Cost of living

[Craig_]

Face it, this country's been going to shite for years, and your buying power has been constantly eroded. Only the availability of cheap shite from China has masked this.

 

Genuinely no idea how this is going to be resolved. You've got businesses, hospitals, schools etc with their costs going through the roof, while at the same time staff are (rightly) looking for inflation-matching pay rises. Something has to give.

[the posh bit]

On 29/11/2022 at 22:09, manaliveits105 said:

EasyJet holiday bookings up - what cost of living crisis ? 

 

It's probably cheaper to have a two week winter break abroad now than it is to live for a winter's fortnight in Broken Britain. 😊

[Cade]

1 hour ago, Craig_ said:

Face it, this country's been going to shite for years, and your buying power has been constantly eroded. Only the availability of cheap shite from China has masked this.

 

Genuinely no idea how this is going to be resolved. You've got businesses, hospitals, schools etc with their costs going through the roof, while at the same time staff are (rightly) looking for inflation-matching pay rises. Something has to give.

 

At this stage, because we're in stagflation, traditional financial levers of fiscal and monetary policy stop working.

Interest rate rises or falls won't do anything.

 

The only thing that does work in this situation is massive government intervention. 

Price caps, tight regulation, nationalisation, massive subsidies for the businesses and households struggling the most.

 

But there is 0% chance of the current Junta doing that, because they're foam-at-the-mouth far-right nutters who actually believe that the "free market" exists and that any government intervention is communism.

 

So until the next election when they get launched into the sun, the nation will keep falling apart at the seams.

Edited December 5, 2022 by Cade

[That thing you do]

51 minutes ago, Cade said:

 

At this stage, because we're in stagflation, traditional financial levers of fiscal and monetary policy stop working.

Interest rate rises or falls won't do anything.

 

The only thing that does work in this situation is massive government intervention. 

Price caps, tight regulation, nationalisation, massive subsidies for the businesses and households struggling the most.

 

But there is 0% chance of the current Junta doing that, because they're foam-at-the-mouth far-right nutters who actually believe that the "free market" exists and that any government intervention is communism.

 

So until the next election when they get launched into the sun, the nation will keep falling apart at the seams.

Very much this.

 

 

 

 

 

[henrysmithsgloves]

https://twitter.com/GMacdonaldSNP/status/1599568408240017408/photo/1

 

[ri Alban]

How much is Warhammer? 

[cuthy2k]

The wives work just announced a £1000 taxable bonus to all workers, except very top bosses. 

 

Then again, they did give a 1% wage rise in June. They are also heavily unionised which is quite rare in her line of work. 

[Section Q]

10 hours ago, Cade said:

 

At this stage, because we're in stagflation, traditional financial levers of fiscal and monetary policy stop working.

Interest rate rises or falls won't do anything.

 

The only thing that does work in this situation is massive government intervention. 

Price caps, tight regulation, nationalisation, massive subsidies for the businesses and households struggling the most.

 

But there is 0% chance of the current Junta doing that, because they're foam-at-the-mouth far-right nutters who actually believe that the "free market" exists and that any government intervention is communism.

 

So until the next election when they get launched into the sun, the nation will keep falling apart at the seams.

Not sure Herr Starmer will do much better.

[Section Q]

I think the failure to lift the tax threshold will have a huge effect on pensioners despite the recent pension increase. 

Energy prices won't reduce to anything like before, and it's likely we'll see an increase in elderly deaths this winter. Totally avoidable if the govt gave a toss. As Kevin Bridges  said. "The queen won't be the only elderly person to die this winter"....

[Harry Potter]

i Should hit the 12 pound mark today for energy, rip-off big time, seethin , greedy comes to mind.

[joondalupjambo]

49 minutes ago, Harry Potter said:

i Should hit the 12 pound mark today for energy, rip-off big time, seethin , greedy comes to mind.

What context in relation to the 12 quid figure if you don't mind me asking? Seems high unless you need it for health reasons, bigger family or you are in a big gaff.  Reason I ask is that I have no idea what an average would be at the moment albeit that is hard to get due to us all being in different circumstances.  If you are sitting at that figure now then you might need to brace yourself with this big freeze that is coming along in the next few days.  

[Harry Potter]

1 hour ago, joondalupjambo said:

What context in relation to the 12 quid figure if you don't mind me asking? Seems high unless you need it for health reasons, bigger family or you are in a big gaff.  Reason I ask is that I have no idea what an average would be at the moment albeit that is hard to get due to us all being in different circumstances.  If you are sitting at that figure now then you might need to brace yourself with this big freeze that is coming along in the next few days.  

End terraced, 2 bedroom, i was taking in the factor of the deep freeze, got the money but hate giving it to the robbers,

wont be bracing myself , i work outside in it, im sitting at about 9 pounds the now, what are you a day ?.

[Mysterion]

On 28/11/2022 at 13:07, Ribble said:

Sky done the same but with 2x£1k payments to everyone up to the pay grade below me, rest of us so called higher earners free financial tips to help instead 🙄

 

On 27/11/2022 at 21:56, Jambomuzz said:

I work for virgin media and they have given every employee earning under £35k basic wage, cost of living payments.

 

£400 in October, £400 in January, then £100 a month for 6 months. 

 

BT Group have announced an additional perm £1500 p/a salary increase for any employee earning under £50k p/a. The CWU have done well this year - non managerial grades will have received a £3000 flat rate pay increase since June. 

 

Both CWU and Prospect Unions have advised it be accepted. They see the one off payments that other companies are offering are good but the permanent pay upgrade is more valuable long term. Additionally overtime/shift allowances/bonus payments are also increased in line. 

 

Prospect Union on the other hand are taking a hammering from those on managerial grades earning over £50k basic salary. Probably an argument to be made that pragmatism could have seen the increase tapered for higher managerial grades. 

 

 

 

[joondalupjambo]

2 hours ago, Harry Potter said:

End terraced, 2 bedroom, i was taking in the factor of the deep freeze, got the money but hate giving it to the robbers,

wont be bracing myself , i work outside in it, im sitting at about 9 pounds the now, what are you a day ?.

So we are semi detached 1940's, three bedrooms, old style build so poorer insulation than others I suspect.  We are retired / semi retired and are at home all day.  We do not have heating on in any bedrooms, do not need it and then all radiators are off in rooms we are not using.  We have also altered the boiler and Hive settings to slightly lower settings.  We use a wood burner now and again and when that is on the heating is usually off, only on at the same time for thirty minutes if we have a bath or shower later at night.  Our daily average, for usage per day so far from 1st November has been circa 3 pounds 75 pee.  So far today, after the heating being on for an hour this morning and a washing machine cycle we are sitting at 1 pound 20 pee.

 

Are you on a higher usage rate by chance?  As others have said yours seems a wee bit high unless you are using the utilities in a different way than the norm.  You are right, nobody likes giving the money for this away but in fairness it is not the providers who are making the vast profits.

 

Also when all posters are putting usage costs on here are we just using actual utility costs from an app and/or a smart meter?  These costs will not be the final bill costs I would not have thought because there will be VAT and the levies to be added.

Edited December 6, 2022 by joondalupjambo

[Harry Potter]

1 hour ago, joondalupjambo said:

So we are semi detached 1940's, three bedrooms, old style build so poorer insulation than others I suspect.  We are retired / semi retired and are at home all day.  We do not have heating on in any bedrooms, do not need it and then all radiators are off in rooms we are not using.  We have also altered the boiler and Hive settings to slightly lower settings.  We use a wood burner now and again and when that is on the heating is usually off, only on at the same time for thirty minutes if we have a bath or shower later at night.  Our daily average, for usage per day so far from 1st November has been circa 3 pounds 75 pee.  So far today, after the heating being on for an hour this morning and a washing machine cycle we are sitting at 1 pound 20 pee.

 

Are you on a higher usage rate by chance?  As others have said yours seems a wee bit high unless you are using the utilities in a different way than the norm.  You are right, nobody likes giving the money for this away but in fairness it is not the providers who are making the vast profits.

 

Also when all posters are putting usage costs on here are we just using actual utility costs from an app and/or a smart meter?  These costs will not be the final bill costs I would not have thought because there will be VAT and the levies to be added.

I have all heaters on, gas central , i fancy a woodburner, missus uses that tumble dryer, 😒.

[That thing you do]

https://news.sky.com/story/egg-shortages-could-be-just-the-start-as-uk-is-sleepwalking-into-food-supply-crisis-farmers-union-warns-12762577

 

Shortages of eggs incoming

 

Also that desperate housewife favourite, cucumbers!

[Dawnrazor]

4 minutes ago, That thing you do said:

https://news.sky.com/story/egg-shortages-could-be-just-the-start-as-uk-is-sleepwalking-into-food-supply-crisis-farmers-union-warns-12762577

 

Shortages of eggs incoming

 

Also that desperate housewife favourite, cucumbers!

There's plenty eggs about but the supermarkets are screwing producers about price, sure some flocks have been culled due to bird flu, this has been happening for a couple of years around me.

The price of feed has gone through the roof and producers need a price to cover costs.

[Jambo-Jimbo]

2 hours ago, Dawnrazor said:

There's plenty eggs about but the supermarkets are screwing producers about price, sure some flocks have been culled due to bird flu, this has been happening for a couple of years around me.

The price of feed has gone through the roof and producers need a price to cover costs.

 

Yip, and some shops such as Asda have very few eggs, whilst the Co-op, Sainsbury's & Tesco have plenty, no issues whatsoever it seems, fair enough that's the Galashiels & Peebles stores.

[Jambo-Jimbo]

7 hours ago, joondalupjambo said:

Also when all posters are putting usage costs on here are we just using actual utility costs from an app and/or a smart meter?  These costs will not be the final bill costs I would not have thought because there will be VAT and the levies to be added.

 

The standing charge's are automatically added at midnight, so I start everyday at 50p & 28p usage for electric & gas, it's already been added into whatever figures I quote.  VAT is never much, last month it was £6.08 for the month.

 

[ArcticJambo]

Saw unleaded at £1.49.9 today, Esso, north end of Arbroath.

[Jambo-Jimbo]

28 minutes ago, ArcticJambo said:

Saw unleaded at £1.49.9 today, Esso, north end of Arbroath.

 

Harrison's in Peebles had it at that price on Thursday of last week, in Penicuik it was 10p per litre dearer as was the garage just before we joined the bypass.

 

Surprisingly it's been cheaper by about 10p per litre in Peebles & Galashiels for the last few weeks compared to Edinburgh.

[ArcticJambo]

5 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

Harrison's in Peebles had it at that price on Thursday of last week, in Penicuik it was 10p per litre dearer as was the garage just before we joined the bypass.

 

Surprisingly it's been cheaper by about 10p per litre in Peebles & Galashiels for the last few weeks compared to Edinburgh.

Edinburgh, well certainly on my weekly drives over the past months, has consistently been dearer than most other areas.

[joondalupjambo]

1 hour ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

The standing charge's are automatically added at midnight, so I start everyday at 50p & 28p usage for electric & gas, it's already been added into whatever figures I quote.  VAT is never much, last month it was £6.08 for the month.

 

Cheers for that, interesting.  I have never noticed that and I think mine starts at zero each morning or a 0.01p on both gas and electric.  Will check though.

 

VAR will of course be dependent on how much we each use.  Any idea on the green levy?  Is that not another 5% on the bill?  

 

Still hard to follow on here though because we are not all quoting like for like I would have thought.  

[Jambo-Jimbo]

37 minutes ago, joondalupjambo said:

Cheers for that, interesting.  I have never noticed that and I think mine starts at zero each morning or a 0.01p on both gas and electric.  Will check though.

 

VAR will of course be dependent on how much we each use.  Any idea on the green levy?  Is that not another 5% on the bill?  

 

Still hard to follow on here though because we are not all quoting like for like I would have thought.  

 

That's already been added to everybody's tariff, so I believe.

[GBJambo]

It’s getting ridiculous the cost of just buying daily essentials.  
 

This really can’t go on.  What are the government doing about profiteering supermarkets 😡  
 

No doubt supermarkets will say their costs gone up blah blah blah but there really is something more at play here 

[JudyJudyJudy]

14 minutes ago, GBJambo said:

It’s getting ridiculous the cost of just buying daily essentials.  
 

This really can’t go on.  What are the government doing about profiteering supermarkets 😡  
 

No doubt supermarkets will say their costs gone up blah blah blah but there really is something more at play here 

Said it for ages supermarkets are taking the piss . There seems to be zero regulation now regarding food prices . 

[JudyJudyJudy]

7 hours ago, That thing you do said:

https://news.sky.com/story/egg-shortages-could-be-just-the-start-as-uk-is-sleepwalking-into-food-supply-crisis-farmers-union-warns-12762577

 

Shortages of eggs incoming

 

Also that desperate housewife favourite, cucumbers!

 

[JudyJudyJudy]

2 hours ago, joondalupjambo said:

Cheers for that, interesting.  I have never noticed that and I think mine starts at zero each morning or a 0.01p on both gas and electric.  Will check though.

 

VAR will of course be dependent on how much we each use.  Any idea on the green levy?  Is that not another 5% on the bill?  

 

Still hard to follow on here though because we are not all quoting like for like I would have thought.  

Mine starts at 0 after midnight . I’ve only recently started to use it to check if it in line with my bills . I can’t see standing charge on it . 

[The Mighty Thor]

14 hours ago, That thing you do said:

https://news.sky.com/story/egg-shortages-could-be-just-the-start-as-uk-is-sleepwalking-into-food-supply-crisis-farmers-union-warns-12762577

 

Shortages of eggs incoming

 

Also that desperate housewife favourite, cucumbers!

I'm old enough to remember when farmers were voting en masse to impose economic sanctions and trade barriers on themselves. 

 

True story. 

[Nucky Thompson]

10 hours ago, JudyJudyJudy said:

Said it for ages supermarkets are taking the piss . There seems to be zero regulation now regarding food prices . 

They have just stuck 25% on most things regardless.

Everything that used to be a pound is now £1.25

[Dawnrazor]

3 hours ago, The Mighty Thor said:

I'm old enough to remember when farmers were voting en masse to impose economic sanctions and trade barriers on themselves. 

 

True story. 

How does that effect british egg farmers selling eggs into the british market?

[Cade]

Because the feed they buy comes from Europe.........

[Captain Lithuania]

11 minutes ago, Nucky Thompson said:

They have just stuck 25% on most things regardless.

Everything that used to be a pound is now £1.25

Yep. Feel like the supermarkets, among many others, are taking the piss out of us. Feels pretty hopeless at the moment. When will it end?

[Dazo]

18 minutes ago, Nucky Thompson said:

They have just stuck 25% on most things regardless.

Everything that used to be a pound is now £1.25

Profiteering is often overlooked by those singleminded types who only want to blame the government. Not just them but Retailers are getting a free pass to raise prices far more than their costs have risen at the moment. 

[Dawnrazor]

10 minutes ago, Cade said:

Because the feed they buy comes from Europe.........

There's poultry feed manufacturers local to my area where food is bought, fish meal is more expensive, wheat is more expensive, transport cost is more expensive across the board and the supermarkets are not paying a price to cover the production cost.

[The Mighty Thor]

50 minutes ago, Cade said:

Because the feed they buy comes from Europe.........

The dots they are joining.

 

 

[Dawnrazor]

4 minutes ago, The Mighty Thor said:

The dots they are joining.

 

 

Is Carlisle on mainland europe?

[inspector]

Petrol prices in Tain if anyone is interested. Asda-161.7, Tesco-161.9, small independent garage -157.9. Supermarkets taking the pish as the wee independent guy used to way more expensive than them

[Nucky Thompson]

11 minutes ago, inspector said:

Petrol prices in Tain if anyone is interested. Asda-161.7, Tesco-161.9, small independent garage -157.9. Supermarkets taking the pish as the wee independent guy used to way more expensive than them

Oil down to its lowest price in nearly a year plus  GBP has regained all its losses against the USD since the Truss feck up

 

Brent crude oil falls below $80 for first time since January | Financial Times (ft.com)

 

They are not passing on the price drops to the customers 

 

 

 

 

[Jambo-Jimbo]

32 minutes ago, inspector said:

Petrol prices in Tain if anyone is interested. Asda-161.7, Tesco-161.9, small independent garage -157.9. Supermarkets taking the pish as the wee independent guy used to way more expensive than them

 

Same in the Borders, Asda Galashiels' petrol is dearer than the Shell garage is, used to always be the other way round, but not recently it hasn't been.

[hughesie27]

Definitely noticed Independent garages being cheaper more often than not than Supermarkets.

[Der Kaiser]

16 hours ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

Harrison's in Peebles had it at that price on Thursday of last week, in Penicuik it was 10p per litre dearer as was the garage just before we joined the bypass.

 

Surprisingly it's been cheaper by about 10p per litre in Peebles & Galashiels for the last few weeks compared to Edinburgh.

 

Made the money back on petrol alone with a Costco card I got in the summer.

[JudyJudyJudy]

1 hour ago, Nucky Thompson said:

Oil down to its lowest price in nearly a year plus  GBP has regained all its losses against the USD since the Truss feck up

 

Brent crude oil falls below $80 for first time since January | Financial Times (ft.com)

 

They are not passing on the price drops to the customers 

 

 

 

 

No they are just getting away with this’d inflated prices . Cheese slices used to be around £1.60 now £2.90 numerous other examples and don’t get me started on milk ! 😎

[BlueRiver]

1 hour ago, Nucky Thompson said:

Oil down to its lowest price in nearly a year plus  GBP has regained all its losses against the USD since the Truss feck up

 

Brent crude oil falls below $80 for first time since January | Financial Times (ft.com)

 

They are not passing on the price drops to the customers 

 

 

 

 

 

Never do. Get us used to paying a higher price, drop it a wee bit, then everybody says "ah at least it's not £2 anymore eh" and we have our new price point. 

[JudyJudyJudy]

13 minutes ago, BlueRiver said:

 

Never do. Get us used to paying a higher price, drop it a wee bit, then everybody says "ah at least it's not £2 anymore eh" and we have our new price point. 

Very true . I’ve started to buy items when they get reduced for a tone period . Happens quite a lot actually . Salsa dip usually £2.50 down to £1.50 the now 

[Unknown user]

20 minutes ago, JudyJudyJudy said:

No they are just getting away with this’d inflated prices . Cheese slices used to be around £1.60 now £2.90 numerous other examples and don’t get me started on milk ! 😎

 

The amount that supermarkets pay for milk is way higher than it used to be. Dairy farmers have massively increased costs in feed, energy, plus all the things in the supermarket that they have to buy too. I can't remember the figures but prices have more than doubled between dairy and supermarket, and as supermarkets dictate that price, it only goes up if it absolutely has to.

[BlueRiver]

2 minutes ago, JudyJudyJudy said:

Very true . I’ve started to buy items when they get reduced for a tone period . Happens quite a lot actually . Salsa dip usually £2.50 down to £1.50 the now 

 

Definitely worth it when something has so long a shelf life as well. 

 

I've felt a bit more insulated from the food price rises as I do a lot of my own cooking and don't eat meat or dairy. My biggest outlay is normally on the spice rack and depending on the spice that couple of quid can last weeks to months. Did notice a bit of a jump in canned goods too. Big bonus is I'm not that fussy what veg or anything I eat so whatever is in season and is cheap I'm happy to run with as well. 

 

Appreciate for a lot of folk though the above isn't applicable and it's sad how much folk are having to cut back. 

[Nucky Thompson]

It's the price of cans of soup that I can't get my head around, almost doubled.

 

I've had a soup maker for ages and it's far cheaper making your own tomato soup

A couple of tins of chopped tomatoes, a ham stock cube and half a carton of fresh cream added at the end

Lovely 

[BlueRiver]

1 minute ago, Nucky Thompson said:

It's the price of cans of soup that I can't get my head around, almost doubled.

 

I've had a soup maker for ages and it's far cheaper making your own tomato soup

A couple of tins of chopped tomatoes, a ham stock cube and half a carton of fresh cream added at the end

Lovely 

 

100%. You can get days worth of the stuff as well out of a similar cost of ingredients as opposed to one or two tins. 

 

Last time i looked they wanted about £3.50 for 3 tins of Heinz. Bloody watch me. 

[Central Belt 1874]

1 minute ago, BlueRiver said:

 

100%. You can get days worth of the stuff as well out of a similar cost of ingredients as opposed to one or two tins. 

 

Last time i looked they wanted about £3.50 for 3 tins of Heinz. Bloody watch me. 

 

 

Not that I eat it.. kids do, but we have just switched from Heinz tomato sauce £3.50 to Hellmans £1.25. 

 

Kids not bothered with the difference in taste. 

 

Always make homemade soup over tins. Price of tinned soup is just laughable.