Cost of living crisis - how are you all doing?

[Summerbuzz]

A good bottle of hot sauce works wonders to liven up shit bland food if you don't mind things a bit spicy.

Revelation last week - the cheapest ketchup with a dash of hendersons is on par with expensive ketchup.

 

[ob]

Currently supporting my sister financially as she's on benefits and really struggling. Myself and partner try to donate to local foodbank once a week as well

 

[hampshireblue]

I’d much prefer to give my money to small local businesses rather than large corporations. Slightly more expensive but much better quality and it keeps the money in the local economy rather than the pockets of shareholders.

So do I, and we are very lucky to have 2 good butchers in the town. I usually shop at Waitrose as it is only a 2 minute walk, but some of the prices really do take the piss-40% more for a bag of ice compared to Tesco?

But the other day I went into Tesco as I was passing by. I needed some chicken thighs for a coupld of recipes I do. 12 big thighs for £4.75 was a bloody bargain. That's 6 meals. Add a few veg etc and it's £1 per meal(plus gas/elec).

 

[MCFC Wirral]

Asda was dead last night. No queue. Goodness knows how pubs and restaurants here will survive.

 

[stonerblue]

My business has gone through the roof in the last month despite the shop being in the middle of a building site. Three other shoe repair/key cutters have shut down due to death, illness and a forced closure in the area and i am getting all their customers. Takings going up to pre-pandemic levels so i can employ my old apprentice again just when he needs it the most due to the crisis.

 

[117 M34]

My business has gone through the roof in the last month despite the shop being in the middle of a building site. Three other shoe repair/key cutters have shut down due to death, illness and a forced closure in the area and i am getting all their customers. Takings going up to pre-pandemic levels so i can employ my old apprentice again just when he needs it the most due to the crisis.

Cobblers.

 

[The Lightbowne Cowboy]

I got my first energy bill since it went up(I was on a fixed rate for last 2 years) and it's gone from 50 quid to 200 quid(for the quarter) now the last bill incorperated the government hand out help so I'm pleasantly surprised it was only 200 quid. I did hear something that prices were coming down, does anybody know anything of this rumour? Or is it wishful thinking?

 

[Bluesince1979]

Im self employed, just me doing floor cleaning and polishing.
So deep cleaning anything from marble floors to carpets. From expensive restaurants to a lounge in a 2 up 2 down.

Ive been trading 16 years so business is steady but for the first time in a LONG time im worried

Run up to Christmas is usually pretty hectic on the domestic side but not so this year. Jobs are trickling in rather than flooding as usual. Plus im getting cancellations, some very last minute, customers budgeting what they can and cant afford before xmas. Many of these customers have been with me since the day i started so they arent ‘messers’. They are genuinly apologetic and have explained that they just cant afford it.
Ive just took a call from a customer who was booked in all day on thurs, needs to cancel as just cant afford.
Highly unlikely i will replace that job at such short notice now . She was so sorry, and shes used me for donkeys years. Just cant afford.

Contrast that, im today working in a restaurant in what is quite an affluent village, every time i drive past it seems busy. Just spoke to the owner and i asked how business is and he said “hanging on by our finger nails”.
Same with a restaurant/bar across the road that had a fuckin fortune spent on doing it up maybe 5 years ago. Its now closed 3 nights a week to cut costs and stave off administration.

I know thats a tiny micro example of my industry so may not be the same in other business but its created a worry for me.

 

[MCFC Wirral]

I’ve always believed you spend what you have unless you’re super rich. Wealthier people will, by and large, have bigger houses and more powerful cars. They’ll spend more at the supermarkets etc. When good pubs in affluent areas are struggling then you know it’s serious.

 

[Stephen Ireland's pants]

So do I, and we are very lucky to have 2 good butchers in the town. I usually shop at Waitrose as it is only a 2 minute walk, but some of the prices really do take the piss-40% more for a bag of ice compared to Tesco?

But the other day I went into Tesco as I was passing by. I needed some chicken thighs for a coupld of recipes I do. 12 big thighs for £4.75 was a bloody bargain. That's 6 meals. Add a few veg etc and it's £1 per meal(plus gas/elec).

This is why bluemoon is a joy to me . Cost of living crisis and the price increase for a bag of frozen water in waitrose crops up . Waitrose is great on a Monday morning for half price meat and fish on the counters. Booths is also cheaper than my local butcher for most cuts of meat . Shame as I like the banter and giving the local butcher the trade . Booths also do a weekly fresh meat and fish deal starting and changing every Thursday. Every little helps