Living Is Expensive

Life has become increasingly expensive of late! Think about all the latest cost increases and new expenses everywhere you look! In fact it seems that everything has rocketed in price, particularly in London, in the last few years! Firstly the cost of living soared along with house prices, and it became increasingly difficult to pay the rent, let alone get a foot on the fabled housing ladder! Then to add insult to injury, all the daily living expenses started to rise rapidly too - think about the cost of petrol, food, gas and electricity... and the final insult when the Government added an additional tax onto beer, wine and spirits, increasing the cost of these even more... and the congestion charging system added a fairly hefty new cost onto drivers heading in and out of the city.

Of course at the same time, the cost of certain things has become more affordable - we can now buy cheap clothes on the high street and cheaper electrical items and holidays abroad for example... but still the rising expenses are cutting into our disposable incomes and leaving us progressively worse off. Additionally, the cost of borrowing has recently become extremely high, as the credit crunch hits, meaning that credit is both hard to come by and increasingly expensive. It's also now reserved for those with the best credit records, meaning that the rest of us have to look for alternatives to managing our rising expenses!

Living is expensive now for all types of people. Students are finding that the cost of study and living is rising very quickly, as grants slowly disappear and are replaced by 'cost of living' and study Loans. They may find they rack up thousands of pounds of study debt, however, particularly for students studying in London and the South - debts which may take many years to repay. At the same time, those people working also find that their living costs and expenses rise far quicker than their salary or wage increases. This year in particular - with recession looming, it seems as though there will be a double whammy as bonuses are cut and pay increase pots look to be far lower than usual. With inflation running at nearly 5%, there's a danger that pay increases won't actually bring salaries in line with rising inflation, and savings will also be eroded away.

Of course, it's not all doom and gloom. Living is indeed expensive, and the cost of everyday activities such as socialising, eating out and taking holidays - not to mention the rising living expenses associated with travel, groceries, mortgages and rent and food - may continue to rise for a while longer. But eventually the economy will right itself, and there are probably all ways we can reduce our outgoings and bring our spending back into line again! It's time for some sensible living and a few careful financial decisions that's all!