Cost of living - is it getting out of control?

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  • What really pisses me off is the huge increase in the standing charges for both gas and electric. I could (just about) accept the rise in the per unit costs but surely there's been neglible increses in the cost of the infrastructure?

    Or is it that the standing charge is being used to finance the failed energy companies and the transfer of their customers?

    Either way it's unfair as there's no way to reduce it unlike being frugal with the actual energy use. I've been round and turned off as many "Vampire" things on standby as possible but the hub, V6 and router have to stay on.

    I use a small worktop oven/grill where possible as it's only 1.3Kw (oven) or 650W (grill) whereas the built in oven is 2Kw for either and takes twice as long to heatup.

    If the government did levy a windfall tax on the energy companies I doubt we'd get any benefit from it.

    BTW If you're on SVR tariff the smart money says stay there for the moment.

    History is much like an Endless Waltz. The three beats of war, peace and revolution continue on forever.

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  • Companies are just taking the piss and jumping on the bandwagon so then all the increasing costs have a knock on effect. I wonder if there was not so much media attention made about the energy prices if food and all the rest of it will have increased. Now Ukraine is being used as an excuse. What annoys me is that we never actually imported that much gas from Russia in the grand scale of things but it's being used as an excuse to raise prices.

  • Just suspend the social responsibility and environmental levies on gas and electricity and remove the VAT. That will do the trick. Instant half price energy.

    Celebrate it, Anticipate it, Yesterday's faded, Nothing can change it, Life's what you make it

  • Companies are just taking the piss and jumping on the bandwagon so then all the increasing costs have a knock on effect. I wonder if there was not so much media attention made about the energy prices if food and all the rest of it will have increased. Now Ukraine is being used as an excuse. What annoys me is that we never actually imported that much gas from Russia in the grand scale of things but it's being used as an excuse to raise prices.

    That’s not how it works, Norra. It’s the fact that world demand is exceeding world supply - that’s what puts the price up.

  • https://www.scotsman.com/business/consu…-crisis-3707492

    Things are getting worse. Should the government be doing more, and if so, what?

    This "conservative" government is already so left wing as far as fiscal policy goes, so I don't see that there is anything we can do.

    Although gas and oil prices were rising before the war in Ukraine, Putin's actions have made things much worse with the terrible knock on effect on food prices too.

  • Why has pasta risen by 50% it's just flour and water. People are taking the piss and just increasing prices for the sake of increasing prices for profit in line with oil and wheat. These are the only two things that should rise. OK I can understand oil increases fuel prices so transport can be higher so there's a knock on effect there but this should be limited. Besides in the grand scale of things we never ever imported a high percentage of oil and gas from the Russian pipeline. This is all being blown out of proportion.

  • Why has pasta risen by 50% it's just flour and water.

    Because world wide the Durham wheat harvest has been very poor so there's a massive shortage of the type of flour that is used to make pasta and noodles.

    History is much like an Endless Waltz. The three beats of war, peace and revolution continue on forever.

    4312-gwban-gif

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