Bloody hell gents,
Anyone else just taking an absolute drubbing at the moment? It is just astonishing. Every time I think there is nothing more left in the tank, I get slammed with something else. Just had a note that the council tax is going up - drumroll 38%! The water bill this year is just astonishing. My leaseholder has smashed us with a massive bill.
The whole country is totally broken. I have no idea how people earning low salaries make ends meet. The numbers don’t make sense.
What’s really getting to me is that the official “inflation” figures just don’t reflect any of this. They say inflation is X%, but everything you have to pay — housing, council tax, energy, water, transport — feels like it’s gone up multiples of that over the last couple of decades.
I was doing some reading online and it turns out this isn’t just perception. Back in the mid-90s, households were spending roughly 30–35% of their income on essentials. Now it’s more like 50–60%. That’s a massive shift.
So even if wages track inflation on paper, the reality is you’ve got far less left over at the end of the month. The “optional” part of your income — the bit that actually gives you breathing room — has been getting squeezed for years.
And it makes sense when you think about it: council tax has gone through the roof, housing has exploded, energy is constantly volatile, rail fares keep climbing. Meanwhile, the stuff that’s gotten cheaper (TVs, clothes, gadgets) doesn’t help much because you don’t need to buy those every month.
It honestly feels like we’re being slowly boiled. Not one catastrophic hit, just constant increases in all the unavoidable stuff until suddenly half your income is already spoken for before you’ve even started living.
I think the cost of living affects women too, some of whom are even members of this forum!
I'll eagerly await their input. Apologies to the woman of the STW massive.
Just had a note that the council tax is going up - drumroll 38%!
Are you sure that's not 3.8%? There's only a handful of local authorities that applied to increase above the 5% cap and 8.99% was the largest increase of those.
Yes sorry should have said - I lost a single person discount as have another person living with me now... but still up 5%. Misleading opener!
Edit: ah, so your council tax has actually decreased?
Ours is up by 7%, though 2% of that is for infrastructure improvements (roads etc).
Water has definitely gone through he roof. Just awaiting a 'password' reset to see what my council tax has changed by. A colleague who is in the next council has gone up by £10 per month, so hoping mine is similar. Actually our council bills went up a fair bit last year as we had to start paying for the garden waste collection.
I'm older, so my mortgage is paid off and MrsF isn't working now. Only our one income but we manage. Car use isn't a great deal as I cycle to work, saving about £12 a day. We're not going abroad this year just because we can't be bothered, and there is loads to explore in the UK. My ideal holiday is sat in my tent/the van by a beach with a few beers and food on the BBQ. Oh and a bike at my side.
We had one big expense, a hot tub. That's finally given up the ghost, so we're getting rid. Saving over £100 a month on energy. MrsF's 'cold tub' doesn't need energy, just an occasional water change as you only dip in it for 5-10 minutes.
Up 7.8% in Wychavon. 😳
Ah, joe, you had me panicking then... Naughty.
I was thinking this very thing yesterday looking at my council tax and water bill.
I was reflecting that with mains supply becoming so expensive it might be more cost effective to have ones own potable supply. Seems like the payback for the purification system would be about three years. So. Rain water recovery and storage, with a mains connection in case it ever runs dry seems like a sensible approach.
I lost a single person discount as have another person living with me now...
So your council tax bill has gone down significantly, because you have someone to share it with? I make it that your half of the bill is 31% down on what you were paying when solely responsible.
As for leaseholders, the law urgently needs changing there to control charges. That’s going through parliament now.
over the last few years my council tax has jumped massivly. At least 25% over the last few years.
We are having to go to a single income household soon as well. Its crippling.
Rain water recovery and storage, with a mains connection in case it ever runs dry seems like a sensible approach.
It might have changed, but back when my parents were off grid for water, the water company could (and did) still charge them for collecting rain water and preventing it running back into the ground. And they had no mains connection (and couldn’t get one).
Yep.
We're being rodgered from all sides.
I feel like I'm running to stand still and I'm sick of it. Can't stop running though.
Now you have someone living with you then you can share those costs.
Our council tax has increased, water rates too but by electric has reduced. Other costs such as food shopping have increased though and treats like a meal out.
I hear that ii fees have gone up too.
Another 9.5% council tax increase here (iirc thats 25% in 3 years). Luckily our mortgage has just come down, but the hope was to use that saving to overpay - oh well.
Car insurance for 2 cars is up next month - looking forward to getting shafted there too
Beer is still under £4 a pint in my local so it's not all bad!! 🙂
Its the food shopping that always gets me. Pop into Coop for a few bits, get to the till with a half full basket and its £25!
I've stopped using the Coop completely now. Can't afford it there. There was once a time when they were great value.
Kind of sad what has happened to the Co-op, they are pretty dire. Shame it is the only shop in many remote locations. It is overpriced. My local one seems incapable of getting its order numbers correct, routinely throwing out huge quantities of high value salmon for example. Car park is a rubbish tip, no pride at all. It has been obvious to me that it has a management issue, and indeed that was reported recently:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crrnkpyqdzyo
There's only a handful of local authorities that applied to increase above the 5% cap and 8.99% was the largest increase of those.
just across the border from me in the shire - it was a 10% hit. We got 6.8%
Its the food shopping that always gets me. Pop into Coop for a few bits, get to the till with a half full basket and its £25!
Co-op is expensive.
Dunno how much fuel has gone up there but it's a dollar more per litre here for 91.
I was doing some reading online and it turns out this isn’t just perception. Back in the mid-90s, households were spending roughly 30–35% of their income on essentials. Now it’s more like 50–60%. That’s a massive shift.
I think partly it's our expectations. I live in a house that's bigger and more expensive than the one I grew up in, consequently it has a bigger council tax bill (and being Scottish our water bill is linked to that so its bigger too).
Car insurance for 2 cars is up next month - looking forward to getting shafted there too
And we have two newer, nicer cars than my parents have ever owned (they only ever owned one) and each of my three bikes cost more than my dad's one, despite him riding his more often! Even if you look at the food we eat, and the frequency with which we eat out, it's no wonder we seem to be no richer.
The issues are real, but if your spending includes Netflix, Spotify, unlimited mobile internet, fibre broadband, etc you may not really be comparing like with like in comparing 2026 to 1996. Even foreign air travel was a serious luxury which seems to have been normalised now. Housing costs have changed a lot - but the 90's were not a time of cheap mortgages, even if the properties themselves were lower.
Beer is still under £4 a pint in my local so it's not all bad!! 🙂
Which is your local? Spanish Bar in Ilson had some at £3.40 last month
Co-op is expensive.
Very much a "just need to grab a couple of things as I'm driving past" shop. Feel for those that have to use them for a proper food shop
Which is your local? Spanish Bar in Ilson had some at £3.40 last month
...but you've then got to drink in Ilson and mix with the locals!!! 😬 😬
Just had to renew my energy bill. Go tracker or fix 1 years at plus 20% or 2year at plus 10%. Stick or twist, screwed in all regards - thanks Mr Trump
Kind of sad what has happened to the Co-op, they are pretty dire. Shame it is the only shop in many remote locations. It is overpriced. My local one seems incapable of getting its order numbers correct, routinely throwing out huge quantities of high value salmon for example.
On the other hand if you go in at 7pm and are prepared to buy all sorts of random stuff, they do have some excellent deals on food going out of date that day!
Agree though, Co-op is a last resort for me, they're very expensive.
I'm getting all the emails now about broadband and mobile bills - "as of April we'll be adding another £3 onto your bill... " type stuff. But Octopus did tell me (very proudly) that my prices were coming down since the unit price of electricity was somehow 0.5p cheaper this month. So yes, my bill (which I pay by DD anyway, a fixed monthly amount) will be approximately 35p cheaper than last month... 🙄
Co-op is expensive.
Very much a "just need to grab a couple of things as I'm driving past" shop. Feel for those that have to use them for a proper food shop
TBF, they're a convenience store, not a supermarket. Get a membership card. Makes it a bit cheaper. I'd still rather shop there than line the pockets of shareholders of Tesco, Asda etc (as well as deal with the pond life that seems to use those shops).
Kind of sad what has happened to the Co-op, they are pretty dire. Shame it is the only shop in many remote locations. It is overpriced. My local one seems incapable of getting its order numbers correct, routinely throwing out huge quantities of high value salmon for example.
On the other hand if you go in at 7pm and are prepared to buy all sorts of random stuff, they do have some excellent deals on food going out of date that day!
Agree though, Co-op is a last resort for me, they're very expensive.
I'm getting all the emails now about broadband and mobile bills - "as of April we'll be adding another £3 onto your bill... " type stuff. On the other hand Octopus did tell me that my prices were coming down since the uni price of electricity was somehow 0.5p cheaper this month. So yes, my bill (which I pay by DD anyway, a fixed monthly amount) will be approximately 35p cheaper than last month... 🙄
I need to call Sky. Bill is pushing £120 p/m but I've just had a mail from them telling me I'll be getting HBO for free from next month. Ace - I don't care at all as I only really watch the sport. But in the same mail, £10 of price increases on existing parts of my contract so I'll be taking the opportunity to look elsewhere given this gives me a chance to get out of my contract.
Gas & electric bill has gone up to £200 p/m recently as well...
I think partly it's our expectations
and circumstances...
in 1996 my parents would have been about the same age as me now (ie late 50s) but unlike me (and others I know my age) they had by then paid off their mortgage, did not have university costs for their offspring to cover (I had a grant back then and lived in cheap rented accommodation), and my dad could afford to semi-retire (who knows when and if I can!), and they still went off on nice hols every so often, and enjoyed their later years in reasonable health at that time.
But Octopus did tell me (very proudly) that my prices were coming down since the unit price of electricity was somehow 0.5p cheaper this month.
And they’ve dropped the feed in payment to 12p per kWh from 15p
Helium balloons have gone up in price. Not sure why 🤔
The UK is in a Dire place, nationally and for individuals.
Banking Crisis, Brexit, Covid - all took a toll on the economy, the Banking Crisis was 18 years ago, but we've still not recovered from it every time we start to, something else comes along, for heavens sake just as it was looking like the war in Ukraine was going to end, Trump decides to kick off in the Middle East.
Labour are taking all the shit for rising bills and taxes, but what else can they do? we've still got a massive deficit and facing the real prospect of a World War.
The knock on of all of this is what we're feeling at home. Food prices rises because of tariffs (Trump), increased transport costs (Wars), large scale criminality in shops (Public Spending and Poverty) increased utilities (Privatisation and War) Increased Council Tax (Deficit).
A lot of posters are making the valid point about lifestyle changes, Holidays, iPads and Sky, the usual suspects - but there's a point to it, People by and large aren't good at giving up things they've become used to without feeling they're victims - which has lead the the Populists gaining so much popularity not only in the UK, but Globally.
I haven't a clue if it will end, or we should accept this as the new normal.
Yeah it's dire, our council tax is going up by £28 a month, and they introduced last year the £40 to take your green waste away BS. Gas and Elec already £160pm for the two of us and a dog. Don't even get me started on cost of food. An old farmer friend of mine reached out to me a couple of months ago asking if I'd come and get on top of the rabbits for him again, I don't shoot anymore it's been a good 8 years but with the price of chicken and other meat lately I seriously considered it, until I looked at the cost of getting back into it again, even the price of lead has shot through the roof no pun intended. I'd be better off faring my chances with a catapult and a pocket full of gravel but then I'm not really doing him any service coming away every week with maybe only one rabbit, and then not taking into consideration fuel to drive to and forth from his farm either.
We actually ended up buying another freezer to keep in the garage and now we buy all sorts with yellow labels on or as part of deals, or extras from what we've cooked and freeze it.
We're not skint by all means, dual income no kids but every month were' seeing our disposable income get less and less and less.
This month I treat myself to fake 100% S3 riding glasses off ebay and a perfect draft keg cause the off license had an offer on, rest has gone on the house, the dog and food 🙄
I agree. The cost of living is going up world wide. Peak quality of living is a thing of the past. Our society is having to pay more across the board. People living much longer, resulting in higher costs to look after them, impacts from final salary pensions going on much longer, etc. Combine that with the simple fact that energy is more expensive and will continue to get more expensive as time goes on (burning stuff that easily pops put if the ground is pretty cheap compared to trying to get the same stuff from harder, more remote places or trying to get new infrastructure in place to harvest variable renewable power). Then we've got climate change making weather more extreme and starting to cause migration of people. This all adds up to life costing more. We also have more luxuries (as mentioned by others) that we now see as essential.
It's the world we live in and that us and our parents have led us to. Blaming the current government for worldwide systemic issues is just short sighted.
What we need to do is live better lives. Use our resources more efficiently, be kinder to each other, and focus on what matters ...
My local Co-Op is definitely more expensive than the local Aldi if you just look at the price at the till, but I'm sick to shit of Aldi perishables not lasting. Carrots and peppers particularly that turn liquid in a few days, onions that magically are either rotten or have the brown wrapper inside, and meat where the packs aren't sealed properly meaning they are either already spoiled or go off well withing the use by dates.
In real terms the money local councils get from Westminster has fallen 46% since 2010. (Source: institute for Fiscal Studies)
Hence why everyone's seeing services being cut to the bone even as tax bills go up.
It's brutal being a councillor ATM, all the 'fat' was cut long ago so every budget season you're just presented with a series of increasingly horrible options to save more money as things like the housing crisis push ever more demand for statutory services that you have provide by law ever higher even as the cost of everything keeps going up. In the end it's a communities' most vulnerable residents that rely on these services and they are the ones who get it in the neck when cuts have to be made.
On an entirely unrelated side note, Nvidia's 2 UK subsidiaries paid £0 in UK corporation tax last year due to some very clever accounting. (Source: Private Eye)
Nvidia has a current market cap of $4.3 Trillion
