Cost of living crisis.

[Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot]

So just seen the season ticket prices are rising. Just this week had my green flag cover up for renewal, gone from 76 quid to 92, energy bill was up over 30%, weekly shop has gone from about 65 quid to over 110 in the blink of an eye. Rent, housing market, subscription services, it seems like if it costs money it costs more every day. 

 

All meanwhile minimum wage is going up from 8.91 to 9.50, and companies are consistently posting record profits, it's a disgrace. 

 

What other huge or small rises in cost of living have people seen lately? It seems completely unsustainable to me, you can have a household with 2 full time employees and still be in abject poverty, how did it get to this? 

[orangecity23]

Let's not forget that our distnguished Window-cleaner in chief has decreed that anyone in the entirety of Leicester who parks their car at work might be about to have to shell out £500+ a year for the privelege of earning their pittance, and ensured that employers can pass on the charge direct to the employees. Anyone at the Leicester Labour party aware they are supposed to be representing ordinary working people, rather than robbing them blind?

 

EDIT - and they are going for the usual maximum allowed council tax raise as well. Another thing to add onto the pile, along with BT/EE and their RPI +3.9% annual price rise.

Edited 9 March 2022 by orangecity23

[Heathrow fox]

9 minutes ago, Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot said:

So just seen the season ticket prices are rising. Just this week had my green flag cover up for renewal, gone from 76 quid to 92, energy bill was up over 30%, weekly shop has gone from about 65 quid to over 110 in the blink of an eye. Rent, housing market, subscription services, it seems like if it costs money it costs more every day. 

 

All meanwhile minimum wage is going up from 8.91 to 9.50, and companies are consistently posting record profits, it's a disgrace. 

 

What other huge or small rises in cost of living have people seen lately? It seems completely unsustainable to me, you can have a household with 2 full time employees and still be in abject poverty, how did it get to this? 

Diesel £1.95 a litre.I did mention on the covid thread eighteen months ago that we would be getting inflation due to demand.I was told not to worry as we can buy everything online 

It’s a major concern.We have our leaders of the last 50 years to thank for the situation you describe.Feed the beast.Work harder for longer for less.Keep buying crap you don’t need with money you don’t have.
Will everybody still be standing with Ukraine when they start losing their jobs,because that’s the next wave.

 

[Innovindil]

Complete cluster**** right now ain't it. Would have been bad enough dealing with the covid fallout on it's own without all this russia crap. And every tom dick and harry using it as an excuse to fleece people. Even the supermarket petrol stations are running at a bigger profit margin now, even after silly sales during lockdown.

 

I'm one of the lucky ones, missus got a new job last year that pays a little better, my wages went up an obscene amount after lockdowns ended and we're on a fixed rate mortgage for the next 3 or 4 years. Still sucks though, we were gonna try for our first kid this year but with things the way they are I'd say no chance of that now.

 

London will be lucky if it's not on fire if the tories go ahead with this planned tax rise next month.

[Shane]

38 minutes ago, Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot said:

So just seen the season ticket prices are rising. Just this week had my green flag cover up for renewal, gone from 76 quid to 92, energy bill was up over 30%, weekly shop has gone from about 65 quid to over 110 in the blink of an eye. Rent, housing market, subscription services, it seems like if it costs money it costs more every day. 

 

All meanwhile minimum wage is going up from 8.91 to 9.50, and companies are consistently posting record profits, it's a disgrace. 

 

What other huge or small rises in cost of living have people seen lately? It seems completely unsustainable to me, you can have a household with 2 full time employees and still be in abject poverty, how did it get to this? 

Thank you for making this topic. Very worrying times indeed..

Not to nit pick but would like to point out not all companies are Amazon posting record profits. Small businesses are struggling and lots of jobs could be in jeopardy as mid sized companies will need to make cuts somewhere, due to the rise in operation costs. 

 

 

 

 

Edited 9 March 2022 by Shane

[Leicester_Loyal]

As a single bloke with a mortgage who earns a very good (without trying to brag), it’s even hitting me hard. How these people on minimum wage who live alone are supposed to survive is beyond me, I’m looking at cutting back on things but I’m lucky enough to have things to cut back on, those on the breadline won’t have that luxury. 
 

I’ve said it in a couple of threads on here today but we’re facing a financial crisis, millions are going to struggle, some won’t be able to make it through. NI increase, fuel  price increase, electric and gas increase, general inflation across everything, food prices jumping up, the list is endless. 
 

The green taxes and the VAT should be the first thing to go on electric and gas bills, that’ll give us a bit of a buffer whilst the prices continue to rise. 
 

I really do think we’re going to be living in a totally different world in 12 months time. 

[Heathrow fox]

11 minutes ago, Shane said:

Thank you for making this topic. Very worrying times indeed..

Not to nit pick but would like to point out not all companies are Amazon posting record profits. Small businesses are struggling and lots of jobs could be in jeopardy as mid sized companies will need to make cuts somewhere, due to the rise in operation costs. 

 

 

 

 

So many small businesses who were debt free and thriving,now having to pay back the Covid loans.

[Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot]

Shouldn't minimum wage be 12 quid? I've a mate in Germany and he said they just raised their minimum wage to 13 euros, and the cost of living is comparable to here, imagine (I don't have to) working your absolute bollocks off for 50 hours a week and coming home with under 400 quid after tax. 

[Zear0]

Every single letter at home or work is an increase. Gas, electricity, water, mobile, broadband, nursery fees, season tickets. Seems like an ideal time for a tax rise...

 

Genuinely don't see how people can get by currently and from what I've read, it'll get worse before it gets better. 

[ozleicester]

Capitalism is failing, the elite and governments will tell us that Covid has caused these issues, but they have been coming for a long time.

The only answer is higher taxes for the wealthy, using that income to assist the working class, lets not kid ourseleves most of us are working class and are being exploited for the gain of the rich. Remember, in the 70s, the highest tax rate was 90%... now its 45%. Increased VAT takes from the poor while less affecting the rich.

Town centres will die as we shop more online and work from home, retail and service jobs will fall as we realise that we cant afford luxuries and we deserve a decent wage no matter what our role, already homelessness is at horrific levels and getting worse...and still the rich are living an absurd life.

Then lets look at how climate change is going to destroy our 'normal' life, the governments, as voted by greedy middle class wannabes have avoided and ignored the coming disaster for 40 years.

Societal change is the only way out... well ........except extinction.

[GingerrrFox]

People won’t want to hear it but the issue is Capitalism. The whole idea of a “Trickle down economy” is bollocks, companies want to maintain profit margins and the individuals who hold vast amounts of wealth want to maintain it. Those lower down the food chain have continuously been squeezed for years now and it’s fast becoming unsustainable. 
 

The world as we know it will implode at this rate. It sounds crazy but “conspiracy theorists” were laughed at 12 months ago for saying the energy crisis was next and here we are staring right down the barrel of it. A therm of natural gas has gone from a cost of 25p to £8. It’s beyond belief the situation we are in right now. 

[urban.spaceman]

Everything about this government is feeling extremely hostile towards the most vulnerable at the minute. They've done absolutely nothing to prevent this crisis; in fact they've actively added to the problems in a deliberate attack on the poor. I loathe this country at the minute and just want to leave.

[kenny]

45 minutes ago, Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot said:

Shouldn't minimum wage be 12 quid? I've a mate in Germany and he said they just raised their minimum wage to 13 euros, and the cost of living is comparable to here, imagine (I don't have to) working your absolute bollocks off for 50 hours a week and coming home with under 400 quid after tax. 

Raising the minimum wage is a vote winner but all it does is increase the living costs for those it is supposed to help.

[Leicester_Loyal]

43 minutes ago, Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot said:

Shouldn't minimum wage be 12 quid? I've a mate in Germany and he said they just raised their minimum wage to 13 euros, and the cost of living is comparable to here, imagine (I don't have to) working your absolute bollocks off for 50 hours a week and coming home with under 400 quid after tax. 

Swings and roundabouts, I don’t know the answer, I doubt many do tbh, but if minimum wage was £12, people would probably not bother to train up for other jobs. People in my profession train for 3 years, work shifts and work 3 weekends in 6, yet aren’t on much more than that. If you could get £12 doing a mon to fri 40 hours a week close to your home, half of us would probably leave and sign up ASAP.

 

Alternatively, if you raise the wages of everyone, then everything will just go up in price surely?

 

[Scotch]

It really is horrific. 

 

I work in a petrol station and there is a man who comes in with severe cerebral palsy. He's a lovely guy, very proud and we speak quite a bit on a weekly basis when he comes in. He's been talking for a while now about getting his new mobility car, very excited. Tonight he tells me he has canceled it because he needs the extra money he would get on his disability more than he needs the car, even though it will completely take away his freedom and he will have to rely on folk doing shopping for him and it will pretty much make him a prisoner in his own home. 

 

It absolutely broke me and I can't stop thinking about it. 

 

[tom27111]

4 minutes ago, Scotch said:

It really is horrific. 

 

I work in a petrol station and there is a man who comes in with severe cerebral palsy. He's a lovely guy, very proud and we speak quite a bit on a weekly basis when he comes in. He's been talking for a while now about getting his new mobility car, very excited. Tonight he tells me he has canceled it because he needs the extra money he would get on his disability more than he needs the car, even though it will completely take away his freedom and he will have to rely on folk doing shopping for him and it will pretty much make him a prisoner in his own home. 

 

It absolutely broke me and I can't stop thinking about it. 

 

 Don't know if it'll help, but if his new car has an advance payment, some of which can be thousands, he is able to apply to Motobility for a grant to cover that. The vast majority of people that have been on the scheme are completely unaware that's an option.

 

It's a great scheme that gives freedom to so many people, but even the cost of that has risen an extortionate amount recently.

 

There are also a small number of cars that wouldn't take the whole weekly allowance he would usually receive as cash if he didn't have a car.

 

Please feel free to contact me if I can offer any more advice.

[Scotch]

3 minutes ago, tom27111 said:

 Don't know if it'll help, but if his new car has an advance payment, some of which can be thousands, he is able to apply to Motobility for a grant to cover that. The vast majority of people that have been on the scheme are completely unaware that's an option.

 

It's a great scheme that gives freedom to so many people, but even the cost of that has risen an extortionate amount recently.

 

There are also a small number of cars that wouldn't take the whole weekly allowance he would usually receive as cash if he didn't have a car.

 

Please feel free to contact me if I can offer any more advice.

Thanks for that mate. I'll make sure he looks in to all his options as I'm sure (like you said) he's not aware as he is already in the scheme. 

 

I can't stop thinking about one of the first times I met him, I noticed it took him a long time to fill the car and I offered to help but ended up offending him as he takes pride in his independence. He barely tolerates me helping him down the step but accepts its needed. The thought of him having to rely on others is horrible. 

[Ric Flair]

My energy provider went bust and I was moved to British Gas. My first full months bill of supposed actual usage is £205 and that's before the April price cap increase. I was averaging between £65-100 a month before. I cannot work out how they've doubled it before this next price increase. Not on a fixed rate either, its rhe bog standard variable. 

[tom27111]

6 minutes ago, Scotch said:

Thanks for that mate. I'll make sure he looks in to all his options as I'm sure (like you said) he's not aware as he is already in the scheme. 

 

I can't stop thinking about one of the first times I met him, I noticed it took him a long time to fill the car and I offered to help but ended up offending him as he takes pride in his independence. He barely tolerates me helping him down the step but accepts its needed. The thought of him having to rely on others is horrible. 

No problem.

 

I know the Peugeot 108 and possibly a bog standard 208 wouldn't take his total allowance, but they stopped making the 108. Maybe a Citroen C1 or Toyota Aygo would be similar. 

 

I'd recommend him getting in touch directly with Motability who'll be able to offer advice on pricing and grants 

[leicsmac]

If this isn't caused by greed and is in fact the result of the strain caused by external effects on one or two particular important resources...then I dread to think how it will be in a couple of decades time, unless decisive action is taken.

[deejdeej]

It feels like one kick in the teeth after another lately. I'm generally quite a positive person but this is getting me down at times. The lack of empathy shown by those in power and the rich is astounding and I can only see it getting worse.

But hey as long as the rich keep getting richer that's the main thing  

[Jon the Hat]

3 hours ago, GingerrrFox said:

People won’t want to hear it but the issue is Capitalism. The whole idea of a “Trickle down economy” is bollocks, companies want to maintain profit margins and the individuals who hold vast amounts of wealth want to maintain it. Those lower down the food chain have continuously been squeezed for years now and it’s fast becoming unsustainable. 
 

The world as we know it will implode at this rate. It sounds crazy but “conspiracy theorists” were laughed at 12 months ago for saying the energy crisis was next and here we are staring right down the barrel of it. A therm of natural gas has gone from a cost of 25p to £8. It’s beyond belief the situation we are in right now. 

Yes it is, but that has little to do with capitalism.  Companies need to maintain profit margins, else they will lose investment to other companies which can maintain profit margin.  That is how capitalism works.  There are though some substantial questions which we have failed to answer for decades around how we deal with the social changes which come from offshoring, automation etc.

 

The energy crisis will have seriously ramifications, but those don't have to be bad.  Mind you I am not sure cutting supply from Russia and increasing it from Iran and Venezuela is any kind of long term plan for stability.  The West needs to invest heavily in self reliance.

[Dahnsouff]

Never understood why people feel state ownership rather than private would lead to management by more scrupulous individuals, it is the same people who would be involved. Large sums of money attract a certain sort of person, and to pretend avarice does not exist in the public sector is like suggesting hubris does not exist in public service.

[leicsmac]

47 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

Never understood why people feel state ownership rather than private would lead to management by more scrupulous individuals, it is the same people who would be involved. Large sums of money attract a certain sort of person, and to pretend avarice does not exist in the public sector is like suggesting hubris does not exist in public service.

What was it Acton said? "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

[HighPeakFox]

3 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

Yes it is, but that has little to do with capitalism.  Companies need to maintain profit margins, else they will lose investment to other companies which can maintain profit margin.  That is how capitalism works.  There are though some substantial questions which we have failed to answer for decades around how we deal with the social changes which come from offshoring, automation etc.

 

The energy crisis will have seriously ramifications, but those don't have to be bad.  Mind you I am not sure cutting supply from Russia and increasing it from Iran and Venezuela is any kind of long term plan for stability.  The West needs to invest heavily in self reliance.

I'm confused - are you defending capitalism, with all its obvious flaws, or are you suggesting that we don't have pure capitalism, and the version we get foisted on us is some corrupt accident?