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’ve worked throughout as normal. Going out and about much less for food/drinks with friends and partner, no foreign holiday, not going out browsing/shopping. Saving more than normal but that’s a good thing as we don’t know what’s going to happen next year.

We are pretty much carrying on as normal, but realise we are very lucky to be able to do so.

DH’a jobs looks secure and we are saving at least £350 per month, as he is not commuting. We have also recently had to cancel a big holiday (big birthday and 10th wedding anniversary trip) and had The refund for that. Although we are currently saving some, we have splashed out a a bit over half term and will probably upgrade the car next year.

As others have said, most people we know are in the same position, but most of our friends work in professional roles (not mega earners, and pretty normal lifestyles) and can easily work for home.

As I say, though, we realise we are very fortunate.

Our incomes dropped a little (dh had a 10% cut during full lockdown, I’m self employed and lost about 20%) but we saved loads of money by working ourselves to death covering childcare between us (dh worked 6am to 2pm and I did 2pm till I fell asleep).
So saved wrap around care from March to end of June, holiday club July and August. We cancelled all our family holidays and next years skiing and didn’t go anywhere / do anything, bought no petrol for best part of four months for example.

We were pretty much unaffected @nc1962 in fact I got a new job half way through the first lockdown and that job had better pay, and fantastic benefits that I still cannot quite believe. For a lot of ppl life Is actually continuing as normal...certain sectors are booming also.

@HotDiggidy2017 yes our food bill went up markedly. Some of that was because there weren't as many of the usual discounts/bogoffs. But it was also because I dud all the shopping in one weekly hit, so saw all the spending at once whereas normally it would be a big shop plus top up shops for bits and pieces, sandwiches/coffees out, dinner out or takeaway, school lunches etc.

I can go months without spending much but i went to pilates this morning and then nipped into town, i wont even tell you what i spent but in my defence other than £40 in M&S Food the rest was spent in small independent shops. To give my poor DH time to recover i wont splurge again until the post Christmas sales when i will buy the majority of bext years Birthday and Christmas presents for family and friends.

We both wfh all through lockdown and are still mainly wfh, so our income has been unaffected. Our jobs are relatively safe from redundancy (although not completely secure). We have saved money on commuting, holidays and childcare (no need for the DC to go to after school club while we're wfh). We do appreciate that we've been very lucky.

I'm FT WTH. I save a fortune in time and fares. I do have debts. I have made quite a few renovations over the summer but I'm very practical and arty so spent peanuts doing the work myself. I also do arty stuff for others, do my own plumbing ...

Our income hasnt changed, however I'm saving money by working from home and not commuting, plus I get another £30 per month in my salary from work to subsidise electricity and heating. We also saved on kids clubs, days/nights out, hobbies, holidays, hairdressers etc

I notice loads of people saying they saved money in lockdown which we did too but our food bill basically doubled- did anyone else find this?

Ours did too. We moved MIL in with us for 12 weeks or so - FIL was terminally ill in hospital and subsequently died and we wanted her to be with us with company. So we had an extra person living with us. Also we were having to buy lunch food in and more weekend food; and there were less special offers available and hardly any discounts on food on online shops.

However we normally eat out at least twice a week and Dh and Dd always ate lunch out when at work/school, so we saved there too which probably evened that aspect out.

We're both NHS workers so have been working non-stop since March. We've saved money as the hospital and surgery are so short of staff with sickness, stress etc, our leave has been postponed or cancelled meaning we've spent less and we've been doing extra hours and earning more.
We have leave booked for 2 weeks time. I cant wait. I cant give much more. I'd rather have had a week off with the kids in the last 8 months than money.

I notice loads of people saying they saved money in lockdown which we did too but our food bill basically doubled- did anyone else find this?

No, and I wonder why it would be. We ate the same amount during lockdown as we did before.

We are very lucky to have one secure high income.

As a SAHP I’ve actually managed to find a really good role (in the field I usually work in) which is now desperately needing workers. As it’s work from home and 0 hours contact it’s the flexibility I’ve always needed to work.

So for us a bad situation has improved our earning power. I appreciate our privilege and really feel for those who have lost so much.

I notice loads of people saying they saved money in lockdown which we did too but our food bill basically doubled- did anyone else find this?

Yes & we also got through a lot more food but that's because we were all at home & eating all 3 meals at home. We are still getting takeaways but we are eating out maybe once a month which is a big reduction so overall still better off.

Any white collar worker e.g. an office worker will be able to work from home on the same income. In fact, people will have saved money during the first lockdown when they couldn't go out. Having said that, for myself, I'm wondering whether life is even worth living if I'm not going to have any human contact in the months to come. The unfairness of this is not just about economic situation. I really think it's all been much tougher on singles.

Because I work full time and want to enjoy spending some of my hard earned salary? I also have an emergency savings buffer. I'm talking as someone who was furloughed then made redundant in August and then worked hard to find a new job, I didn't sit in the house all day moping.

"Yes & we also got through a lot more food but that's because we were all at home & eating all 3 meals at home. "

Well, yes, but home or not, you'd all be eating three meals a day somewhere so the money is being spent all the time.

It wasn’t planned but our stock portfolio did very well over Covid. Mostly tech stocks. Of course it could all go down again tomorrow. That’s the nature of the market.

@Qwertywerty3

Almost everyone I know has been unaffected financially. We live in a wealthy part of the country and everyone has professional jobs. If anything, people have more money because they are saving commuting costs.

You probably didn't mean that to sound quite as smug as it did.

I, too, live in a wealthy part of the country, and most of my friends (or their husbands) have professional jobs. They have been unaffected. I am freelance (or was).

It isn't just a case of privileged people living in naice areas being fine. It's particular sectors which have been hardest hit by a government of Philistines.

As for how the food bills can go up so much: I normally feed just myself. I was feeding additional young adults (my sixth form/student DC) during lockdown. That's how.

Been on furlough since March - worked from home before lockdown so no money to save - just 20% less income - it's been really tough

No shop workers, or nursery staff or cleaners or hairdressers down your way then @Qwertywerty3? No pubs or restaurants? Sounds unlikely idyllic

It isn't just a case of privileged people living in naice areas being fine. It's particular sectors which have been hardest hit by a government of Philistines.

Well no, but what the PP said is true for some places. Here there are actually a fair amount of jobs unfilled, largely people are unaffected as it's a cycle- the small businesses, pubs, restaurants etc are doing well because there are a load of professionals in the area who have been unaffected, and they are spending their money closer to home, and many are making a concerted effort to support businesses. In an area that's been harder hit, that will trickle down to hospitality etc.

My public sector job is secure for now but redundancies are coming. As a temporary measure I've been offered extra hours so am taking that and planning on saving - mindful that we have a dc starting Uni in 2 years. Dh is well paid and as secure as it's possible to be.

Like others, we're better off at the moment, saved loads due to no commute, no holiday etc this year.

I'm amazed that in my little town, retailers seem to be doing OK. Quite a few new shops opening up in premises that have been long empty, expanding services and the like. All small independents who have been able to adapt very quickly to meet changing requirements in the pandemic and plug holes that the national chains left.

Weve been very lucky. I've been working from home so less fuel, occasional lunch and coffee costs. Hubby has worked throughout inc. during lockdown.

As we haven't been spending as much on days outs for our boys, as much as we usually would in shops our bank balance has gone up xx