Inflation - you??

[Howardh]

Notice we are now above 3%, and commentators noting that food inflation is higher (as is alcohol).

My question - is there anything in particular, rail fares aside, that makes you "feel" inflation or have you noticed anything that goes up significantly more than inflation? Without prying on personal details, are your wages/pensions keeping up??

Also - is there anything out there which you notice being considerably cheaper, not counting sales?

On a personal note just ditched the old tank boiler and replaced with a combi, hope to save quite an amount this winter.

 

[nlogax]

It's difficult to say. There are a few tangible things..airline tickets / hotels, that sort of thing - but they're the exception and I don't exactly buy those every week or even month.

I spend about the same amount on food as usual, but it's increasingly obvious that I'm getting less for my money. Portion sizes / serving amounts per pound are going down which is a slightly 'below the radar' alternative to raising prices.

 

[northwichcat]

Also - is there anything out there which you notice being considerably cheaper, not counting sales?

Technology comes under that category. 15 years ago £150 would have bought you a 14" CRT TV which would need the addition of a set top box to be able to watch digital channels, 5 years ago it have brought you a 19" LED TV with Freeview included and now it would buy you a 22" LED TV with Freeview HD included. Then the bonus is the new 22" LED TV turned on uses less electricity than an old 14" CRT TV used while it switched to standby.

 

[SS4]

I'm noticing it in other ways other than just price rises - containers are smaller (walkers often come in 5 packs instead of 6 packs), quality has decreased (creme eggs) or the bottom tiers simply are no longer available (biscuits).

Tangentially for a tip on value look at the price per 100g if you're choosing between two or more items.

As for cheaper I echo jcollins and say technology - especially on mobile devices

 

[Butts]

Provided of course i like it, my purchases at the supermarket are largely determined by whatever is on offer.

As I can eat most foods this leads to a wide and varied diet for a reasonable cost.

With regards to "downsizing" nearly all baked bean sized tins used to be 454g - now some of them have shrunk below 400g for produce. (Soups, Custard, etc)

Most annoying is the proliferation of different sized Quality Street, Roses etc tins particularly prevalent at this time of year. 1KG or roughly 2lbs used to be the standard size - now there are multiples down as low as 500-600g's. Also they used to be metal not plastic.

 

[GusB]

Most annoying is the proliferation of different sized Quality Street, Roses etc tins particularly prevalent at this time of year. 1KG or roughly 2lbs used to be the standard size - now there are multiples down as low as 500-600g's. Also they used to be metal not plastic.

Metal tins are still available. I managed to pick up a 1.5kg tin of Quality Street from Asda a few weeks ago, but the smaller size is only 750g and it's a plastic tub.

 

[robbeech]

I first noticed the size shrinking when a certain large supermarket Knocked 5p off of their icecream (Priced i think at £1.95 now instead of £2). What they didn't advertise so profusely was the fact that it was now 900ml instead of 1L

 

[WelshBluebird]

In terms of items getting smaller, I noticed this yesterday. It seems Sainsburies (or at least the ones in Bath) are now only selling individual cans of coke in the taller, thinner 250m cans and not the normal 330m cans. It does look like they have knocked a few pence of the price but I'd like to do the maths to work out how much more per ml you are paying for the smaller ones!

 

[Howardh]

In terms of items getting smaller, I noticed this yesterday. It seems Sainsburies (or at least the ones in Bath) are now only selling individual cans of coke in the taller, thinner 250m cans and not the normal 330m cans. It does look like they have knocked a few pence of the price but I'd like to do the maths to work out how much more per ml you are paying for the smaller ones!

Yes, I think all this is called "shrinkflation" and requires shoppers to be very savvy. It does have it's benefits, I for one like a drink of coke but not the whole 330ml can - often the last part is thrown away. So having smaller tins more available is a bit of a plus for me (as long as the price is lower) and also if crisp packets have fewer crisps in - helps obesity?
But how small can the public go - the prime example of course is airlines that sell drinks in 150ml cans (and wine a 185ml bottle) but the price is much greater than supermarkets!

 

[northwichcat]

^ Some shops do give you price per 100ml or similar on the bottom of shelf labels.

Unhealthy food items being sold in smaller sizes might not just be down to higher costs. With RDAs becoming more common it doesn't look good for one product to say this is 30% of your recommended daily sugar intake. Some also have unusual portion sizes due to RDAs - for instance, I recently noticed on a pack of 9 biscuits it said it contained 4 portions.

 

[yorksrob]

Food, beer and train fares are what I tend to spend most of my disposable income on, and typically they tend to be most susceptible to inflation.

Beer is probably most annoying because as a locally produced product made of local ingredients, it should be resistant to inflation but it attracts heavy tax, particularly where lovely pubs are penalised compared to supermarkets.

Mortgage rates will be noticeable, since the financial establishment are always crowing for them to be increased.

 

[bramling]

Notice we are now above 3%, and commentators noting that food inflation is higher (as is alcohol).

My question - is there anything in particular, rail fares aside, that makes you "feel" inflation or have you noticed anything that goes up significantly more than inflation? Without prying on personal details, are your wages/pensions keeping up??

Also - is there anything out there which you notice being considerably cheaper, not counting sales?

On a personal note just ditched the old tank boiler and replaced with a combi, hope to save quite an amount this winter.

Simple answer, not really noticed a difference. Still saving a 4-figure sum most months, and made no difference to purchasing decisions or habits.

The reduction in interest rates has served as an irritant, but not had any effect on my finances as such.

 

[RichmondCommu]

Fuel for our cars tells me why inflation is high at the moment.

 

[sprinterguy]

Food, beer and train fares are what I tend to spend most of my disposable income on, and typically they tend to be most susceptible to inflation.

Beer is probably most annoying because as a locally produced product made of local ingredients, it should be resistant to inflation but it attracts heavy tax, particularly where lovely pubs are penalised compared to supermarkets.

Fully agreed, the price of beer and train fares in particular seem to just keep going up and up with little regard to any other aspect of wages or living costs. The former undoubtedly because of the various taxies levied upon it, the highest (per volume) in Europe. I've not noticed shrinking quantities in my food shopping, but then I'm not really paying attention.

 

[fowler9]

Technology comes under that category. 15 years ago £150 would have bought you a 14" CRT TV which would need the addition of a set top box to be able to watch digital channels, 5 years ago it have brought you a 19" LED TV with Freeview included and now it would buy you a 22" LED TV with Freeview HD included. Then the bonus is the new 22" LED TV turned on uses less electricity than an old 14" CRT TV used while it switched to standby.

That is advances in technology and personally I think that is different.

 

[yorksrob]

Fully agreed, the price of beer and train fares in particular seem to just keep going up and up with little regard to any other aspect of wages or living costs. The former undoubtedly because of the various taxies levied upon it, the highest (per volume) in Europe. I've not noticed shrinking quantities in my food shopping, but then I'm not really paying attention.

Yes, train fares are interesting because as well as the 'ambient' cross the board rises, there are a lot of stealth rises as well, such as the comparative paucity of cheaper AP fares compared to a few years ago, changes to restrictions and the great PTE robbery.

That said, there have been a couple of positives - such as the introduction of off-peak fares on some additional Northern routes, and changes to the conditions of carriage regarding splitting with metro card's. Not enough to buck the trend though !

 

[OuterDistant]

Inflaytion!?

 

[Tetchytyke]

My question - is there anything in particular, rail fares aside, that makes you "feel" inflation or have you noticed anything that goes up significantly more than inflation? Without prying on personal details, are your wages/pensions keeping up??

It's not so much prices going up for me, rather than quantities going down. I've actively noticed it with Lurpak because they've designed the new packaging to try and hide the 25% reduction in volume, but I've noticed it on a smaller level with lots of other things. 1L cartons becoming 900ml, that sort of thing, is the new price rise.

No, my wage isn't keeping up with inflation, neither the "official" version or my personal inflation. But then it hasn't for the last ten years, which is why what was a decent wage when I started in this sector is now a relatively poor wage.

 

[northwichcat]

That is advances in technology and personally I think that is different.

It's also because technological products have huge mark up when they are new to the market so manufacturers can afford to cut prices significantly once they've been on the market for a while.

 

[IanD]

A couple of weeks back I went to Asda - they had a seemingly permanent offer of two boxes of Shreddies 750g for £4 or £2.70 each. This week the boxes are 675g (10% smaller) but still 2 for £4 or £2.70 each. Thank goodness for FarmFoods next door where £2.50 will get you a whole kilogram (but you can't rely on FarmFoods having everything in stock).

 

[Western Lord]

In view of the amount of food thrown away in this country, smaller pack sizes might be a good thing.......

 

[Butts]

In view of the amount of food thrown away in this country, smaller pack sizes might be a good thing.......

Perhaps with perishables, but how many people throw a smaller can away !!

 

[Domh245]

Perhaps with perishables, but how many people throw a smaller can away !!

Only tangentially related, but the lack of small cans in some shops (eg Lidls) makes it a nuisance when you are cooking for one. In Tescos, you could get a 227g can of chopped tomatoes which was ideal for cooking just one portion of bolognese/chilli/etc. In Lidl you only get 400g cans, so you either have to batch cook, plan your menu to use it all up, or throw half of it away!

 

[Howardh]

Only tangentially related, but the lack of small cans in some shops (eg Lidls) makes it a nuisance when you are cooking for one. In Tescos, you could get a 227g can of chopped tomatoes which was ideal for cooking just one portion of bolognese/chilli/etc. In Lidl you only get 400g cans, so you either have to batch cook, plan your menu to use it all up, or throw half of it away!

Can someone lend you a fridge and some clingfilm

 

[Starmill]

comparative paucity of cheaper AP fares compared to a few years ago, changes to restrictions and the great PTE robbery.

This is a very eloquent way to summarise the problem - thank you. There are lots of ways that go far above and beyond the headline fares rise that cause people to have to spend a lot more on rail travel. These are often overlooked and it shows just how weak fares regulation is. Then again, we know that much of it is intentional price increasing through the back-door with the blessing of the government.

 

[yorksrob]

This is a very eloquent way to summarise the problem - thank you. There are lots of ways that go far above and beyond the headline fares rise that cause people to have to spend a lot more on rail travel. These are often overlooked and it shows just how weak fares regulation is. Then again, we know that much of it is intentional price increasing through the back-door with the blessing of the government.

Thank you for your kind words

 

[Dentonian]

As mentioned elsewhere, bus fares in GM (and elsewhere) continue to increase way above inflation (almost 1000% in 31 years after the latest increases announced yesterday), and at the risk of entering the lion's den; people travel by bus because they usually have no choice; people who travel by train usually have a choice (eg. private transport). Petrol/diesel for cars has risen consistently with inflation over the last 30 years (easy to google), and I can't honestly comment on rail fares, as they are much more varied - and more to the point were an alien form of transport to me between c.1983 and moving house and office in quick succession 10 years ago. I generally only use rail for leisure purposes because buses or coaches no longer exist on similar journeys or are significantly worse in terms of journey times and frequency than they were even 5 years ago, never mind 35.
As for food (also a necessity in my book!), again prices are up and down like a ...... (well you can fill in the blanks) - and that's just Sainsburys. The point about contents is well made and of course, the other thing is perishability, which works against the single purchaser - unless you like 4 identical pieces of fruit a day.
And wages - well no doubt that varies quite a lot in the private sector. Much easier to calculate for us in the public sector; a total of 5% increase in 8 years! The only variance being whether you change pension bands; One year, my 1% increase was negated by an increase in pension contributions.

 

[D365]

Fuel for our cars tells me why inflation is high at the moment.

As far as I can tell, that’s just the usual boom and bust cycle of fuel prices. I normally fill up in Milton Keynes, which gets me 120p per litre at the moment.

 

[RichmondCommu]

As far as I can tell, that’s just the usual boom and bust cycle of fuel prices. I normally fill up in Milton Keynes, which gets me 120p per litre at the moment.

I concur but the price of fuel is still linked to inflation.

 

[D365]

Tbf I’ve not been driving long so I don’t have much perspective, but I can definitely agree about the seeming downsizing of drinks and snacks in supermarkets like Sainsburys.

Can someone lend you a fridge and some clingfilm

Or a very hungry student...