Cost of living crisis.

[Babylon]

10 hours ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

One of the things they worry about is people of modest means accessing their pension too early and pissing it all away before they get their state pension.

 

Were you set on retiring at 57? I'm very envious of those this is an option for

I was set on retiring at 55. Or at least cutting back and drawing on it to fund an early semi retirement. 
 

Thankfully I split mine into stocks and shares ISA, pension and other investments. But it’s still bullshit to change it. 
 

You go shopping for pensions now, there is no * next to the date to say that might not be the date you can draw it.

[Bellend Sebastian]

3 minutes ago, Babylon said:

I was set on retiring at 55. Or at least cutting back and drawing on it to fund an early semi retirement. 
 

Thankfully I split mine into stocks and shares ISA, pension and other investments. But it’s still bullshit to change it. 
 

You go shopping for pensions now, there is no * next to the date to say that might not be the date you can draw it.

That's been poorly communicated by the industry, because I think it's been known this change was going to happen for the best part of ten years. It's certainly not new

[Babylon]

48 minutes ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

That's been poorly communicated by the industry, because I think it's been known this change was going to happen for the best part of ten years. It's certainly not new

New or old it’s bull.

[ozleicester]

[grobyfox1990]

14 hours ago, Babylon said:

They still get a state pension like everyone else. They could have put the money in the bank and pissed it away. 

You’re missing the point entirely. People aren’t financial planners so when they think they can retire at 55 on their SIPP they probably haven’t stress tested a range of outcomes such as how long they’ll live, care, illness, increased living costs, succession, hobbies etc etc. When one thing goes wrong in their lives, they’ll become a burden on the state. The state doesn’t want this so will make people work for longer so they have a more robust pot.

 

Long way of saying people are too stupid to know what their financial needs will be through later life

[whoareyaaa]

now theres no veg because the energy to farm was to high.. another shot at the population.

 

be glad when this is all over tbh. the goverment are squeezing every penny out of the general public

[Izzy]

What a cool idea. It's like being back in the 1940's

 

Cost of living: Neighbours share potato-cooking duties to cut costs

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-64763011

 

Neighbours in north-east London are cooking food for the street in one oven once a week to reduce energy usage.

Potato Mondays was launched by Adam Walters, who lives in Walthamstow, in a bid to cut down on emissions and build a sense of community.

Instead of firing up multiple ovens, those joining in alternate cooking jacket potatoes for everyone else, with the weekly chef then delivering them.

[FoxesDeb]

2 minutes ago, Izzy said:

What a cool idea. It's like being back in the 1940's

 

Cost of living: Neighbours share potato-cooking duties to cut costs

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-64763011

 

Neighbours in north-east London are cooking food for the street in one oven once a week to reduce energy usage.

Potato Mondays was launched by Adam Walters, who lives in Walthamstow, in a bid to cut down on emissions and build a sense of community.

Instead of firing up multiple ovens, those joining in alternate cooking jacket potatoes for everyone else, with the weekly chef then delivering them.

I'm torn here between thinking that's awful and not any way to have to live in this day and age, to maybe that's just a really good use of energy and maybe the way forward 

[Heathrow fox]

Food prices still relentlessly going up.Yet another rise for dairy products meat and poultry.

[SemperEadem]

1 hour ago, Heathrow fox said:

Food prices still relentlessly going up.Yet another rise for dairy products meat and poultry.

I dread the big shop.

[filthyfox]

26 minutes ago, SemperEadem said:

I dread the big shop.

Big shops are usually cheaper than the convenience stores 😆 

[ozleicester]

This is why you vote Labor.......Step one...

 

A week after Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced a major rethink of the future of the superannuation system, he said the change – which would affect less than 0.5 per cent of all Australians – would save the budget $2 billion.

The change to concessional tax rates – from 15 per cent to 30 per cent – won’t come into effect until after the next election, and will affect around 80,000 people.
 

The other 99.5 per cent of Australians will continue to receive the “same generous tax breaks”.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-28/jim-chalmers-superannuation-tax-changes-three-million-cap/102032156

[Jon the Hat]

15 minutes ago, ozleicester said:

This is why you vote Labor.......Step one...

 

A week after Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced a major rethink of the future of the superannuation system, he said the change – which would affect less than 0.5 per cent of all Australians – would save the budget $2 billion.

The change to concessional tax rates – from 15 per cent to 30 per cent – won’t come into effect until after the next election, and will affect around 80,000 people.
 

The other 99.5 per cent of Australians will continue to receive the “same generous tax breaks”.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-28/jim-chalmers-superannuation-tax-changes-three-million-cap/102032156

As a newcomer to the Super system I have to say I was a little surprised to hear there were tax breaks for enormous balances.  Personally I would cap a Super balance at a couple of million.  After that they are on their own.

[Bellend Sebastian]

10 hours ago, SemperEadem said:

I dread the big shop.

I feel absolutely ashamed to say it, because I don't and the main reason is not thrifty shopping but cutting out waste. I know we were chucking out more stuff than I would've liked but now we've cut down to pretty much zero waste it's made a massive difference.

 

I don't like thinking about how lame and poorly organised we were and how it's taken a crisis for us to mend our ways. I'm also well aware this isn't an option for those who already have good habits

[Greg2607]

We've just planted up a load of seeds for our home veg patch. 

 

Lettuce, Onions, Beetroots, Spinach, Radishes, coriander, dill, parsley, tomatoes, carrots and potatoes.... we've also planted two apple trees, 3 raspberry bushes, some rhubarb and some gooseberry bushes....  It's not been driven BY the cost of living crisis, it is something that i've wanted to do for a while and played at it a bit last year... but there is some comfort in knowing that i'm doing something that I will benefit from later on in the year. 

 

i'm sure I won't save TONS of money either, but at least I won't be wrestling someone in a death grip for the last courgette. 

 

It's what all of our grandparents did and as a society we've all become so used to the convenience and low cost of the supermarkets, that we've lost the skills and drive to be a bit more self sufficient. 

Edited 28 February 2023 by Greg2607

[Tommy G]

1 hour ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

I feel absolutely ashamed to say it, because I don't and the main reason is not thrifty shopping but cutting out waste. I know we were chucking out more stuff than I would've liked but now we've cut down to pretty much zero waste it's made a massive difference.

 

I don't like thinking about how lame and poorly organised we were and how it's taken a crisis for us to mend our ways. I'm also well aware this isn't an option for those who already have good habits

I'm with you on this - I reckon shamelessly we chucked away 10-15% of food a week, stuff like salad is a nightmare. I think I paid £5 for gravy the other day, it's just a joke. 90% of the shopping is at sainsburys, I don't think even downshifting to Lidl and Aldi is worth it - they aren't much cheaper now apparently? I used to buy lots of steak and taste the difference everything, stopped all that just to combat inflation and the food shop is now just the same price with an inferior trolly of food. 

Edited 28 February 2023 by Tommy G

[Innovindil]

I'm quite enjoying the challenge of using up stuff I would never normally buy or come across thanks to my brother. He's on the dole and gets a box of stuffs every week and passes onto me the stuff he either doesn't like or doesn't use. So I've been trying to jazz them up and give him ideas. 

 

I present, tinned potatoes turned into roasties in the air fryer. Not gonna win any awards, but for cheap and cheerful midweek, not bad at all. 

 

[grobyfox1990]

If anyone wants an Amex credit card DM me and you can use my referral code. We both get £20 sign on bonus (of which I will give you £10 of my share, so £30 total for you) and then 5% cashback on all spending dropping to 1% after 3 months.

[Tommy G]

4 minutes ago, grobyfox1990 said:

If anyone wants an Amex credit card DM me and you can use my referral code. We both get £20 sign on bonus (of which I will give you £10 of my share, so £30 total for you) and then 5% cashback on all spending dropping to 1% after 3 months.

Or me - I've got much better referral deals than grobyfox1990  especailly on Avios...

[Bellend Sebastian]

2 hours ago, Tommy G said:

I'm with you on this - I reckon shamelessly we chucked away 10-15% of food a week, stuff like salad is a nightmare. I think I paid £5 for gravy the other day, it's just a joke. 90% of the shopping is at sainsburys, I don't think even downshifting to Lidl and Aldi is worth it - they aren't much cheaper now apparently? I used to buy lots of steak and taste the difference everything, stopped all that just to combat inflation and the food shop is now just the same price with an inferior trolly of food. 

I don't go to Aldi or Lidl as much as I should as I generally have my shopping delivered, they are still pretty cheap although the difference on some stuff e.g. fruit and veg isn't massive compared to the big supermarkets. Aldi have started doing click and collect though, so I might look at this as I pretty much drive past one every day.

 

I don't monitor the price of everything we buy but I think the worst price inflation is at the opposite ends of the spectrum; cheap staples like pasta and bread have gone up loads, as have a lot of branded stuff (I'm looking at you in particular, Heinz) whereas a lot of the stuff in the middle (e.g. own brand but not value range stuff) which is what I get hasn't been hit quite as badly

[Tommy G]

5 minutes ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

I don't go to Aldi or Lidl as much as I should as I generally have my shopping delivered, they are still pretty cheap although the difference on some stuff e.g. fruit and veg isn't massive compared to the big supermarkets. Aldi have started doing click and collect though, so I might look at this as I pretty much drive past one every day.

 

I don't monitor the price of everything we buy but I think the worst price inflation is at the opposite ends of the spectrum; cheap staples like pasta and bread have gone up loads, as have a lot of branded stuff (I'm looking at you in particular, Heinz) whereas a lot of the stuff in the middle (e.g. own brand but not value range stuff) which is what I get hasn't been hit quite as badly

I remember about 18 months ago you could get 4 x baked beans snap pots for £2, they are now £3.50. Multipack crisps are also a shambles

[leicsmac]

It would be most interesting to know what the chief driver of increased supermarket prices across the board is, given that it's not one or even many products subject to it, but the whole lot.

[Tommy G]

1 hour ago, leicsmac said:

It would be most interesting to know what the chief driver of increased supermarket prices across the board is, given that it's not one or even many products subject to it, but the whole lot.

Opportunity

[leicsmac]

18 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

Opportunity

So, greed, then?

[Dames]

1 hour ago, leicsmac said:

It would be most interesting to know what the chief driver of increased supermarket prices across the board is, given that it's not one or even many products subject to it, but the whole lot.

Greed. 

 

The western world has lost control of capitalism and shareholders at every major company now realise they can literally do what they want and get away with it naturally there will be those that take advantage of it. 

 

It won't end until there are riots but by then the shareholders will have made their money, crashed the economy and left the mess to everyone else.