Am I just stuck in the past or are price increases recently out of control?

[newire]

I am late 40’s and so there is some change my idea of prices are stuck in the past but my DH had a day off yesterday and we went up to town to go to a film and then dinner at very basic but nice Greek place, we got up to town early so went to a café for a cup of tea and a bit of cake to share. By the time we got home we had spent £100. In 2019 we could have done the exact same evening out for half of that. Which does leave me feeling like the goal posts have been moved quite a bit.

Obviously, I know prices go up, that hospitality is under a lot of pressure but prior to this it took more like 20 years for prices to double and now they have doubled in the past 4 or 5 years and it shows little sign of slowing down. Same with anything you buy, a new paperback book can be £15! It feels like Tea is more expensive every week.

Like I say I know prices go up but am I crazy to feel that things have gone up excessively? Even though inflation is supposed to be falling the price of products and services never seems to fall. Or am I just getting old and stuck in the past?

Blimey

Most people prioritise leisure activities, regardless of budget. I don’t earn much but I wouldn’t give up coffee shop drinking, and going to the cinema and the gym.

I think most people prioritise paying the bills and buying food. These days I don’t do a fraction of the leisure activities that I used to. I used to go to a gig every week or two. Now it’s more like every three-six months, and only then if it’s someone I’m desperate to see. I’d only buy a coffee in a coffee shop if I was staying away from home. Even when we eat out (which is monthly now rather than twice a week) we won’t have a coffee after our meal, we’ll go home and have one there.

I’m not sure how much of it is CoL or if I’m just getting tight as I get older! 😂

Lots of people are hungry for experiences, events. I wondered if it would die down a bit once everyone had got lockdown out of their systems, but that doesn't seem to have happened.

But I think as well, if you're just looking at stuff like that you're not getting the whole picture. So cafes in bustling areas are still doing well, but you're only seeing the queues there, not the ones that didn't survive covid, nor the situation for those in areas not quite so bustling. You're also not seeing whether they'd have liked a cake along with their coffee and sandwiches, but are economising. And people will do things like save money they'd have spent in a pub 10 years ago and use it for Oasis tickets, but their attendance at the gig is more immediately noticeable than them cutting down on going out.

And the COL doesn't affect everyone equally. Some by position and/or luck just haven't felt it to the same extent.

@FanofLeaves that is beyond! 😡

Last week, my husband & I went to an independent small coffe shop (a bit off the Hi St. in SE London) cost us £11.60. 😬
1 latte (£3.90) which was a bit sour.
1 cup of tea (£2.40),
1 croissant for him (with cheese to add as an extra) £5.30! 😬😬it wasn't even that big!

Often when I see an outfit I like online I resolve to see if a cheaper version can be found in M&S - this has often been possible.
This month the outfit I'd like a cheaper version of is from M&S. Nearly 200 quid for a jumper and skirt in ordinary non-luxe fabrics.
Vinted for me now I think.

Wow - that is high for M&S. I was just laughing at an ad on here for some firm called something like Frank and Eileen, selling utterly ordinary wardrobe staples for £200-300 each. They had chinos identical to my M&S £30 chinos, plaid shirts identical to my £25 Sainsbury plaid shirt. I could put together tan almost identical outfit for £70 to theirs for nearly a grand.

I suppose good second hand clothes in charity shops and online can be worth it. I tend not to go into cafes etc but that's just because I am old and am happy with what I have got at home. I did just book a holiday yesterday but that felt not too bad in price because like in 2019 I am going on my own so not paying for teenagers etc any more. However I agree prices have gone up a lot. There is a chart here. I also have my mother's notes from the 1970s about prices and that was a really really bad period - we had three years in a row with 20% inflation ie 60% when the UK was on its knees and we went begging to the IMF. https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/timeseries/cdko/mm23

An yet, the cafes are so universally shit. I can't remember the last time I walked into a coffee shop and didn't have to wipe down my own table and ferry the rubbish left by the previous user to the counter. Can't remember anyone ever smiling and glancing up as you come through the door. Even in fairly fancy restaurants the level of training in hospitality is poor to non-existent.

I worked as a waitress for years and even the small cafes in those days would train you on how to welcome customers and make them feel valued. You never ever stood still. If it was quiet you polished tables, table legs, glasses, cutlery, but if a customer came in you never continued one of those jobs - you always prioritised people. The places I worked always had regular customers who were greeted like friends. These days you could buy a coffee from the same place every week for a year and still be ignored.

I prioritise paying my bills and not overspending my pension each month.

We spent almost £1000 on going away for the weekend to a concert this year.
When we got home we debated whether it had been worth it - it hadn't.

I look at it like this, if you havnt got it you can't spend it. If I see a special offer food or toiletries and I've got the money I buy extra, especially if toiletries then put them away, in garage or somewhere so it's something I havnt got to buy when I've got extra expense like Xmas or birthdays. Eating out is now in the past for me, as for a coffee, very special occasion. I can't afford it so don't have it, but if it's just once or twice a year it feels like a real treat so I enjoy it, I'd rather buy something to put in my cupboard. If I went out for coffee every week it wouldn't feel like a treat.

A lot of the problem is that tax thresholds have been frozen for so long. This has really affected the money in people’s pockets, after rising inflation. It seems a never ending spiral of rising costs.

I cycle three times a week with a cycling group of retirees. We always stop for coffee and cake. It used to be a fun and cheap way of socialising, but now I have to think about it, as the cost mounts up over the month. I take either a coffee or a snack with me these days, and buy the other item to save costs. I’d take both a coffee and snack if I could, but I’d never go somewhere and not buy anything. We sit outside usually, so this is do-able. Small pleasures I never used to think about, now have to be factored in.

@Knittingsavesme I hate to think that retirees can't even enjoy these kinds of things, it should be an affordable treat in this country but it isn't anymore as you say.

Yeah, it's appalling:(

I think this is true. When I graduated the personal allowance was 6k but it was actually possible to live on that as a single person living a student type lifestyle. Then over a period of time it doubled under the tories. But now it hasn't changed for ages. And I think you'd be hard pressed to live on 12k, even a student lifestyle. Maybe just doable if you never go out. Would be fine if you were retired and had paid your mortgage though.

£15 for a bottle of wine in Premier Inn brewers fayre compared to £14 for a glass in our local in a Surrey village. 100% cheaper up north in the pubs. Depends on type of pub though I guess.

I personally find the cinema is cheaper now than it was, though eating out is very expensive now.

Same, Vue can be had on 2 for £8 near me. Odeon used to be a fiver in the end.

When it was £10 plus I simply didn’t go as I’m not that fussed with cinema as it is.

Sadly although tea bags are still reasonably cheap now minimum wage has leapt up and rent and energy are on the rise cafés are having to put up prices to cover expenses.

I will go if it's cheap,otherwise ill not bother unless I really want to see something, the last film I wanted to watch was beetlejuice beetlejuice