Rising cost of living

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by nomadking

Individual water meters can be fitted in flats. Just needs to be fitted near the stopcock.

Agreed they can be fitted in some flats but not ours. Think it's because it's a communal stopcock for the block.

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by papa smurf

my water charges with Anglian water
2021-£545

2022-£606

2023-£691

i resent paying this much to a company that discharges raw sewage into the estuary, and has buggered up our beaches blue flag status

Ah well, it's what we voted for

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

You're right to resent it.
I'm paying £731 for a two-bedroomed flat, two of us, no water meters can be fitted.

This might be why it's so pricey.

https://news.sky.com/story/thames-wa...-pile-12830843

I pay £25 a month because they can't fit a meter, you should insist as if they can't fit one they have to put you on a cheaper tariff

Originally Posted by nomadking

Individual water meters can be fitted in flats. Just needs to be fitted near the stopcock.

That's not where the issue is...

[1andrew1]

Thanks, I will ask them for the assessed charge.

Not great news: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65026231

The cost of living unexpectedly increased last month after shortages of salad and vegetables helped push food prices to their highest for 45 years.

Alcohol prices in restaurants and pubs also drove up costs for households as inflation jumped to 10.4% in the year to February from 10.1% in January.

Clothing costs, particularly for children and women, rose last month but fuel prices continued to fall.

The surprise figures come ahead of a decision on interest rates on Thursday.

[denphone]

l only need to look at food prices with our online shop each week and quite a few items are still going up significantly.

[Inactive Digital]

Originally Posted by denphone

l only need to look at food prices with our online shop each week and quite a few items are still going up significantly.

Aldi seems to be the worst at the moment, with prices for some products increasing almost weekly.

[Taf]

Originally Posted by Inactive Digital

Aldi seems to be the worst at the moment, with prices for some products increasing almost weekly.

But they started at a much lower level than the other shops. Simple percentage increases don't tell the whole story.

One yardstick I use is the cost of chicken thigh fillets.

Aldi £4.48 /kg
Lidl £4.58 /kg
Morrisons £5.99 /kg
Tesco £6.00 /kg
Asda £6.77 /kg
Waitrose £8.89 /kg
Sainsburys £9.06 /kg

[Mr K]

'Which' do a good monthly comparison of supermarket prices. No wonder Morrisons are in trouble, they come out very badly. Lidl for me these days usually topped up with a big Sainsburys shop when they got their 25% off wine offer on Can't stand Aldi, gives me a migraine....

https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/supe...n-aPpYp9j1MFin

Supermarket Average basket price
Aldi £74.81
Lidl £77.50
Sainsbury's £85.25
Tesco £85.32
Asda £85.81
Morrisons £89.01
Ocado £89.96
Waitrose £96.59

[nomadking]

Apr 22 figure was +2.1%. We'll have to wait until that drops out of the annual figure. So even if the Apr 23 is +1%, then the annual figure will drop by 1.1%.

[pip08456]

Dates revealed for when millions will receive cost of living payments.

A total of £900 over the year . first payment of £301 between April 25th and 17th May'

£300 in autumn and £299 in spring.

https://news.sky.com/story/dates-rev...ments-12843397

Nice if you qualify.
Bizarre how they have done 301, 300, 299.

Telegraph headline

Early retirement has forced up inflation, says Andrew Bailey

Telegraph article

Despite the Bank’s actions, inflation still stands at 10.4pc, more than five times its target and the highest rate in the G7 group of major economies.

In his speech at the London School of Economics, Mr Bailey said that this had been triggered by a combination of crises such as Covid and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as post-Brexit changes to the country's trading relationship with the European Union.

He said: “These shocks have affected the UK economy in different ways. But they have all eroded the terms on which we trade with the outside world.

“This has made us poorer as a country, manifesting itself in a rise in the prices we have to pay for the things we buy as consumers.”

He added that the sharp and unexpected fall in the number of people in the workforce since lockdown was partly responsible.

https://12ft.io/proxy?ref=&q=https:/...andrew-bailey/

[1701-e]

Originally Posted by Paul

Bizarre how they have done 301, 300, 299.

Makes it easier to identify if/when people report non receipt etc

[Chrysalis]

Originally Posted by Hugh

Telegraph headline



Telegraph article



https://12ft.io/proxy?ref=&q=https:/...andrew-bailey/

Sounds like a sales pitch for government policy.

Rising interest rates by its nature is designed to increase poverty and unemployment, as it has long been believed a poorer population reduces inflation via lower demand for goods. A banker even admitted this not that long ago in an interview in America when pushed hard on it. But even without doing so it is obvious, raising interest rates causes financial misery.

So why is he blaming early retirement? With more people unemployed there is less spending power, which based on the basic principles of inflation will lower inflation, the only reason I can think off is the government asked him to back up their policy.

Early retirement isnt even the main reason for increased job vacancies, the primary cause is the zero asylum and cancellation of freedom of movement policies. Blaming the sick, and people who have retired is a distraction.

[jonbxx]

Originally Posted by Chrysalis

Early retirement isnt even the main reason for increased job vacancies, the primary cause is the zero asylum and cancellation of freedom of movement policies. Blaming the sick, and people who have retired is a distraction.

Though I am a big fan of the freedom to move for workers, I am not sure lack of migration is the whole story here. The area of concern is the older age bracket. Over half of the post COVID newly economically inactive group are in the 50-64 year old group (source) This group is relatively high earning before leaving the workforce and highly skilled. Replacing these workers isn’t easy, even through attracting workers from abroad - upping sticks to move abroad is challenging enough but doing it in your 50s or 60s is a big deal.

If low workforce supply increases wage growth, then the effects are much higher in terms of costs at the top end, driving inflation more than lack of low skill, low pay workers. It paid off for me when I got a new job recently with a huge pay rise!

That said, if I could afford to retire now, I would be offski. Work to live, not live to work…