How are so many people still spending as normal?

[nc1962]

I'm so confused by what I'm hearing compared to how people seem to be living their lives.

On the one hand, it's everywhere about job losses, redundancies, people not being able to pay mortgages. But on the other - a lot of people I know/vague acquaintances are going on holiday at every opportunity, buying a lot of stuff and spending a lot of money on house renovations.

Our household has been hit badly by all of this, with a massive drop in income.

Of course it's different for everyone and up to people how they spend, but I'm so uncertain what to think. Are there really so many households (normal as opposed to very rich) who have been able to carry on as normal? I thought we were very typical in terms of having taken a big hit, but now I don't know what to think and whether this is a short term or long term thing.

I wanted to ask what others are finding to be the case - are a lot of people you know carrying on as normal, or has there been a big financial impact?

I’m in retail. My income has gone up as the rent cap was increased.

There was a report recently showing that when you increase the income of the poorest it has the most economic impact as they will go out and spend the money as they actually need it for basics.

Also with the website examples, people are now shopping online rather than going to shops. Probably spending the same amount of money overall.

The way it has worked out is just so random, I think. No-one would ever have thought to try to be in an industry that doesn't rely on working face-to-face with people. I always thought the big thing that would affect my working life was an internet failure – which would have had the opposite effect.

We’re earning the same as before but don’t have commuting costs, holidays, no need to by office wear, haven’t been to the hairdresser in nearly a year, gym was closed for a good few months, no concerts, cinema visits, school trips/events etc.

We’re only shopping locally and we make sure we have at least one takeout per week plus a couple of bought lunches to support the local eateries.

Overall we’re better off financially.

Our salaries haven't changed and we have no commuting costs. I'm working overtime on Saturday mornings which brings in £200-250 extra a month.

We're not eating out and we're not going to the cinema/theatre etc.

We got refunds for all cancelled holidays and have been camping instead. Sadly getting too cold for that now (and we're in tier 3).

My income has been cut to nothing and I don't see that improving anytime soon.

The hospitality sector in Wales is in meltdown. The funding for the discretionary grants ran out within hours of being open and if I get that £1000 grant (no guarantee - it's discretionary with no right of appeal) it will probably need to last me til Easter

It is indeed shit

Amazingly, this is making me feel slightly sorry for the train and petrol companies!

I know, crazy!

I guess it largely depends on job sector?

I was a TA in a private school and furloughed but thankfully topped up to 100%. However I used to run the after school wrap around and did some tutoring - that income went as it was overtime. So I had an income drop - but also didn’t have any public transport to pay for, no dinners with friends, I stuck to one weekly shop and stopped popping in for a pint of milk and spending a tenner on impulse purchases (which I have tried hard to stick to!). No holiday this year which has saved me a fortune. Also now a teacher so income is slightly up.

So for me I’ve carried on largely as normal but haven’t had anywhere near the social spending I used to have which has meant I can splash out a tiny bit and save (just bought a new TV). Counting my lucky stars atm in a sense but also bloody nervous because while there’ll always be teaching jobs, I’m in the private sector so my job is more at risk.

Thinking of my friends jobs - a lot of them have been able to transfer to work from home and are in businesses that aren’t really struggling (like insurance, pensions, one solicitor, those who work for banks) and some are in public sector or medical jobs which are needed full stop - for them, like others have said, life hasn’t changed because work is there and if anything people have saved money being at home.
Friend who has struggled the most is my poor friend who runs a Beauty business from her home which came to a complete stop and she’s worked hard to get it running again - and I try to support (though there’s only so many times you can get yourself waxed) - Thankfully her husbands job is stable but they have had to cutback majorly.

I’ve been trying hard to support the independent shops - so if someone’s had a birthday since the shops reopened I’ve tried hard to support small independent ones rather than using amazon. I think home renovations are rising because people are now stuck in their homes and want to improve them. Lock down taught me I really needed a new front door! (Done!)

I don’t think this is a bad thing - surely we want people spending money, keeping businesses afloat and people’s jobs in tact? Likewise holidays - the more people spend on tourism the less job cuts there’ll be.

People are saving money because they are spending less on

• commuting
• gym membership
• extracurricular activities
• theatre/ nightclubs/restaurants/bars
• work clothing
• manicures/ pedicures/ beauty treatments/hair
• petrol
• holiday refunds- we received refunds for two school trips and family holiday ( a few grand)

However, the price of food has shot up so more money spent . In addition , energy bills will be higher during the winter.

This thread just shows how the wotld is currently changing - there are bigger divides with people WFH saving money, I already workedfrom home but others who have lost jobs or furloughed whose income has dropped dramatically.

I went looking at sofaslast week and they said they is a huge increase in demand this year , so I think many people have altered what they spend money on.

I had started going back to the pub for a catch up once a week but we have gone to tier 2 tomorrow so that ends that for now.

Our income is the same as we are both key workers. Outgoings much less as we haven't been on any holidays or trips and haven't been able to eat out much, take-aways are so much cheaper. So we feel quite well off atm.

My DH and I were talking about this last night and saying that although we know how bad things are for many, we have been fortunate not to be affected by covid so far (touch wood!) - excluding lockdown, missing family, cancelled holidays, worry about son out of school and his mental health, obviously.

Neither of us or our family and friends have been affected financially - no one has lost jobs or had to take pay cuts. I have saved a little on travel costs but also saved on childcare to an extent and dog walker.

Also whilst we know of people who have had covid, friends of friends, we don’t personally know anyone who has had it so haven’t had to worry about anyone.

We realise how EXTREMELY fortunate we are and don’t take it for granted.

We’ve both said how relieved we are in some ways that DMIL died 2 years ago rather than being alive through 2020. She had COPD and was hospitalised twice a year - we often thought it would be the last time for the last 3 years of her life. Can’t imagine how stressful it would have been if she had been around during this pandemic - living alone, 85, very poor health, high risk, unable to see her grandchildren, her own sons worried about visiting her. We miss her lots but are glad she didn’t have to live through this

We got refunds for all cancelled holidays

Yes I know -the cancellation refunds I had to give came from my savings. I'm not going to be going on any sort of holiday anytime soon.

I don’t think this is a bad thing - surely we want people spending money, keeping businesses afloat and people’s jobs in tact?

Lockdown forced me to realise how much money I wasted. so I am more mindful now & don't want to return to that. When I do spend I try & chose local & independent.

Amazon have had record sales I believe.

I'm so sorry you're struggling. I'm in an industry that is booming as a result of Covid... I think we must be one of the only ones profiting.

We've managed to save a lot with my son not going to nursery any more - I just work around him now, DH and I arrange our schedules. We are luckily able to do flexible working.

We have WFH in relatively secure jobs, at first our bonuses were withheld but they have been reinstated now as the companies weren’t as badly hit as expected. Due to this we have saved a fortune on commuting, lunches and socialising after work. We also haven’t been on holiday. We were able to finish all house renovations using our salaries without touching savings as we would normally do. Now we have been lucky enough to sell our house during the boom making a large profit as the price rose by £20 - £30k in the last 6 months. We have been very lucky and are quite frugal anyway so have more put away.

We can both work from home so no income hit. Have saved on travel lunches and no classes for DC. Also saved by not having a holiday, going out to eat, to cinema, gym, pool, etc. I have saved £5k in lock down, DH has saved more.

@Elphame

My income has been cut to nothing and I don't see that improving anytime soon.

The hospitality sector in Wales is in meltdown. The funding for the discretionary grants ran out within hours of being open and if I get that £1000 grant (no guarantee - it's discretionary with no right of appeal) it will probably need to last me til Easter

It is indeed shit

So tough. I'm very much looking forward to coming and buying lots of meals out and the like next year, if we are allowed. I hope you and the businesses like you will be able to survive this.

Our incomes are unchanged except that I can work overtime whenever I choose and with little else to do have probably been doing more than normal. We saved money initially due to shopping once a week and meal planning plus no eating out/takeaways. That has started to creep back to old habits and I'd like to go back to meal planning and spending less in the big supermarkets, I'm happy to keep supporting my local restaurants though, even if by takeaway only.

I feel a responsibility to keep spending in some ways. I won't put money into Amazon's pocket but local businesses or even chains that are British and pay taxes, I think they need my money. If we all stop spending the situation will get even worse and while obviously some have no choice but to cut back wherever possible we are currently ok and hoping to do our bit to keep things ticking over.

My dh wfh home previously so no great saving on commuter fares etc . Kids are older so no kids clubs saving etc. Greatest saving is not having a holiday.

Husbands job is stable at the moment, but I fear for the future. My job is safe.

Our wages haven't changed. I work for the NHS so I feel feel pretty secure in my job. DH works in a hotel so was furloughed during lockdown but the cut in pay was balanced out by not having commuting costs, not being able to have a foreign holiday this year, no meals out and no soft play or kids activities. Since he's been back at work it's been mental and the hotel has been fully booked , I guess by all the people who would've holidayed abroad under normal circumstances.

We're carrying on spending as usual for now as it contributes to the economy which in turn will hopefully mean less redundancies. After all, if all these people didn't keep staying in the hotel DH works in he might not have had a job by now, or at least would have had a pay cut.

DH and I have jobs that weren't affected so our income is the same.

We're actually spending more than usual because of

• wanting to support, particularly local, businesses that are struggling

• concerns about what will happen at the end of the Brexit transition period, so we are getting any home improvements/new white goods that we might have otherwise spread over a longer period of time, done/bought now

Our incomes have stayed the same throughout but we haven’t managed to “save” anything but we have redecorated two bedrooms and replaced furniture that we wouldn’t have done otherwise (due to holidays cancellations, not eating out etc) and we are spending a lot more a month on food to keep us well stocked just in case we have to isolate. We’ve also managed to clear some minor debt which makes us better off. So even though we haven’t saved anything, we have spent in other ways that we wouldn’t usually do. It annoys me more that I know people who cried poverty at the start of the lockdown (self employed acquaintances) who didn’t work for weeks (we worked more hours than usual to earn our same salary) then got the 10k business rate payment AND low rate loans from the government and refurbished their entire house with it!

I have an online business- sales have gone up 300% since the start of Covid. I don;t sell essential items- obviously some people still have money.

Are there really so many households (normal as opposed to very rich) who have been able to carry on as normal?

At the moment yes, we both are working as normal and have all the way through, on full salary.

Doesn't mean to say that won't change the longer this crap goes on.

@Elphame

We got refunds for all cancelled holidays

Yes I know -the cancellation refunds I had to give came from my savings. I'm not going to be going on any sort of holiday anytime soon.

Same here, @Elphame

The likes of us are not having a fun time at the moment.