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.

Well get real, most folk are £30,000 or under and live fine. Do a lot of people on here just make it up.

How are most people on 30k paying housing & childcare costs?

I think that’s a really good point. I follow a social media person who has a whole thing about being an NHS mum struggling to feed her kids and pay bills whilst paying off debt. She’s doing well but then booked a holiday to Disney because “we’ve had a tough few years, only live once and we deserve it”. Still in debt.

Days later posting a video in tears calling on the government to help out hard pressed NHS families like hers.

I don't think that will be something exclusive to Waitrose shoppers!

I think a lot of it has to do with expectations. Back in the late 90s some of the things we take for granted now just weren’t a thing eg cheap flights , 4x4s, takeaway coffees, soft play, days and days of paid entertainment for kids during holidays

Err, late 90s was all about cheap holidays, I travelled all over Europe on £10 Ryanair fares. Public transport was much cheaper, I could go clubbing on £10.

I think there is a fundamental misunderstanding of what a cost of living crisis actually is.

It is an inability to feel secure in your ability to continue to pay for food, shelter, energy.

There are members of this country very much in a cost of living crisis

But I agree OP, having to forgo branded foods, a holiday, give up one of your cars etc is not a cost of living crisis.

It is a financial squeeze yes, but not a COL crisis.

I think food banks ( some) need to be aware that whilst some really do need their help. Eg. Their benefits payments haven’t come through etc. Some are being used I think by people who don’t need them. When you see someone turning up in an SUV it should make you wonder…

Clubbing on a tenner?

Is it - ‘absolutely’?

The gap between the richest and poorest has widened significantly. Housing costs and rent take up a much larger proportion of lower income family’s budgets today than they did back then.

Children still get rickets, and otherwise suffer from malnutrition, in the UK, today.

Yep, I remember these days too. £20 was an expensive night out. You could get a week in Ibiza for £99.

We do fine really, but I’m allowed to be pissed off that my normal, not particularly extravagant weekly shop seems to go up by at least a tenner every few weeks, buying more or less the same items

Absolutely, I am pissed of too. We should be in a comfortable period, no childcare costs, lower mortgage & we have a decent income that we work hard for. Instead I am buying own brand and cutting back on treats despite paying a shed load of tax.

I partly agree.

I grew up very poor, however my parents were super practical, mum grew up in an extremely rural area and had a very hands on childhood. Society in general are used to mod cons, convenience food, days out to attractions etc that many of us have become reliant on, if you haven't had a parent/grandparent to teach you ways to survive when those things are removed its even more difficult think on your feet.

We went through a really tough time financially when DS was little and friends were blown away that I could manage, some of them had literally no knowledge of how to hand wash clothes or how to make bread. I know how to warm a house in the middle of winter when there's no heating, preserve food etc and make £10 stretch to a week.

I don't think anyone should have to live like this, but these are skills that get lost within one generation, the lack of village is also a massive contributing factor, I have support system that wouldn't hesitate to help in practical ways and in return I do the same.

I earn just under 6 figures and

• do not get my nails done, ever
• use cheap cosmetics such as Nivea or ELF
• have not bought new clothes in last year
• drive an 05 reg car to get to work
• do not buy takeaways, coffees, do not drink
• do not smoke or vape
• have zero Netflix, Sky etc packages
• have a cheap phone deal at £15pm
• batch cook and take a packed lunch to work every day
• go on holidays except when staying at relatives'

We save each month a bit, as I think that is responsible.

We budget rigidly to ensure we do not dip into savings unless absolutely needed.

At the end of the month we will have around £20 left.

Two or three years ago, we could take thw kids for a pizza, do a short trip away, take them to the zoo. Now, we have to think carefully about where to cut back if we want to take them to an indoor climbing wall.

That's reality, it's not made up, and if someone on £90k odd feels that, I think people on £30k can have a moan!

@TheKittenswithMittens yep! I would only have one alcoholic drink but I had enough left for the night bus & chips.

I do remember playing golf for under a tenner a round back then, now it's around 40 quid a round. When you add in the lost golf balls, that's 50 quid. So you are right.

@TheBoyMayorOfPartridge I had some crazy cheap holidays in the early 00s & late 90s

If your life consists of just about covering the basics and a soft play visit once a week and that’s all you can manage, then it’s pretty shite, really.

I worked in a club in the ‘90s. Student nights were 80p/pint and 30p shots (of the cheapest vodka, rum, and whisky). Fridays and Saturdays were more expensive but you absolutely could get about 8 units of alcohol for £10. The £1 club entry and £1 chips and a bit more alcohol might bump it up to £15 if you were some sort of Rockefeller.

Honestly I think you are a bit dim. It’s not about the hairdressers or nail bars - its about the BASIC stuff - houses, food, fuel costs - because these are not things you can go without. And so cannot.cut.your.cloth.

It is a financial squeeze yes, but not a COL crisis.

Its a crisis because when people restrict spending it impacts jobs

If you are earning 90k a year and only have £20 left at the end of the month with no treats (if this is to be believed) then you have overstretched yourself somehow.

It’s a continuous relevant news story for a lot of people.

So I guess you could mute the tv/radio when it comes on. Or write into a national newspaper explaining that it’s clearly nonsense and explain why.

@Littlecrake my student nights were even cheaper as you say.

But I was clubbing before that in London for a tenner.

Love this ❤️

No, it’s because they save and continue to save. The poster is making the point the money doesn’t go as far

I agree either you, not the 90's maybe, but from 2005ish to a couple of years ago things felt much more prosperous, stable. These last 2 years have felt super depressing. Maybe more so because people had high hopes that a new government would improve things, but feels like hey are much worse.

Interested to know why this wasn't sustainable though?