to wonder why the govt are not doing anything about the spiralling cost of living?

[dirtyface]

they are making cuts left right and centre, but IMO are not looking at the bigger picture which is the REAL reason people are so skint. ie because of the cost of living ie food, gas, electric, (my particular bugbear) petrol , housing, local taxation.

this is why people are not spending money on the high street etc. its cos no bugger has got any disposable income after they have been fleeced every month paying for the essentials. i for one spend a good proportion of my earnings on petrol, so does dh and i am sure i speak for many people

obviously i am mostly talking about mr and mrs average joe on average incomes, ie, say min wage to about 30k or so. but am sure the higher earners are squeezed as well esp with them cutting off CB and tax credits etc after a certain income

whats going to happen? is it just going to keep going up and up. it scares me

disclaimer: i don't understand how any of this works so sorry if i sound thick. there is probably some clever obvious reason why "they" cant sort the cost of living out a bit

[dirtyface]

anyone

[MurderOfGoths]

I have answers for you, but seeing as I've spent the morning reading about people struggling because of govt policies they are mostly angry/ranty answers

Hopefully someone calmer will be along soon to give more reasoned answers.

[BrokenSunglasses]

YANBU, but I don't have any answers!

If they just stopped charging so much tax on fuel it would make a positive difference to most people.

[FreudiansSlipper]

YANBU

the profits British Gas and Centrica are making is criminal

[StephenFrySaidSo]

Yanbu at all- it's infuriating!

[TondelayoSchwarzkopf]

Because they hate poor people and don't understand the lives of ordinary people.

Cameron described his family as 'typically middle class'

[catgirl1976]

The profits made on energy by suppliers are a tiny fraction of the cost you pay.

[Tee2072]

Because it doesn't actually affect anyone in the government as they are all millionaires. And the ones who aren't millionaires get shouted down.

Viva La Revolution!

[TeWiSavesTheDay]

YANBU.

In my brutally honest opinion, it's because cost of living doesn't effect them in the same way. They don't understand the impact it has, or if they do, they simply don't care.

Depressing, eh?

[specialsubject]

because the statistics make it look better than it is. i-phones and flatscreen TVs are getting cheaper and it is assumed we all buy those every week. So they are used to bring down the apparent rate of inflation.

apparently we are using considerably less electricity and gas now, which is good. But we do all need to eat and get to work. I've no idea what can be done about that, although there are bigger factors. Food prices going up because the world population is rising and the rest of them now like to eat meat too is one factor.

[KatieScarlett2833]

Indeed. To pay our household bills excluding food and petrol to get to work costs us £1500 a month.
My mortgage is only £680 but by the time we add on Council Tax £ 258, Gas and Electricity £ 115 per month, phone line plus broadband etc £ 50 and petrol for two cars ( necessary, no direct public transport) it all adds up.
Thankfully we can afford it but I remember when the figure was £950 and that was not too long ago.

[BrokenSunglasses]

I don't have a problem with private companies making a profit, as long as it isn't extortionate, but I do have a problem with our own government making money out of essential expenses.

[LuisSuarezTeeth]

Simple. The policy makers aren't affected.

Stick DC in a grotty hovel with beans on toast for a month. Watch his arse spring into action.

[MurderOfGoths]

Don't the govt tend to get large donations from some of these private companies? Wouldn't be in their best interests to force them to lower prices

[caroldecker]

British Gas makes a profit margin of around 6% - not much scope to cut bills and still make a profit.
Any reductions in tax on petrol etc will mean the govt increases taxes in other areas, so where should they tax?

[MrsGeologist]

Isn't the food price increases to do with people speculating on the stock market on food? I could be wrong, finance is a closed book to me.

[TeaAndABiscuit]

I think a lot of people struggling feel embarrassed admitting it. There is a lot of hidden poverty. There is a disengagement between the public and politicians (although not necessarily politics) and an assumption that the electorate are thinking that Europe is the most pressing issue concerning their every day lives or maybe they deliberately focus on those issues as a smokescreen to the fact the average family's standard of living is being eroded and they are happy that expectations are being lowered.
Sorry, no real answers and not exactly a positive post.

[Timeforabiscuit]

I don't know why they're not doing more about the basics, but I have noticed that the five fruit and veg a day has gone quiet.

Our local council charges for everything, green waste bin collections, parking permits, increased voluntary contributions in schools, child care up.

Fresh fruit and veg and fuel are the things I've noticed going up the most.

[StephenFrySaidSo]

"I think a lot of people struggling feel embarrassed admitting it. "

well you only have to take a glance round MN to see why people aren't open about the fact they are struggling. they are well aware of all the people just ready to jump at the chance to say "well get off your ass and get a 13th job, sell a child, make a bed out of cereal boxes, stop expecting handouts you lazy scrounger"

[LostMySocks]

Fresh fruit and veg are more expensive this year because of the weather. Late cold weather then lots of rain then hit sun means yields have gone down. Farmers still have the same costs so prices have to go up.

[dirtyface]

its a joke

in 2004 i was earning 23k and i was loaded. admittedly i had no dcs then and was single. but was renting a very nice 2 bed new build town house with my then BF for about 400 a month, thats 400 in total not 400 each. i just remember not knowing what to do with all my spare cash

nowadays that wage would go no where. dh is on about 28k then i get about 5k from my PT wages, cb and a bit of ctc combined and we are pretty skint

[Mandy2003]

Thatcher faced discontent in the UK = went to war in the Falklands to take people's minds off things at home.

Cameron faces discontent - thinking about going to war in Syria.

Petrol/diesel taxes should be cut for the time being and "green" taxes on domestic fuel should be postponed IMO.

If the cost of living goes up much further then people will start demanding wage rises more vociferously and when wages rise, inflation will have to rise then that will cause more problems.

[BrokenSunglasses]

I think they should tax anything that can be considered a luxury.

There's a good reason why I'm not chancellor, and I'm just thinking out loud, but I think it would be much fairer if we were all given an annual tax free allowance for certain things. Like you get a basic amount of electricity, gas, petrol, clothing each year that you can claim tax back on, or be given a voucher so you don't have to pay it in the first place, then anything about that is taxed higher.

It doesn't make sense that one family can splurge on dressing their child in designer clothes and buy them two pairs of shoes each month without being taxed on it, but then another has to pay tax just for the energy they use to get them to school and cook their dinner.

They could tax electronics at a higher rate than they do, and only allow the most basic versions of TVs, phones, computers etc to be tax free.

[dirtyface]

If the cost of living goes up much further then people will start demanding wage rises more vociferously and when wages rise, inflation will have to rise then that will cause more problems

yeah i think that as well