What cost of living crisis?

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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.

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.

You're assuming everyone has access to a Tesco. You're also assuming everyone can afford the minimum spend for an online shop.

People are definitely re-prioritising their spending even if they aren’t on the breadline. For some, a holiday in the sun whilst they are still affordable is a priority over say, a weekly coffee out or restaurant meals. Restaurants are going bust where I live.

Why are so many on here struggling to understand not everyone is poor

This cost of living crisis isn't a crisis for many

@antelopevalley yes good point, they are the cheapest options, and `I agree about not wanting to give kids or anyone really cheap ham/meat. But there is no need for anyone to be eating pet food as has been reported. Overall though in this country food is still cheap and prices for some items actually went down in 2020 so the rises have to take this into account.

No one is. We all know there are rich people.

@mountainsunsets tesco are price matching to most other big supermarkets. I agree some people don't live near a large supermarket.

@antelopevalley

It's not even just the rich

Most middle earners will be fine

Everything I buy has gone up. Fruit and veg seems to go up in price every week. I did not buy the nice lettuce I normally get yesterday as it is now just too expensive.
I know none of us in my family will actually starve. Cheap calories are easy to get. But decent food is getting much more expensive. And by decent food I mean fresh fruit and veg, lean meat and fish, eggs and dairy products. These are not luxury products. But my kids should be eating lean chicken and fruit and veg, not the cheapest ham and jam sandwiches.

Yes and we also know that there are more poor people than rich.

@PainsandAches Middle earners as defined by MN then yes. It means rich people though.

I think for us, we're not completely skint yet, it's just that the amount we've got left over each month is getting lower and lower. We used to add £300 a month into our savings (each) and now that's down to £200 each. I fully anticipate it getting worse, but I'm not stopping the things I enjoy in the meantime.

No it doesn't

If you consider someone earning £50k a year rich you're terribly poor

Maybe rein it in a bit.

The OP is right to an extent. It’s incredible how much people spend on non-essentials and how much debt they rack up on credit cards.

A couple each earning £50k a year is rich.
No, I am not terribly poor. I know what that is like.

I have absolutely no doubt that it is coming, but it hasn't really happened yet, has it? Some of it will be a last bit of fun while there is still spare money. Maybe people are spending on things like work on their houses before inflation really hits.

I think it is very concerning indeed - kids with no heating in their homes, small businesses going under, civil unrest, impact on supply chains, etc...

I think for lots of people it really won't hit home until they get that first bill under the new prices just how much difference it'll make. Lots of prices have been rising but they are incremental and small (I know it all adds up) so it's easier to just go yep it's a bit more difficult but manageable.
It's not affecting us too as much as some as we've spent a good few years reducing our energy consumption and sorting out stuff like PV & battery, insulation etc which will cushion us. Sustainability is part of my job so it's not a reaction to the current crisis just a belief that we need to do better that has happened to start to pay off quicker than anticipated.

We are having massive work done on our house at the moment. We have saved for a long time to get it done and it should make a difference to our heating bills going forward as we now have lovely, non-draughty windows. Once we are done we should have a lovely home to see us into retirement and it shouldn't need much upkeep after this. I don't care what people think about us doing this.

I'm currently in the process of spending ££££s having work done on the house that I've put off for years.
I've had the funds put aside but just couldn't face the hassle and disruption.
What made me finally decide to go ahead was hearing that inflation and costs of everything will continue to go up, so I thought it's now or never.

I imagine that some of the people OP has described are on fixed energy deals that have not ended. My household would be what you call middle earners and we are on a fixed deal so as yet we are not affected by the price rises, this will change soon and it does worry me. I am not sure how anyone cannot be at the very least concerned by utility bills tripling.

We will be affected but are having work done. It is maintenance that needs to happen. What is the point of putting it off when costs will just rise?

I think this is spot on. Carpe diem and all that.

Everyone is different I guess. I was at a friends on Friday who doesn't have much money and always moans yet was ordering "unimportant" things and putting on her credit card. She wanted to pay for a go karting trip for the kids which was totalling £60 but there were no slots.
However I also have a friend who is really good with her money and has always saved since she was a teenager so she has a little cushion in the bank. We can never know 🤷🏽‍♀️

i Think most people assume that the government will eventually do an energy cost bail out as soon as we have a government again. There will be an election in two years. They can’t afford for people to be freezing to death this winter

We put in oak double glazing over the past 10 years.. saved, put in another window, rinse and repeat. A few months ago, solar panels and a battery which is now getting hooked up. Woodstove with a couple cords of wood, LED lighting. We grow our own veg. But it has been a very long process, and filling the heating oil tank is not going to be cheap. We'll get by all right, but just will have to budget a bit more.

Places like salons are busy because they haven't got and can't recruit enough staff. I used to be able to book an appointment within a week but have just had to book a month in advance for an appointment with my hairdresser.

Also the 80% rise in energy prices hasn't yet kicked in and in a lot of the country people won't have needed their heating on yet. Plus prices are rising in all sectors so people with trolleys piled high could be sensibly stocking up while price are lower.

Airports and holidays - people getting them in while they can. They probably won't be able to afford one next year. Also people are still going away on holidays postponed from 2020/21.

Tradesmen etc - shortage exacerbated by Brexit.