To ask why everything is so f**kin' expensive?!

[MummyStruggles]

Just that really?

And, also, there's ALWAYS "something" that needs to be bought or replenished i.e new pillows and duvets for the whole household! Grrrr!

Meant to be a lighthearted thread but you know, I get really bloody stressed about it!

Anyone else?

It is not the frames of glasses I find expensive but the actual lenses. I have astigmatism and am short sighted plus as I have got older I need varifocials for reading. Because my eyesight is bad I also need thinned lenses as normal are just to heavy to wear 16 hours a day. I also drive so need reactalights and anti glare. So even though I can often find a decent frame for around £100 the lenses will make the total cost eye watering.

The price of oil has gone down and has been comparatively low since last year. But petrol and Diesel prices are rocketing. It’s political. Having encouraged motorists to buy Diesel cars to lower Co2 emissions the government, spurred on by eco extremists, is trying to phase Diesel cars out by accelerating price rises at the same time as it is raking in extra fuel duty.

In the short term the effect has been that Co2 levels have started rising for the first time in years and inflation has hit car owners hard and added to transport costs for food and other goods.

In the same way, many other price rises are due to policy rather than the market. Domestic fuel prices have risen dramatically to fund the government’s green agenda. We are all paying for smart meters that don’t work or save money and that sensible people do not want. Cheap, clean gas is being phased out.

Tariffs prevent market prices being offered and keep food and other products expensive.

Many things are expensive because foolish people do not know the consequences of the policies they vote for and because some others who are financially comfortable do not care that poorer members of society suffer from their elitist, faux liberal beliefs.

That said, this is all going to seem like a picnic when the Marxists get in.

I agree that there are some things which are relatively cheaper than e.g. 1980's or 90's but also agree with them not lasting as long. And some items are cheaper because they are made using really cheap labour in other countries.

However a lot of day to day living seems more expensive than 10 years ago because a lot of people's wages have not gone up in line with inflation. My FTE wage and DH's wage used to be very similar. He earns a lot more than me now as he has had cost of living rises whereas my public service employer has either given no rise or 1%.

I also agree with the posters saying we have higher expectations now than we did growing up (1970's). Even at the time I married In the 1990's i had far fewer clothes than I do today . It's so easy to throw a new top in the trolley when I'm doing the grocery shop. And considering groceries there is so much partly prepared food e.g. Ready meals, chopped veg, prepared potatoes that makes cooking easier but costs more when all added up. And when did we all start buying sandwiches rather than making our own? Not to even mention technology.

And in relation to keep forking out for children - luckily DS is now older and working but earlier posts have reminded me of the school trips, new shoes, the cost of the secondary school uniform compared to the primary school off the shelf at Asda. And the school clubs and activities. Secondary school trips to places like the USA costing £800 - luckily DS never asked to go on any.

"Nowhere near £10 for supermarket delivery."

Tesco was 11. That's near 10 :)

"the cinema was a very affordable night out"

We have cheap cinemas again where I live - £4 at one of them.

Fruit is expensive.

We buy veg because that's cheap, but fruit is expensive.

A banana is 14p.

Tesco was 11. That's near 10

Well don't use that slot then, or get a delivery pass. They all do a pass for less than that per month, so I can't see any reason to pay that much unless you are determined to prove a point by wasting money for the sake of it, in which case there's no helping you.

Fruit is expensive
Some fruit is expensive, some fruit is cheap. Most supermarkets do cheap packs of things like apples and pears, and packs of mandarins/clementines for around £1.
Things like blueberries and pink lady apples are more expensive.

Don’t buy imported fruit that has been factory farmed. English fruit (Bramley apples, cherries, gooseberries, black currants, forced rhubarb etc) is delicious.

Don’t buy imported fruit that has been factory farmed. English fruit (Bramley apples, cherries, gooseberries, black currants, forced rhubarb etc) is delicious.

It's going to be a long hard winter chewing those last few withered apples.

Nor are forced rhubarb and English cherries and blackcurrents cheap. These foods are basically for the affluent.

British fruit is not cheaper. Rhubarb is pretty expensive in Tesco. Luckily I grow my own fruit but only enough to last during the summer, same with veg though I’m planning to plant winter veg. British strawberries are usually more expensive than Spanish strawberries.

tesco delivery is £10 I pay monthly and it works out at around £2.50 per delivery, cheaper than fuel to drive to tesco.

Apples last all winter.

Our Moviestarr cinema is £4-5 per ticket, with kids club £2. I think that's quite reasonable and probably affordable now and again for most people. Obviously best to stay away from the popcorn and fizzy drinks stands if you're skint though.

Rhubarb grows like a weed. You could probably grow more than anyone would want to eat in a bucket on a balcony, if you actually liked it and wanted to eat it, which I don't, I hate the stuff, despite coming from the area of the country that is famous for it. No idea why it is so expensive.

Some fruit is expensive, some fruit is cheap. Most supermarkets do cheap packs of things like apples and pears, and packs of mandarins/clementines for around £1.

Bananas are cheap, but that's about it. The cheap apples/pears are really poor quality (mushy, bruised). The expensive apples much nicer. The clementines go mouldy pretty fast, and quality is really poor.

For 5 of us, all needing fruit and veg every day, fruit just isn't an option. Unless it's bananas

We've started buying frozen fruit, and making smoothies. It's the only way I can think of getting fruit in our diet.

We could return to a grow-your-own mentality, maybe? I'm thinking of playing an Apple tree in my garden. How long before that bears fruit?

I love rhubarb 😐 though if I ate it all the time I would probably need to spend more money on loo roll.

I’m not sure growing your own actually saves money unless your growing loads. If your on a water metre and we have a summer like last year it would cost a fortune to water your fruit and veg.

Molly you can buy a mini apple tree that would possibly fruit within a year, they don’t cost a fortune.

gluteus I guess you must just have really crap supermarkets then. I've certainly never had a problem with fruit going mouldy, even when I buy yellow sticker fruit it still lasts a couple of days.

Yep, it's crap. We live near a Tesco. Other than that, there's an Iceland that's just popped up here, but have seen very little in the way of fruit.

Really disappointed in Tesco quality. And when they do apples on offer (or any fruit on offer) it's usually really bad. I really should write and complain

We had a lovely Aldi pineapple for 69p last night. But Aldi fruit is generally variable. We pick up a lot at our local farm shop and buy frozen and tinned stuff (tinned stuff keeps its nutrients like frozen).

We grow all the rhubarb, gooseberries, strawberries and raspberries anyone could ever want to eat. I freeze quite a lot too.