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

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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?

Nearly everyone on here ignores the staff and rental costs of all these places. I get it the raw ingredients of a tea bag and water is cheap, but nothing else to run a coffee shop is. People running restaurants and cafes are not rolling in profit I assure you.. a 21 year olds wage in 2019 was £7.70, now it’s 12.21.. it’s not quite double, interest rates on debts and mortgages & buildings are now in some cases 3-4 times the cost in interest. I have no idea how much energy went up but it was likely quite crazy. Therefore this explains why it’s so much to eat out.

Heinz beans are the worst, too much juice and your toast goes all soggy. I'd rather have Aldi's own.

We've pretty much given up on eating out. We have a very cheap and very friendly local pub so we go there for a couple of drinks instead.

Thing is people must pay the prices or they wouldn't be able to charge them! We have a nice but very expensive pub nearby and it's always so busy you can't sit down and you have to book if you want to guarantee being able to eat there.

Prices have gone up yet quality and quantity has very much gone down. I feel exploited and my only way of fighting back is to decide not to have whatever it is. The number of times I've been in town, and OH has suggested popping into a cafe for a coffee or a snack I've said I don't fancy being ripped off, so no. Sorry to all the small businesses struggling but there is only so much your customers can put up with. In the supermarket I've cut right down. I spend my time mumbling "you must be joking!" and putting things back on the shelves. I buy practically no processed, snack food now and you know what... I'm healthier for it. The concept of service and taking pride in delivering a quality product has virtually disappeared too in the last five years. It's all about profit now. Having to scan your receipt to get out of a supermarket or getting stopped by a security guard because that steak you bought still has a security tag on it. If self service is causing so much theft, then go back to manned tills. Don't treat every customer like a potential criminal!
Don't get me started on the mega insurance, energy, mobile phone etc companies who "are experiencing a high level of calls" and expect customers to wait half an hour to an hour to get through. I'm trying to remember when that started being acceptable. I wondered too if it was just a sign of me getting old but the rot started after Brexit and has only gone downhill from there.

I buy Tesco own brand chocolate raisins as a treat. They have shot up from 89p to £1.50 now for a smaller bag.

Yeah but the knock on effect is that people walk away rather than paying the price. So now they have none of my money and two or so years ago I would have parted with some. So what’s the answer? Maybe there should be one affordable meal option, (which used to be soup and a roll but not anymore 🤣) to encourage people to still come in and spend a bit rather than nothing at all?

I agree - absolutely- cafes and restaurants are being hammered just like other consumers.

I do resent though that as prices have risen, customer service and attention to detail has fallen through the floor. Customer service costs nothing. I don’t begrudge the prices per se- I begrudge paying them for service with a snarl, which is increasingly the case.

Haven’t read the whole thread, but although cafes and restaurants have had to pass on the costs , the knock on effect might destroy hospitality and you’ll be left with Weatherspoons and maybe the odd cheaper place. When your paying so much for a teabag or a small cake , people won’t bother .

@Quicksilver15 I think people do ultimately understand this but as a consumer it just doesn't add up anymore and maybe that means that many of these businesses aren't as viable as they once were which is sad but I do think there is a limit to what people will spend on hot drinks, slices of cake etc. I think it's possible to think that while still understanding that business owners are up against it.

I voted you are being unreasonable because you expect prices fall when inflation reduces. They dont. If inflation was, for example, 5% this time last year and are now 2.5%, that doesn't mean prices are falling. It means they are rising, but half as slowly than they were last year.

I have a very scientific method of measuring price increases. I used to be able to carry about £40 worth of food shopping home and now I can carry about £75 worth.

@AhBiscuits Unless of course you've turned into Miss Universe! Otherwise I like your method very much 😂

I told my son that we're heading back to the 1970s again (my childhood era). Local town, only had two coffee shops max. Eating out was a special occasion only. Cinema trips - couple times a year. Takeaway was the local chip shop (even that is threatened) as the cost of that is no longer small change down the back of the sofa. It feels like a big reset.

I agree OP - prices of stuff is insane!

3 months ago DH met our 10 year goal of earning 100k plus - through long hours promotions etc, we’re not getting anywhere near the lifestyle we imagined 😫 we knew there would be inflation price increases etc but not to this level 🤯

I can't recall getting 2 coffees and 2 cakes for a fiver for twenty years even places like Morrisons was much dearer.

It all went horribly wrong when we went decimal in 1972.
When it was £sd few shopkeepers could fathom out how to raise prices by a percentage, so everything remained pretty much stable.
So twas Edward Heath who started the rot, according to my Granny.

@Fishplates I so get it, I don't complain too much as I know we are so much better off than others and can afford what we need. But even if we were earning at the lower end of what people in our position i.e. same career and tier 15 years ago we'd be on almost double what are now. I guess if we were the increase prices would seem more digestible.

They did that because the Conservatives had wrecked the economy through Cameron's austerity, Johnson's Brexit and Truss's madness.

A cafe near me here in Norfolk that changed hands after Covid is charging £11.99 for beans on toast, according to the website, supposed to be homemade beans. Coffee or tea is on top of that so probably around £15.

@JudgeJ I think there is or at least was quite a bit of regional variation in prices until more recently so what for some people is a big jump seems normal or cheap to others I think. Wages can also vary according to region at least to some extent.

I have switched to Aldi for food.
Buy as much as I can in there.
I havent yet found anything I dont like.
I am "saving" £15 per week?
Adds up.

So to continue my obsession with the price of minced beef, we spent some time in france in August. Three fresh beefburgers for 6 euros in Intermarche, that's more than tesco.
Someone upthread asked why aren't we protesting, I wonder how French families are coping. Honestly I wouldn't waste a crumb if I was feeding two teens, myself and husband in France.

Of course customer service costs! You want good people, you pay good wages.

Of course, Brexit has seen many of our best hospitality professionals return to Europe.

That’s what we have done now to cut back. Previously we could have a weekly meal out, cinema trip etc and it wouldn’t break the bank.

I even take hot water out now to make tea in my car. It feels miserable but I can no longer just blindly spend money Willy nilly

For those who could only afford Aldi in the first place, theyre left with farm foods and food banks/community pantries

Discovered our fish and chip shop does a "special" for £5.
Small fish chips and peas.
I have small appetite anyway.
Even DH has gone to the special.

We used to have a chinese takeaway once a month.
In the last couple of years stopped that.
We found we didnt enjoy the meal if we felt we had overpaid.
Probably only have one about 4 times a year.
We dont really miss it.