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?

Hit and run from the OP? Or a stealth brag?

If you're still reading, I'm baffled as to how you can be earning that much. Because you are clearly financially illiterate. I earn a fraction of that, consider myself fairly crap with money, yet still manage fine.

Yes if borrowing 4.5x that £170k income, now at 5% it might be £4.5k a month.

Ouch!

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

That would be helpful @CobbleWobble

I get Disney free through Lloyds Bank where it's £5 a month of you sign up to their club Lloyds account, but they waive the fee if you have a certain income going in. My income is around 37k untaxed because of DLA for dd and LCWAW for me. We were doing okay until I decided to learn to drive at 40£h and that's been eating at a lot of my income, but once that passes things should be easier again.

I don't eat meat though and I try to keep bills low. I obviously I get a council tax discount and a small discount on the water, which is currently negated by a dripping tap that I can't afford to have fixed. We have two small solar panels, the house is well insulated and I switch everything off at night and when not using it, apart from the fridge. My daughter is not in school as waiting for an EHCP but once she is and I can do some part time work, that would pay for a better holiday than Butlins, which I currently just look for offers or cheap weeks, as we can go in term time. Quite a chunk of my income goes on therapy for me and finding things which help her regulate and ordering take away as her meltdowns make it hard to keep on top of housework and food shopping. İf I didn't have those problems we would be feeling quite affluent and could maybe get some nice furniture and flooring. So I can't get my head around a 170k income not being enough.

Only if you choose that. There’s no real need for them to rise in tandem.

We have a 6 fig income, no school fees but I am feeling the pinch with food costs.

Realistically the economy is bad and the country is broke so don't expect the government to fix it.

We wont have the luxuries prior generations had but thats life.

Apparently according to Mumsnet pensioners are the equivalent of benefit scroungers so good job you don't have Disney, you would be slaughtered on here!😂

Yes, buying a bigger house, nicer car, car each, private school, clothes, beauty, gym membership, insurances are choices. But Childcare/commuting costs often not much you can do about that if you work.

Our household income is a lot higher than when we bought 3 years ago but we're probably going to stay in our little terrace rather than upsize. If we upsize to a semi our mortgage and council tax will be around £2.5k plus it will be a house that needs £40- £60k spending on it despite not doing any extensions courtesy of SE labour costs & costs of items (again a choice to do this). If I stay in my nearly renovated terrace i'm around grand up every month (I need to remortgage soon....)

I do have some sympathy with OP. If you told me 20 years ago what my household income would be I would assume detached house, BMW & nice holidays (were a little over 6 figures).

Struggling with your £170k annual income?? FFS read the room OP.

I'm on 23k

If ever a post illustrated how clueless people can be, this is it!

Your mortgage must be huge! I think this post is tone deaf. Surely you know you’re overspending if you can’t manage on that income?

However it does signal that there is something fairly fundamental going on here in regards to living standards.

Good point, I said on another thread how we are on the decline now. Costs will only increase as will taxes.

@PassportPringle most of what you list is completely optional. And people need to pay childcare at all incomes.
buying a bigger house, nicer car, car each, private school, clothes, beauty, gym membership, insurances are choices. But Childcare/commuting costs often not much you can do about that if you work.

Is the £170k before or after taxes?

This can’t be real?

Why did you remortgage?

Not really, it's more to do with housing & being born at the wrong time.

People at all incomes need housing. Why do you need a bigger house because you earn more?

This has to be a wind up 😂
We have a household income much less than yours (around 75k less) and we still pay for Disney and have two (Uk) per year.
If this thread is genuine then I’m assuming your mortgage is massive, cars on finance etc.
Im definitely more mindful of meal planning and food shopping as this has been our biggest increase,
We’ve got 3 dependant children, I only buy school uniform as needed, residentials etc are paid of a little bit each month and packed lunches instead of paying for school dinners.
Your household income isn’t just ‘mumsnet rich’ you should be very comfortable in general and definitely not at the point of worrying about Christmas food shopping and school uniforms.

The OP is unlikely to be back. Probably off buying the last of the rarefied air before the price goes up🙄

But the point other posters are making is that they are feeling very comfortable with a small fraction of what OP has. Indeed I feel positively wealthy with a small fraction of what OP has.

But they may be older and have a low mortgage or none at all. Paying a lot of money in childcare, mortgage, commuting etc is a thing.

What are you doing with the 3k(?) a month you've saved on private school fees?

You haven't thought this post through have you?

@cardibach why would you assume size of house matters? It's not a myth that a lot of high paying jobs are concentrating around the SE.

A lot of people are coming to the end of their 5 year ~1-2% fixes, and finding themselves on far higher rates which dramatically increases their repayments.

If your mortgage is high, this can mean several hundred (or thousands) a month in additional repayments.