Cost of living squeeze in 2022
Discussion
I went on the Scottish power App last night just out of interest being on a fixed deal to May 2022 but If I was to move to another fixed tariff currently my monthly DD goes up from £73 per month to £120 considering i'm slightly in credit currently.
Thankfully I can afford it should I need to but that's a hell of an increase in percentage terms.
Thankfully I can afford it should I need to but that's a hell of an increase in percentage terms.
dmahon said:
I guess the half a trillion we’ve printed wasn’t from the magic money tree after all?
I won’t turn it into another Covid thread, but I have little sympathy for people cheering for lockdowns and restrictions whilst thinking there would be no consequences simply because we put the bill on the countries credit card.
Exactly. Most of my friends and neighbours managed to wfh, so haven't stopped working. My sister and brother in law however, both work for a charitable trust and were on furlough for 18 months. I'm not sure people actually stopped to think where all the money was coming from.I won’t turn it into another Covid thread, but I have little sympathy for people cheering for lockdowns and restrictions whilst thinking there would be no consequences simply because we put the bill on the countries credit card.
Joey Deacon said:
All this money printing over the last two years has allowed the rich to get richer. This money has been put into property, watches, cars and the stock market, all of which are at all time highs.
The poor and those in low paid jobs are now suffering due to prices of everything going up due to the sheer amount of profit sloshing around. Add to this the fact that property values have massively increased over the last few years and the gap between the have and have nots is growing bigger day by day.
It is almost like this whole thing has been manufactured to make the elite stupidly wealthy and the poor more beholden to their slave masters.
Slavery was apparently abolished, but the majority of people seem to be willingly walking into financial slavery without even realising they are being f
ked by the people with the money.
I agree currently the system in the UK does enslve PAYE workers you really do struggle to get ahead, however we hve a view of the rich made into a characture by social media that everyone on £80k has a rolex and a Ferrari an if your house went up in value you are loaded....except if it did an you still live in it an did not sell it to live in the footwell of your ferrari you are no better off.The poor and those in low paid jobs are now suffering due to prices of everything going up due to the sheer amount of profit sloshing around. Add to this the fact that property values have massively increased over the last few years and the gap between the have and have nots is growing bigger day by day.
It is almost like this whole thing has been manufactured to make the elite stupidly wealthy and the poor more beholden to their slave masters.
Slavery was apparently abolished, but the majority of people seem to be willingly walking into financial slavery without even realising they are being f
ked by the people with the money.Unless you got give QE by the state then that free money did not come to you what it did was allow you to borrow more at a low rate while your salary stagnated and thus kept you enslaved. Also in the UK we have a perverse situation where we laude a youtuber etc but if one of our friends moves up the economic ladder we say they sold out, the are just another rich greedy b
d etc its really odd so we do walk into economic slavery wilingly.I would note here I use the term slavery to illustrate a point, actual slavery, Roman times, the deep south america, sex workers etc is much worse.
dmahon said:
I guess the half a trillion we’ve printed wasn’t from the magic money tree after all?
I won’t turn it into another Covid thread, but I have little sympathy for people cheering for lockdowns and restrictions whilst thinking there would be no consequences simply because we put the bill on the countries credit card.
I won’t turn it into another Covid thread, but I have little sympathy for people cheering for lockdowns and restrictions whilst thinking there would be no consequences simply because we put the bill on the countries credit card.
No real sympathy from me. A lot of people about to get a couple of doses of real world with monthly boosters.
Flooble said:
HappyClappy said:
Shock horror.
Who would have thought that shutting down the country for the best part of 2 years, to save us from a virus with 99% survival rate, would cause this amount of economic uncertainty.
No uncertainty at all. Almost everyone who isn't a fantasy communist said "printing money will cause inflation; shutting down the country will cause inflation"Who would have thought that shutting down the country for the best part of 2 years, to save us from a virus with 99% survival rate, would cause this amount of economic uncertainty.
The people the most likely to be hit by this are the ones most likely not to have benefitted from schemes such as furlough and who weren't able to work from home.
Cleaners, care workers, bus drivers, retail workers, take your pick of occupations that are generally minimum wage and who didn't have the choice to say "think I'll work remotely today and take the 80%".
There's a whole bunch of people who've had a pretty comfortable pandemic so far, financially speaking, and I'd include myself in that, but the people at the bottom always seem to suffer disproportionately.
Cleaners, care workers, bus drivers, retail workers, take your pick of occupations that are generally minimum wage and who didn't have the choice to say "think I'll work remotely today and take the 80%".
There's a whole bunch of people who've had a pretty comfortable pandemic so far, financially speaking, and I'd include myself in that, but the people at the bottom always seem to suffer disproportionately.
bhstewie said:
hstewie said: The people the most likely to be hit by this are the ones most likely not to have benefitted from schemes such as furlough and who weren't able to work from home.
Cleaners, care workers, bus drivers, retail workers, take your pick of occupations that are generally minimum wage and who didn't have the choice to say "think I'll work remotely today and take the 80%".
There's a whole bunch of people who've had a pretty comfortable pandemic so far, financially speaking, and I'd include myself in that, but the people at the bottom always seem to suffer disproportionately.
errr if you worked from home you did not get the 80%, it was if you could not WFH you got itCleaners, care workers, bus drivers, retail workers, take your pick of occupations that are generally minimum wage and who didn't have the choice to say "think I'll work remotely today and take the 80%".
There's a whole bunch of people who've had a pretty comfortable pandemic so far, financially speaking, and I'd include myself in that, but the people at the bottom always seem to suffer disproportionately.
bhstewie said:
hstewie said: The people the most likely to be hit by this are the ones most likely not to have benefitted from schemes such as furlough and who weren't able to work from home.
Cleaners, care workers, bus drivers, retail workers, take your pick of occupations that are generally minimum wage and who didn't have the choice to say "think I'll work remotely today and take the 80%".
There's a whole bunch of people who've had a pretty comfortable pandemic so far, financially speaking, and I'd include myself in that, but the people at the bottom always seem to suffer disproportionately.
100% agree, sadly. My wife's Mother has carers 3x per day, all on minimum wage but doing a brilliant job day in, day out.Cleaners, care workers, bus drivers, retail workers, take your pick of occupations that are generally minimum wage and who didn't have the choice to say "think I'll work remotely today and take the 80%".
There's a whole bunch of people who've had a pretty comfortable pandemic so far, financially speaking, and I'd include myself in that, but the people at the bottom always seem to suffer disproportionately.
For many people, a £50 per month increase in their utilities will be the difference between heating and being cold.
I come from a part of the country with high rates of social deprivation and an average wage several thousand below the National average
There has always been a large section of society that lives pretty much hand to mouth and £10 is the difference between eating/not eating
A lot of these people have been hit really hard by Covid as their zero hours/minimum wage jobs have been decimated
But, my real concern is the large numbers in good jobs, with mortgages and “good lifestyles” that are absolutely maxed to the hilt and have zero savings and zero spare every month, with commitments that meet or exceed their monthly income
They aren’t actually far off the situation of the first group as they have a lifestyle built on low prices/cheap credit, in someways the first group living in social housing might be in a better place if it all comes tumbling down around them
On talking to people I’ve been quite shocked to find the number living in nice houses with nice cars and great social lives that really don’t have a pot to piss in
It could be interesting times ahead
There has always been a large section of society that lives pretty much hand to mouth and £10 is the difference between eating/not eating
A lot of these people have been hit really hard by Covid as their zero hours/minimum wage jobs have been decimated
But, my real concern is the large numbers in good jobs, with mortgages and “good lifestyles” that are absolutely maxed to the hilt and have zero savings and zero spare every month, with commitments that meet or exceed their monthly income
They aren’t actually far off the situation of the first group as they have a lifestyle built on low prices/cheap credit, in someways the first group living in social housing might be in a better place if it all comes tumbling down around them
On talking to people I’ve been quite shocked to find the number living in nice houses with nice cars and great social lives that really don’t have a pot to piss in
It could be interesting times ahead
Earthdweller said:
I come from a part of the country with high rates of social deprivation and an average wage several thousand below the National average
There has always been a large section of society that lives pretty much hand to mouth and £10 is the difference between eating/not eating
A lot of these people have been hit really hard by Covid as their zero hours/minimum wage jobs have been decimated
But, my real concern is the large numbers in good jobs, with mortgages and “good lifestyles” that are absolutely maxed to the hilt and have zero savings and zero spare every month, with commitments that meet or exceed their monthly income
They aren’t actually far off the situation of the first group as they have a lifestyle built on low prices/cheap credit, in someways the first group living in social housing might be in a better place if it all comes tumbling down around them
On talking to people I’ve been quite shocked to find the number living in nice houses with nice cars and great social lives that really don’t have a pot to piss in
It could be interesting times ahead
There has always been a large section of society that lives pretty much hand to mouth and £10 is the difference between eating/not eating
A lot of these people have been hit really hard by Covid as their zero hours/minimum wage jobs have been decimated
But, my real concern is the large numbers in good jobs, with mortgages and “good lifestyles” that are absolutely maxed to the hilt and have zero savings and zero spare every month, with commitments that meet or exceed their monthly income
They aren’t actually far off the situation of the first group as they have a lifestyle built on low prices/cheap credit, in someways the first group living in social housing might be in a better place if it all comes tumbling down around them
On talking to people I’ve been quite shocked to find the number living in nice houses with nice cars and great social lives that really don’t have a pot to piss in
It could be interesting times ahead
Lots of “comfortable middle class wfh” types have been spunking money at an alarming rate he past couple of years. Huge mortgages, extra mortgages on extensions, little savings etc etc
Earthdweller said:
But, my real concern is the large numbers in good jobs, with mortgages and “good lifestyles” that are absolutely maxed to the hilt and have zero savings and zero spare every month, with commitments that meet or exceed their monthly income
Why do you have concern for these people?Gecko1978 said:
bhstewie said:
hstewie said: The people the most likely to be hit by this are the ones most likely not to have benefitted from schemes such as furlough and who weren't able to work from home.
Cleaners, care workers, bus drivers, retail workers, take your pick of occupations that are generally minimum wage and who didn't have the choice to say "think I'll work remotely today and take the 80%".
There's a whole bunch of people who've had a pretty comfortable pandemic so far, financially speaking, and I'd include myself in that, but the people at the bottom always seem to suffer disproportionately.
errr if you worked from home you did not get the 80%, it was if you could not WFH you got itCleaners, care workers, bus drivers, retail workers, take your pick of occupations that are generally minimum wage and who didn't have the choice to say "think I'll work remotely today and take the 80%".
There's a whole bunch of people who've had a pretty comfortable pandemic so far, financially speaking, and I'd include myself in that, but the people at the bottom always seem to suffer disproportionately.
mike74 said:
Earthdweller said:
But, my real concern is the large numbers in good jobs, with mortgages and “good lifestyles” that are absolutely maxed to the hilt and have zero savings and zero spare every month, with commitments that meet or exceed their monthly income
Why do you have concern for these people?If they felt they needed this lifestyle to be happy, portray an image, YOLO or because everyone on Facebook is doing the same then that is their problem.
Edited by Joey Deacon on Wednesday 29th December 10:35
Teebs said:
100% agree, sadly. My wife's Mother has carers 3x per day, all on minimum wage but doing a brilliant job day in, day out.
For many people, a £50 per month increase in their utilities will be the difference between heating and being cold.
Quite.For many people, a £50 per month increase in their utilities will be the difference between heating and being cold.
And there's a lot of people who wouldn't consider themselves in that category for whom it's only going to take a little nudge be it energy bills or interest rates to push them right outside of their comfort zone.
Something scary like 20-25% of people have no savings at all apparently.
Joey Deacon said:
Exactly, I have zero sympathy for these people, they did it to themselves, nobody forced them to have a lifestyle they can barely afford with no backup plan.
If they felt them needed this lifestyle to be happy, portray an image, YOLO or because everyone on Facebook is doing the same then that is their problem.
Sadly, I think they do have a back up plan - there is so many of them…they will probably be bailed out.If they felt them needed this lifestyle to be happy, portray an image, YOLO or because everyone on Facebook is doing the same then that is their problem.
You then have the so called tax sinkholes
£50-60k can be an effective 60% tax rate
£100-125k is an effective 60% tax rate
3.25% new NI above the max threshold is a tax load
So what can you do - and this is if it’s affordable - pay into your pension so every extra £40k you put in a gross £100 into your pension. An amazing return.
This is long term planning for sure but it means you can drag forward the time you can financially retire + inheritance tax with pensions can be extremely efficient.
£50-60k can be an effective 60% tax rate
£100-125k is an effective 60% tax rate
3.25% new NI above the max threshold is a tax load
So what can you do - and this is if it’s affordable - pay into your pension so every extra £40k you put in a gross £100 into your pension. An amazing return.
This is long term planning for sure but it means you can drag forward the time you can financially retire + inheritance tax with pensions can be extremely efficient.
mike74 said:
Earthdweller said:
But, my real concern is the large numbers in good jobs, with mortgages and “good lifestyles” that are absolutely maxed to the hilt and have zero savings and zero spare every month, with commitments that meet or exceed their monthly income
Why do you have concern for these people?I have a concern about the impact the collapse of their lifestyles will have on the economy and everyone else
There’s a difference
It's going to be interesting the extent to which people connect the cost of living crisis to the green agenda.
I think that will be when things get interesting. Unlike, for example, tax policy which has selected effects, rising food and energy prices are more pervasive in their nature. And that's why they are a massive political problem.
There is a political opportunity for an anti green party in such a climate. If you are cold and hungry, their narrative may be rather seductive.
Interesting times ahead.
I think that will be when things get interesting. Unlike, for example, tax policy which has selected effects, rising food and energy prices are more pervasive in their nature. And that's why they are a massive political problem.
There is a political opportunity for an anti green party in such a climate. If you are cold and hungry, their narrative may be rather seductive.
Interesting times ahead.
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