What cost of living crisis?

[pagopago]

Beauty salons mega busy and some with waiting lists of a month or two.

People piling trollies high in supermarkets, carrying bags of shopping in shopping centres

Airports and flights busier than ever.

Tradesmen e.g. plumbers, painters/decorators, carpet fitters booked well into next year.

Is this people burying their heads in the sand? Or making the most of things while they can still afford to?

Right now it doesn't really feel like there is a shitstorm approaching.

If you read any newspaper or news site you will already be reading about small businesses closing due to demand dropping off a cliff and massively higher costs- and that's after just about coming though the last two years.

Priorities isn't it? I no longer listen to people complaining about the cost of food and energy bills when they refuse to stop driving their fancy cars, give up beauty treatments, expensive holidays, subscription services etc. Especially when we have a very good public transport system, car clubs, etc

The usual breadsticks I buy up from 1.05 last week to 1.32 today

We're comfortably off, have no mortgage and can wear the energy increases. I think there's a proportion of society in this position.

I'm nonetheless terrified for the many people who cannot.

We should be able to absorb the rising future costs ok, touch wood. But now I very much have the feeling of "make hay while the sun shines".

My DC are teens and only have a handful of summers left at home. They have missed out on so many things during the pandemic that I just feel like I want to enjoy the here and now and spend money.

The more posts I read here only increases my feelings of wanting to enjoy life whilst it's sunny, the money is there, we're healthy and things are ok. It feels like we're on the precipice of the end of things as we know it. I appreciate a lot of people don't have the option of one last carefree summer though.

@GelatoQueen I do not have a fancy car, but we do have one car. I would love to be part of a car club. But whenever I have looked into it it does not make sense. There are club cars where I live, but not many. The nearest is parked a mile away. I use my car a lot to take the DCs places, and do errands quickly. There is no point if I have to walk a mile there and back to the car after making sure to book it in advance. If I was somewhere where cars were more available I would use a car club.

Honestly, hella lot of places don't have great or even affordable (if you need to take a train which often doesn't even arrive) public transport. Lots of around us are reliant on their cars to get to work. Plus lots of small businesses need a car for supplies anyway.

Just cancel netflix doesn't particularly work either when people are on a tenner a month one.

Standard benefits are £250pm
Energy bills set to be an avg of £6-700 a month
you don’t see the issue there,

Why can't they complain.

Energy bills are too high whether you can afford it or not.
Perhaps ppl who can afford it resent spending all their money on a bill

Even when energy bills reach £600 or £700 per month? I think the vast majority of middle earners will struggle at that point.

I think it's a lot of whistling in the dark by people.

If you ignore it, it's not real.

Look, and I'm sorry to get political, but our population is a bit thick. There are still people that defend and support this Conservative party, and swear that Brexit is a still a good idea.

It doesn't surprise me that people are burying their heads in the sand or simply don't understand what is going to happen.

They will though, when they haven't got any money and are relying on loans and credit cards that they won't be able to afford to pay back.

@antelopevalley yeah I have an old car too but am fed up of listening to a number of school mums / friends who are forever pleading poverty but live in households where they have minimum 2 cars all top of the range, but are still first in the queue for secondhand school uniform (when I know there are some families are really struggling and could do with the secondhand uniform)

@GelatoQueen I know the type you mean! I have no time for them either.

I agree. There are too many people who manage to justify to themselves that they always need a brand new leased BMW every 3 years "because they need a reliable car for work". Total hogwash. The average car lasts 14 years and if they're well looked after, maintained and driven properly, there's no reason why a 5-10 year old car wouldn't be just as reliable!

I read something a while ago about women tending to keep going for beauty treatments even if they are struggling to afford it - they go less often & maybe start dyeing hair at home but they do not stop completely in most circumstances.

Local small market town where I used to live now has fourteen hairdressers / beauty salons and six charity shops around the marketplace, with very little else.

I work in a well known shop selling items that are absolutely essential and at the other end of the scale ones that are nice but in no way essential. Our takings haven't returned to pre-lockdown levels despite the fact we're taking on online orders in our store. Every day we track what we've taken and the takings on the same day last year - every day in August our takings were down between 1.6% and 10.8%. Store looks busy, but more and more so people are asking for our own brands, saying the total is too much and they want to put things back.

Our essential items won't keep us in a job, so I'm grateful there are people out there who have the funds to buy the other items and I don't bebrudge them one bit.

And the iPhone 13 when they have the iPhone 12 ...whereas I bought a refurb iPhone last year when my 6 year old phone stopped working (some people used to laugh at my phone but I didn't care). I suppose I always try be mindful of environmental issues and be sustainable and not buy things for the sake of it (which helps when you are budgeting)

Yes, I think so. A lot of people saved a lot of money over the pandemic, a lot of people had a lot of holidays cancelled and rebooked for this year, a lot of people booked work on their homes and have had to wait months or longer to get workmen in to do it. Plus, the bill and interest rate rises haven't hit yet, no one has their heating on in August, etc. I think by January things will be very different for a lot of people and the economy at large.

Similar for me too. I am on an old rate energy fix until October 2023 so will avoid this winters hike. My mortgage rate I fixed on a good deal a few months ago for 5 years. I am a senior nurse (single Mum) and have increased my hours to full time and do over time so I am now better off than I have been for years. I am not a big spender, I run an old car, never visit beauty salons anyway. I am trying to save what I can for the future and although I am not fearful for myself yet I am very fearful for the many many patients I look after (at home) who will not afford this winter.

The cars thing is a bit of a red herring
Lots of people haven't bought their cars outright and 'giving up' there newish cars isn't simple and can be expensive due to the credit deals that they took out a year+ago which penalise you leaving early.

The problem is affordability wasn't an issue when they took out these deals but thanks to the sharp rise in inflation it's now starting to be an issue and they are a bit stuck.

It's not different to other decades when 'times were hard'. Its always the already low paid who will suffer. Those in comfortable jobs being paid good salaries, those who have paid off their mortgages will have money to spend.

Their spending keeps the economy going, so let's encourage them to spend and to consider how else they can help, with charitable donations.

I think there is a lot of denial and fear out there as well as people having one last "hurrah" before the truly grim stuff starts. Went to visit family in London and we all went out for a meal but were very aware that it may well be the last time we do this for the foreseeable future . I actually feel almost physically sick with fear about it all, I retired last year and was managing ok, did all my calculations and worked out a budget that would allow for some treats and lesiure activites. This will now be impossible, wondering what the point of my life has been on some days. I was a young single mum under Thatcher and it was horrible, went without food to feed my child and was often cold. Can't believe we are back here again, Tories have bookended my life. I've seen the news today that children will possibly die due to the cost of heating, it is just horrific.

I think like a lot of people the effects of the pandemic are still with us. We spent a fortune on food and drink when we could not go out at all so now we are spending less, not more. We have only had one week abroad and a short break in Devon since 2019 and don’t feel inclined to risk disruption by going abroad again this year, so the holiday coffers are full. I have recently retired and want to spend money and have fun now as statistically I may not have many years left.

I'm always amazed at what people waste their money on, especially the hideous fake blobby nails that need doing all the time and the subscriptions to TV channels when they is not enough time in the universe to watch everything.

Personally, I don't think the real impact has hit yet. We, for example, have had a really busy summer and booked some nice experiences, and are only now really starting to think about being more careful. Lots of those things were pre-booked and we have had contingency. We have now cancelled some home improvements which were more frivolous than essential and are starting to look at essentials verses luxuries. We have quite a good household income, so are lucky to be moving towards being more careful in a gradual way, and I think that's the same for a lot of people.