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James Woodcock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 8323
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| Posted: 22 January 2026 at 12:04am | IP Logged | 1
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Deciding to start. New thread as a few of us were derailing the Shooter
thread.
How have people been affected by the cost of living? A few of us have been
discussing mortgages, and their lack of affordability.
Another aspect is food.
We run a food pantry - members pat £6 and get about £25 worth of food.
We started it in 2020, and at that time the weekly charge was £4.50.
Over the last few years we have seen massive increases in food prices.
One example was we used to get mince for €1.85 a pack. That went up to
nearly £3 a pack so we switched to meat balls, which were around £2 a
pack.
Those are now £3 a pack, so we have had to cease having mince available.
Another example are ready noodles. We used to be able to get those at 35p
a pack. Those are now over £1 a pack.
People talk bout inflation coming down - but it is still a positive inflation
number. We really do need a period of negative inflation to redress this.
And I won’t even start in energy and water prices. The increases in those -
some due to world events (although I do note each year that the energy
company profits have increased by the percentage increase of energy on
my bill - so, it doesn’t appear to actually be costing the companies any
more to produce), some due to the theft of company funds (I refuse to
believe otherwise having worked in the water industry upto 20 years ago.
Those companies were easily making enough to keep on top of investment
needs when I was there. Something changed and it appears to be owners
taking profits from the companies as far as I can tell).
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Dave Kopperman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 December 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3875
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| Posted: 22 January 2026 at 12:55am | IP Logged | 2
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Maybe not great. My wife and I are earning more than ever (and a more than reasonable middle class pull), but between holiday expenses, higher heating and food bills, and the usual mortgage, etc., we're tight this season. I've got a big old mop head of hair because in looking for places to cut expenses, I've opted to put off getting a haircut.
A goddamn haircut.
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Bill Collins
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 May 2005
Location: England
Posts: 11509
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| Posted: 22 January 2026 at 7:35am | IP Logged | 3
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It's just me, my wife and our dog, we don't live
extravagantly, we both work and we live reasonably
comfortably, but the rises in everything really are
noticeable, despite our government telling us we're
better off!I have switched most of our lighting to LED,
not that we use the lights much, the house is insulated.
We bought electric fleece blankets that cost a couple of
Pence an hour to run for when we're sitting watching tv,
reading etc so that we can cut down on using the heating,
but obviously still use it when it's really cold. My wife
worked out that our winter quarter heating bill was £150
cheaper the first year we used the blankets despite a big
rise in the cost that year, so they've more than paid for
themselves.We both work in retail so get 20% discount
buying food from work, and often get free short date
items, but we still shop at discount frozen food stores
and budget supermarkets as well. But we notice some huge
leaps in food prices on an almost weekly basis.Basically
we do everything to minimise our bills, but i feel
whatever we do we're fighting a losing battle.The energy
companies have to pay shareholders, so no matter how
little we use to save the planet and our money, they will
still keep pushing up the prices to give the shareholders
their dividends. We went to a water meter 20 years ago
and although we don't scrimp on water it's much cheaper
than water rates. I definitely think i had a better
standard of living and felt better off 30 years ago. I do
feel sorry for those that are struggling.
Edited to add, i know you have experience of working for
water companies James, and i truly believe huge amounts
have been siphoned off to executives and shareholders
rather than investing in the system and infrastructure. I
often see musician Feargal Sharkey on tv campaigning
against the water companies, and he really knows his
stuff.
Edited by Bill Collins on 22 January 2026 at 7:41am
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James Woodcock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 8323
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| Posted: 22 January 2026 at 12:51pm | IP Logged | 4
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Yeah Bill.
When I was at the water company, the EA and DWI would
regularly sample and we were terrified of a failure.
We were just starting to self test, which I thought was a
really bad idea, but the budgets for the regulators were
being squeezed due to things like increased spending on
flood prevention.
Since I left, there has been a large increase in foreign
ownership as well, and as we have seen in many of the
privatised industries, that foreign ownership and
financial institutes take excessive amounts from the
business, rather than continue to invest to levels that
were needed.
That has come to bite everyone, with the investment being
funded through massive increases in water bills.
Personally, I would like to see a law that says for
critical infrastructure - water, energy, post office,
rail etc - there must be 51% UK ownership. But that ship
sailed during the actual privatisation.
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Dave Kopperman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 December 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3875
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| Posted: 22 January 2026 at 2:03pm | IP Logged | 5
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Coincidentally (or maybe not), our local water concern was purchased about five years ago by a French company, Veolia. This is in suburban New York. I've found their service and policies to be a confused mess, and their ass doesn't know what their elbow is doing. For example, they installed a digital meter in my basement (via a 3rd party) and then neglected to turn it on, so they started to bill me for NOT having the meter installed. I called them and assured them it WAS installed, and they finally agreed, yes, it was, but it hadn't been properly set up so could I blah blah.
To their credit, they've been rebuilding all the local mains over the last few years, but to their discredit, they don't tell you when they're going to do it. They surveyed my street four years ago and still haven't come by. When I called them, they said they were waiting on permits and should call the town. The town had no idea what permits. The state was similarly in the dark. Blah blah. I kept the survey flags on my lawn for several years, carefully removing and replanting anytime I mowed. Finally gave up and hoped that at least the work crews would know what they're doing when they come.
There's a data center being built in my town as well, so I'm assuming that's going to cause fun water trouble when it goes on line.
Edited by Dave Kopperman on 22 January 2026 at 2:04pm
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135559
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| Posted: 22 January 2026 at 2:47pm | IP Logged | 6
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It’s a funny thing. I will spend thousands on artwork without blinking, but when a favorite restaurant raises its prices…..
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Conrad Teves
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 January 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 2276
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| Posted: 22 January 2026 at 3:16pm | IP Logged | 7
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I can't speak for what is going on in the UK, but we have what's called "Shrinkflation" here. Where packaged grocery products are being sold at the same unit price, but the units are getting smaller. 12oz bacon instead of 16oz.. 10oz frozen vegetables instead of 16, etc. We used to have enough left-over frozen veg to toss into a Tupperware to make soup out of later. Now we finish the whole bag. Maybe unrelated, but "thick cut" bacon from major brands is coming out like prosciutto. Bizarre. Even "large" frozen pizzas look like mediums now.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
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Posts: 135559
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| Posted: 22 January 2026 at 3:49pm | IP Logged | 8
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MAD did a piece about “shrinkflation”decades before the term existed. It commented on candy bars that came inside a cardboard sleeve so the product could shrink without affecting the size of the wrapping.
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