To be absolutely sick of hearing about the cost of living crisis

[Katypp]

I surely can't be the only person sick to death of hearing about the cost of living crisis?
I am tired of reporters interviewing middle-class (usually) mothers inside paid activities such as soft play and hearing them moan about how they are struggling to make ends meet.
Have we completely lost the ability to cut our cloth according to our means or does 'struggling' now mean carrying on spending as usual then complaining when there's no money left?
There have never been as many massive new cars on the road, towns are full of hairdressers, nail bars, brow bars, tanning salons, soft play, play cafes, coffee shops, ice cream parlours, dog groomers, most of which didn't exist 25 years ago and are probably the recipients of the money of the families who say they can't keep up with spiralling costs.
Yes, some families will have been hard up before prices started to go up and will have nothing else to cut back on. They have my sympathy.
But i am utterly fed up of hearing how hard households ars being hit by the cost of living crisis when all that's needed is a few minor cutbacks which they don't want to make.

Absolutely.. and perhaps you have to look at why that’s come about?

@Pricelessadvice but the point is fish & chip shops would not have boomed in the 20s & 30s if people visited annually…

When my eldest was a toddler (he's 8 now) I could take him to softplay on a weekday for £4.95 and he's getting toast and milk included and I'd get a free coffee. The equivalent now is £10.95 per child and no refreshments.

Nursery was £42 a day (Glasgow) and for my youngest it's £59 a day same nursery and she's 4 years younger.

Groceries were around £100 a week and now it's closer to £200 and that's with us being much more careful with our grocery lists.

We went to nandos the other weekend and it was £60 where it used to be about £40.

Every little thing is more expensive.

A lot of what we do IS free, I've a child who needs a lot of exercise due to SEN so we're in parks, forest walks, trails, outside all the time. We're lucky to have a local pool that's £2.50 per child and £5 per adult. We take picnics, we pack snacks but these add to grocery costs, the food at home isnt free either.

I got by fine working 3 days previously even when paying nursery for 2 kids but I've had to increase to 4.5 days a week. Which thankfully I have the option to do. Things are harder for us and we earn well, 2 good salaries, those on lower salaries or with more children must inevitably be struggling

I really hate the whole “I struggled so the next generation should too” attitude. Why are we not encouraging people to aspire to more and have a nice life? Why should we settle for working hard for just the basics?

And yes, marketing capitalist propaganda is rife at the moment. But anyone with kids will tell you the majority of people are not spending extravagantly/frivolously and the cost of just raising a child to have a semi nice life right now is A LOT.

It’s so easy to read how children and teenagers are spoilt and pandered to. This is not the case for lots of children. There are so many millennial parents who are trying really hard to break the cycle and basically not mess our kids up the way we were 🤣

I live in a poor area in a poor city that has had some serious financial struggles. The council cut back on street cleaning to save money so the area I live in looks even more of a shit hole than normal, swimming pool was closed down to save money, the local library had it hours cut, there are queues down the road for the food bank. That is the environment I live in it is depressing and scruffy, rents have all but doubled round here and it is one of the least desirable areas to live, I dread to think what it is like in other areas. As for me, I am retired and prior to the cost of everything rocketing could manage to afford a few treats such a lunch out, cinemas and theatre trips. I have had to all but stop these now as most of my money goes on bills, my gas and elec have doubled, my council tax and water rates are up by over 30% since I retired. Food is astronomical now and I am good at meal planning and budgeting. I do one big monthly shop which I have delivered and it has gone up by about £40 and my weekly top shop used to come in at around £15 and it now never less than £25 and often more. I am going out on Saturday and have budgeted £50 for a couple of drinks, a snack and an Uber home. I haven't been out for 6 weeks because there is no way I could afford to spend this every week. I also know that I am fortunate compared to many others

Spot on about pubs... Once near us are empty, it's a chasm of emptiness compared to the 80s and 90s. They all try food and most fail, hence they are closing down.

People, younger people don't drink but do go to cafes... Watching them spend their money us more visible today than 11pm in a dirty bar... But, their money goes nowhere near as far.

I feel it's much, much, much harder for younger people, unless their grandparents died youngish and left a bungalow anywhere in the country... Even the mining towns of s Wales. Just watch old homes under the hammer to see how house prices have changed, everwhere

My Nan, born 1890s, used to say "Neither a borrower nor a lender be". She always bought stuff on lay by. When clothes rationing ended in the 50s, she bought a nice coat that she wore until her death in the 1980s. She and granddad bought a cottage after the war for 500 quid cash which had an outside toilet. She was petrified of getting into debt and ending up in Victorian levels of poverty. In old age, she refused Dads offer to pay for an indoor toilet.

You have money, but you are choosing to put it in savings. Fair enough, but it does make your post a little misleading. Most people who are left with £20 a month haven’t had enough to put into savings first.

If you dont bother working and get to pension age then you get Pension Credit which is almost the same as normal state pension.

Its the huge surge in people claiming for MH concerns and PIP. People see others claiming and with You Tube Videos and such like telling you how to answer no wonder our benefits are out of control. The cash in hand economy is rife.

Look at Aston Villa's recent success. I had a friend and a work colleague paying nearly £1,000 for a flight and nearly the same for a ticket to go out to Turkey. Neither could afford it as they told me but just decided to put it on a credit card. One in particular said he would cut down on summer holiday trips for the kids.

When I was growing up I had one holiday a year. Now it seems unless you go multiple times you are missing out.

The thread is literally about how things are more expensive now
No, I said more available that is expensive. ie, parents take their kids more regularly to enjoy expensive entertainment than previous generations, so yes, they will feel the pinch more at the end of the month!

Every holiday, you get mothers going on about where they can take their kids to entertain them, where there's an expectation that kids need to go out every day! Even if it's just a trip to the park, kids will want special food and drinks that cost money.

Every park now have restaurants and cafes that are full because it's an expectations that kids will need to eat there.

All this is more expensive than what the average kid got previously.

Honestly I just don’t want to watch my kids to work hard and endure all the pressure that school, university, beginning a career brings.. and get f all for it. Just to afford heating and food. Because that’s how it’s going. I want them to be able to have a nice life and we should be lifting each other up to do that. Starting with the COL.

Thank you for understanding. We don’t complain about it publicly because we worry people will just say “well you chose to have 5 kids, what do you expect?!” sort of thing. We’ve both worked from the bottom and are educated to the highest level, we get paid pretty well but it isn’t enough to feel comfortable at all.

It can be grating to look at my SIL who is just an absolute mess- drug addict, MH issues, doesn’t work, never went to uni, decided to have a baby with someone who is also an unemployed addict with 3 other children who live with them. The cap was obviously lifted so now they’re feeling good about life, they also get free dentistry, FSM, free eye tests and glasses, free breakfast clubs, other freebies people on UC currently get like extra curricular clubs etc. Meanwhile we work all of the time, get zero extra support and have barely a scrap left when all is paid.

Sorry I’m rambling but I do understand how and why people get bitter. I try not to, I just remember Monty Python and get on with it!

Congratulations.

But you can’t deny that people expect a lot more now than years ago. I’m not saying that’s good or bad, but it’s the way it is. We have become accustomed to a lifestyle where getting things instantly is normal. Buy now, pay later.
My nans generation saved before they bought anything.

Without doubt people do expect to have a better standard of living than 30/40 yrs ago.
I’m mid 50’s and grew up in an affluent household. But We didn't really go on holidays and if we did they were UK based. My adult kids have both been away twice already this year.
Treats were an ice cream or pudding on Sundays. Now we eat like it’s Christmas all year round.
We had one family car, our household now has 5 cars between 4 people.
TV was three channels, now we have every subscription service going. Life has without a doubt become more expensive simply because we have a lot more to be spending it on and the treats are now considered essentials.

It’s actually more expensive to go on holiday in the UK than abroad these days. I checked a campsite and it’s £200 per night for a yurt during school holidays. If that’s the case, I’d rather pay for a holiday in Spain. At least I know the weather will be nice and I don’t have to share a toilet with the whole campsite.

does 'struggling' now mean carrying on spending as usual then complaining when there's no money left?

From what I can see it does.

I know what you mean. I take advantage of museums and art galleries an awful lot, the library is also great. There are free places out there to enjoy or yes, as you say, a trip to the park is enough for younger kids. Also take food and drinks with you! We only eat out for birthdays or very special occasions.

Shocking really, isn’t it?

It's half the adult fare where I live, or £1 per child if they're accompanied by an adult.

I think under 3s go free.

@Pricelessadvice of course things have changed. Why would you not expect things to progress? It’s normal for societies to progress. Look at how cheap some tech is now? You can buy a TV for under £100 whereas it was a big outlay for my parents.

I’m not sure people do expect more nowadays? Do more people expect to own their own home now? I don’t think so. Do more people feel they can afford children? Again I think that is a no.

Trains aren’t free for children in London, the tube is.

If the answer to this was never go out, cut your cloth accordingly and never take out any credit then we would still be struggling in a shrinking economy. And the prices would go up more to accommodate for lack of footfall. Places would close.

the reality is there is enough money to go around but the government are spending it in the wrong places

This can be true. I don’t know how people afford Center Parcs or why anyone would even choose to go there when you get an all inclusive abroad for the same price or even cheaper actually. I looked at it once for us, obviously a family of 7 but still, it was just over 2k for 4 nights… But then they charge for all of the extras on top of that like bicycles and activities, and food isn’t included! Our AL in the Canaries was a similar amount last year.

@AMumWithWiFi My parents bought a holiday home in Europe because they felt that was far better value than UK holidays with 4 dc.

I can see how it's come about. What's your passive aggressive statement about though? You clearly have a specific thing in mind?