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?

Quite simply, most people havn't seen a fall in their wages due to being public sector or working for firms that havn't been hit badly by Covid.

Covid has been very polarising. There are 3 million self employed excluded from Govt support schemes, so they're very badly affected as are those whose businesses have closed down and those made redundant.

I'm genuinely suprised that so many households (on here at least) are better off financially. I know that sounds naive but maybe because friends know our situation they are keeping quiet. We have a hospitality business and have taken a huge hit. Our business is running at a loss yet I still get snide comments when I mention that we are still using the furlough scheme. Comments about taking it easy and relaxing. We are definitely watching the pennies as we don't know what the future holds.

We are incredibly fortunate the our household income has not been affected. What we have noticed is that our day to day spending has dropped massively as we aren't going out and doing anything - we are saving the excess but I guess some in a similar position are enjoying the extra money

We are extremely fortunate and I suspect there are a large cohort like us: recently retired early mid 50s. Those like us will be in same position and saving or spending on non essentials which will impact the distribution. We’ve saved massively on our budget for this year- spent £100 on transport since early March (no where to go- walking everywhere). Reduced eating out. All events and days out cancelled. All classes, clubs cancelled. Holiday cancelled. 30th wedding anniversary cancelled. Possible Xmas cancelled now!
We’ve spent on catching up on DIY projects we’d normally spread over a number of years and inside hobbies and garden spending- but still have saved a large amount

As I say we’re very very fortunate as are our grown up kids who can both WFH in their rented homes.
I feel extremely sorry and worried for folks that have lost jobs, or have young kids and trying to juggle childcare through this. I am extremely grateful for what we have. You have so much to contend with and stress must be awful 💐💐
I think it’s a big difference between those that can’t work for home who are facing furlough or redundancy or reduced hours and then everyone else who is still getting regular income but can’t spend on their normal expenditure items.

I’m spending a fortune on food shopping, deliveries from local restaurants, boredom online shopping, random shit for the house

@peachypetite

People who are still working are saving a fortune in commuting, buying lunch, coffees etc!

This is so true. My DH is saving £300+ a month on train fares alone.

We've been incredibly lucky, and our finances have increased. I was halfway through maternity leave when all this kicked off, and have returned part time as planned recently. DH works in IT, and thanks to winning a few contracts with the NHS, business has boomed over lock down. Thanks to WFH, DH hasn't needed to commute. We've also not eaten out or had as many take aways as we normally would. Our supermarket bill and online shopping costs have sky rocketed though.

@helloblossom well MNs probably has more of a middle class slant who are less likely to be affected job wise & more likely to save money due to reduced commute, childcare costs etc.

Never quite understood the hate for the furloughed though. Don't get me wrong I had to work & homeschool but that's just the way it is.

So far, our employment has not been impacted. If anything we are saving money right now because we don’t take trips and don’t eat in restaurants. We know we have been extremely lucky.

I work for a large "not for profit" organisation and am much better off financially now. We have had a pay rise, and a bonus for working so hard during the initial months of the pandemic. I have worked throughout, from home.

Amongst my friends and family, only one person has been made redundant, and he was on over £100k and looking to take early retirement soon,. He got a huge payout so was celebrating Everyone else has either worked throughout or had a period of furlough and are now back working in their shops or offices.

Employment hasn't been affected, and 99% certain it won't be so carrying on as normal.

We are in a weird situation as dhs work has stayed the same (office based, senior admin in health sector so very secure), and the rest of our income is made up of disability benefits (for me and ds) so those haven’t and won’t change. So our income has stayed exactly the same. We are very grateful for that and know others are really struggling. We have however noticed day to day stuff costing more- groceries etc - and this has impacted I guess.

I’m wfh so saving on petrol, parking, lunches and work clothes etc. However electric and gas have gone up, the weekly shop is more expensive and DP has had no income since March (self-employed musician). If we were both still earning we’d be better off, as it is we are managing but treats are limited to a monthly takeaway.

I agree Bagels I am trying to save as much as possible as prices will go through the roof from Jan 1

@goggygill well technically I would say we are typical MN middle class though. Until march we had a very successful business and were very comfortable. Luckily we have some savings to fall back on but our kids are too old for childcare so no savings there plus we don't have commuting costs.

We are saving money on train fares, restaurants, theatres, cinema and holidays. When you add it all up, it's quite a lot. We are still shopping, but online only now.

Retired so little change, fortunately. The money we normally spend on holidays has paid for new central heating and a few other smaller home improvements. Rarely eat out so no change there either.
DS is a teacher and his partner an A&E nurse in London so thankfully their jobs are secure, if a little more risky than average. They have both worked right the way through lockdown so have also seen little change, financially. They rent and can't afford to buy at the moment but reduced socialising has probably boosted their savings a little.

We're saving tons by WFH. No train fares, extra childcare costs, lunches, coffees, clothing treats at lunchtime etc etc.

DH is a public sector employee who is working from home, we are saving on fuel costs for commuting. I claim carers allowance for our disabled dc as I can't work, we also get some tax credits and dc gets DLA for care and mobility. Nothing has really changed for us financially.

DP earns six figures and is able to work from home. His job has actually benefited from coronavirus and we have saved a lot of money on trips out and events. We are lucky in that respect but like everyone, have made sacrifices in other ways.

My income has dropped, not as much as some. I had been deliberately spending more than usual for 2 reasons. First because I wanted to keep in business places that were struggling (so more takeaways, more charitable donations, more small purchases) Second - savings are attracting no interest so buy now before prices rise.

However I'm going to stop that. I'm not going to care about keeping people in work when they refuse to help themselves by complying with restrictions and are happy for other people to die. With the NHS collapsing I'm also going to need my money to go private if I need health care.

Our household hasn’t suffered. We know we’re lucky. We’re in stable jobs in education and NHS. We’ve saved money on what previous people have said e.g. no holiday, less petrol during lockdown (we worked from home).

@etopp

OP, I have gone from earning a decent amount to earning absolutely nothing since early March. However, I had my teenagers locked down with me, so at the same time, my outgoings went up enormously.

It has been completely shit.

💐💐

No change for us. Possibly even better off. I haven't done the sums.

@helloblossom I would assume lots on here are in the public sector & probably didn't wfh from home much before so it's the double whammy if that makes sense.