General Chat

On the news tonight, I caught that the cost of living is getting higher and higher. Mortgages, utilities, food etc and our wages are not going up in comparison.

We have found ourselves struggling more than ever and hope it doesn't get any worse. Is anyone else feeling the same?


Caz xxx

i've noticed our food shopping getting higher and we're lucky that we have a butchers so i don't need to buy meat.

heard that EDF are increasing their gas/electric prices form 18th january

Cinderella--so will they all now--one does it so the other's follow,just glad too that I don't have a family to feed----just the 2 of us

They are Karen and I think many families are going to go under with debt and pressure,

Caz xxx

I know Ann that I wake at night with figures, and trying to balance them going round in my head....


Caz xxx

Loads of houses seem to be up for sale around here........I guess the "bubble has burst".
Amanda

Hi Caz

I definitely am noticing it - have to manage on my own so no second income - and the wage I earn does not increase in line with the cost of living :O(

I'm sure it has Amanda, repossessions are set for an untold high, bringing misery and making the rich richer.


Caz x

Hiya Mc Anne,

Im glad its not just us, if you get what I mean lol!!

Waht people have coming in is being overtaken by what they have to pay out isnt it?


Caz xxx

Looks like its just us 4!!!


Caz xxx

I just hope people aren't talking us into a recession (as has happened in the past) with all these tales of gloom, doom and despair.
The other utilities are not increasing their prices just because their competitors are. It is because wholesale prices have increased - an increase that, unfortunately, has to be passed on to both commercial and domestic customers.
The Consumer Prices Index (one way of measuring inflation) has actually remained at 2.1 per cent for the past three months.
Some believe that interest rates will actually be cut next month and unemployment has fallen again so that it is now at its lowest since 1975.
Average earnings actually increased by 4 per cent last year (to October).
Although there are also arguments on the other side, let us not forget the above facts - not all doom and gloom!

Council Tax, Gas, Leccy all increased above the rate of inflation - the problem is there is nothing we can do about it.

My leccy has gone from over £350 a qtr to £500.00 - what can I do other than grit my teeth and pay it? Ditto gas and Council Tax - I don’t qualify for any benefits - The only money that comes into my house is what’s earned - and the Government are quick enough to take huge amounts of Tax and NI.

You can’t fight it - you can’t not pay it so you have to put up and shut up.

I dont like it but there is no choice.

Fully agree with you, Caz, and wages aren't rising in line with inflation. The minimum wage has risen by 3% . My wage 'rise' (cost of living rise) was 2% last year and in line with equal pay changes, I'm set to receive absolutely no pay rises or cost of living pay for 2 years - and I earn less than half the average! By then, if minimum wages continue to rise, the minimum wage will be more than my pay!!

Fair point Errol, but our mortgage has increased by £52 and our bills have definatley gone up.

Oh was in prison service till 5 months ago and his area { instructional officers...a small group} had no pay rise for 2 years. Because of that and the undue stress of the job he moved to one in education which pays a little less.

Maybe in our society there is a danger middle area, at a certain income, not enough to be well off and not low enough to qualify for lots of help. It may be the modern poverty trap.??

Caz x

I do feel sorry for those with families who are struggling to pay a mortgage. I am so glad that we no longer have a mortgage and I am sure it is harder for the young ones than it was for us.

It is all very well quoting figures Errol but the fact is that the utilies have gone up by a big jump, and food prices have also risen, with fuel (petrol) going up the cost of everything will eventually rise. No wonder the young families are worried.

Ann
Glos

Thats true Maddie, maybe many people feel its not worth working anymore?

Maggie, its becoming harder and harder isnt it?

Caz xxx

The CPI is a farce (and I'm speaking as an accountant).

It excludes Council Tax (going up five percent every year) and mortgage costs for a start, so interest rate increases and house price inflation don't affect it.

It includes a high proportion of electrical goods which you only buy once in a blue moon but whose prices have fallen due to cheap imports from China, Asia and the former Soviet states.

The Retail Prices Index is a better guide, currently about four percent, but depending on your own spending pattern your personal inflation rate can be double that.

Hi Ann,


I feel many families, trying to do their best will face huge problems. That isnt just because of tonights headlines, its from experience,


Caz xxx

Dont mean to be rude Brian, but can you explain to me lol!!

All I know is me and my OH both work and feel the noose is getting tighter and tighter on our finances,


Caz xxx

Brian - maybe that is why the government like to quote it so much!
Your own personal spending pattern can also lower your personal inflation.
This is what I mean about people talking us into a recession. If people only look at worst case scenarios and the worst set of figures then of course things look grim. This is very much a debate of whether a glass is half full or half empty and I think it is far better to consider all figures - not merely those that paint things in a bad light.