Cost of Living...., Fun times over ? Options

[darkhalo]

Today while checking out my shopping bill (from a leading supermarket) what was a typical weekly shop, I was surprised
how much everythings gone up...like by about 40% up from last year...and it had me thinking.
I have been reasonably happy with this set up and I keep a eye on what am buying, even dabbled with online shopping
which has been convenient and delivered on time.
Thing is, what has happened to the prices of late....and why are the supermarkets taking advantage over the consumer ?
If your'e single, its going to be an expensive ride....very.
Baguettes that used to be 99p are now £1.68, this was the first thing i clocked, but there were various foods with a increase
of at least 40p hike on say 3 months ago...butter and most dairy foods by as much as 30%
Seen on breakfast tele this morning that the food prices are going to hike up with the extra costs abroad to provide products,so the wages freeze but prices increase,where does this end? how do we manage? does this not mean we are still in a recession? work is very hard to come by too, so does this mean we will starve or will times get better ?
Here in the UK the govt is hell bent on keeping to its economic strategy plan of avoiding inflation at any cost for fear of increasing interest
rates.....and result...most will suffer.
Interesting to read that Europe can no longer self supply its own food produce owing to the fact that the east can now afford to match
export prices.
Perhaps it will start with petrol prices....now getting to a stage we can't go anywhere (or as far as we could) in our cars, change our
dietary ways, look at new methods of recyclement etc.
We have reached beyond the point of peak sustainable food supply... so interesting times ahead .

[Tohsaka]

Gasoline prices have definitely gotten higher here- Sometimes, on my commute, I've seen prices from 5.10USD to 5.80USD at the highest. At the same time, I've noticed that more and more people are beginning to use mopeds or motorcycles as a means of commute. Food costs have been relatively stable, so I haven't noticed anything on that part.

In a more populated environment, such as a metropolis, I can see the issues becoming bigger. I know that in Tokyo, the cost of living is a lot higher, in addition to the difficulty of finding work with enough pay. This is mainly from my Social Issues of Japan course in Uni, but one thing in Tokyo that we see is people from villages and towns away from cities (where land and goods cost less) moving into the city to search for work and a different way of life. However, traditional Japanese management (aka, Keep your job until you retire, and get large pension) is becoming less common, and companies (even white collar) are beginning to hire non-regularly employees (contract workers) who don't receive the same benefits, pay, or job security. This results in individuals not having enough to keep up with the cost of living in Tokyo, as well as not being able to afford to leave Tokyo and return home. Basically, rent is rising, income is dropping.

[Klokinator]

I work at a gas station, and I know stuff. Gas literally controls the prices of EVERYTHING. When gas goes up, transportation costs go up, which affects everything. That truck that delivers to your supermarket charges the supermarket and/or the product companies a little more to transport their stuff, and they charge the consumer more to make up for this loss in profit.

Everyone is affected by gas prices, whether they realize it or not.

[Kread-EX]

Yeah, the supermarket bill is really rising continually and it doesn't mean it's the suppliers' fault either. Basically, when the product prices rise, they rise the selling price to keep their margins but when the product prices drop, they don't drop the selling price.
There's also the problem of weird indexes for prices. As an example, in France, private water companies like SAUR index the water price on the oil's price. Of course then again, when the oil value drops, the index suddenly doesn't matter anymore.

All that while the minimal wage is based on the inflation and therefore don't rise. Because the prices aren't so high because of inflation but because of irrational margins.

And there's also the problem of taxes. I'm not very knowledgeable about the taxation of other countries but ours is completely stupid as you can summarize it by "the richer you are, the less you pay" thanks to the 468 tax loopholes (2010 number - official annex, beware it's a PDF) while the 74+ billions the country loses like that are taken back in the pocket of the middle classes.
Well to be honest, "the richer you are, the less you pay" is too simplistic. Those loopholes only applies in you're VERY rich. Example, me. I'm too rich to be in the middle classes but on the other hand, not rich enough to benefit from the law. And since my income isn't really high (1800 € per month, and the average is 1580 € month. Here's the statistic explanation if you need it) but the value of my real estate is rather high, I pay. A lot.

...this post awfully sounds like a rant.

[AaronBrudenell]

Generally speaking, most people in power are often blinded by true economic. Sure, more money is better, but not at the suffering at the lower classes. In the modern world, a strong economy isn't money in the country's treasury but the amount of production and industry. When things are being built, these can be sold. When those same workers are getting paid enough to live comfortably, that means they have expendable income to spend on products that have been made. The problem is, everyone wants to be rich nowadays thanks to reality TV. Governments will often make silly decisions to make a quick buck.

Take my own UK. David Cameron scrapped two aircraft carriers in production. These were already paid for by the previous government (Labour) and they thought that scrapping them would mean some easy money. The thing is, the parts were already made. These aircraft carriers were state of the art, and they had already been paid for and all the parts built. All that remained was for the parts to fit together like Lego. However, by scrapping them, thousands of jobs for those who were going to build them were lost. The parts were sold cheap (I believe) and a bit of money went into the gov's pockets. It would of been more financially sound to have finished them.

Furthermore, key infrastructure that has cost billions over decades to get established are scrapped for a small cash return. Once again, Politics are about the people not money. The working class need money, to line the middle classes pockets, to line the upper class pockets. Plain and simple. When prices go up, and wages stay the same; everyone suffers.

Now if I am just 22 and know that, then why don't today's leaders know this simple fact?

Because they don't study history.

[/rant]

[lunarcorp]

Well in America or the US of A
All of all laws that are here to promote the general welfare of all is mostly providing for businessmen and women's pockets.
Most government positions are controlled by people in huge billion dollar companies and often passed laws that bypass passed laws that gave everyone more equal opportunity and heightened the standard of living than now. Also in the awesome power of economic heroics,not really, the government bailed out banks that were going to fail do to illegal and scam like business tactics(a.k.a the refinancing homes ploy and making people look like they tried to fraud on credit.) That would have probably helped the economy more if they would have failed.

Also like the person said above me people in places try to cut a quick buck in the short term but don't think about the long term as in GM and how they cut jobs for short term profits and then forced people to work as hard as if those jobs were still there and then having to compete with foreign companies again caused it to fail back in 2009.
But it'll all comeback on them soon not now but later and I'll be ready to replace those pieces.

[Redd]

One, simple word that will save you grapeloads of money: Coupons.

My mom finds good deals and coupons everywhere, and we save a few hundred dollars a month! We actually use all of the stuff that we buy though, unlike those crazy coupon ladies, since we have 6 members of our family, two of which are teenagers so we eat and consume lots of things :3

Just look around for good deals and stuff. It sucks that money is going up, but it has been since the beginning of time. It's just something that happens, but the people that search and sometimes cheat a little, hehe , get good deals

[Megalon]

It depends on the quality of the products or services you are buying. My parents have "gone generic" with food and drink, saving them money in the end. I can live with it. Of course, gas and other services often have the same prices, or at are least lower than another by a few cents.

This post has been edited by Megalon: Jun 19 2011, 08:43 PM