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.

That's ridiculous.

Yep. The powers that be dare not call it a “new normal” after that term was used in 2020, but that’s what it is. And I’m certain that this “new normal” is partly due to the economic insanity of shutting down the country for months, and forcing healthy people not to work.

Certainly the wealthy idiots up top are fed up with hearing about the cost of living: because it does not affect them. They just wave it aside with “just hang in there” and “we can’t help everybody”.

I agree that the news gets repetitive and focuses on the negatives and it doesn’t really achieve very much and can make one feel useless. It’s depressing and yes I am lucky that we have enough but I have a family member who is in very different circumstances and she is by no means struggling as much as others. It is hard to help without coming across as patronising, I am shocked at how little some people have to live on in a first world country. It’s not just money is it? People need opportunities and support so they can make the most of those ie child care, safe places to live and communities that will look out for them. In my work clients spend huge amounts of money on items that they don’t need or even use and they wouldn’t dream of repurposing, buying second hand or even passing on to others even though I do my best to encourage it. They are seemingly oblivious. I wish there was some kind of system that could link families who had something (or a lot) to spare with those who were struggling, in the same way we would help friends if there was a sudden dramatic change in circumstances - we had some friends live with us for six months because of a job relocation and housing issue. Maybe keeping it local would help? I have sometimes thought that if I were to win the lottery I would like to anonymously but directly support other local families in some way long term or build some kind of social housing with community support. It does seem that in these times a lot of people look out for themselves and don’t give a thought to others or the environment. 😕

@Katypp I too am sick and tired of hearing about it. And to top it off, the Chancellor has just reduced VAT on junk food, and day trips to places I wouldn’t want my children heading too. Labour is a party for the poor, and it shows.

Upward mobility has stalled and its frustrating as we work work work as we had asumed we would be able to have a house and car and upgrade those things as income improved as it is we work and earn more and have less to show for it. And most people are pissed off about that. I am and I do moan about it.

Yes YABU. Maybe you live somewhere posh with loads of restaurants and nail bars and fancy cars etc but I don't. I live in a bog standard working class town where the food banks (there are now two) can't cope with the demand.

Also the people who run all those small businesses also need to put money on the table. Loads of them are folding - just look at the stats. It's practically impossible to open a cafe/restaurant or a shop these days. The costs are insanely high and people don't want to pay that much.

I actually think you're being kind of a dick with your 'put up and shut up, povvos' attitude.

Urgh yes, imagine going to Alton Towers! I wouldn't let Jonquil or Arabella anywhere near in case they caught 'working classitis'.

Not really. The reasons for that are multi-factorial. Pets / animals have no choice or autonomy and most people find in them a great sense of comfort and support, so donating directly to a charity supporting "helpless" animals feels logical and beneficial.

However, there is an ingrained assumption that humans have choice and autonomy and broadly speaking that poverty requiring a foodbank is their own fault, and too much "support" encourages dependency. This age old attitude persists even when it is pointed out that the sheer numbers of people in dire straits despite perceived advantages is pointing to deeper societal / economic issues all round.

I wouls starve before I'd let my cats do so. Whether that's right sensible or logical is another debate, but without them I would be utterly alone. And no big deal if I lose a few pounds. If I died and they had to eat me, I'd feel it was useful at least.

They would rather protest immigrants unfortunately so their rich mates can get richer. See leaders of reform and restore…

This is the reality for many, many people. So it’s news. As to an increase in nail bars and tanning salons, you might want to educate yourself on how they operate and why (some of them). In my neck of the woods a few have been raided, charges of human trafficking and complicated tax arrangements have been levelled at ‘owners’.

Is hating on soft play a MN thing?

Actually I think it's more because people who shop in Waitrose don't care much about poor people - as this thread shows. But they can empathise with sad dogs.

Which is kind of what I said.....

Don't think so. I have said that i have had to survive on a very low income before but used this to illustrate i am not 'rich'.
Lamenting my drop in income - nope

Agree completely…a lot of these “businesses” dont see a single customer either .mmm..wonder why?!

Before covid, so before any talk of a COL crisis, I read that young people are much happier overall in poor countries like Kenya than in the affluent west. The explanation was mainly based on two factors: population profiles : a young population will overall be more more positive and dynamic than an older one, because that's how young people generally are, but also and maybe more importantly, they could see that they were better off than their parents and grandparents. So they were more optimistic about the future. That is no longer the case in western countries.

Thing is though, past a certain stage, can we really expect to continue getting richer one generation after another? It's fairly easy to be richer than your parents when they were objectively poor. Not so much when they already had a car and foreign holidays, and quite possibly a house too.

I remember my grandparents' house when there was only an outside, chemical toilet. My children, now young adults, see their grandparents as being fairly comfortably off, even in retirement. And definitely no outside loos!

I'm not sure what to conclude from this, except that I thnk it's easy to get used to having more, but very hard to accept having less.

And in some communities they still do. Do you think that a small increase in living standards every fifty years or so is acceptable ?

It’s the biggest issue affecting many families so it’s newsworthy.

How dare they give a shit about the working class? It's an outrage!

The hint is in the name, 'Labour'. And the colour they use, red...

Fair point!

A part for the feckless and do gooders more like. They're toast.

I don’t get the correlation? If a loaf of bread or whatever else is overpriced it’s overpriced. So people are perfectly right to comment on it if that’s the case.

What does whether that someone who is complaining gets their nails done or not matter?

And everyone will need to pay that price of the food item. Not just those who get their nails done. Sometimes people are complaining also because while they can afford an essential item, many others can’t.

'Not having rickets' is a pretty low bar for the poor being better off these days. This thread is practically Victorian in this whole idea of the 'deserving poor' and 'undeserving poor.' Which was as inaccurate then as it is now.

As a feckless do-gooder myself - no they're not. This thread - and forum - is clearly infested by Reform bots but it's absolutely not a reflection of wider society.

Cutting back and/or feeljng the pinch. Yes.
Struggling? No

It’s worth complaining when we work harder and harder and have less money for the nice things. We should all be complaining loudly and frequently.

What a miserable existence to work and just scrape by with no nice treats. It’s the little extras that make life pleasant otherwise it’s drudgery.