Last Saturday, I bought two lettuce for my Snails. They cast me 40pence each. Today, (Wednesday), from the same stall, these had risen to 75pence each!
A rise of almost double in just four days!
So I ended up buying just one lettuce, and some cheaper greens for them instead.
If this continues, I shall have to put my Snails on a Diet!
Seriously though, although I have made rather a joke here, the true cost of living is far from a joking matter.
How have you been affected by the rising prices, and "Credit Crunch"/ Rescession?
Ken R
I've had to put a temproary brake on my spending on my hobby, which is collecting diecast models. I have also been frugal with my electric use at home and have started to drive slower to save fuel on longer runs. I tailor my shopping to get to the supermarket when the reductions are in full swing and have started to buy and hoard/freeze more food when it is cheaper.
I guess we'll all have to pull our horns in a bit to try and stay on top of the rising cost of living whenever we can .
Sandie Seward
Thank you, Ken, for your detailed reply. Yes, we are almost all of us feeling the impact of the current Global Crisis.
I have been following it very closely for Newsvine, and I am quite frankly, shocked, by what has transpired in the States, Britain, Ireland, and other Western Democracies.
My own personal finances have been stretched, and I also drive slower, and less often than I used to.
I am careful about wasting electricity at home, and I keep telling Lou to turn lights off when they aren't needed.
I never leave my t.v. on "standby", and our only "indulgence" is our two computers which do see a lot of use.
Mine I need for my "work", and Lou passes the time by playing games on hers, or watching DVD's.
Zooman
Watching the Pennies
Yes, it's getting harder and harder to eke out what little money you get
but you do have to be on your toes when Shopping. Supermarkets are very crafty,and I have to say totally incompetant when it comes to pricing.
This week,on offer in the Daily Newspapers, (TESCOS), a juicer machine for only a fiver, bargain.!, when I get to my local Tesco's on two different shelves, two different prices, one for nearly £12.00, another for around £9.00, both wrong.! ( for the same item ), Checked price at the Electrical Till, and it was a fiver after all, so I grabbed one.!
Poscript, complained to a Manager about this, and at long last it's been corrected
Another example, Sweet Peppers, in a bag of 6 priced at around £1.35, quite reasonable, when they sell at about 70p loose, then I discover while i'm there, they are suddenly doing loose Peppers at 8p each.! So I got a refund on the pack, and grabbed some loose ones, works out at less than half of what I would have paid
Last example, large loose Onions, clearly marked 40p each, when I get to checkout, find they are priced by weight, and one onion costs about 75p.! that's one expensive Onion.! Got a refund.!
You have to watch Tesco's like a hawk.!
JoJo
My Husband goes on and on about the lables and priceing at Tesco you are right Zooman you have to have your witts about you and read the lables, they don't always tally with the goods, he moans about how much his bottle of red wine has gone up don't know why because I always pay for it
Sandie Seward
Thanks for your post, Mike. I do not like Tescos, and usually try to avoid shopping there. I also usually buy my petrol from my friends small independent garage, even though it costs me a couple of pence a litre more.
browneyes
i shop at sainsburys as our nearest tesco is to far away,lots of people do use it but by the time you,v use the petrol to get there you havnt saved a penny,I find that every thing is good value at sainsburys all the fruit and veg is fresh so i dont have a problem with them,the only thing is they dont deliver here,we also go to iceland they seem to be good value and deliver which is handy for us because where the shop is it,s impossible to park the car,iv heard on the news today that Marks are i n trouble again,and woolys in Deal are very likly to be closing,also W.H.Smith,they have only been open here for a year,Currys have shut and Dixons are about to,im begining to wonder just how bad things are realy going to get befor we are back to the war days again.I could cope but dont hink that many young mums will be able to,shall i start up a club for them and teach them how to cook healthy food or at least how to use cheaper ways?
Sandie Seward
Jackie, that would be a great idea, and these days, I don't think that you would be short on Pupils either.
The younger generations have never known austerity and how to make ends meet.
Only today, I was reading an article about how people were getting concerned because they fear that they will not be able to borrow enough money to pay for Christmas!
Have you ever heard of anything so stupid?
If I can't afford anything extra, come Christmas, then Lou and I will just have to do without it.
We most certainly will not be borrowing at all in the foreseeable future, and anyone who thinks that it will be "Business as Usual", has got a very nasty shock coming to them.
The High Streets will never be the same again, bank branches that have merged or have been taken over, will disapear, and a lot of the big retailers will go to the wall.
The High Street will be full of unlettable empty shops.
browneyes
well sandie my daughter gets stamps from somwhere each week for xmas and i think thats a good idea as she just loves every thing about it,all the trimings,big tree,loads of prezzys,i just hope the firm shes saved with dont go bust befor she gets her money in fact i will have a talk to her about that tomorrow as i think she has saved about £600 this year.
Sandie Seward
I don't wish to frighten you, Jackie, but any of those "savings" firms that use stamps are a bit dodgy.
The best thing for small savings these days would be to open a basic savings account in the Post Office. The Post Office banking section is run by The Bank of Ireland, and as the Irish government has recently promised to safeguard all depositors savings with any of their banks.
These will now be some of the "safest" savings in the U.K.
marieann
It's just a general increase isn't it you don't notice until you get to the till and see the total.
Sandie Seward
My bottle of milk (4pints) has risen since Friday. Then it was £1.40, today it's £1.49.
Inflation (officially) is 5.2%, unofficially, and realistically it's more like 15.2%.
JoJo
Asda and Morrisons have cut the price of petrol to 99.99 a litre,of course the rest will follow, but just hang behind a bit to get the last bit of cash out of their customers!!!!
Sandie Seward
It's good to see something coming down at last, the only problem is the people who are losing their jobs, homes and cars, won't be able to feel the benefits.
JoJo
Thats True Sandie,Tesco petrol was still 103 but it wasn't as busy as normal today.
Sandie Seward
Did anyone else watch tonight's special edition of "Panorama"?
It was all about the financial crisis, (the worst for over sixty years), and it seems that small businesses are going bust, people are losing their jobs, and in some cases, their homes too.
Is it going to get better?
Frankly, nobody seems to have an answer.
marieann
I don't think anyone really knows why it's happening but I meant to watch that I'll go and see it on iplayer. I think these are Mrs. Thatcher's monetary policies falling flat on their face.
Of course I don't have any idea how they affected the rest of the world which seems to be in the same state.
I'll come back if I need to eat my words after watching Panorama.
marieann
I thought Alan Sugar was very indecisive and that group didn't say anything we didn't already know. They didn't mention Mrs Thatcher but did say the Tories monetary policies carried on and expanded by Labour caused the Banking crisis here.
The main blame was laid on everyone's shoulders for borrowing too much money with America the worst offender and the sub-prime mortgage fiasco bringing things to a head.
I don't feel as though I learnt very much and none of the experts could say how bad things were or how much worse it was going to get. We're just going to have to wait and see.
Sandie Seward
Marie wrote: "I don't feel as though I learnt very much and none of the experts could say how bad things were or how much worse it was going to get. We're just going to have to wait and see."
Me, neither, probably because the programme was hastily cobbled together (it was a "live" show, after all), and none of the so-called "experts" have any answers anyway!.
Sandie Seward
Asda have dropped their petrol prices yet again, (10 times now), to 90.04 a litre of Unleaded.
Meanwhile, in Aldi's, I bought a tin of chopped tomatoes last week for 32pence. The same size tin, same brand, this afternoon has gone up to 41pence.
Who is kidding who regarding inflation?
Ken R
I noticed on Wednesday night that plum tomatoes in Sainsburys had gone up from 31p last week to 42p this week ! How can they justify this ?
On the plus side, I picked up a large sirloin steak for £1, apacket of tomato and mozzarella kievs for 30p and ove a kilo of stewing lamb for 60p I also go a swede for 20p, a bag of carrots for 20p and a bag of onions for 10p ! I feel a couple of nice lamb stews coming on here !
Sandie Seward
Yes, Ken, you need to "shop around" very carefully these days, but there are still bargains to be found.
It's the "basics" that seem to have risen the most, staples like milk, eggs, veggies, I'm not talking "exotic" foodstuffs here, just everyday common or garden basics.
How can they justify this ?