Impact of increased cost of living

"With the cost of living on the rise, a lot of people and starting to feel concerned about how they deal with the increases, what they should give up and do. There are many possible things that can help, but most people won't think of their mortgage as being one of them. A few things that could assist you, depending on your situation, and certainly things you should speak to a professional mortgage adviser about:   1. If you're on a tracker deal, or a variable rate deal of some sort, do you have the option to remortgage to a new lender on a better rate? Or even is there a better rate on offer from your current lender?   2. Can you extend the term of your repayment mortgage? Most lenders will allow you to take your mortgage term to the oldest borrower's 70th birthday, provided you are happy to postpone retirement to that age too. It could be something you do temporarily, for the next few years to reduce the monthly repayments, then revert back to a shorter term later on - nothing is set in stone.   3. Can part of your mortgage be switched to interest-only, if you have other assets (such as a pension lump sum due at retirement) that could be used to repay it?   4. Can you use cash savings in a flexible or offset mortgage to reduce your monthly payment, but still have access to your savings if needed?   "There are a surprising number of ways that a mortgage can be used as part of your wider financial planning; just speak to a professional mortgage broker about it and they'll let you know the possible options open to you."

"The tightrope that business owners are already walking is about to be yanked out from under them. Our clients are increasing their marketing spend, as the rising cost of living forces their prospective customers to spend only on essential services and products so they need to stand out. As a result, it's important that what we provide is absolutely top-notch. As a business owner myself, I've been keeping an eye on the pennies while continuing to invest in innovative and sustainable practices."

"The increase in the cost of living is affecting everyone from people struggling to make enough money to live on to business owners budgeting their expenses accordingly. At the end of the day we are all humans trying to convince other human beings to pay us for things we provide such as services. I believe there should be more help, especially for people that live on their own, the struggle is not just economical but also psychological. I consider myself quite lucky to have the support of my family and knowing that if I fall on hard times I have someone to back me up. I think as imperfect beings, we'll never feel we receive enough support but to be completely honest there's absolutely no minimum support at all that makes it worthwhile to even apply for. There should be more help. We are trying to keep everything by the books and being an entrepreneur bootstrapping your own business you end up having to take more money from the business to support yourself and that's something that needs to be solved with more support from the outside."

"We need less stick and more carrot. The textbook methods implemented by the Government for curbing inflation aren't working and it needs to wake up and realise this. Increasing the Bank of England interest rate is designed to reduce consumer spending and dampen the rising costs of goods and services by reducing spending. But who exactly is spending? When rapidly rising energy and fuel costs are the main reason for inflation, hammering the public and small businesses with increased borrowing costs isn't going to solve the issue. Neither is hiking up National Insurance. Most people are trying recover from the devastating blow the pandemic dealt; what is needed is support by dealing with the issue directly."

"From my perspective, our company is one that supports the wellbeing of others. We need stability and certainty to do our best work and the buffers we have are being eroded by increasing costs. The cost of living and mental health are deeply interconnected and it’s becoming more unequal by the day. This is a situation where people are being hit from all angles, with some things jumping in price and other incrementally creeping up. In our work, we meet thousands of employees and they are becoming increasingly sensitive to costs and increasingly worried about how it doesn’t feel like the crisis is being properly addressed. There’s an overarching feeling of powerlessness and for many people their psychological immune systems are run down due to the pandemic. One client summed it up best. He said: 'It feels like we are being kicked when we are already on the floor and the government are just watching and laughing'."