To wonder how people are coping?

[CobbleWobble]

We are very lucky, I know this.

We are "Mumsnet rich" both have professional jobs with good salaries (£170k household income) and yet this last 12 months:

• removed children from private school
• changed how we do the weekly shop to reduce costs
• cut subscriptions (like Disney+ etc)
• reduced what I bought in the back to school shop
• decided against a holiday in October half term
• concerned about our usual Christmas food order

What is going on? I just don't understand why or how prices are rising as they are or how people on less than us are coping!

I'm extremely grateful we have the things to cut that we have but we've also had to remortgage this year which has doubled our mortgage payments and then our utilities have increased and the food shop has just got insane.

We have other things we can cut - a holiday in the UK, Netflix, the monthly takeaway but its just miserable to think we may need to do that just not to be living.

Happy to post spending particulars if people are finding it hard to see where I'm coming from.

So AIBU to think that as a country we cannot go on with prices rising like this? How are others coping?

Up until Autumn 2022 mortgage rates were less than 2%. They were only ever going to go one way.

They had been low for years and most people were surprised how fast they went up hence why so many of us were still able to get decent fixes. Plus people didn't anticipate all the other price increases.

Must be the cost of the mansion or the caviar in the food shop, as I don't see how anyone with a household income of 170k can be struggling to find £5.99 a month for netfix 😂

50k household income here, paying off 2 student loans, mortgage (will increase once I move), car on finance, gym membership, smoker (i know gross, need to quit), 3 holidays a year (2 abroad, 1 uk) and I'm still not worrying about the food shop.
I do cut down on things I don't see necessary to afford the things I do want though. For example not into beauty treatments, more into days out and the occasional meals out instead of a weekly night out, I have netflix but no other subscriptions. Rarely have a takeaway as prefer fresh cooked meals.

Maybe you need to downsize to an affordable home now the interest rates are no longer at the record low

How did you manage?

No it doesn't, Charlie. And it's "strikes a cHord".

😆

Warm clothes, electric throws, and a log burner a couple of times a week.

Why do higher salaries have higher outgoings? You don’t need a big fancy house, car, holidays and so on. It’s just to make you look good.

Same. Must be your mortgage / other finance commitments surely?

LOL

🍿

Something tells me this OP won’t be back 😅

Anyway I’m single and have a salary of around £32k. I am doing fine - but I am concerned for when my mortgage is due for renewal in June 2027. I’m currently on 1.97% as I fixed in 2022 just before rates went mad.

It’s very difficult at the moment. I think if we continue this way, many will choose to leave the UK. With so much hate brewing, and the cost of living, it does make me wonder what the point is living here?

Quite. It's like people think a mortgage is like a tax, the more you earn the bigger your mortgage. It is just a choice to live in a bigger house.

As other's have mentioned your mortgage sounds like the problem, you are stretched too thin and spending all your income on a house you can't afford. I would think about moving if at all possible.

@CobbleWobble please post your monthly outgoings because this makes very little sense as it is. You are on over triple our household income.

I can only imagine you must be paying out thousands a month on your mortgage since you remortgaged. So, the simple solution (which should actually be affordable to you) is to downsize and move.

Come on OP, where are you? Revising that Christmas order by any chance? 🤣

I'm guessing you have a huge mortgage.

I have no idea what you mean by 'Mumsnet rich'. You have a good income, obviously live up to it which most people do.

Changing your children's schools is extremely drastic, imo, unfair on them.

You could economise in other ways. Be less extravagant with your food, cheaper things suffice and are often just as nutritious. Don't have expensive holidays but have a reasonable holiday in the summer. Look at what you can do without, that does not cause you hardship. A monthly takeaway is not extravagant, it's normal.

Everyone is feeling the pinch at the moment, it won't last but you'll manage if you are sensible.

@Bumblebee72 why do you think a big mortgage equals a bigger house? It's very location & age dependent.

I could buy a house double the size of mine if I moved further out but I would then get hit by big commuting costs.

Everyone is feeling the pinch at the moment, it won't last

It definitely will last!

Do you have a high mortgage or a lot of debt?

Wow. I mean I can understand why you might take your kids out of private but surely that solves any issue you might have?

Do you have a shitload of debt or spend a fortune on food? Seems crazy that on 170k you had to cancel Disney+...

Household income of 32K here and we haven't had to cancel Netflix. You must be shockingly bad with money.

You've taken "children" out of private school so presumably that's a saving of at least 2 x £15k as a minimum - ie £30k after tax?! Surely that enormous saving will help to stretch your Xmas and streaming budgets?

Yes plenty of people pay for it. But there are many employers here that pay it as a benefit. I’m aware I’m very lucky. Although not everything is covered. I paid 150 for a consultation this month.

Yeah this makes no sense op, are you paying thousands for a mortgage/loans?

saving loads/paying massively into pensions??

because I earn a fraction of what you do, and I can afford Disney and shop wherever/whenever. Don’t have a mortgage/rent/loans/debt though so maybe that’s the difference