Things you'd expect to be cheaper

Things you'd expect to be cheaper

Author
Discussion

bobtail4x4

3,701 posts

108 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
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captainzep said:
Woodland.

As I get to the time of life where i want to live the dream and become a part-time beardy (possibly alcoholic) socially retarded hermit in the depths of a forest, the cost of it has rocketed.

It's between £10-£15k an acre in SE England now and even in Wales where I live, buying 2-4 football pitch's worth will set you back £30-£40k.

There was a time a few years ago when farmers were flogging small bits of non-commercial woods for pennies.
but all the snowflakes want it now.

TameRacingDriver

18,048 posts

271 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
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Houses. I saw an advert the other day for a 3-bed semi detached house, which was 'from' £250,000. This is ridiculous considering its the North East of England! I'd at very least expect a detached house with a garage & huge garden for that in this area. Things are even more ludicrous down south. It would seem only the wealthy can now afford to buy a house unless they want to live in a sink estate - luckily rents are still affordable.

Train tickets - £250 return from Newcastle to London is insane. Thats a 2hr 50 minute journey each way. It's probably cheaper to fly. Luckily its not something I ever have to do but it surprises me how regularly the company will send people there when they have Skype and Video Conference facilities.

Cars - Now £30K for a hot hatch worth having. Thats a shopping kart with a powerful engine. No wonder I drive around in a £2k car. The thought of paying £500 a month for a car in not one I will likely ever entertain, particularly when they're not really anything special in the grand scheme.

Beer - not everywhere, but even in Newcastle there are no shortage of places charging as near as dammit £5 for a pint of half decent lager. No wonder less and less people are going out these days.

Coffee - luckily I don't drink the vile stuff, but how places get away with charging £3+ for a cup of hot water and coffee granules I just don't know.

On the flipside, someone else mentioned technology, but in real terms its much cheaper than it ever was. You can get a good 4K 65" TV for less than a grand. Although it does seem like the price of things like mobiles is steadily heading north - I can't decide whether this is the manufacturers taking the piss a bit really.

As said though, everything else does seem to be getting more expensive, and wages aren't really going up at the same rate. Being able to live on little money is becoming a worthwhile skill to have these days. Thankfully, I don't have (nor wanted) kids, otherwise I would literally not have a pot to piss in.

Strudul

1,585 posts

84 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
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mikeyr said:
HTP99 said:
Razor blades are a con, how can they be as expensive as they are,
Good example, massive requirements, low production costs, easy to ship.
Never bought one, or a razor for that matter. Just pick up the free giveaways from Gillette.

PositronicRay

26,959 posts

182 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
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xjay1337 said:
Everything is ridiculously expensive nowadays.

From Freddos to Ferrari

It's a joke.

As wages do not increase, products either get more expensive outright, or you get less for the same money (see well documented product downsizing).

The things that annoy me most are things like:

Petrol / Diesel
Video Games - For example Fallout 4 on disk at release? £40. TO DOWNLOAD? Saving the cost of transportation of the disk, publishing etc, £55.
Fresh fruit and veg - It's massively cheaper to eat st, no wonder we are all fat (or at least, no wonder I am fat)
Dominos without discount codes
Sky
Mobile phones and other computer equipment, they cost fk all to make in the grand scheme of things
Cars - I remember a Mk5 GTI was around £19k. Now it's £30k , OK you get a few extra toys but eventually a fking Dacia will be £35k for a base spec model.
I'm often pleasantly surprised how cheap tools are, I'm not talking about the pro stuff just middle of the range competent DIY stuff. In the 70/80s tools were v expensive hence I bodged many jobs by just not having the right stuff.

Cneci

79 posts

110 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
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TameRacingDriver said:
Cars - Now £30K for a hot hatch worth having.
Really?

By worth having do you mean anything <280bhp?

Lance Catamaran

24,942 posts

226 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
quotequote all
Cneci said:
TameRacingDriver said:
Cars - Now £30K for a hot hatch worth having.
Really?

By worth having do you mean anything <280bhp?
In real terms it's no more expensive than something like an Escort XR3i from the 80's. Plus you will now get climate control, ABS, touchscreen, parking sensors etc thrown in, whereas before it was maybe electric windows in the front and central locking.

seiben

2,343 posts

133 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
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HTP99 said:
RC1807 said:
mikeyr said:
HTP99 said:
Razor blades are a con, how can they be as expensive as they are,
Good example, massive requirements, low production costs, easy to ship.
Keep seeing an ad on TV for a subscription service that's cheap, but I can't for th life of me remember their name! Clearly it's a catchy title laugh
https://www.harrys.com/en/gb

I've just signed up, you get a free trial; handle, razor blade and shaving gel for the cost of delivery (£2.95).

I've signed up for blades and gel every 5 months for £19 a throw, based on me shaving once a week as I've got a beard so I only need a trim round my neck and cheek area every so often.
Anyone else getting Harry's adverts on this page now? hehe

Sheepshanks

32,538 posts

118 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
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seiben said:
Anyone else getting Harry's adverts on this page now? hehe
I just opened a letter and it had one of their leaflets in it - this internet tracking stuff is getting scary!

captainzep

13,305 posts

191 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
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bobtail4x4 said:
but all the snowflakes want it now.
In fairness the "snowflakes" buying up small woods are probably doing more woodland management than some of the traditional landowners who either did nothing with it or saw it as a burden with no reward.

clockworks

5,294 posts

144 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
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Lance Catamaran said:
In real terms it's no more expensive than something like an Escort XR3i from the 80's. Plus you will now get climate control, ABS, touchscreen, parking sensors etc thrown in, whereas before it was maybe electric windows in the front and central locking.
I bought a new XR3i back in the day, and thought it was a bit cheaper than that. Googling shows a facelift XR3i with all the extras cost £9.5k in 1986. According to a "what is the pound worth now" website, that's about £26k in today's money, so not too far off.

However, wages for many people haven't really kept up. I was taking home £1k a month then as a computer field engineer, so a new XR3i was 9 month's wages. I wonder how many people with regular jobs take home £40k a year basic now? I think that the crazy rise in house prices since the 80's has skewed the inflation figures in relation to real incomes.
My first house, a 3 bed semi bought new in 1984, cost £27k. Probably cost 10 times that now in Milton Keynes?

LeoSayer

7,299 posts

243 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
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Ebooks on the Kindle.

Often more expensive than the paper equivalent.

Sheepshanks

32,538 posts

118 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
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clockworks said:
However, wages for many people haven't really kept up. I was taking home £1k a month then as a computer field engineer, so a new XR3i was 9 month's wages. I wonder how many people with regular jobs take home £40k a year basic now?
Taking home £1K/mth in 1986 was good going. Average gross salary then was £9500/yr.

I went for an interview with Burroughs Machines a little earlier in the 80's - I can't remember the fine details but I was reasonably paid and they were offering less than I was currently earning.

dontlookdown

1,684 posts

92 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
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Uncle John said:
Mcdonalds.

Now £20+ to feed 4.

Should be cheaper.
I went to Maccie D's for the first time in ages recently. Compared to Five Guys, Byron etc, what struck was what great value it is.

I am so over poshed-up burgers for 20 quid a pop. Bring on the next, next big thing, I am hungry for it.

princealbert23

2,574 posts

160 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
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Sheets Tabuer said:
Dualit toasters hehe
Dualit has a crap line and a good line. I got caught with a kettle which couldn't be repaired. The toasters can all be taken apart and repaired and that makes them better value.

princealbert23

2,574 posts

160 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
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seiben said:
Anyone else getting Harry's adverts on this page now? hehe
Yeah. Just told Google it was inappropriate

KAgantua

3,848 posts

130 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
quotequote all
HTP99 said:
I'm in the motor trade and I'm constantly amazed at the cost of car bits, in particular bits of trim.

We sold a Nissan Juke a few months ago, the plastic cover for the fuse box which is situated on the edge of the dash which is exposed when the front door is open, was missing, a replacement was £115 + VAT, for an A5 sized plastic panel!

We had a Clio in recently which needed 2 new rear seat, seat back covers (60/40 split), we were braced for around £200, they were £40 each.

Razor blades are a con, how can they be as expensive as they are, fortunately I have a beard, but I do still need to trim around my neck and cheek area, but the blades do go further and I've now signed up to some mail order razor blade subscription thing which is far cheaper than buying Gillette from Sainsbury's.
ALDI/ LIDL razors.
Been my mainstay for 5 years now.

Lance Catamaran

24,942 posts

226 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
quotequote all
clockworks said:
Lance Catamaran said:
In real terms it's no more expensive than something like an Escort XR3i from the 80's. Plus you will now get climate control, ABS, touchscreen, parking sensors etc thrown in, whereas before it was maybe electric windows in the front and central locking.
I bought a new XR3i back in the day, and thought it was a bit cheaper than that. Googling shows a facelift XR3i with all the extras cost £9.5k in 1986. According to a "what is the pound worth now" website, that's about £26k in today's money, so not too far off.

However, wages for many people haven't really kept up. I was taking home £1k a month then as a computer field engineer, so a new XR3i was 9 month's wages. I wonder how many people with regular jobs take home £40k a year basic now? I think that the crazy rise in house prices since the 80's has skewed the inflation figures in relation to real incomes.
My first house, a 3 bed semi bought new in 1984, cost £27k. Probably cost 10 times that now in Milton Keynes?
My grandparents bought a 3 bed semi with a massive garden in the late 50's - we put it into an inflation calculator and in today's money they paid £33,000! yikes Incidentally, almost the exact same price as a brand new Focus RS

bloomen

6,857 posts

158 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
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train travel, every last crumb of property in this country, printer ink.

BoRED S2upid

19,644 posts

239 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
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bloomen said:
train travel, every last crumb of property in this country, printer ink.
Train travel is a joke it should always be the cheapest form of travel not the most expensive no wonder nobody uses them.

droopsnoot

11,817 posts

241 months

Tuesday 19th September 2017
quotequote all
mikeyr said:
Would have said birthday cards for this once but to be fair you can go to some cheapo shops and buy them for a quid.
You can go to some places and get half a dozen or more for a quid, though I'm not sure I'd want to give one to anyone I know. That said, local card place was doing decent National Geographic cards at half price last week, so around £1.20.

For me: SSDs. Not come down in price as quickly as I was hoping.