Cost of living crisis.

[Greg2607]

Just now, The Blur said:

 

 

 

Yeah,  I am contemplating doing the same when my fixed tariff runs out.   Would be interested to hear how do you all budget for it?  

i don't budget really... I have a standard direct debit and then just minimise my use...  Octopus have a balance forecast, so you can see roughly what you are spending. 

 

To credit them with Customer Service... .my father in law moved to a house last year, that has an air source heat pump....   Octopus put him on the wrong tariff and he had emailed them 3 times stating that the tariff was incorrect and he wanted to change (they had him on economy 7 as the call handler thought he had storage heaters) 

 

We spoke to them on his behalf this week and they immediately offered him a full credit on his bill and calucated his tariff based on what he had requested to go on to in september... he is now £300 in credit rather than £500 in debt and they recognised it was their error without us having to go down a complaints route. 

 

[Daggers]

22 hours ago, FoxesDeb said:

Pet food is one of the things we've noticed a significant increase in over here too, it's about twice the price it was 2 years ago!

The wife believed this crazy thing about dog urine and the tomato juice in sardine tins. I didn’t disabuse her, own brand sardines are far cheaper than tins of woof meat now - plus, the woofs prefer fishies to anus & intestine with gravy.

[KrefelderFox666]

On 10/01/2023 at 11:14, Manini said:

Same here. Can’t fault Octopus energy. Been really transparent through all of this ****ery for me. 

Same, been fantastic. We have been with them for about 2 years, were with Bulb before as well (pre collapse).

 

For a 4 bed detached with two kids, heating on 5/6 hours a day, induction hob/electric oven used at least once a day. Our bill last month was around the £260 mark. I would expect the next one to be slightly higher due to Christmas/New Year.

 

I have a feeling that the multiple fairy lights over Christmas are cheaper to run than normal lights now all rooms are dark again.

[KrefelderFox666]

On 03/01/2023 at 12:33, FoyleFox said:

Although petrol prices have decreased, but the disparity between the same suppliers in the same area is frustrating.

Morrisons Coalville - £1.55 Morrisons Loughborough - £1.49

Hinckley was also £1.49 (now dropped to £1.48).

[FoyleFox]

4 minutes ago, KrefelderFox666 said:

Hinckley was also £1.49 (now dropped to £1.48).

Morrisons Coalville - £1.55, it's now dropped to £1.54......

Nearby BP and Shell are £1.56 and £1.58.

It's £1.60 in Bardon!

 

Handy price tracker

 

https://app.petrolprices.com/map?fuelType=2&brandType=0&resultLimit=0&offset=0&sortType=price&lat=52.73683062805097&lng=-1.3605165091128129&z=11&d=5

[foxile5]

It's galling how much of this we know to be profit driven.

 

Call me a bleeding heart, but I really don't think corporations should be lionised and allowed to egregiously bleed the public the way they are. There has to be a better way. Humans don't exist so that utilities and retailers can turn profit. That's not how any of this should work. 

[Dahnsouff]

3 minutes ago, foxile5 said:

It's galling how much of this we know to be profit driven.

 

Call me a bleeding heart, but I really don't think corporations should be lionised and allowed to egregiously bleed the public the way they are. There has to be a better way. Humans don't exist so that utilities and retailers can turn profit. That's not how any of this should work. 

Agree, and profit without a social conscience is abhorrent, but how you make it appealing to companies and the public at large is difficult to imagine, the two seem at odds at first glance.

[foxile5]

1 minute ago, Dahnsouff said:

Agree, and profit without a social conscience is abhorrent, but how you make it appealing to companies and the public at large is difficult to imagine, the two seem at odds at first glance.

One of the real issues in getting corporations to slow down on their drive to collect all the public money is that there isn't any face or figure to picket.

 

Essentially, who do I point the finger at in Exxon or BP or Shell? They're nameless and faceless and the mask of anonymity board and trust members are afforded make this an impersonal thing. It's not our fault. It's market forces and stakeholder dividends.

 

I try not to be too conspiritorial about these things but we were warned of this nonsense by Orwell and co years ago and it does make me wonder if some people took it to be a guideline for success rather than a warning of inhumanity.

[Dahnsouff]

4 minutes ago, foxile5 said:

One of the real issues in getting corporations to slow down on their drive to collect all the public money is that there isn't any face or figure to picket.

 

Essentially, who do I point the finger at in Exxon or BP or Shell? They're nameless and faceless and the mask of anonymity board and trust members are afforded make this an impersonal thing. It's not our fault. It's market forces and stakeholder dividends.

 

I try not to be too conspiritorial about these things but we were warned of this nonsense by Orwell and co years ago and it does make me wonder if some people took it to be a guideline for success rather than a warning of inhumanity.

Well starting with copmpanies adhering to B Company and simlar standards would help with transparency  and environmental things, the trouble is unscrupulous companies would still use this to raise prices, as seen with organic! free range! vegan! So such things are great but have to coupled with financial stewardship at a governmental level, a government who of course can be trusted not to strike a self serving deal.

[Parafox]

4 hours ago, Dahnsouff said:

Well starting with copmpanies adhering to B Company and simlar standards would help with transparency  and environmental things, the trouble is unscrupulous companies would still use this to raise prices, as seen with organic! free range! vegan! So such things are great but have to coupled with financial stewardship at a governmental level, a government who of course can be trusted not to strike a self serving deal.

This a bugbear for me. Agreed that years ago producing organic or free range or vegetarian was expensive as it was quite "niche" for want of a better word. Now It's everywhere in plentiful supply so by the logic of 'supply vs cost', surely it should be around a similar cost to regular produce by now? Or at least close to non-organic, so that people have a better chance of making a good choice based on price.

 

Edited 11 January 2023 by Parafox

[dsr-burnley]

19 hours ago, foxile5 said:

It's galling how much of this we know to be profit driven.

 

Call me a bleeding heart, but I really don't think corporations should be lionised and allowed to egregiously bleed the public the way they are. There has to be a better way. Humans don't exist so that utilities and retailers can turn profit. That's not how any of this should work. 

Sainsbury's make 3% net profit on their sales.  Other supermarkets are similar.  It may be more 'morally correct' if non-profit making organisations distributed food at cost, but you'd find with all the expenses and such, you'd be paying more for your food.

[foxile5]

1 hour ago, dsr-burnley said:

Sainsbury's make 3% net profit on their sales.  Other supermarkets are similar.  It may be more 'morally correct' if non-profit making organisations distributed food at cost, but you'd find with all the expenses and such, you'd be paying more for your food.

I know you've defended this particular supermarket before so I'm assuming you're involved in their staffbase.

 

This wasn't particularly intended as a dig at the profits of Sainsbury's but you can both work for them and understand that there CAN be criticism of their practice (or more importantly, the practices of their overlords). Their sales are just PART of the profit generation that Sainsbury's make. There's also insurance, phone contracts, banking and the like. And it isn't JUST Sainsbury's its owned by a much larger umbrella corporation Home Retail Group for whom THEIR profit margins in supplying and dealing with Sainsbury's as a branch will be much higher than 3%.

 

It's the corporation culture that's the problem. The idea that huge corporate entities own massive amounts of retail and utility infrastructure and ARE responsible for steady inflation acting as an increasing drain on the public profit.

[Dames]

39 minutes ago, foxile5 said:

I know you've defended this particular supermarket before so I'm assuming you're involved in their staffbase.

 

This wasn't particularly intended as a dig at the profits of Sainsbury's but you can both work for them and understand that there CAN be criticism of their practice (or more importantly, the practices of their overlords). Their sales are just PART of the profit generation that Sainsbury's make. There's also insurance, phone contracts, banking and the like. And it isn't JUST Sainsbury's its owned by a much larger umbrella corporation Home Retail Group for whom THEIR profit margins in supplying and dealing with Sainsbury's as a branch will be much higher than 3%.

 

It's the corporation culture that's the problem. The idea that huge corporate entities own massive amounts of retail and utility infrastructure and ARE responsible for steady inflation acting as an increasing drain on the public profit.

The biggest issue has always been that our 'democracy' has been at the mercy of the corporate lobby and their interests. If money goes to the right places there is nothing the general public can do but sit back and continue to get shafted. 

[grobyfox1990]

23 hours ago, foxile5 said:

It's galling how much of this we know to be profit driven.

 

Call me a bleeding heart, but I really don't think corporations should be lionised and allowed to egregiously bleed the public the way they are. There has to be a better way. Humans don't exist so that utilities and retailers can turn profit. That's not how any of this should work. 

EPS at 30p at Centrica, WOW!! Centrica shares must've bulled at 30/40% maybe even more since Putin's profitable war began. These numbers are astonishing, proves what many thought and that investing in the legacy energy sector whilst the transition is ongoing will be veryVERY profitable.

[dsr-burnley]

On 12/01/2023 at 11:15, foxile5 said:

I know you've defended this particular supermarket before so I'm assuming you're involved in their staffbase.

 

This wasn't particularly intended as a dig at the profits of Sainsbury's but you can both work for them and understand that there CAN be criticism of their practice (or more importantly, the practices of their overlords). Their sales are just PART of the profit generation that Sainsbury's make. There's also insurance, phone contracts, banking and the like. And it isn't JUST Sainsbury's its owned by a much larger umbrella corporation Home Retail Group for whom THEIR profit margins in supplying and dealing with Sainsbury's as a branch will be much higher than 3%.

 

It's the corporation culture that's the problem. The idea that huge corporate entities own massive amounts of retail and utility infrastructure and ARE responsible for steady inflation acting as an increasing drain on the public profit.

No, it's just that Sainbury's is the one whose accounts I have looked at. 

 

I find supermarkets in general to be cheaper and more convenient than the traditional small grocer. That's all. I have no interest at all in reforming the retail market if it's going to cost me money. What would be the point? 

[ozleicester]

Australia’s wealthiest 1% are 61% richer than they were before the pandemic and have pocketed $150,000 a minute over the past decade...

A wealth tax of just 2% on the country’s millionaires with wealth over $7m, 3% on those with wealth over $67m, and 5% on billionaires would raise $29.1bn annually, enough to increase income support payments to the Henderson poverty line

[dsr-burnley]

6 hours ago, ozleicester said:

Australia’s wealthiest 1% are 61% richer than they were before the pandemic and have pocketed $150,000 a minute over the past decade...

A wealth tax of just 2% on the country’s millionaires with wealth over $7m, 3% on those with wealth over $67m, and 5% on billionaires would raise $29.1bn annually, enough to increase income support payments to the Henderson poverty line

You're assuming that the billionaires would be happy to pay 5% pf their wealth every year and wouldn't move abroad.  I think you'd find that the primary effect would be that there would no longer be any Australian billionaires, they'd all be American billionaires or Singaporean billionaires or billionaires who are citizens of anywhere but Australia.  Which of course would affect tax downwards, not upwards.

[leicsmac]

24 minutes ago, dsr-burnley said:

You're assuming that the billionaires would be happy to pay 5% pf their wealth every year and wouldn't move abroad.  I think you'd find that the primary effect would be that there would no longer be any Australian billionaires, they'd all be American billionaires or Singaporean billionaires or billionaires who are citizens of anywhere but Australia.  Which of course would affect tax downwards, not upwards.

Absolutely.

 

Which is why a global, unified solution is called for.

 

Of course, the moneyed and corrupt will never let it happen and will use all of their power to keep things the way they are, but that is what is called for.

[ozleicester]

2 hours ago, dsr-burnley said:

You're assuming that the billionaires would be happy to pay 5% pf their wealth every year and wouldn't move abroad.  I think you'd find that the primary effect would be that there would no longer be any Australian billionaires, they'd all be American billionaires or Singaporean billionaires or billionaires who are citizens of anywhere but Australia.  Which of course would affect tax downwards, not upwards.

There have been numerous surveys that show this is not true

[BKLFox]

 just reading how the boss of Equinor (producer of gas/oil) is saying he doesn't ever see prices reducing to pre-covid levels (let alone pre UKE) despite in a 3mth window reporting pretax profits of $24.3bn which is a gain of $14.6bn from the same 3mths the year before (Jul-Sep) citing hits on windfall tax as the reason, funny how they do nothing with their profits previously except sprread across the shareholders but then when taxed they say ooh that was for the future infrastructure

Energy / fuel could be coming out our ears but now the prices have been set it won't go back

[kenny]

1 minute ago, BKLFox said:

 just reading how the boss of Equinor (producer of gas/oil) is saying he doesn't ever see prices reducing to pre-covid levels (let alone pre UKE) despite in a 3mth window reporting pretax profits of $24.3bn which is a gain of $14.6bn from the same 3mths the year before (Jul-Sep) citing hits on windfall tax as the reason, funny how they do nothing with their profits previously except sprread across the shareholders but then when taxed they say ooh that was for the future infrastructure

Energy / fuel could be coming out our ears but now the prices have been set it won't go back

Gas is now down to August 2021 prices.

 

At the current rate of change, it should be back to normal by April.

[leicsmac]

8 minutes ago, BKLFox said:

 just reading how the boss of Equinor (producer of gas/oil) is saying he doesn't ever see prices reducing to pre-covid levels (let alone pre UKE) despite in a 3mth window reporting pretax profits of $24.3bn which is a gain of $14.6bn from the same 3mths the year before (Jul-Sep) citing hits on windfall tax as the reason, funny how they do nothing with their profits previously except sprread across the shareholders but then when taxed they say ooh that was for the future infrastructure

Energy / fuel could be coming out our ears but now the prices have been set it won't go back

 

6 minutes ago, kenny said:

Gas is now down to August 2021 prices.

 

At the current rate of change, it should be back to normal by April.

I guess we'll see.

 

Those windfalls should be going directly to renewable energy infrastructure in any case - either at the behest of the company doing it themselves (and possibly making a tidy buck down the line) or government doing it for them.

[BKLFox]

2 minutes ago, kenny said:

Gas is now down to August 2021 prices.

 

At the current rate of change, it should be back to normal by April.

Yet my British Gas DD has just gone up by nearly £200 pmth after annual review despite my balance being at £0 after paying £227pmth
 

I guess there is a difference between how much Gas costs & how much we the consumer will pay, its these prices i refer to & now will be kept high with the clause of this is needed to pay for new infrastructure despite them 5punking all profits that went before.

[LiberalFox]

My problem with the mega rich is they end up imposing themselves on other people. In my opinion capitalism consumerism and nationalism are all failing. 

[dsr-burnley]

2 hours ago, ozleicester said:

There have been numerous surveys that show this is not true

Link?

 

I don't know how many people have been asked if they were willing to remain Australian citizens if it would cost them a basic $50 million fee each year before other taxes were brought into account; but I reckon those that said that's fine, were lying.

Edited 16 January 2023 by dsr-burnley