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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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

907 replies

Katypp · 22/05/2026 08:59

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.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
11
Autie · Today 16:25

StrictlyCoffee · 22/05/2026 09:20

You’ll probably get your arse handed to you but I tend to agree with you. Same round here, my hairdresser put a SM message on the other day she’s fully booked till end of July. Plenty people still going expensive holidays, driving expensive new cars etc while I clatter around in an 11 year old car. Look how quickly concert tickets at £100 plus a throw sell out. I appreciate we are lucky because our kids are all but grown up and we have no mortgage now, and I appreciate bills have gone up more than wages, and food is expensive. But there’s been tough times before. We fixed our mortgage at a quote high interest rate not knowing the financial crash was around the corner and when we had 2 tiny kids and we were absolutely strapped then and no one gave a shit. I don’t know what people expect the government to realistically do. They didn’t cause the pandemic or the wars that have led to the current situation.

You’re missing the point. Everyone has stepped down. People can’t afford a foreign holiday so instead spare money goes on smaller luxuries like nails, hair, soft play.

people who could never afford a foreign holiday are now struggling to even buy food.

Autie · Today 16:28

Thechaseison71 · Today 14:18

What's a bursary? Never known any student to get one.

You can get sim only contracts for £7.50 a month so admittedly that's not much, however if it's £60 a month times 3 it adds up. Don't the "kids" have p/t jobs

Hundreds each month for Xmas? Sounds bloody expensive. What's wrong with a dinner and £100 on gifts each. ?

Strangely when I gre up my parents both worked full time, a bigger house than mine admittedly ( 3 bed terrace) but no car and holidays or landline. Didn't smoke or drink

I had a bursery as a nursing student in 2009.

Its treated as free money but in reality I was working an apprenticeship style course for the equavilant of £1 an hour and paying uni fees.

Passaggressfedup · Today 17:21

Exactly. I'm sick of people saying "well in my day....blah blah blah". That's not the point. As you say, if we're working full time, we should be able to have the odd treat, not just paying the bills...or else what the hell is the point?
This sums it perfectly. People don't want to hear about how older generations managed. They prefer to assume they had it handed easy to them and they enjoyed a wonderful life.

The reality was nothing like what they want to believe. The main difference is that we didn't live with the expectation of instant gratification. We didn't have the attitude of 'why bother if I can't reward myself right away'. Instead, we believed that the harder the work and the bigger the sacrifices there and then, the bigger the rewards would be in the future. And that made it worth it.

Now we can the rewards and we are fed up hearing the new generation constantly moaning how hard they have it and can't afford their bills because they want rewards we would only have dreamt of at their age.

If life have evolved so that these rewards are normal part of life, then so are the things they are moaning about.

Passaggressfedup · Today 17:27

People can’t afford a foreign holiday so instead spare money goes on smaller luxuries like nails, hair, soft play
Air traffic has trippled since the 1990s!

DugnuttEyeBoogies · Today 18:04

BoredZelda · 22/05/2026 10:31

Are “nail bars and tanning salons” the new “sky dish and flat screen TVs”?

I find it funny that every single example OP has used to berate “people” spending money are places largely frequented by women. The “massive cars” are obviously the “school run SUVs” It smacks of the old “Welfare Queen” dog whistle politics.

No mention of pubs, golf courses and football stadiums still being absolutely rammed to the rafter?

Yeah just need to add “wasting her husband’s hard earned money” to complete the misogynistic bingo card.

KeepPumping · Today 18:39

Badbadbunny · 23/05/2026 15:35

The kind done under Blair and Brown for Vodafone, Goldman Sachs and Google? People always blame the Tories for cosying up to the big multinationals but Labour did it too, until they got caught out when such deals became publicised!

The reality is we NEED to do deals with billionaires and multinationals as we need them more than they need us. We need them to employ people in the UK, pay employers NIC and VAT, pay business rates, occupy "prime" retail spots to drive customers to them thus providing footfall to smaller shops nearby etc. We also need at least some of the owners to "live" in the UK to pay tax on their huge wealth/incomes.

Perhaps we should actually become a tax haven ourselves, like Panama, Gibraltar, IOM, BVI etc and stop pretending.

https://www.sky.com/watch/programme/9a92483b-e512-4a04-8096-0d093e9d227a

The UK Gold

Mark Donne's eye-opening documentary provides an in-depth look at the UK tax avoidance industry, exposing widespread corruption and government…

https://www.sky.com/watch/programme/9a92483b-e512-4a04-8096-0d093e9d227a

KeepPumping · Today 18:49

Badbadbunny · 23/05/2026 15:35

The kind done under Blair and Brown for Vodafone, Goldman Sachs and Google? People always blame the Tories for cosying up to the big multinationals but Labour did it too, until they got caught out when such deals became publicised!

The reality is we NEED to do deals with billionaires and multinationals as we need them more than they need us. We need them to employ people in the UK, pay employers NIC and VAT, pay business rates, occupy "prime" retail spots to drive customers to them thus providing footfall to smaller shops nearby etc. We also need at least some of the owners to "live" in the UK to pay tax on their huge wealth/incomes.

Perhaps we should actually become a tax haven ourselves, like Panama, Gibraltar, IOM, BVI etc and stop pretending.

https://www.waterstones.com/book/treasure-islands/nicholas-shaxson/9780099541721

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