Inflation/cost of living

[Nick]

It looks like we are in for a rough ride over the next 12 months. I frequent Tesco on an almost daily basis and I think my costs have risen by 30%. Some of the rises are very sneaky in my opinion, for example low cost articles have had big price increases but Gin for example seems to have stayed the same (phew). My gas/electric payments have risen to £280/m (2-4 people living in the house depending if my daughters are staying with their boyfriends). For sure I will be using my woodburner more this winter but this isn't good for the environment.

I am in a relatively lucky position but for others the ramifications are terrible.

[David L]

It looks like we are in for a rough ride over the next 12 months. I frequent Tesco on an almost daily basis and I think my costs have risen by 30%. Some of the rises are very sneaky in my opinion, for example low cost articles have had big price increases but Gin for example seems to have stayed the same (phew). My gas/electric payments have risen to £280/m (2-4 people living in the house depending if my daughters are staying with their boyfriends). For sure I will be using my woodburner more this winter but this isn't good for the environment.

I am in a relatively lucky position but for others the ramifications are terrible.

You make a good point. Environmental issues take a back seat when faced with ridiculous price hikes. Suspend the green levy. Virtue has a huge price in these times

[pxr5]

It's going to be tough for some that's for sure. Some people these days seem to live life on the 'line' (they spend all that they earn or more) and this so-called 'crisis' will hit hard. We've had it quite easy these last few years, with inflation and interest rates being so low and I suppose there has been an expectation for a long time that you can have what you want, when you want it. I think most people will be able to ride it out by cutting back and managing their money a bit better. But there are those who will be in terrible trouble and are the ones who need the most help.

I well recall paying 16% on my mortgage in the early 90s and it was a massive part of my wage then. But now the costs are going up everywhere. I was reading today that a barrel of oil is now the cheapest since February - so why isn't that reflected at the pumps? Is it companies trying to recover all the money they lost through covid?

I fixed my gas/electric in March at £251/m. I'm glad I did as I will be well under the price cap come October/January. Our weekly food bill has gone up by about 25-30% too and that's with the majority spent at Aldi, with some more at Morrisons.

[Nickslikk2112]

Yes, I certainly think some people live life on the 'line', and in a lot of cases more fool them. I've always lived within my means and still know where there's bits of fat to cut out.

I remember 15% mortgage rates and I still chuckle at the memory, Mrs S worked in a bank and we only paid 5%

The weekly shopping has certainly gone up - Charlie Bigham meals for one are now £5.50 at Tesco up from £4.50 - but they'd been fairly stable for years IIRC. The Bigham meals are quite often at £5 for Clubcard holders so that's not too bad.

On the energy front I'm currently paying £193 a month*, what that will end up at I don't know, but we're stocking up firewood for the log burner and I'll buy a couple of woolly jumpers for the winter to replace the ones the Moths ate so I can turn the thermostat down.

*It'd be less, but the boy does a lot of 3D printing to try and make a living selling trackside models for model railways and that seems to eat electricity. It seems to me that for every £1 he makes he spends £2 - and we don't see any of it

[Slim]

I'm fortunate in that I can almost certainly just absorb it, I don't even know what I pay for energy quite honestly. I don't really do household budgets. I just spend money on what I need / want with a vague idea of how much I've got in my bank account.

If I end up paying £2500 or whatever more for energy than I usually would in a year I'll just wear it, it won't hurt fortunately. It'll mean I divert less of my current account into my savings account I suppose.

[David L]

Yes, it won't really affect us either. Could well be the start of the breakdown of society though 
Making people pay four times what they think they should be paying for something that is essential is a recipe for unrest

As energy is a current hot issue, I decided to do some calculations on the ROI on our solar panels. we had installed in 2012. We paid £8505 for a 4KW system on our south facing roof. The projections we were provided with suggested we would reach 'payback' point after 7 to 8 years.  I have known for ages that the figures were a load of tosh as they were based on an inflation figure far higher than we've experienced during  the period since we had them installed..
I was actually pleasantly surprised today to calculate that we reached pay back after 9 years and have been making money since. We get around £1000 per year and the tariff rises with inflation over the 25 year contract period. That £15000 or so to come should help us out with our soaring bills. Only possible issues will be a decline in panel efficiency and the prospect of the inverter packing up (typical lifespan - 10 years), although we should get a replacement for considerably less than a grand.
As all electricity generated during the day is free to use, we try to get the most from it and currently we have a couple off powerful fans going during the day that are costing us nothing....nice! Wife now works from home so we shouldn't  see that impact on energy bills during the summer months (I'll buy her a thick pullover for dull days in the winter 😄)
Probably a good deal better than putting that money in the bank, although probably not as good as using it as a deposit for  a rental property.

[Slim]

Interesting topic because our neighbours next door have just had solar panels installed; actually the panels went on about a week ago but the scaffolding is still up for some reason. I quite fancy doing the same myself so I was talking to one of my colleagues about his own solar power, installed in 2012.

Just had a look again through our chat on MS Teams, salient / interesting points were:

• In the winter, some days peak at 80W
• In the very best conditions in the summer, he can get roughly 3.4KW
• Clouds going over have a dramatic effect, even Cirrus
• He runs the dishwasher and washing machine in the middle of the day
• In terms of electricity saving it's "pennies" and what's paid for it is the Feed In Tariff, over 50p / KWh generated

The tariffs available now are a lot less generous than that of course. So for me I think it would be an expensive toy, a hobby. Not really practical to do  now.

[David L]

Interesting topic because our neighbours next door have just had solar panels installed; actually the panels went on about a week ago but the scaffolding is still up for some reason. I quite fancy doing the same myself so I was talking to one of my colleagues about his own solar power, installed in 2012.

Just had a look again through our chat on MS Teams, salient / interesting points were:

• In the winter, some days peak at 80W
• In the very best conditions in the summer, he can get roughly 3.4KW
• Clouds going over have a dramatic effect, even Cirrus
• He runs the dishwasher and washing machine in the middle of the day
• In terms of electricity saving it's "pennies" and what's paid for it is the Feed In Tariff, over 50p / KWh generated

The tariffs available now are a lot less generous than that of course. So for me I think it would be an expensive toy, a hobby. Not really practical to do  now.

No, I'm afraid the boat sailed a long time ago, regarding tariffs. My generation tariff started at 21p and is now 27.85p/kWh plus the 'deemed' tariff is 4.25p/kWh
Sounds like your neighbour probably got in really early when the Labour govt screwed up by setting the tariff at over 40p/kWh. I have a friend who got the same.... But he had to pay over £12k for a similar installation to ours. He's still done very well though

[dom]

We installed a pellet stove in April which we're hoping will reduce the use of kerosene which fires the boiler for the central heating.

This Winter is shaping up to be a nasty one for many.  Hopefully it won't be too cold.

Energy prices will be crippling and then there's the lack of crops.  Not only caused by the war in Ukraine but also the dry Summer stunting crops in Europe.

Good Government will be required 

[captainkurtz]

Luckily the previous owners of my house had the panels installed right at the beginning when tariffs were high...and I've got 40 of the fuckers.

[David L]

Latest inflation figure - 10.1%

[Nick]

Just knocked the water temp back a couple of clicks.

[David L]

Just knocked the water temp back a couple of clicks.

Did ours yesterday 

[Slim]

I must do that as well, hadn't thought of it

[David L]

I used to love about three baths a week. Might have to limit them to one night only now. Perhaps Sundays...just like the schooldays, when it was soaking to the sound of the Pop Chart followed by Sing Something Simple.....halcyon days!