Cost of living....struggles....rubbish!

[IwishIcouldconfess]

Been into Manchester today.

I'll be honest, shops full, restaurants full, pub's standing room only.

I thought as a country we were in a cost of living crisis, not in Manchester, the amount of cocktails, bottles of wine i saw being knocked back today made me wonder, ate things really as bad as as the narrative we're being sold?

There are generations now unable to afford to buy a home or even rent independently so they will have more disposable income as a result of living at home

Well if you look around at the amount of obese adults and kids, they certainly ain't skipping meals 😉

@Hellohelga Not true. Our gdp is better than most G7 countries. Last year we were second to USA.

That graph is GDP growth, not GDP.

The reason why our GDP was able to grow more is because it was shite to begin with.

Those pensioners were broke when they were young. Young people, are always broke. They earn the least and have accrued nothing. After 50 years of working most people have generated some assets, savings and pension.

How much income does a households need to make do?

I know young adults after uni can make do just about on around £28k. £30k is enough in London I feel. But then again people have dependents.

I can go out in manchester or the Trafford and walk round browsing but not spending much money….

i watched young adults in the local beer garden last summer and they were buying a shot each rather than a drink and then a while later another one ( cheaper) Or sitting nursing one drink for ages. Pub was busy but some of those people aren’t spending as much money as you think.

That is how you measure growth. The comment was we have bounced back less well than other G7 countries - ie grown less. As you see we are in line with other countries and actually slightly better than most.

Exactly. I can’t believe some of the dumb arse comments on here.

We are what my Mother used to refer to as a country of haves, and have nots.

You saw the haves.

I volunteer at a couple of food banks. They’re like Manchester on a Saturday, they’re that busy these days.

It’s not just that things are a bit pricey it’s that many people are making a choice between eating and heating, they really are. People are donating fewer items as costs bite for them too. At the same time I have a near neighbour who is indignant that the government may want some of his money (according to the ST Rich List he has an £80m fortune) so he’s off to live in Dubai, so some people won’t be feeling any pain and will have the resources to manoeuvre themselves out of giving me a tin of beans for the food bank. There are also loads of people in the middle who have tightened their belts and don’t go to pubs and restaurants hence the huge amount closures (one pub a day shuts up shop in the UK). I’m glad that some people have the spare money to do all these things and they’re spending it in the UK but a busy city at the end of the month is probably not a good barometer of what is really happening.

My local high street is dead from Monday to Thursday and I mean dead. Even the weekends are not as busy as they used to be. But if you go shopping at the mall/costco it is banged out at the weekends. I feel a bubble will burst as people are racking up credit card debt. Many new cars are leased now too which is another debt that never ceases. I think credit is the only way a lot of people are living these days. It’s only a matter of time.

cost of living crisis doesn’t mean nobody has any money. It means the cost of everything has gone up but the incomes have failed to go up at the same rate which affects high and mid income people somewhat but low income people catastrophically. .

So for some people 10 years ago who had lots of disposable income they might just have slightly less disposable income but notice very little difference. Some people 10 years ago who might have had a healthy amount of disposable income might now have barely any and for the first time are having to budget. And the people who ten years ago had no disposable income are now in the absolute shit.

Rich people are still riching, middle earners still get the odd treat and poor people are drowning. A few bustling cafes and bars is not where to measure the crisis .

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn092p27xn0o
2025 second fastest growing economy in G7 after USA.
2026 predicted third fastest after USA and Canada.

Maybe that’s why you don’t see COL crisis everywhere. Some people are doing ok. The economy isn’t booming but it’s not in recesssion either. Inequality exists but it always has and always will.

I find myself with similar thoughts when I go out. For me it's more, the price of food and drink out now is astronomical and I really resent doing it once every few months and feel like it is definitely not worth it and I've been ripped off

I think people like me (and you, perhaps?) are thinking why spend £150 squids on going out when you could spend that money on a really magnificent home cooked meal. I have wealthy neighbours who are always recommending that we all go to some restaurant or other with a high price tag. and they wouldn't turn a hair at a 200/250 pound bill for the four of us. They are well off and we are not.

We just can't do it. Even once a month that's money we can't afford.
We just redirect them. Come and have dinner here. There'll be Paella starters and Beef Wellington And Eton Mess for pud if you want it. (All under £50 for all 4 of us)

Not to mention that I consider £50 lot of money for a meal for 4 people.
But this is a special one so fair enough and it's less than what we would have paid had we gone out to a restaurant.

I've been to several high end food establishments in London and paid ridiculous prices for a bit of chicken that I could have cooked better myself.

It all comes down to how much money you have to chuck away on food.

Lucky you if it's not a consideration.

It was just payday. People with money are out and people who are silly with their limited money are out. It was ever thus. The former will go on to have the same all month and the latter will be living on credit for the last week or two.

For every person you saw out living it up in Manchester today spending their money, there’s probably ten at home worrying about how they’ll make it to the end of the month.
People are different, and have different incomes. You’re only seeing the ones who can afford to do it.

I agree.

And don’t forget Manchester now has thousands of new apartments with young professionals earning decent money who spend all their spare time in the city centre. It’s always packed now - this wasn’t the case even just 5 years ago.

Even my Ds and his dgf who are students with part time bar jobs somehow manage to go out in Manchester several times a week.

Not everyone is struggling but the people who are struggling are in a terrible position, minimum wages barely rise and everyday items are gone through the roof, the winter is harder, finding an extra fortune to heat the house.
The rich are definitely getting richer, businesses are growing, the poorer people are being left behind rapidly.

I think what @IwishIcouldconfess is trying to say, is exactly what I witnessed today too.

We haven't just stumbled on our first trip to a shopping centre. Mine is the same place I've been frequenting for three decades.

Ten years ago, you could walk into any restaurant ( pretty much) of a high standard and take a table for lunch. Because it was above average expense, so less busy. The cheaper places, busy as always, because they were indeed cheap. The higher end shops not so much.

Then even just post COVID, you could eat out, and places weren't rammed.

Today, was madness. We went to two very nice (but not Michelin) restaurants. Probably £100 for our lunch. Both fully booked for the entire day. We ended up in an overpriced quite crap trendy food hall with pop up visiting chefs. Spent £75. Place was rammed, and it's not pretentious to be able to use your eyes and recognise it was rammed with very normal people. All with loads of shopping bags crammed under their tables. With kids in tow, all ordering mains and desserts.

But we are in a supposed much higher COL crisis than ten years ago. When the restaurants were less full. We couldn't afford to do this so flippantly, regularly, and yet we are also supposedly in the top 5% of household income. It was very clear, this was a normal Saturday out for most people. Lots of teens in groups. Families.

That doesn't change any of the facts that I posted.

Try to stay on topic. Its a "Cost of Living" thread.

We have to watch our money carefully and we don’t eat out anywhere near as much as we used too or would like too
maybe school holidays (on a kids eat free) or if it’s someone’s birthday but certainly not on a regular basis - that’s not happening at all. I used to go out once a month with some friends and now we go to someone’s house and get takeaway or do a bring a plate or someone cooks and we all chop in for the food and we buy wine at the supermarket!

Nowadays, everything is so much more than it was and wages haven’t increased accordingly.

I also don’t buy stuff unless we really need it and I try to sell anything we don’t need to make more money. It’s a bit miserable but not sure what else we can do really.

Manchester Uni gets lots of wealthy foreign students. They live in smart new flats in the city centre and have lots of cash to spend. Some of them stay on for work or PHDs. I’m sure it’s a massive boost to the city. I’d imagine there are other northern cities that are struggling more.

I think this is a really important observation and quite scary.

How many of those people who were ordering round after round of drinks today will be worrying how they are going to pay their bills in a couple of weeks?

Or worse, not paying their bills and hiding from that fact by going out and ordering more rounds of drinks they cannot afford.

I’m not the one who went off on a pensioner bashing tangent, I’m just responding to a post with an opinion. Is that allowed?