Cost of living rise? Pubs and restaurants packed.

[MakeMineALarge1]

Ok. I'll be honest, this post is only a reflection of this weekend.
Peter Kay tickets flying out at over £50 a ticket and pubs in Manchester absolutely packed to the rafter's, with standing room only

Also more fortunate.

Theoretically MN crowd doesn't discriminate. Just hates everyone😂

Newsflash! Not everyone is struggling.

But put it this way, lots of pubs, restaurants and events are closed down due to lack of custom.

Just because the cost of living has risen doesn't mean that the entire population is now at a point where they cant afford anything except the bare bones.

For some, it just means they are paying their utility bills from savings, for some they will be putting their heating down a degree or abhor less a day, for others they may be buying a few less christmas presents, others will be eating out less (not cutting all together) others will be buying no new clothes this year, or keeping they car longer before changing it, or going to the theatre one every two months instead of once a month- life doesn't come to standstill for everyone!

It’s not a bad thing. It’s probably a mix between a last t, Xmas coming up and that there a lot less bars/pubs and restaurants than there were three years ago.

Ha @BosaNova! Good point, well made

I went out for food today with my family. Can’t really afford but having a shit time so we needed it. Probably not the best decision financially but we just needed to get out of the house

My local town's Christmas market was packed this afternoon! The bars were full and the atmosphere was lovely!

I don’t know anyone who is struggling.

I do think also that in Nov/Dec 2021 there was a lot of doom and gloom feeling that Boris (remember him?) might end up locking us down again for Christmas so it's the first normal run-up since 2019. The Bath Christmas Market is back this year.

We have a fair on in town where I work. Rides are around £10 a pop and it's heaving. I thought the same!

It hasn’t bit yet. People are still on fixed mortgages and have savings to burn through. Next year is when you’ll really see lifestyles changing.

YABU

most aren’t struggling, people on here really seem to struggle with that fact

I've been out quite a few times recently for meals and been to the theatre and its always been packed. Lots of people are still able to enjoy themselves. I still think wtf when I see I've spent £8 a bloody day on gas.

It's a significant birthday for my daughter. I've saved for a full year to take her to the ballet. So, at some point in the near future, I shall be out hobnobbing in the good seats at the ballet. We are having sandwiches on the way.

As ever with this kind of thing, the people who can afford it regularly will still be able to afford it even with the cost of things going up. It's the people who can't who will just be even worse off and struggling for the basics.

Also it may not have bitten yet, as others have said - job losses haven't come in for the better off (and the lowest paid will always go first) and so on.

To OP:

Top 20% of UK = doing just fine

Bottom 80% of UK = struggling

Cost of living crisis has created a K-shaped economic situation.

Higher end places are likely still doing good business.

Lower end places as well as they cater to more cost conscious consumers

Its the middle ones that are going to get hammered and likely go out of business soon due to the cost of living crisis.

@MakeMineALarge1

How do you know Manchester was packed to the rafters ?
Or is your username indicative of something ?

Lloyds bank issued a statement recently and referred to the fact that many of their customers are changing their spending habits - consolidating loans, switching supermarkets.

We are at the very beginning of what the BoE forecast will be a two year recession so seeing very early signs whilst many are not feeling the pinch too badly yet.

And honestly would anybody walking past a busy pub know if it was 20% quieter than this time last year, or that 30% of those present were spending 40% less than they used to?

I don’t think that that’s right, it’s more that people are sick of being made to feel guilty for not being poor, as though they have something to apologise for.

Higher earners pay quite a high fraction of their wages to support services and benefits for lower earners, which most are completely OK with; they know that this is the right way for society to work, but they really don’t have any time for people trying to make them feel guilty while they are doing it.

Ok I didn't visir everywhere in Manchester, but each place we visited was rammed, pubs were turning people away and there were queue's to get into 20 stories!

Or perhaps it's more an example of the well, wtf, let's go to the pub, etc reaction to adversity which is nothing new. More to do with mindset than economic ability.

The archaic pub opening hours first instigated during WW1 had to be introduced because it turned out that rather than staying home weeping with grief, lots of people went out and got pissed instead.

@ToInfinityAgain that's not what was suggested from the post I was responding to.

I haven't seen the thread myself.

@MakeMineALarge1

So you can still afford to go out then?

So can lots of other people- why is that a surprise?

Me neither. I’ve friends and family from all sorts of places and all sorts of backgrounds and know no-one who’s having to choose between heating and eating.

I know that some people are, but out of probably 1,000 people who I know to talk to none of them seem to be having any issues.