Inflation

[dulwichgirl2]

Are you noticing it?! I am. Maybe it is increasing years but...

1. Any item of confectionery is about 70p.

2. Transport - constantly increasing. Eg tube pass 1990 for zones 1 and 2 was 364. I remember it as it was around a pound a day. Nowadays, a small fortune.

3. Haircuts - wash and bd around 30 quid at least.

4. Men's shoes. Church's used to be my husband's automatic choice. Now it is an investment for twenty years.

5. Starbucks or similar coffees.

6. A non snazzy night out eg a curry. 50 quid for two.

7. Don't even get me started on flats....

[giggirl]

1. Two tickets for a gig next month - ?340

2. Lunch most working days - ?7 (yes I could make my own but I can't be arsed)

3. ?45 today's lunch - two courses and half a bottle of wine at Franklins (it was nice though)

Some things have gone down in price. CDs, books, mobile phone bills, flights.

[dulwichgirl2]

Wow, those tickets are a lot.

Yes, I forgot lunch. Pret a manger sandwich: blt used to be around 1.89 and now is over 3 I think. An americano used to be under a pound.

Return plane tickets anywhere in the world used to be around 400 pounds.

Holidays have really gone up.

My husband's shirts have gone down in price though.... Not sure about suits.

[zeban]

'return tickets anywhere in the world used to be around 400 pounds'.. ummm.. no they didn't!!

[dulwichgirl2]

Zeban, I can assure you that "when I was young", return tx anywhere, including notoriously expensive destinations such as Australia or south Africa were c. 400.

[Jeremy]

Flight prices seem to have been rising constantly for over 10 years. You could certainly get flights to various US destinations for under ?250 in the 90s.

Although prior to that, I think air travel had been getting progressively more affordable - culminating in the earlier days of Easyjet and Ryanair.

[dulwichgirl2]

Fuel prices account for some of it but not all.

The basic point is that I used not to think about certain purchases but I now do. Part of that is being older and wiser ok but part of it is that things are relatively much dearer.

Theatre tx - eye-watering these days, especially if you are taking a band of children...

[Salsaboy]

Don't get me started on fuel prices. Diesel - costs me nearly ?75 to fill my car.

[????]

Rather than speculate like a whole load of old people in a shop queue, why don't we just create a reasonably representative basket of goods and services and see how their price has changed over time. that'd be brilliant! Hang on a minute you mean there is one? That'd be the official inflation rate ; )

[????]

Awaits CT nutters 'it's rigged' responses

[Saila]

Clothes are getting cheaper and cheaper imo, plus mortgage costs are tiny if variable rate.

Its these sorts of costs that drag down overall rate of inflation

So some thing are rising higher than average rate and some are rising less than or even falling

[Jeremy]

quids - yes of course, but I think the conversation is more about things which have risen at above the inflation rate (or at least seem to have done). Fuel, transportation, and London property all being good examples.

[zeban]

rent! (sorry DG2, we're not all rich on this forum, despite your protestation that you are poor!)

And I'm sorry but flights to Australia/NZ and Thailand were A lot more expensive 10 years ago. When I was 18 I travelled around Thailand and there was no way you were getting flights for less than 700. Now if you book early, flights to Bangkok can go as little as 350/400. You couldn't get to Australia either for less than a grand but again you can get them for around half that now if you book early.

Flights are not straight forward in any way because the more popular a route comes, the more flights going to that destination, the more competitive the prices. So it depends on the destination.

[El Pibe]

As long as you don't buy the latest nu-thing of anything, technology costs have plummeted in real terms over the years.

1998 budget dvd player = ?100

2012 budget dvd player = ?15

1990 budget amp = ?100

2012 budget amp = ?100

2000 entry level dslr = ?500

2012 entry level dslr = ?500

[jazz90]

Jeremy Wrote:

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> quids - yes of course, but I think the

> conversation is more about things which have risen

> at above the inflation rate (or at least seem to

> have done). Fuel, transportation, and London

> property all being good examples.

Going beyond inflation rate means there are some extra hands involved that exploits the opportunity. This happens when people take unnecessary benefits and the food chain goes on. The market forces also sometimes gather up to enjoy the joint benefits of the unawareness of consumers

[Jeremy]

Well, air travel is certainly rising now! Up 21.7% since last year...

[Brendan]

I'm sure beer was less than ?2 a pint 10 years ago.

[silverfox]

Posted by dulwichgirl2 Yesterday, 06:06PM

...Any item of confectionery is about 70p...

And the size has often been decreased with less squares to your chocolate bar or a decrease in weight

[Loz]

zeban Wrote:

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> And I'm sorry but flights to Australia/NZ and

> Thailand were A lot more expensive 10 years ago.

> When I was 18 I travelled around Thailand and

> there was no way you were getting flights for less

> than 700. Now if you book early, flights to

> Bangkok can go as little as 350/400. You couldn't

> get to Australia either for less than a grand but

> again you can get them for around half that now if

> you book early.

Actually, back around 1990 it used to cost about ?750 on average for me to to fly to Oz (which I do every year or two). It still does cost that. Pretty much zero increase in 20 years, which is a huge fall in real terms.

[dulwichgirl2]

Loz, from the thread it seems that flights have gone up massively (zeban's era) and then down again...during my era, 400 quid did it.

????, goodness, yes. Rpi what a concept. What do borrowers actually pay these days though? My understanding is that it is a massive margin over LIBOR in most cases. So, v low base rates have not filtered through I think repeat think. Qed, rpi is actually more accurate than one noting extremrly low rates might think.

[Loz]

Even back in the mid-90's you could get to Oz for ?399 (Britannia Air... oh, God... never again.). I have made the flight every year or two for the last 20-odd years and, really, the price has not really changed one iota in that time. The only time I have ever paid over a grand or even ?900 for economy is a booking for a December/Xmas journey, when all prices go silly unless you get your booking in early around January.

[MikePala]

Yeah this is so true! Infact we are facing a lot of troubles nowadays!

[Brendan]

Less than ?2.

That's less that 200 pence. Or 100 tuppence if you like.

[Brendan]

Five Great* British Pounds they want now.

*Don't know what's so great about them. Jin cuo dao now that must have been pretty great.

[Loz]

Brendan Wrote:

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> I'm sure beer was less than ?2 a pint 10 years ago.

Only in a Wetherspoons, perhaps.

I worked in a pub in 1991 and a pint of Kronenberg was ?1.65. Mind you that was not the cheapest of pubs. I think others in London were charging about ?1.40-?1.50 at the time. Out in the sticks was even cheaper.