Cost of living!

[pete]

Exactly 

[Barrykearley]

See yet more evidence of climate change - we need more ULEZ zones

[Kimbers]

On 13/05/2023 at 18:03, Frickin_idiot said:

We ended up buying a Dacia as it was around 15k brand new. I just was a little taken aback that a brand like Hyundai can charge so much.

 

We just wanted a work horse for shopping trips and tip runs. 40k for a Kia or Hyundai? You can keep it.

You are all numpties. Never own a car unless its guaranteed to go up in value like a classic or Lotus. 

I bought a 6 month old Kia Sportage which was worth £35k and I pay £230 a month. Then hand it back after 3 years with enough deposit for the next. in those 3 years. Never have an MOT, never have a repair bill and don't have any depreciation.

I only ever buy what I can afford, as C8RKH says. If my circumstances change I can simply hand the car back as I ensure the terms are such before signing up for it. Only car I have owned in the last 20 years are Lotus's (and the odd car I made a small profit on).

[Frickin_idiot]

4 minutes ago, Kimbers said:

You are all numpties. Never own a car unless its guaranteed to go up in value like a classic or Lotus. 

I bought a 6 month old Kia Sportage which was worth £35k and I pay £230 a month. Then hand it back after 3 years with enough deposit for the next. in those 3 years. Never have an MOT, never have a repair bill and don't have any depreciation.

I only ever buy what I can afford, as C8RKH says. If my circumstances change I can simply hand the car back as I ensure the terms are such before signing up for it. Only car I have owned in the last 20 years are Lotus's (and the odd car I made a small profit on).

We purchased “ours” outright, I never buy anything, with the exception of houses, on credit. I guess I am old school.

The car was delayed several times and my Mrs was adamant that she wanted to cancel the purchase. We took a trip down to a car supermarket and actually found, to our surprise, that a second hand car of the same model was more expensive than the purchase price of the brand spanking new item.

My own, last car, Lotus excluded, was a Ford that was purchased outright at six months old. No monthly bills and 100% rock solid reliable for 15 years. Simply traded it in. Yes it may have cost me 8k but spread over fifteen years it was absolutely the cheapest motoring I have ever had.

[C8RKH]

I'd love a £35k Kia Sportage car, at 6 months old, for £230 a month @Kimbers. Where the heck did you get that deal?

I'd be happy with that to be honest.

[Dan E]

@Kimbers what sort of deal could you do on a EV6? I quite like them but i do between 30 and 35k miles a year which always seems to bugger up any lease deal 

[C8RKH]

Spent much of this week in the NW of England, driving to various meetings in different places and as I often do using Garden Centres for refreshments or calls as you can always find a quiet table, get a decent coffee and an indulgent cake!

So, my main observation is why is the news all doom and gloom?

Everywhere was busy. The grey pound and the yummy mummy pound was getting a battering. Coffee at £4.00 a pop was sloshing about. Meals at £8-12 a pop were flying out. Cakes at £3-6 were positively being devoured.

No freakin' recession here. Plenty out and about and plenty enjoying life and spending money.

[pete]

this is what economists dont understand about UK, here we tend to try to spend our way out of "recession" while in europe they tend to stop spending. 

[Barrykearley]

One things for sure UK politicians can talk us into a recession - but never talk is out of one.

[Frickin_idiot]

8 hours ago, Barrykearley said:

One things for sure UK politicians can talk us into a recession - but never talk is out of one.

It’s about time more people woke up to how utterly useless they are. If I acted anything like that lot does in PMQ, or had their laughable success rate I’d not be gainfully employed.

 

Britain succeeds despite its Political classes, not because of them.

[phil flash]

I got two emails in last few days... One to do with UK Price Cap reducing from £2,500 to £2,074 for "typical house using 2,900 kWh p.a. & paying by DD". (I'm about twice those units!).
The other was from EDF re a property I own in south of France, but am restricted in using since Brexshit. EDF states Monthly Fixed Charge is 11.93€ and kWh 0.18€. So that's 143.16€ p.a Fixed Charge, 522€ for 2,900 kWh, total annual cost 665.16€. At today's exchange rate that's about £647. 

So the French pay £647 for what we've paid £2,500, now reducing to £2,074 and we are supposed to be pleased about it!  

Why are UK customers being ripped off, WTF is Ofgem doing?

[NAC63]

5 hours ago, phil flash said:

So the French pay £647 for what we've paid £2,500, now reducing to £2,074 and we are supposed to be pleased about it!  

And they'll probably go on strike saying that's too much .

[C8RKH]

@phil flash the French have generally enjoyed lower energy prices thanks to their massive investment in nuclear which does a damned fine job of delivering a big chunk of energy at a consistent, stable output. The exact opposite of wind that EVERY energy consumer is subsidising, through their bill, in the UK.

I keep telling people this but look at your bill, it tells you were the money is going.

Successive blue and red governments have fooked up our energy policy and infrastructure strategy over the last 40 - 50 years. We are in part, paying for that, now.

[Frickin_idiot]

We’ve not had a cohesive energy policy for decades. Until we have adults in Westminster we will continue to think of only the next election cycle rather than putting in policies and investment for decades.

[ChrisJ]

On 13/08/2022 at 18:08, ChrisJ said:

My Dad worked for British Gas from 1967 to retirement in the early 1990s. He was a director of research, and when you smell gas, that is down to my dad. I'm sure he did other stuff in the 20+ years he was there, but this is the one always quoted in my family.

I remember he got quite a few shares when the company was privatised, but he got rid of them soon after as he was disgusted in the direction the company moved fairly quickly after privatisation.

I remember him telling me that when in public ownership the aim of the company was to invest on behalf of Britain as regards to exploration. storage and ensure that there were long term gas supplies so as to restrict extraction to just that required by the nation, whereas after privatisation, the company's goal was to extract as much gas as possible and to sell it on to maximise profits.

I would much rather the company took the position that my Dad outlined rather than the make as much money for the shareholders as possible.

 

[ramjet]

We just had all the doom saying in the news regarding living costs, grocery costs, private health care, housing.

Why the hell is everything going up? What I am getting paid certainly isn't going up at the same rate.

Someone is having a lend of us. A lot of someones.

[PaulCP]

IMO @ramjet many things are increasing in price above the levels that they need to because of the media hype behind it all. The media conditions us all in to believing that everything is going up so that when it does we were expecting it.
This way enables the oil giants through artificially high petrol prices and the supermarket giants through artificially high food prices to make their large excess profits.

I can only see it increasing until we condition ourselves to stop paying these artificially high prices.

Well, that’s my opinion anyway. Unless someone can explain why the current crude oil prices should historically suggest that petrol should be at least 20p/litre less in the forecourts than it currently is. Many foods are also commodities or are derived from commodities and the same is true of many of those commodity prices

[Rambo]

Totally agree. And they are the fools and we are the mugs.

[C8RKH]

On 28/05/2023 at 20:25, ChrisJ said:

but he got rid of them soon after as he was disgusted in the direction the company moved fairly quickly after privatisation.

Aye but he kept his gold plated Industry pension for sure that has seen him well rewarded for his pain.  

3 hours ago, PaulCP said:

Many foods are also commodities

The issue with food is that we tend to eat the same stuff all year around. If you shop for seasonal produce, locally, food is actually quite cheap.

But no, most lazy UK bar tenders are quite content to go to the supermarket, or get home delivery including all the expensive stuff that is imported as it is out of season.

It's like the bloody tree huggers who want to save the planet and trees, but then eat kilo's of avocado's that squander litres and litres of water and gnerate tons of carbon issues as they are flown or shipped thousands of kilometres to be smashed on their toast!

[drdoom]

Well time has come for my 2p worth, after perusing liquor at the shop this evening. Among my preferences for a tipple or dram has been the Havana Club 3 year aged clear rum. Over recent years a fifth of this had been agreeably priced at 22 to 24$ Cdn. plus taxes, though it had risen to 30 lately. So it was quite a shock today to see it tagged at 40! I had to look and look again, startled at the jump in price which was nonetheless consistent with sister products from HC and not far off the pricing of several other brands. Pity the Cubans, for this must surely impact sales going forward. I flat resigned on the spot to forego rum for the duration, though relented after some further browsing and chat with an amicable clerk who steered me onto a rum from the Dominican Republic. That still pricey in the upper 20's but perhaps just tolerable enough to forestall the looming abstinence.

WTF?  

[drdoom]

Update on the Cuban rum to report, and good news it is. Over coffee this afternoon I browsed the vendor website to further check on the matter of pricing and, lo, wouldn't you know it's posted at $26. Something rather substantially more palateable than the $40 posted on the shelf the other day. Amicable though the clerk was he certainly wasn't on the ball in regard to that.

Cheers

[Kimbers]

Alcohol has definitely seen a big increase I agree. Our fave tipple is Red Wine and more importantly a nice Reserva or Grand Reserva Rioja. 

My wifes favourite is Baron De Ley Gold label Grand reserva which was, a few years back £12.99. When it went to £14.99 we shrugged and carried on buying it.

I bought her a bottle for her birthday and paid £19.95 from Waitrose. However everywhere else it is priced between £22 and £24!

Even at £19.95 that's a huge increase over the last few years!

She won't stop drinking it though! Difference is I pay instead of her!

[TdM]

Been a distinct lack of product on the shelves at Waitrose recently. Bought about the only remaining pack of chicken (4 breasts I think) £20!

Back to the butchers next time, better quality, more choice AND cheaper.

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

On 12/05/2023 at 14:32, LotusLeftLotusRight said:

I’m doing my bit to keep monthly costs to a minimum. Total April spend was £192, of which £111 electricity and £81 gas. In fact EDF has now reduced my monthly direct debit from £236 to £197, but the reduction is no thanks to them. It’s just because I have been paying them too much.

My May energy spend of £188 was only a fraction less than April’s £192. That’s £6.06 per day, compared to £6.40 per day in April. Gas consumption was down from £81 to £56, due to heating being off. However, electricity spend increased from £111 to £133, which was a bit disappointing, especially with the much reduced need for lighting. In fact EDF claim I used 6.8% more electricity in May (362 kw/h) than I did in January (339 kw/h).

[C8RKH]

My May electricity only cost was £57.66 - almost half what it was in April. I'm at a loss as to how some people are using almost 4x more!  Wtf you all doing with it 🤔 

4/5 bed house, no EV, 2 adults, day and night use, big garage and power tools, two cars always on battery conditioners....