefullycourageous · 30/07/2022 07:00

Tessasanderson · 29/07/2022 23:53

They are luxuries in comparison to feeding your family or keeping them warm in the winter

They are not luxuries at all. They may be less essential for physical survival but they are not luxuries. It is awful how many families can't afford the normal things to engage in normal life.

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