Will Your Personal Finances Will Get Better or Worse in the next 6 Months?

I think my finances will get worst, I work in the public sector so we have a pay freeze. Plus I am expecting the cost of living to go up, utilities and food.

Probably a little worse, though it shouldn't cause us any problems. I'm not planning on any big purchases, and I'm spending less on certain things these days- eating out at restaurants, going to the cinema, etc- than I used to before Covid. But I don't feel like that's really making a difference because the cost of living just seems to go up and up.

I’m expecting it’ll be worse judging from how much prices seem to have gone up recently - just this last week I noticed a 50p increase on ham, 25p on toilet rolls, £1 on washing powder and 30p on washing up liquid - all essentials items but a big increase meaning I couldn’t afford other items I needed.

My income will remain the same. We fixed it end of 2019 when we decided to retire early and be happy and poo rather than rich, stressed and probably dead. There is no scope to increase the amount we just have to cut back, look for deals, offers and yellow stickers until we reach retirement age.

Our finances will be the same until next summer when my husband takes early retirement. Fortunately we have pensions but no OAP government pension for years. I count myself very fortunate. .

Our finances will stay pretty much the same. We have just moved house and our mortgage and council tax are slightly higher, but not by a large amount. We don't go out for dinners, coffee, to the cinema or have takeaways and we have made all our big purchases for a while and have already been spending less on certain things so our finances won't be much different. Plus our utilities bills are actually lower in our new house so that covers our council tax increase.

Although I had a small pay rise (after 10 years) earlier this year, there is very little work and I am currently earning half of what I did pre covid despite the rise. During lockdown I didn't work at all and found I could scrape by on my pensions but if my job goes it will not be fun scraping by. No treats or holidays, no nice presents for grandchildren, new clothes/shoes etc. It will just be enough to pay mortgage, bills and food. Hopefully I can cling on for another 3 years or so when mortgage will be paid then I won't feel under any pressure.

PS For those wondering, I get paid per job, not a set wage, so less work less wage.

Since lockdown my finances have improved considerable, mainly because I didn’t go shopping for non essentials for nearly two years. I realised I had everything I needed and more already. Plus I saved on not being able to travel.

Thank you everyone for your comments! Very interesting to read the different opinions.

I went on the news this morning to discuss the topic, and here’s a behind-the-scenes video of it:

Our childcare costs are due to increase a lot from September (fees have gone up by 5%) which is going to eat up more than the last of my disposable income. Other bills have also increased especially council tax and going back to commuting for work will also increase costs and is more expensive than before lockdown. Things will be very tight until I can find a better paid job.