Qvc cost of living winners and losers

[Vienna]

I live in Greater Manchester area and I can use my bus pass between 9.30am and midnight.

 

[maymorganlondon]

I live in London, I wish I hadn't read that

It's not news to me. I knew about the reprocessing of sewage into drinking water in London back in the 1980s. I love how on the ball politicians and media are!
We talk about recycling, so with any scarce resource we can expect more of the same. And the media 10 steps behind, playing catch-up and pretending it's new news rather than recycled. Real news, real journalism, and facts are among the scarce resources available for recycling.
I've reached the stage where I do double check what the media report and try to go back to the source to see if what's reported is accurate or spun wildly to suit a particular narrative.

 

[Deleted member 21838]

I think people will focus any spare money they do have on trying to enjoy life and if they can, get out and do something. Use somebody else’s heat and light for a few hours in a cinema,say, instead of their own. Techno gadgets you can live without, household helpers, skin tonics, elasticated awnings..er..dresses..food which is clearly overpriced on many occasions..plus, the usual non-essentials never ending conveyor belt of shi…er..varied items will not have the same appeal when you are struggling to live..Their postage rates I have always thought are in general expensive and not representing good value. They are also, I think, peel an orange in their pocket but they’re not mean in terms of any money off incentives in a voucher sense. I am £5 off your first order doesn’t cut it any longer in 2022. 1993, maybe - but not now.

 

[loujareth]

I think people will focus any spare money they do have on trying to enjoy life and if they can, get out and do something. Use somebody else’s heat and light for a few hours in a cinema

And with Cineworld on the brink of bankruptcy, there may be fewer cinemas available to do that in.

 

[Vienna]

Tomorrow 3rd September is national cinema day and cinemas are offering tickets for just £3.

 

[stratobuddy]

Tomorrow 3rd September is national cinema day and cinemas are offering tickets for just £3.

It's so long since I last went that it was 1/6d then.

 

[miss molly]

From my years at shopping at Q and everyone took the P lets see what I have got,
Slanket to keep me warm tick , Airfryer to cook my food in a giffy tick ,Price/yankee candles to light the house tick ,Crappy torches for power cuts tick, A shed loads of beauty products so when the lights come back on hubby does not get a fright and do a runner

 

[Weathergirl]

Which brands will be hit first if people start cutting back? I think hair care is very expensive compared to the high street. Some beauty brands might struggle.
Cozee home will be booming and energy efficient cookware should do well.
Any thoughts?

It's been years since I last posted, but your thread caught my eye. Magazines are printing regular articles now about how the high Street and supermarkets like Aldi have really been upping their game with beauty, and have some brilliant stuff at the moment. Many forum members have been saying this for years. I ditched my favourite cleanse and polish a while ago for Aldi's dupe, and it is identical. Same/very similar ingredients, a nice thick creaky consistency, same smell, exactly the same results, vegan friendly...a steal at £2.99 and you get a cloth in each box. So..I reckon Liz Earle will struggle, also Elemis. Who needs to spend nearly £30 quid on micellar water when the same amount of Simple's version is less than a fiver and gets great reviews?
Also think perfume brands, handbags and jewellery will struggle on Q, Brands like cozee home will do well as you say, candles may do well as Q will be telling us we can use our stash in the inevitable blackouts. Finally kitchen brands selling slow cooker and other energy efficient cooking equipment will do well.

 

[Toril]

I tried the Elemis micellar water and it made my eyes sting, made my face red and left my skin sticky. I‘ve gone back to the Simple micellar water which is a fraction of the cost for a huge bottle and it removes every bit of make up with none of the issues that I experienced with the Elemis one.

I’ve often said on here that I no longer buy the prestige brands and have opted for cheaper brands and my skin has benefited.

When I first discovered QVC, I was sucked into all their hype. I’ve since woken up.

 

[Kathy]

On QVC Facebook, it has been announced the heated slanket is coming soon.

Will we be able to afford to turn it on. lol

 

[donna255]

Will we be able to afford to turn it on. lol

Going by some of the newspapers, there will be power cuts this winter. So buy hot water bottles, fill early.

 

[Vienna]

Back in the early days I tried brands such as Elemis, Decleor, Liz Earle but didn`t become loyal to any of them. For years I`ve bought cheap and cheerful skincare and my skin doesn`t appear to have suffered from doing so. The more simple the skincare and ingredients, the better it seems to work for me.
All brands are either oil in water formulas or water in oil formulas depending on whether its a cream or a lotion and all facial oils start off with a carrier oil and then the brands add into their creams/lotions/potions some colourings, fragrances, essential oils, preservatives, so called miracle ingredients and other additives.

 

[Grizelda]

90p! I’m there! I have developed a taste for some of the Count On Us and Eat Well meals in M&S but they were already relatively dear and they’ve gone up quite a bit in recent months. I can get 4 or 5 of those you mention from Asda for the price of one in M&S.

I don't want to rain on your parade, but aren't ready meals on the list of unhealthy things to eat?

 

[AndiK]

I don't want to rain on your parade, but aren't ready meals on the list of unhealthy things to eat?

I don’t have them often, to be honest, and I only usually go for the lower sugar and saturated fat ones. I haven’t checked out other shops yet but the M&S ones I like tend to be ok, certainly a couple of times a week. The rest of the week, I eat pretty plain things (chicken, fish, plain veg) as I can’t be bothered / am not skilled enough to use lots of ingredients, so that balances it out, I reckon. I never add sugar or salt when I cook for myself either. I do have treats though - I’m definitely no angel.

 

[Letz-be-avenue]

I don't want to rain on your parade, but aren't ready meals on the list of unhealthy things to eat?

I was thinking that myself, with many people not want to have ovens on etc, they will be more tempted to buy cheap ready meals to ping in the microwave, and whilst some of these meals aren't bad surely cheaper ones are going to have tonnes of additives etc and won't be good for people in the long run,and think of all the plastic used in these containers, think I will try and do a lot of batch cooking and stick in microwave to just heat up

 

[Letz-be-avenue]

I don’t have them often, to be honest, and I only usually go for the lower sugar and saturated fat ones. I haven’t checked out other shops yet but the M&S ones I like tend to be ok, certainly a couple of times a week. The rest of the week, I eat pretty plain things (chicken, fish, plain veg) as I can’t be bothered / am not skilled enough to use lots of ingredients, so that balances it out, I reckon. I never add sugar or salt when I cook for myself either. I do have treats though - I’m definitely no angel.

Must admit M&S are very appetising compared to cheaper brands and probably are healthier, I can see a lot of the population struggling to afford the "better " ones and worry what impact the energy crisis will have on our nations health and obesity crisis, mind you some will struggle to buy food at all, really depressing times

 

[loveallthingsitalian]

I don’t have them often, to be honest, and I only usually go for the lower sugar and saturated fat ones. I haven’t checked out other shops yet but the M&S ones I like tend to be ok, certainly a couple of times a week. The rest of the week, I eat pretty plain things (chicken, fish, plain veg) as I can’t be bothered / am not skilled enough to use lots of ingredients, so that balances it out, I reckon. I never add sugar or salt when I cook for myself either. I do have treats though - I’m definitely no angel.

Same here although I‘m not fussed on sweet things. I need to stop with the wine (been really bad since lockdown started) and crisps although I have cut back on those.

We eat a lot of pasta, rice based dishes and bean stews as a base but have found that we can’t eat the same quantities we did before, infact we have cut portions in half but like crusty bread with them! Not lost as much as a lb so it’s not the basic food that is doing the damage.

 

[Letz-be-avenue]

Wine and savoury stuff is my downfall, rarely eat chocolate or cake but show me the crips, nuts, cheese etc and there's no stopping me and have got into bad habits since lockdown, I wonder if take aways will really struggle soon, must admit am partial to the odd chicken jalfrezi, or Chinese meal now and again, so I can't talk!

 

[Vienna]

When I worked at the hostel we had what was called a Resettlement Course and we had a fully furnished flat where guys who were due to move into their bedsits or flats learned things such a cooking, laundry, budgeting etc. The flats or bedsits they were due to move to were hardly luxury ones and often had just a 2 ring kind of camping stove or ancient cookers. The bedsits or flats were usually in the cheapest roughest part of town and in buildings which were in poor repair and often in red light districts or high crime areas. They were very very basic.
They also lived on single person JSA as it was called back then and every flat had pay as you go gas and electric meters. They`d budget how much they could pre pay into the meters and then they`d have to figure out the cheapest way to cook or heat their bedsit or flat in order to get their utilities to last until their next giro or payment.
I never thought I`d see the day when working people, pensioners or those on benefits with children would have to adopt this lifestyle. The guys from the hostel learned to buy the cheapest of everything and one pan cookery classes or microwave cooking were part of the course and how to wash and dry a huge mixed load of washing because they had to use launderettes which were expensive and none of the flats had the luxury of a washing machine.
We got donations of crockery, cookware, bedding, towels etc and tried our best to provide them with as many basics as we could but we knew it was going to be a miserable lifestyle for most of them and they frequently ended up back on the streets or in prison. I actually had a number of guys who deliberately committed an offence so they would go back to prison where they didn`t have to worry about having no heating or lighting, where they were fed and had a TV.
The World appears to be turning full circle and yes there are families who don`t seem short of money even though they don`t work (I live next door to one) but for a single person living alone and very little income such as single person benefits or basic state pension I can see no light at the end of the tunnel for them in this current economic climate.

 

[maymorganlondon]

To simplify wildly, the most vulnerable may well be those who are working but are not earning a low enough amount to qualify for support, but not a high enough amount to accommodate any significant increase in basic costs.
Even food banks are struggling as more people are in the "in trouble" band. There are no eay fixes, and I worry that the government is ideologically unable to take the necessary steps as they run counter to their core voters.