To ask when is the cost of living going to go down?

[scotpancakes]

When will working hard start to pay off? I scrape by every month. I can't afford to save, so I can't afford a house! I live in the South East and rent prices are crazy. Will this country ever become more affordable? For the past 16 years it's been doom and gloom and it just goes on and on!

The cost never gies down, the rate of increase might slow. Big and small businesses are built on capitalism- they don't reduce thrir profits, they expect to increase them annually so prices alway rise.

They mean do some training in something that enables you to either earn more or save money in other ways. What that looks like will vary massively depending on individual factors.

What industry do you work in where no-one does any training/re-training?!

I think that rent is very high but also people now seem to have more bills than years ago. Looking back to when I was growing up there were no mobile phones, no subscription charges for various things, the only after school activity we did was Brownies/Guides. People walked more, nobody had pet insurance. There was no pressure at Christmas to fill December with loads of expensive events. Life was much simpler.

Prices very rarely come down. You have to decide what is important to you to spend your money on and not fall into the trap of feeling that you have to have it all.

Sorry OP but quickest way to double your household income is to have a partner.

@fruitbrewhaha appreciate this comment so much! It is bloody hard! I do have some single mum friends so this could be a good option. At 39 not ideal but could solve a problem for all of us! Xxx

@orangegato off to download ALL the dating apps! 😂😅

It feels like for the last 25 years (I may not have noticed as much when living at home 😂) it’s been the following to contend with (and apologies if I have missed anything). So every time we get through something there is something else….

1. Paying for higher education that was once free
2. Global economic recession
3. Covid
4. Ukraine War
5. Brexit
6. High inflation and interest rates
7. Energy crisis

I don’t see an end. Politics aside we are where we are and frankly the country is worse off educationally, health wise (NHS) and economically than it was then.

Scotpancakes I retrained in nursing which is terribly paid in the South East but is an ok salary in certain parts of the UK. In your shoes with your experience I’d be looking for remote working positions though which would allow you flexibility in where you live. At the end of the day if the child’s father wants you live close by then he would have to provide more financial support.

Cost of living is unlikely to ever go down.

I remember when a bag of chips was 50p and you got a big bag. (Showing my age now.) Nowadays, a bag of chips is about £3 and the portion size seems to have shrunk.

When heating, oil and fuel goes down, the cost of shopping doesn't go down because the supermarkets/sellers all want to keep at the same prices for greed and profit.

I’m a consultant so work across industries. The idea that somehow you complete some training that leads to highly paid job is alien to me, yes. The only roles I can think of with outcomes like that- surveyor accountant solicitor data scientist- have very high qualification costs that someone who doesn’t have any money would be unlikely to be able to access.

qualified roles where it’s easier to access the training ie teacher social worker are poorly paid- although obviously better than minimum wage they’re unlikely to improve the long term prospects of a media worker/ freelancer.

It just won’t improve. Like petrol, utilities, once companies inflate prices during a crisis, they’re always very reluctant to bring them down once the crisis has passed. Usually takes government intervention to try and force them. My local restaurant has hugely put prices up since utility prices have increased, to cover the extra cost, but I’m pretty sure they won’t bring them down when (or if) prices come down to what they should be at. Even more so now Reeves has increased minimum wage (affects mostly those in hospitality) and national insurance contributions.

The one that gets me (on a lighter side) is the reduction to two Reece’s peanut butter cups from three (I know it’s also because of sugar content) but that just feels mean.

I empathise, OP
It’s so hard trying to get on the housing ladder 🪜 in ab expensive part of the Country.

Please don’t give up hope, even if it means moving further afield.

Yup, it's stagnant wages.

Like many people I know, I am emigrating soon to somewhere where wages have not been stagnant for the past decade and where my role pays 80%-100% more as standard and COL is only 20-40% higher.

I 'did the math' and threw in the towel on building a career in London.

It is also much easier to save up, work more than one job, move location, retrain before having children.

However, it doesn't mean that you cannot make some changes & save in the future.

Part of the issue here has been two massive changes that waste much bigger than Britain alone and its politics. Firstly there's been a massive amount of catch up from poor people in China, other parts of Asia and elsewhere, such that the number of people living in the worst poverty across the world has reduced dramatically over the last few decades, but one of the costs has been that living standards for the majority of people in richer countries have stagnated.

The other factor has been that the large baby boomer generation has now retired, and so there are now fewer working age people who have to support more retired people.

Both of those things make it tough for workers in the richer countries.

Yup, it's stagnant wages.

yep, they are shit but so many didn’t notice during the low interest rate yrs.

And these higher wages will help the poorest in society.

They won't
The budget showed pur growth will go up for another year or 2 then it's going back down to around 1.5%. Wages will stagnate due to the employers NI increases and where companies pass on the costs to consumers ...well prices might go up.

I think the misunderstanding is that people are not suggesting retraining to achieve a very high wage, just a higher wage than the OP is currently getting or a job with other perks (e.g. something that reduces childcare costs or commuting costs or living costs).

If you already earn at the very top end, this is maybe why you don't see people striving to climb the ladder...because they're already at the top? There are many areas of work where doing some additional training will make you eligible for either a promotion or a sideways move into a similar but better paid job.

But like what? People keep suggesting it with no specifics

😳 have they actually done this?

@oakleaffy thank you for sympathy! And yes, you never know what might change. I'm listening to LBC and how much we pay the Royal Family it is insane!!!!!

This is an excellent point. equality has increased worldwide and whilst traditionally poorer nations have become wealthier, the “west” has lost power and wealth.

the world has changed a lot (of course, this has caused or impacted many of the issues posters have already identified)

this has been exasperated by the uk and other western countries responding slowly and inappropriately to this (ie the amounts of insular anti immigration rhetoric and naval glazing)

Prices will always only go up.
The only way to get on top is by getting a better job/ pay rise above inflation.
For the majority of people this isn’t possible. My DH’s wage has stagnated he has had below inflation pay rises. We were lucky enough that the COL crisis coincided with our children being old enough for me to go back to full time hours.
That means for the moment we feel like we are winning- give it a couple of years and it won’t feel like that anymore but you do the best you can and look out for opportunities.