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.

I assume most people expect the government to step in, which I have no doubt they will do....so not a bad calculation.

Here you can't get a tradesmen for months on end, restaurants are packed, bars are packed, everyone is just getting on with life. People will prioritise what is important to them, if that is eating out/hair apps etc

I do think Martin Lewis' hysteria has made many people just switch off.

We’re working extra to pay for the rise in costs,we’re buying clothes now before they get too expensive,trades people would of been booked up ages ago,we had to book a holiday as sil is having a destination wedding.

Interest rates will hike up again too! May be ok for you and your pals if you've paid off your mortgage though.

I think people will suck up the extra costs..what else can you do.. savings will have to be made somewhere, whether that be on food shops, meals out, holidays, treats, new clothes etc.. but there will definitely be less money to go around, I myself with have much less disposable income and will have to budget a LOT more than I do.

I have heard that in the 70s when inflation was rampant, people would go out and spend on things they needed as soon as they got paid. There may be an element of that happening now.

Or on a long fix.

Some people will always have spare money. Lots will have savings. Some will no doubt be sticking their heads in the sand.

The people who were already struggling won't be in the hair salon.

People who don't have young children will have more disposable income. My DC is 14 and doesn't cost a lot. They get £20 a week pocket money, I pay their £40 phone bill monthly, probably spend around £50 a month on clothes. Massive saving from when I was paying £££ in childcare.

We are a typical family, not wealthy but not counting every penny either. Out for us is holidays, meals out, socialising out (no more expensive bars) and new clothes unless essential or thermals needed if heating turned down. I've put on weight but have a wardrobe full of perfectly good clothes that are slightly too small. That, and the cost of eating in itself is probably a reason to try and lose some weight.

I will still probably maintain my starbucks/costa habit as it's something I look forward to but if the price of a coffee goes above a fiver, forget it (already £3.70 in costa I think)

Hopefully we will weather the storm. I'm more worried about potential redundancy and the knock on effect on society. The lady who does my microblading nearly lost her business during covid and just clung on, now this may finish her off (that sounds like I'm arsed about microblading, I'm not, just if she and thousands of others are out of work it will not be good)

Because if people didn't spend it would be a lot worse op! People spend so that where they spend the people working will get paid. If we didn't spend people wouldn't get paid and then that's when debt will rack up and businesses closing and then there really will be a true cost of living crisis! Jeez. Think about it a little. People stop maintaining their homes.... painters/decorators, plumbers, builders etc loose their income. What do they do? Stop buying the occasional takeaway.... chefs, waiting staff, cleaners and the owner lose their job and the owner will be in considerate debt because they can't pay the rent, Business rates, tax, VAT and energy bills and insurance. Etc etc etc.

You really don't know what is going on behind closed doors.

It was payday yesterday; people will have seen me out and about spending my money in a supermarket on a few frivolous items - alcohol, children's clothes, £8 mascara etc.

Here is what they didn't see: I am buying the alcohol to bridge me over the gap of finishing my anti-anxiety medication and dealing with the sudden influx of my raw emotions again. I don't over-use, but it occasionally takes the edge off before I have panic attacks. But I can't afford the monthly prescriptions anymore, so I cut that out. Over the next few weeks, that will go, too - because money is too tight.

The children's clothes are necessary - the vests will help as an extra layer against the cold winter, new socks and pants were due anyway, but will be added on as part of a Christmas gift rather than being given now; all items were on a 20% off offer.

The mascara was genuinely the cheapest I could find; the £5 one had already been ransacked and my old one has lasted me way longer than it should have for health and safety reasons. I am at an age now where making an effort matters.

I am having traders around this afternoon, too - they are fixing my roof to hopefully prevent leaks this autumn as there are gaps appearing. But better fix it now before my walls rot or my electrics short-circuit and the few hundred £ turn into a few thousands instead. I saved up for this one as soon as I got told about the faults and was glad for a very dry summer to enable me to do so.

I had other company traders around for free to install meters for both energy and water - free of charge, but hopefully that will enable me to save a few £ down the line.

People didn't see me in tears on the phone this morning to a lovely lady from my water company, because a mix-up in bills had meant that my payment had looked to double this month from £50 to £100 (thankfully, it hasn't).

No one will know that I looked at my account this morning as soon as I got out of bed, checked all my direct debits had come out, added on everything else that will still come out and my heart sunk as I realised just how little I had left this month for food and petrol. I will make do and carry on, but it isn't fun.

No one will ever know I have switched to cold showers.

And I am on "good money", but below the £45k limit where ministers have said people will struggle this winter. My bills, like everyone else's, have exploded. I might have looked to be without a care to others yesterday. My children will never know the extent to how much I am struggling when we go food shopping again next week. But it is all there, bubbling away, under the well-masked surface.

Many people will be unaffected, unfortunately its the people relying on PIP and topping up their incomes with UC that will be the most affected.

I also think that the media is very sensationalist with some of its reporting. At the moment energy bills are reported to be increased by 195% (a lot of course) so for eg if a bill last year was 75 now it will be 150.00. Still manageable for many people. Yes food has gone up, but Ive read many people saying their weekly food bill has doubled.

No it hasn't, food on average is up 8%. Reports saying people are eating pet food are ridiculous, large loaf of bread in Tesco is 0.36, jam 0.40, milk 0.69, 500g cereal 0.70. 6 apples 0.90, one Banana 0.14, 500g pasta 0.32, pasta sauce 0.39, small pack of ham 0.86. 6 bags of small crisps 1.00, 1 litre juice 0.65.

A lot of food in this country is very cheap.

I'm enjoying myself while I can. We'll go from comfortable to absolutely skint and there will be no frills or fun for the foreseeable. Just relentless skintness. So I'm having my fun while it's still there.

There was far more to it than that, as you will know if you are a historian. The things you mention had philosophical/cultural/literary roots going back at least 200 years before the 1930s. Expressionism didn't just come from nowhere. And the cult of leadership is something very different from an odd minority still thinking that Boris Johnson is a great PM. The far right didn't arise from nowhere, either. It was the culmination of a whole host of very deeply embedded cultural beliefs and needs.

But as I say, you will know all of this if you are a historian.

Other than that, I think there are huge numbers of people who are happy to stick their heads in the sand, put their nail appointments on a credit card, and hope for the best. Anyone who thinks to any degree assumes that other people do the same. In fact, there are swathes of people who don't really think at all and just act regardless of whatever the consequences might be.

For various reasons, we’ve been hit really hard over the last six months, despite being ok for years. We weren’t doing those things anyway. I was already going around Aldi with a calculator, we didn’t have a holiday last year (because of money, not covid) and haven’t booked in work (including my car service) because I can’t spare the cash. Before the rises, I would have been able to afford the car service, wouldn’t have needed to look at the supermarket total, just bought I wanted, and would likely have had the summer at home, but done whatever we fancied locally, including eating out, like we did last year. I wouldn’t have booked a decorator, but would have booked a plumber to do the flaky radiator in the sitting room. I could probably have done salon treatments, if they were important to me. I actually have more money coming in than this time last year, but where last year I could afford essentials plus plenty of small luxuries just not big ones,) this year I can’t manage all the essentials.

It’s people like me who are being hit now. From October, things will begin to escalate to more people, which will snowball. It’s a slow burn, but once it’s gets going, it’s difficult to stop.

Or they might plan to still make life worth living by enjoying dinner in the sunshine and a good hair cut, and plan to keep the heating on extremely low or not at all instead. I don't think there can be a person alive that is not aware of the energy crisis/war/inflation unless they are living and breathing hermits with no outside contact. The BBC and sky have had rolling doom for months now....on every channel, station, news bulletin. We ALL know, and many are enjoying the last of the summer and will tighten their belts as and when.

Everyone is talking about energy prices but not so much mortgages. For those on fixed rates ending soon, or trackers, when interest rates hit 4% as predicted they'll have massive monthly repayment hikes.

I know it was worse in the 90s era but people weren't mortgaged up to the hilt on houses worth hundreds of thousands so the relative increase was not so bad.

Anyone living in the SE or in a larger house anywhere who's overstretched themselves will be fucked.

Equally we are on holiday at the moment and it was booked less than a few months ago so not 2019 money but I wouldn’t of gone on it if I couldn’t have afford it a few grand for spending money in addition to paying the bills back home.

Sorry to be really boring but when I got my mortgage have a stress test to 5% over the base rate so probably not gonna be fucked actually

I know it was worse in the 90s era but people weren't mortgaged up to the hilt on houses worth hundreds of thousands so the relative increase was not so bad

How old were you in the 90s? My recollection of having a mortgage then is very different from yours...

Everyone is not effected yet. And then there will be a significant % that it won't feel the effects at all.

You are talking about the prices for the very cheapest options which are usually very poor quality. Only totally skint people buy the absolute cheapest ham.
People are comparing the price of the things they usually buy that have risen a lot in price. Most of us try and feed our kids decent food, not the cheapest ham and jam available that is just fat and sugar.

Tbf I did a gigantic shop the other day because the food prices are expected to rise again so I have stocked up on all my cupboard supplies

Not everyone is affected. Some people earn higher salaries.