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The Great Squeeze: Cost of Living Crisis 2022

GaryH said:
I detest BP and always try to avoid their forecourts. They are like a plague which takes over other forecourts, then whacks up the prices and sticks a fancy M&S food on it at triple the prices of a normal outlet. Even the ones without a M&S are way overpriced while their fue prices are some of the highest anywhere.
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And the award for most superficial critique of a morally bankrupt oil giant goes to...

The only reason I'd ever buy somewhere other than Tesco, Costco or another supermarket would be that I was running very low.
 
Anybody else notice that when big businesses do well they cream off the profits, but when things are bad it's the taxpayers who pick up the can? They never use their profits when things are good to create a contingency for when things are bad.

The same thing that happened with banks.

This is why the Conservatives approach of a free market economy (low regulation) just doesn't work in reality. Companies have to be forced to do the right thing.
 
Alsty said:
Anybody else notice that when big businesses do well they cream off the profits, but when things are bad it's the taxpayers who pick up the can? They never use their profits when things are good to create a contingency for when things are bad.

The same thing that happened with banks.

This is why the Conservatives approach of a free market economy (low regulation) just doesn't work in reality. Companies have to be forced to do the right thing.
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I think there’s a balance that would be ideal. You can’t completely regulate everything in the economy because then it cannot grow or shrink on its own. But like you say companies need to be forced to do the right think, this applies particularly with there workforce, hence why trade unions existed.
 
Alsty said:
Anybody else notice that when big businesses do well they cream off the profits, but when things are bad it's the taxpayers who pick up the can? They never use their profits when things are good to create a contingency for when things are bad.

The same thing that happened with banks.

This is why the Conservatives approach of a free market economy (low regulation) just doesn't work in reality. Companies have to be forced to do the right thing.
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Well it certainly doesn't work in America which has some of the worst poverty in the western world.

You'd have thought we would have learnt the pattern by now. The Tulip Mania bubble burst in 1637, yet here we are hundreds of years later rinsing and repeating.
 
WillPS said:
The only reason I'd ever buy somewhere other than Tesco, Costco or another supermarket would be that I was running very low.
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Who do you think supplies the oil for their fuels? The same big greedy morally bankrupt oil giants - they just put a different sticker on the tanker lorry.
 
GaryH said:
Who do you think supplies the oil for their fuels? The same big greedy morally bankrupt oil giants - they just put a different sticker on the tanker lorry.
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Of course, but it's a good 5p or so cheaper per litre, and in the case of Tesco I get 5-7.5% back effectively via Clubcard.
 
You are lucky to get 5p cheaper, around with us the Tesco garages are pretty much the same price as all the others
 
Just been told by my energy company that my gas bills will be going up by £445 per year and my electricity by £291 a year. :eek:Inevitable I suppose, but worrying all the same! I'll shop around but I don't expect to find any better deals.

Things are hardly likely to improve now that most of Europe's natural gas supply is likely to be cut off by Russia either. I don't know how a lot of people are going to manage. :(
 
NuttySquirrel said:
Just been told by my energy company that my gas bills will be going up by £445 per year and my electricity by £291 a year. :eek:Inevitable I suppose, but worrying all the same! I'll shop around but I don't expect to find any better deals.

Things are hardly likely to improve now that most of Europe's natural gas supply is likely to be cut off by Russia either. I don't know how a lot of people are going to manage. :(
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You're not alone, my family's electricity and gas bills are going up in April. It's freezing in here as my dad wants the heating off to save money. :p:(
 
I've noticed more and more dramatic increases to the cost of living lately. The fish and chip shop next to my work has gone up by nearly 34% for some items overnight, and according to TS Facebook, items in Secret Garden have gone up by up to 60%. With wages across the board not increasing to any such rates (our pay certainly hasn't changed), how much do companies have to hike their prices before people just. stop. buying?
 
Burbs said:
I've noticed more and more dramatic increases to the cost of living lately. The fish and chip shop next to my work has gone up by nearly 34% for some items overnight, and according to TS Facebook, items in Secret Garden have gone up by up to 60%. With wages across the board not increasing to any such rates (our pay certainly hasn't changed), how much do companies have to hike their prices before people just. stop. buying?
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People's wages are not increasing much either so people have to less disposal income, people are slowly stopping buying non-essential things and cutting down on things done for hobbies. Pubs and takeaways are going to struggle if we carry on this way. The thing is I can't see an easy solution out of this all.
 
It has already started. Myself and steph have not been to AT since the start of the pandemic.
With money being tight. We can't afford to pay full price for a map. And we missed the window for renewal discount.

Anyway it gives merlin a map to sell to someone with full pockets.

Sent from my SM-A217F using Tapatalk
 
A big chunk of the eat-in and hot food price changes is because VAT reverted back to 20%.

But many companies have pushed too high and I expect fast-food will continue to boom and good quality that is worth the price will keep selling, but the middle ground will struggle again. I expect Bella Italia, Frankie & Benny and similar restaurants to close many more branches.
 
On the way back from the Pleasure Beach on Sunday, I nipped into Subway on Squires Gate Lane. A six inch sub, crisps and a drink was £7.80.

That's gone from something that you'd grab at lunch and not worry about to something approaching a treat. Especially when you've just sunk £15 for Enso.
 
I think a lot of businesses are using the cost of living crisis to try and make up for lost income during Covid.
Some are really taking the Michael, our local doggy daycare has gone up from £25 a day to £35, where has this increase in cost come from? they own a bloody field, hardly going to see the overheads go up on that.
 
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