Forget Covid, cost of living could make us prisoners in our own home
MY HUSBAND and I have been confined to barracks this week battling a nasty, non-Covid virus passed on by our cuddly young nephew. He got away with a mild sniffle. We both feel like we’ve been hit by a train.
Stuck at home, working from different rooms and barely crossing the threshold over the past seven days has felt rather like being back in lockdown, only with added Lemsip.
Between coughing fits, we exchange croaky words in the kitchen about the weather and the day’s news, plan meals, and gaze wistfully out of the window. Talk about a party atmosphere! And yet at the same time, I’ve felt a curious sense of relief. At least, I keep thinking, by spending a week at home, we’re saving a few quid.
The cost of living crisis is now exactly that. A crisis. Hard-working Brits at every level of the spectrum have been hit by a barrage of spiralling costs. From energy bills to mortgage rates, council tax rises to petrol prices, every single part of daily life is becoming worryingly expensive.
Even my phone bill and credit card payments have increased, while everyday staples at the supermarket such as cat litter and tomatoes (tomatoes!) have become pricier by the week.
On Thursday, the Bank of England dropped another bombshell, slashing growth forecasts and predicting a double-digit rise in the cost of living thanks to rising inflation. It is expected to peak at a 40-year high within months, which will in turn drive us into recession. And you thought the local election results were miserable.
I’ll be honest, I’ve haven’t had the guts to tot up just how much more a month I’m going to be shelling out. Anyone who has, though, knows that it is Rather a Lot of Money.
This would be nightmarish at any time. Those of us who remember the credit crunch of the late Noughties know how dismal life can be in a recession, while those with longer memories talk darkly of the difficult 1970s and the three-day week. What makes it especially galling right now though, is that we’ve just been through an exceptionally tough time.
The pandemic challenged us in ways we never knew existed. Separated from loved ones and friends, unable to leave the house or travel, denied simple pleasures such as a pint in the pub or a meal out with a pal. Just at a time when we should be celebrating the end of it, the perilous state of our finances means that many of us are having to penny-pinch in ways we haven’t done for years.
Like many during the pandemic, I made a bucket list of things I wanted to do when it was all over. Visit friends down south. Eat out at a particular restaurant. Go island-hopping in the Hebrides.
PERUSING it last weekend as my throat started to feel suspiciously scratchy, I realised that most of these ambitions are starting to look beyond the budget. They will, at the very least, have to be stretched out.
But this isn’t just about bucket lists and missing out on a few restaurant meals. Our economy is teetering dangerously between recovery and collapse. Just as the hospitality industry thought they could start relying on customers returning, and retailers expected a flood of keen shoppers, many are eyeing their bank accounts and deciding ‘maybe next month’.
This in turn will have an effect on employment. It will impact our high streets (as if the pandemic hasn’t already had a detrimental enough effect) and our town centres.
It feels like a vicious spiral from which it’s going to be difficult to bounce back. Many people have it much, much worse, of course. There are families right now forced to choose between heating and food.
For those most in need, the Government must surely step in. The rest of us will have to carefully count the pennies. A nation once more confined to barracks, wondering what happened to our long-promised freedom. Emma Cowing