The cost of living.
- Thread starter JamesH85
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I was earning average wage 25k. 10 years ago. I'm on about average wage now due to illness. Feel poorer. Rent mostly.
Ha I forgot about council tax.
I just saw my student loan is 185ppm so I'll probably be no worse off. Which is a shame. Was looking forward to that.
A mild winter would be lovely!
Lucky my hobbies are cheap. Last Saturday my day out cost me 2 pounds.
Luckily me and gf both work at home so much reduced petrol and heating is even better when you both are at home. Less waste.
For me things I'll try and cut are hard to find. But with the house nearly done. And cutting down on buying **** I think still be OK.
I don't really do restaurants much so not really any more savings there.
It is the loss of a nice holiday. But I guess we are on a downward trend now. So just have to suck it up.
Do wonder what is going to happen for the poorest. I mean government are desperate having to raise NI and CT by such a whack.
Want to try and avoid getting trapped in an expensive mortgage so looking at maybe switching early if rates look to rise significantly as I still have 1.5 years left
Soldato
It's most countries worldwide I'd say. I lived in Saudi for four years until a few months ago and in that time the whole cost of living was seriously increasing - petrol increased by almost 500% (was 0.48SAR, now 2.33SAR) and keeps increasing every 3 weeks - Red meat, milk, a loaf of bread and a whole host of other stuff has over doubled in price etc and chatting to the international cast of people I worked with (US, Canada, South Africa, Aus, NZ etc) everyone seems to be seeing the same problems in their home country with increases in the cost of living, especially post-COVID.
Soldato
Don't use much petrol so that hasn't really affected me or partner much, but have noticed food shops seem more expensive and gas & electric is much more expensive following a recent contract ending.
Hasn't really affected our lifestyles as we both tend to be reasonably thrifty and don't spend our entire wage packet each month, so any price increases have just been absorbed. I guess in the longer term it will impact savings though.
I don't know how I'd cope if I was on minimum wage and already hardly staying afloat though. Especially as those sorts of jobs are probably less likely to allow home working as our jobs do, so the cost of petrol would really be biting too. I imagine that for many people in that position the recent price inflation will be causing big problems.
Some people will have very cold, dark and hungry homes this winter.
Hasn't really affected our lifestyles as we both tend to be reasonably thrifty and don't spend our entire wage packet each month, so any price increases have just been absorbed. I guess in the longer term it will impact savings though.
I don't know how I'd cope if I was on minimum wage and already hardly staying afloat though. Especially as those sorts of jobs are probably less likely to allow home working as our jobs do, so the cost of petrol would really be biting too. I imagine that for many people in that position the recent price inflation will be causing big problems.
Some people will have very cold, dark and hungry homes this winter.
Soldato
Certainly noticed petrol prices have gone up. As to energy prices, unsure at the moment. Was with Igloo and now with Eon Next as the former went bust last month. Still not heard from E-on since the FAQ e-mail 2 weeks ago. Unsure how much the DD will be this month.
Also if you eat fruit and veg seasonally, that will help with food prices. Refuse to pay £2.50 for 4 nectarines when out of season when they are a third of this in the summer. Also don’t eat foreign grown strawberries either as tasteless.
Also if you eat fruit and veg seasonally, that will help with food prices. Refuse to pay £2.50 for 4 nectarines when out of season when they are a third of this in the summer. Also don’t eat foreign grown strawberries either as tasteless.
Soldato
I have one - was already installed when moved into my flat. I don’t find them noisy. My radiators look the same as the gch ones. They aren’t crap. My DD for electricity is £63 a month. No gas.
Soldato
Yes I think for people already struggling, it's going to be very grim.
Soldato
Some people need to seriously sort out their money management. Easy things to save money are reducing the number of takeaways and bringing your own bags when shopping. There are many customers at my work who ALWAYS buy bag(s) when shopping. They don’t just do this at my work, but all shops they visit if they buy anything. Most of these customers that never bring in their own bags IMO are those who live in social/council housing. There’s a large estate opposite work. Is there some stigma that their friends will look down on them if they reuse a bag? Also see brand new carrier bags overflowing from the communal bins. Actual bin bags are cheaper per bag, bigger and able to tie them up properly. One supermarket chain charges 60p a bag! Anyone who uses carrier bags once and use them as bin bags are complete idiots. Some people maybe spending £150-200 a year on carrier bags.
It has been SIX YEARS since the bag charge in England. Don’t understand why people are still buying bags. Other countries don’t have plastic bags. They have these super shopper bags or crates to buy. As experienced when been to supermarkets in Europe. Got one from an Italian supermarket chain called Pam and everyone says nice things about it. Bought one for my mum’s friend who is a Pam!
It has been SIX YEARS since the bag charge in England. Don’t understand why people are still buying bags. Other countries don’t have plastic bags. They have these super shopper bags or crates to buy. As experienced when been to supermarkets in Europe. Got one from an Italian supermarket chain called Pam and everyone says nice things about it. Bought one for my mum’s friend who is a Pam!
Soldato
How does one reduce the number of takeaways below zero?
I think you may be underestimating the financial situations some people find themselves in. "Sorting out money management" is all very well to say, but when your essential outgoings are the same as your income, no amount of "management" is going to help. I'm sure that most people can do something about it, but there will also be some who can't work, can't retrain, can't get a second job, etc.
In response to OP, I haven't really noticed much change yet. A gradual reduction in disposable income, which obviously isn't desirable, but nothing too worrisome so far. If work decide to bring us back into the office full time it's going to suck though as not only will we have to pay for significantly more petrol/diesel, but also the extra childcare costs. Haven't had even a cost of living increase for 2 years, so effectively a ~£3k pay cut since 2019
Surprised people aren't noticing food costs going up, our shopping bill has steadily risen over the year while packet sizes seem to be getting smaller. Energy is going to be the big one though so hopefully we'll have a mild winter to counter some of the increased cost.
Don't know what the long term outlook is though, hopefully costs will calm down again once demand steadies but we also have increasing demand from other countries who are growing rapidly.
Don't know what the long term outlook is though, hopefully costs will calm down again once demand steadies but we also have increasing demand from other countries who are growing rapidly.
Soldato
- Joined
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- 7,739
Right now the increases in petrol and gas etc havn't really fed through for most my leccy bill is going to see a huge increase due to energy company having gone bust and being forced onto a not fixed tariff with another company but I won't see the impact of that for another couple of months
come back in 3 months and ask the same question again I imagine you'll get a different response.
come back in 3 months and ask the same question again I imagine you'll get a different response.
6 pack of crisps seem to have gone up to £1.70?
Not a major issue but I find it so unsatisfying
I know food has generally gone up anyway.
think I need to start shopping at Aldi. I usually avoid as find it cramped and not much variety. However you definitely spend less. Or the same as another supermarket because you have bought more for the same amount of money.
Not a major issue but I find it so unsatisfying
I know food has generally gone up anyway.
think I need to start shopping at Aldi. I usually avoid as find it cramped and not much variety. However you definitely spend less. Or the same as another supermarket because you have bought more for the same amount of money.
Soldato
This.
It's too soon to see how it's going as the changes are so recent. Give it 6-9 months to get the full effect of utilities, fuel, food, council tax and NI increase and you'll get a more accurate response.
Soldato
Yeah, i do wonder if they're going to have to do a U-Turn on the whole NI increase. Given the financial impact of it and it hitting the lowest income workeds just as much it feels like they're going to be absolutely screwed when everything kicks in next April.
Soldato
I'm sure ours has gone up based on what's on the news but I don't see why you're surprised that some people don't necessarily notice it. Our weekly shop is always different as we buy different things each time, so we don't eat the same things all the time. Our weekly shop for the two of us can be anywhere between £30ish to £100+ depending on what else we may need, few things going up a few pence is easily lost unless you buy the same things every single week.
As for the question in the OP, we haven't and I don't expect us to change our lifestyle. Not unless things get really bad in which case I'll take my EU passport and move somewhere warm and sunny.
Soldato
I noticed that rail fares have gone up considerably. I go to Glasgow once or twice a year usually which costs around £55 return, but the same trip now (November 2021) is £88. This is just an example. Other destinations have gone up as well.
For leccy and gas, I am locked into a fixed rate with Scottish Power until May 2022. So I will expect a price hike after that.
As already mentioned - NI and council tax hikes with nothing to show for it. I also have to pay a levy for garden waste collections starting 2021 as it's no longer included in c.tax.
Food has gone up slightly but I can live with that as I can make food choices and still have something to show for it. It's the above that **** me off because NI, c.tax, fuel bills aren't choices, and train journeys aren't choices for me either as I'm too visually impaired to drive.
For leccy and gas, I am locked into a fixed rate with Scottish Power until May 2022. So I will expect a price hike after that.
As already mentioned - NI and council tax hikes with nothing to show for it. I also have to pay a levy for garden waste collections starting 2021 as it's no longer included in c.tax.
Food has gone up slightly but I can live with that as I can make food choices and still have something to show for it. It's the above that **** me off because NI, c.tax, fuel bills aren't choices, and train journeys aren't choices for me either as I'm too visually impaired to drive.