A thread for moaning about the cost of everything

[FlyingSoap]

Just 4 years ago I could get my hair done and nails done for £70 all in all.

It’s now £135 for both of these. Double.
(I understand cost of living drives up the prices for people who are self employed, and I’m not blaming them individually for it)

Bills are up so much this month. The price of everything is just horrendous and I don’t know how some people manage!

Surely not,do you know that supermarkets in particular cut hours,night shifts,staff cut backs facilitate wage rise.
Bet you were glad of those service workers during COVID and do you expect nmw workers to bow and scrape to you.

I don’t know if it’s connected, but I just don’t tip in the UK. For me, tipping is for countries like America where some food servers are getting paid just a few dollars an hour and need to make the rest up in tip. It’s never made sense to me that we don’t tip low paid service workers like call centre and retail staff for example but we’re all - including those in those kind of roles - expected to tip when we go out to eat.

I remember working in a NMW paid call centre about a decade ago, getting shouted at every day by unhappy customers and when I went over and above the most I’d get is a thank you . No tips for me.

The idea that when I was working in this role it would be expected that if I go out to eat, to tip people earning the same or even more of what I earn is ridiculous, especially when often the service is just very average.

I’ve worked as a waitress too when much younger and I never felt entitled to tips. Of course I took them if offered but I wasn’t counting on them. As a waitress I usually got a free lunch and drinks as well so I was actually better off financially even without tips than when I worked in retail. Tip if you want but in the UK no-ones entitled to it and tbh I think we need to stop adopting the worst bits of American culture.

I thought I’d buy some nice shampoo in Boots the other day rather than the Aldi Lacura L’Oréal dream lengths dupe I buy with my food shop. I couldn’t believe it. £7-£8 for anything more than basic. I’ll stick with Aldi.
https://www.boots.com/herbal-essences-rose-scent-petal-soft-shampoo-350ml-to-nourish-dry-hair-silicone-free-10339333?_gl=1rrl8rw_up*MQ..&gclid=CjwKCAjw8diwBhAbEiwA7i_sJb1syvgypongoTJraG9_6aNgQTmB5dWQeFzHOb1AuB8xSjsNGPuWgRoCOEsQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Herbal essences now normally £6!!!!!!!!!

The Aldi conditioners are cracking. The blue bottle and the peach bottle ones are in rotation here. Three people with long hair means I can’t afford anything more fancy.

As for my own gripe: I have two autistic children, one of whom has a a somewhat limited diet when in a wobbly section of daily life. I like to have a stash of the safe foods in for those days where getting a meal into him is more important than the contents. Supernoodles, sausages or chicken goujons, and petit pois is that safe meal. Have you seen the price of supernoodles recently? It makes me swear every time I add them to the basket. We’ve tested all the cheaper packet noodles, but texture wise none of them work.

Agree completely with the outrage at the cost of literally everything. But my cheap fancy yoghurt tip is aldi Greek + frozen cherries. You can defrost in microwave if you have one and forget to take them out the night before.

@ErnestCelendine i do Aldi Greek yoghurt(89p for 500ml) with their frozen blueberries that have been nuked for a bit. I add a spoonful of their chia seeds too. Delish!

I'm actually using the yogurt function on my ninja to try and make Greek yogurt today. It should be far cheaper than any of the shop bought offerings if it turns out okay. 🤞🏼

I just googled Premier Inn Berwick upon Tweed so very north. 1 double room late April for two starts at £114!! I like a PI but they are definitely not the bargain they were.

I was out last night with friends at a village pub....we had burgers and one round of drinks...for 4 of us it was £111....the gin and tonics were £8 each😯

My hairdresser is increasing the price for April by 17%.

Olive oil ....small bottle £6 min

Yes @Lulu1919 olive oil has gone crazy even in Aldi.

🙃

Olive oil is expensive because of a drought in southern Spain affecting the crops ( only read this on mumsnet , it's not been reported on the news as far as I know )

What about Greek olive oil? Italian olive oil? Droughts there too?

Don't know about other Olive oils , but the cost came up on another thread and this was the reason it's so expensive now apparently.

Shrinkflation pisses me off ,6pack contain 5,4pack contain 3 now and so on.jaffa cakes are bloody tiny I remember when you could nibble round the edge before getting to the orangey bit in the middle,club biscuits piss thin chocolate coating.

Haven’t eaten a Club for decades but watched a tv show about 80s food recently and I thought they were eating Kit Kat sticks as they were so much smaller . The best thing about Clubs was the chunkiness and thick chocolate.

We pay £23/month with TalkTalk. Unlimited, never buffers. Can always speak to a UK-based customer service rep. They used to be crap but they've really improved.

All broadband is going up in April.

@greengreyblue
Do you have the 'Ember Inns' chain by you? I think they are quite well priced. If you like fish, there is a sea bass dish for less than £13 comparable with meals £20+ other places, plenty of stuff cheaper and set meal options too. And the 'mini desert with a coffee' option for afters. Not posh but decent pub meals.

Will have a look. Not heard of it though. Thanks.

Well if prices are rising the way everyone in this thread has acknowledged that they are, surely those on NMW are in need of the pay rise more than anyone ? We have a big enough chasm between rich and poor as it is .

And part of that issue is this "instant gratification" society we live in where people expect to get what they want without putting any work in. If you want to make more money, go back to school, upskill, learn a second language, get a degree....all of these things require dedicated time and effort which is waning in today's society.