Cost of living squeeze in 2022, 23 & 24 (Vol. 2)

[Mojooo]

snuffy said:

JagLover said:

Apparently inflation is falling due to reduced price of Crumpet.......

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68833077

BBC Article said:

However, lower inflation does not mean prices overall are coming down, they are just rising less quickly.

It never ceases to amaze me, that the BBC, and other media outlets, feel the need to keep saying this.

I don't know which is worse, a) that people actually do need to have this pointed out to them, or b) that the media thinks that people are so stupid that they don't grasp the concept of the inflation.

I mean, if I'm driving along at 70mph, and then I slow down to 20mph, I'm not going backwards, I am ?

https://twitter.com/implausibleblog/status/1780521863388512368

[G-wiz]

Increased mortgage costs must be the biggest killer though, right?

[okgo]

Average mortgage debt in UK is £189k. Not sure it’s probably all that horrible for the 30% or so of homes that are owner occupied with a mortgage.

[Saweep]

I saw a headline saying rents increased by 9% last year.

I'm sure there were similar if not greater increases after the covid printing.

Lots of people will be hurting from that.

[mikeiow]

Downward said:

mikeiow said:

I think car insurance might have it’s own thread, but our renewals came in last week….
SWMBOs Kona EV up 20%….hmm, okay…
But my XC60 up 71%

Hastings Direct (mine) even had the gall to point out most were up 50% - “so why have you charged me 71%, you cheeky sods”. No changes to policy or us….

Onto the comparison sites…..got the XC down to ‘only’ 20% up…..& LV haggled the Kona down to only 13% up.
We are lucky enough that this isn’t breaking our world, but I feel for those who are running tight to a budget

My Volvo went from £281 to £577

Ouch!

Did you get on the comparison sites, with a bit of TopCashBack for bonus £££s?
If it goes up by more than 10%, I always have a happy hour or three on there to beat them back….it’s just that this year, “back” appears to be pegging the increase to below 20%

[asfault]

The longer the rates stay like this the more people who were waiting out a better deal will have to take the higher rates. Which will get the inflation more under control here. not in the US where I believe its a different system.

[skwdenyer]

asfault said:

The longer the rates stay like this the more people who were waiting out a better deal will have to take the higher rates. Which will get the inflation more under control here. not in the US where I believe its a different system.

In the US most people are on lifetime fixes. Rate rises affect new borrowing, not existing borrowers. Which is why the UK slavishly following US rate rises is a problem: in the US it does what it’s supposed to do (control new debt-funded expenditure), whereas in the UK it penalises a lot of prudent people.

High time we switched to lifetime fixes in the UK.

[skwdenyer]

mikeiow said:

Downward said:

mikeiow said:

I think car insurance might have it’s own thread, but our renewals came in last week….
SWMBOs Kona EV up 20%….hmm, okay…
But my XC60 up 71%

Hastings Direct (mine) even had the gall to point out most were up 50% - “so why have you charged me 71%, you cheeky sods”. No changes to policy or us….

Onto the comparison sites…..got the XC down to ‘only’ 20% up…..& LV haggled the Kona down to only 13% up.
We are lucky enough that this isn’t breaking our world, but I feel for those who are running tight to a budget

My Volvo went from £281 to £577

Ouch!

Did you get on the comparison sites, with a bit of TopCashBack for bonus £££s?
If it goes up by more than 10%, I always have a happy hour or three on there to beat them back….it’s just that this year, “back” appears to be pegging the increase to below 20%

I tried that with my Discovery insurance this year. My renewal quote was twice what I got from a rival insurer.
My current insurer refused to engage in negotiation, simply telling me they didn’t believe I’d been honest with my new insurer (“are you sure you haven’t changed job, and you disclosed your claims history?” etc.). I had to quite forcefully tell them not to auto-renew (no option to do that online - not allowed to cancel without running the gauntlet of a human with a script).

[wisbech]

skwdenyer said:

In the US most people are on lifetime fixes. Rate rises affect new borrowing, not existing borrowers. Which is why the UK slavishly following US rate rises is a problem: in the US it does what it’s supposed to do (control new debt-funded expenditure), whereas in the UK it penalises a lot of prudent people.

High time we switched to lifetime fixes in the UK.

Difficult/ impossible unless also switch to the US system of having a lender with a government guarantee, as companies will find it hard to borrow long at rates that will make it attractive for home owners

The longest bond I could find from a UK bank is Lloyds 2040, currently at 5.88%. Not sure that would be attractive (16 year fixed mortgage at over 6%) It is 1.4% above what the UK gilt rate is for a 2040.

[Pit Pony]

skwdenyer said:

asfault said:

The longer the rates stay like this the more people who were waiting out a better deal will have to take the higher rates. Which will get the inflation more under control here. not in the US where I believe its a different system.

In the US most people are on lifetime fixes. Rate rises affect new borrowing, not existing borrowers. Which is why the UK slavishly following US rate rises is a problem: in the US it does what it’s supposed to do (control new debt-funded expenditure), whereas in the UK it penalises a lot of prudent people.

High time we switched to lifetime fixes in the UK.

A few years ago when rates were about 6%, I came to the end of a 5 year fixed to 8%, and found that I could fix for the remaining 10 years at 4.6%. In those 10 years Yates dropped to less than 2%, I had an small inheritance, and my pay increased.
I could overpay by 10% of the balance for each year, and I ended up with 2 years to go owing just 1000, but having to adjust my monthly payments to almost nothing, or incur charges for paying off early.
I didn't know rates would drop, and had previously paid a few months at over 15%, so was happy with the stability, but had I a crystal ball, I would have saved alot of money on a tracker mortgage.

[skwdenyer]

Pit Pony said:

skwdenyer said:

asfault said:

The longer the rates stay like this the more people who were waiting out a better deal will have to take the higher rates. Which will get the inflation more under control here. not in the US where I believe its a different system.

In the US most people are on lifetime fixes. Rate rises affect new borrowing, not existing borrowers. Which is why the UK slavishly following US rate rises is a problem: in the US it does what it’s supposed to do (control new debt-funded expenditure), whereas in the UK it penalises a lot of prudent people.

High time we switched to lifetime fixes in the UK.

A few years ago when rates were about 6%, I came to the end of a 5 year fixed to 8%, and found that I could fix for the remaining 10 years at 4.6%. In those 10 years Yates dropped to less than 2%, I had an small inheritance, and my pay increased.
I could overpay by 10% of the balance for each year, and I ended up with 2 years to go owing just 1000, but having to adjust my monthly payments to almost nothing, or incur charges for paying off early.
I didn't know rates would drop, and had previously paid a few months at over 15%, so was happy with the stability, but had I a crystal ball, I would have saved alot of money on a tracker mortgage.

Lifetime fixes don’t stop you refinancing. But they do prevent you from getting your rate hiked. They also stop you from being prevented from keeping your old rate because your circumstances change.

[kiethton]

A small bill but my Thames Water bill...

£6pm to £39pm

My council tax - up over 15% last year, up another 6% or so this year

[snuffy]

kiethton said:

A small bill but my Thames Water bill...

£6pm to £39pm

How on earth has your water bill gone from £72/year to £468/year ?

[leef44]

Some items, prices have not gone up, instead the product has shrunk in size.

This is a Club which used to be bigger than a Penguin. I've put it next to a Penguin so you get a feel of how much it has shrunk.

It's like Heinz chicken soup which used to fill over the rim of my soup plate but now does not reach the rim. The tin still says 400g but it looks like those grams have shrunk.

[Rufus Stone]

leef44 said:

It's like Heinz chicken soup which used to fill over the rim of my soup plate but now does not reach the rim. The tin still says 400g but it looks like those grams have shrunk.

Heavier ingredients, less water?

[raceboy]

That's not a Club.

[snuffy]

raceboy said:

That's not a Club.

Yes, the word "Gold" as opposed to "Club" was indeed a bit of a clue !

[leef44]

snuffy said:

raceboy said:

That's not a Club.

Yes, the word "Gold" as opposed to "Club" was indeed a bit of a clue !

I'm so out of touch with these things. I didn't know this was a different thing. They all look the same to me. Well the marketing worked out fooled me

Although the "gold" used to be the same size as Club so I thought they were the same thing.

[leef44]

Rufus Stone said:

Heavier ingredients, less water?

Yes, that was what I was thinking. What ingredient could be heavier but cheaper so it won't be lead lol

[croyde]

Tesco's were doing 8 small on the vine tomatoes for £1.20.

Still the same price but only 7 in the packet now.

Not only does it look lopsided but I guess stuff has to change on the factory floor for that silly change.

Still it must be worth it, I just think it's petty and sneaky.

Like those apple biscuit snacks 5 to a pack for a quid. Now only 4 to the pack.