Cost of living crisis - how are you all doing?

kaz7 said:
That is not how food banks work , you have to be reffered or be in receipt of certain benefits
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True for official food banks, but many places now have food cupboards which can be accessed by anybody. There is one in Prestwich Library which asks people only take three items (i think) but it's not enforced.
One of the more worrying issues is that donations to food banks are falling as fewer people can afford to donate.
 
Just had a letter saying I'll be getting a Winter Fuel Payment of £500. This includes "Pensioner cost of living payment", but but doesn't give a split between the two payments.
Payment will be direct to my bank in November or December.
Every little helps.
 
youngbob said:
Feel like there needs to be greater discussion in the media about the fact that 70 years ago one man's salary was enough to run a household whereas now two salaries are barely enough to get by. We've been had.
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It surely is all down to house prices? I lived in a very average part of East London and pretty much everyone of a generation owned their home. The new one coming through? No chance. A one bed flat was £250,000.
 
I know I will likely get a lot of stick for this.

Me and my Mrs have we decided aren't having kids, because we believe that we cant afford to bring them into a world and give them a good lifestyle. We are far from being poor, we do ok for ourselves, I just believe far too many people have kids without thinking about the financial consequences of making that decision.

I am bitter about how much we pay in income tax/national insurance, I would he happier if this was reduced significantly and I didn't have to pay for the non-working class society that seems to be growing at an alarming rate.

Cost of living, we have done quite abit to reduce our outgoings, changed broadband supplier, removed all TV packs apart from netflix, no tv licence, swapped car for a cheaper one, this has just about covered the increase in our mortgage.
 
BlueMooner87 said:
I know I will likely get a lot of stick for this.

Me and my Mrs have we decided aren't having kids, because we believe that we cant afford to bring them into a world and give them a good lifestyle. We are far from being poor, we do ok for ourselves, I just believe far too many people have kids without thinking about the financial consequences of making that decision.

I am bitter about how much we pay in income tax/national insurance, I would he happier if this was reduced significantly and I didn't have to pay for the non-working class society that seems to be growing at an alarming rate.

Cost of living, we have done quite abit to reduce our outgoings, changed broadband supplier, removed all TV packs apart from netflix, no tv licence, swapped car for a cheaper one, this has just about covered the increase in our mortgage.
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just to be nosy, how much is your mortgage a month and how much has it risen ?
 
youngbob said:
Feel like there needs to be greater discussion in the media about the fact that 70 years ago one man's salary was enough to run a household whereas now two salaries are barely enough to get by. We've been had.
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But that in essence is why. Go back to the 1970s and there was only one bread winner in most households. Then in the late 70s and 80s more women entered the jobs market and the birth rates started to fall. As a point of note Im not saying that women having jobs is a bad thing :-). The extra money naturally resulted in people demanding more money for houses and as is the case with businesses, an opportunity for them to increase their margin and relieve the populus of their wealth.

This worked in the UK until the corporations pushed on with globalisation and started to strip out the low skilled, but relatively well paid jobs in manufacturing, mining etc replacing them with an economy centred around financial services.

Which takes us to the situation today where you need 2 people earning a good salary to keep your head above water, whilst those who earn a basic wage need to rely on finance or handouts to get by.

In 100 yrs we've gone from people living in poverty in substandard houses rented to them by wealthy landlords to people living longer but still in poverty living in poor quality housing. With the state of the NHS these days im not even sure the living longer bit still holds true.
 
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