To ask if rising living costs are ever going to come back down?

[clkim]

Just reading another thread about rising food costs and got me wondering, are prices ever actually going to come down? The future looks really depressing atm, we already struggled to keep our head above water but now it seems things are much worse. Our monthly food bill has gone up significantly, same with gas and electric and some weeks I struggle to even put petrol in my car.

What has actually caused these ridiculous price rises? Surely the government will have to step in sooner or later? It's 2022, we shouldn't be living like this!

Well, I know it's no help to anyone in the current situation, bu the last few decades food has never been so cheap. Particularly in the UK, we have had huge choice, and low prices. I suppose the extra shock comes from the fact we have been used to has been very, very, cheap and plentiful food.

@BigWoollyJumpers

Well, I know it's no help to anyone in the current situation, bu the last few decades food has never been so cheap. Particularly in the UK, we have had huge choice, and low prices. I suppose the extra shock comes from the fact we have been used to has been very, very, cheap and plentiful food.

This is true. The average cost of food abroad, where I have relatives living, is at least double of what it is here.

I doubt it. Not without govt intervention, and this govt don't give a shit about how much people on low incomes struggle.

Some food items may come down a bit, especially seasonal, perishable foods, but most won't. If raw materials or production costs come down, food producers and/or retailers will just take a bigger cut.

The Tories have effectively cut wages, refused to make utility companies pay a windfall tax, cut benefits, lost 37 billion to a useless track n trace programme and by promoting Brexit they've cut us off from endless financial benefits such as bloc negotiation s on energy prices.

Excellent summary, @MissBattleaxe.

Prices were going up before Ukraine, and some of them before covid, but they're very convenient things for the current govt to pass the buck onto.
With the cost of everything it's becoming less and less viable for both dh and I to work full time

@TooBigForMyBoots

I was concerned about Brexit, and didn’t vote for it, but a lot if what we are seeing globally is due to Ukraine war.

Energy prices started to rocket last year, before the war in Ukraine. Here, we saw 3 massive increases in 2021, your Price Cap sheltered you from it. Putin's war is making the bad situation worse, but it's not the cause.

But energy prices started to rise because of the restart of industry after covid and because energy producers are not back working at pre covid levels. It's well documented. The fact that this is happening across the world and not just in Brexit Britain is testament to that.

@burstcouch

I hope the prices come down. I cannot afford to live, my electric is out of control and I've done everything possible to try to save electric.

I can't afford my council tax as I'm putting all my spare money towards electric and food. The council will end up taking me to court

Is that what you've spent on electricity in a week, @burstcouch?

That's awful, even if you live in an all-electric home.

Judging by the frequent payments, I guess you've got a prepayment meter. Consider asking if you can change to a credit meter, with a smart meter so you can monitor usage, pay by DD and get monthly billing so you can see exactly where you stand each month. You always pay more when you have a pp meter.

And be really strict about turning stuff off and reducing usage generally. I used to leave the tv/radio on all the time, now it's only on if I'm watching/listening. I only ever boil the amount of water I need (use a measuring jug if you have trouble judging it), turn lights off in all rooms bar the one I'm in, do 3 out of 4 loads of laundry on a cold wash (which is fine when you use liquid detergents) and never use the main oven unless I'm cooking stuff that won't fit in the small one. If you have a tumble drier, only use it in emergencies.

If you're on a low income, see if you may be eligible for reduced council tax. You can do this on entitledto.co.uk, if you can't check on your council's website. And you might find that you're entitled to other stuff, too.

Council tax is a priority debt, because it's the only one that you can actually go to prison for not paying, and councils are ruthless about collecting the money.

In the Netherlands, March inflation has increased to 11.9% (the highest since 1975 and up from 7.3% in February). It is strange that the Dutch are not blaming Brexit, Boris, Rishi or 12 years of Tory government and austerity for this.

@Snowisfallinghere

I think clothes should be more expensive anyway, fast fashion is ridiculous, people don't need 15 pairs of £10 jeans that only last 1-2 years, they need 2 pairs of £50 jeans that last many years.

People should be able to afford food staples like bread and vegetables, but we've all got used to ridiculously cheap meat in UK for years now and it's just not necessary for people to eat that much meat. I love meat but we don't need it every single day, it should be more of a luxury.

I definitely agree with your point about meat, and I 100% agree that people don't need as many new clothes as is currently considered normal, but there is a limit to how far you can go with that. People on here always trot out the tedious "Vimes boot theory" as some sort of economical full stop but how many people stay exactly the same size and lives the same lifestyle for a decade or more? Even a "good" pair of jeans won't be any use if you put on/lose weight, have a baby, change jobs to somewhere where you need to wear corporate wear 5 out of 7 days a week, and never get a chance to wear your jeans/boots/whatever (or vice versa if you "invest" in hard wearing "capsule" smart trousers and blouses and then suddenly find yourself WFH wearing joggers every day). Apart from the fact my amazing jeans and long wearing boots aren't going to look great at a wedding or party or be any good in the summer.....and even if they do magically fit, I'd probably be a bit sick of them after 10 bloody years!

If we suddenly got rid of all cheap clothing shops that would be millions of people in the UK out of work, let alone the knock on effects on the countries that make the clothing (however ethical their practices, that's an argument for another day).

Plus some cheap clothes wear really well! I've got a dress from new look I've had 16 years and apart from now being too tight is in great condition. We should be encouraging people to buy slightly less, yes, but also swap clothes more, learn how to repurpose them once they've been worn a few times, and tbh I think a lot of people are doing this more now already - people I know who wouldn't set foot in a charity shop happily buy and sell on vinted, depop etc.

Oh god, don’t get me started about clothing! How on earth to find good quality when price seems to be such a poor indicator. I’ve bought relatively cheap trousers from M&S that wore brilliantly and expensive stuff from various places that looked like a piece of rag after a few washes….

Four posts in and the Tory bashing starts. hmm What could Labour (or anyone else) have done to stop the increases, given that most of the increases have come about due to things that are out of the hands of the Government?

Before they were privatised, energy prices were controlled by the govt and subsidised from tax revenues at times when the cost was rising steeply.

I doubt if a Labour govt would ever go down the path of renationalisation, but they could if they wanted to, and they could certainly subsidise energy costs.

@jcyclops

In the Netherlands, March inflation has increased to 11.9% (the highest since 1975 and up from 7.3% in February). It is strange that the Dutch are not blaming Brexit, Boris, Rishi or 12 years of Tory government and austerity for this.

!

Ditto all the other EU countries, many of which have higher inflation than we do currently.

[not that I am a tory voter very often. I float].
But the rubbish sometimes, I just need to out it!

@jcyclops

In the Netherlands, March inflation has increased to 11.9% (the highest since 1975 and up from 7.3% in February). It is strange that the Dutch are not blaming Brexit, Boris, Rishi or 12 years of Tory government and austerity for this.

If in doubt, blame BREXIT for everything 😳😳

@LakieLady

Four posts in and the Tory bashing starts. hmm What could Labour (or anyone else) have done to stop the increases, given that most of the increases have come about due to things that are out of the hands of the Government?

Before they were privatised, energy prices were controlled by the govt and subsidised from tax revenues at times when the cost was rising steeply.

I doubt if a Labour govt would ever go down the path of renationalisation, but they could if they wanted to, and they could certainly subsidise energy costs.

Labour had 13 years in power with TB but no Utility Companies were renationalised, wonder why ? 😳😳

Give over. It’s not ‘Tory-bashing’ to question the role of the government that’s been in power since 2010. They’re the government. Would be the same if they were a Labour government, coalition or anyone else in power for over a decade. This is a financial crisis for thousands if not millions of UK families. On the Tories’ watch. On Boris Johnson’s watch right now.

What is he going to do about this crisis to help ordinary people afford to live at the most basic level ie, keep a roof over their own heads, eat and heat their homes, while bringing up their kids?

Things are about to get worse as apparently there's a huge backlog of ships/containers in Chinese ports due to their current Covid problems, so prepare for more shortages (and rising prices) over the next few weeks/months as the supply chain is going to be badly disrupted again.