Why Is Everything So Expensive?
By Janey1966
@Janey1966 (24170)
Carlisle, England
April 20, 2013 12:17pm CST
It's no wonder Cumbrians don't improve their homes.
Earlier I looked online at extending glass dining tables (in case I ever make any friends, fat chance) and I'm amazed at how expensive they are. They have definitely gone up since the last time I looked, only a few weeks ago.
I know they have to be made of toughened safety glass but, even so..my computer table is predominantly made of glass and it was £79 so why do dining tables cost triple that amount? It makes no sense.
I think everything has gone up because of the extra VAT on imports imposed by the government, therefore the extra costs are passed onto the mugs..er..sorry customers. However, even if I 'go British' the prices are about the same and there are literally no tables made of glass unless I pay even more! I reckon the cost of fuel may have something to do with high prices of literally everything we buy that has to be transported by road.
Has everything gone up where you are? I don't necessarily mean things for the home..but EVERYTHING, like food, clothing, general bills..you know the score.
I know they have to be made of toughened safety glass but, even so..my computer table is predominantly made of glass and it was £79 so why do dining tables cost triple that amount? It makes no sense.
I think everything has gone up because of the extra VAT on imports imposed by the government, therefore the extra costs are passed onto the mugs..er..sorry customers. However, even if I 'go British' the prices are about the same and there are literally no tables made of glass unless I pay even more! I reckon the cost of fuel may have something to do with high prices of literally everything we buy that has to be transported by road.
Has everything gone up where you are? I don't necessarily mean things for the home..but EVERYTHING, like food, clothing, general bills..you know the score.4 people like this
12 responses
@robspeakman (1700)
•
21 Apr 13
My feeling on this Janey is that it may be that our collective wages have not risen for almost 5 years. The cost of things still go up, but we now find them harder to afford
@robspeakman (1700)
•
21 Apr 13
I remember 20 years ago, I would drink bottle of pils if we were pub crawling through Wigan. It was 90p a bottle. £15 would be more than enough for a night out and a tray of chips, pudding and peas with gravy on the way home.
The good old days
@dream_ozn (1754)
• Singapore
20 Apr 13
Hey janey,
you are right, everything is super expensive. i'm a singaporean and am currently in London for a study abroad program. Sadly, it's my last week over here in london before i head to Paris :)
Anyway,
i really thing that everything is super expensive. I feel like even the prices of necessities are also rising. Not to mention furniture.
this is society where prices all goes up but our pay remains stagnant. life is getting difficult :(
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
20 Apr 13
Hello there!
Well, at least your life has a silver lining..you're off to Paris shortly. Lucky you, I wish I was my friend.
One of my goals in life is to see that rather spectacular airport of yours at Singapore. If memory serves, was it designed by a Brit?
It's about the only thing we're good at..design.
Well, at least your life has a silver lining..you're off to Paris shortly. Lucky you, I wish I was my friend.
One of my goals in life is to see that rather spectacular airport of yours at Singapore. If memory serves, was it designed by a Brit?
It's about the only thing we're good at..design.@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
20 Apr 13
Are they friendly towards you in London? I live far, far away from that great city and I'm not sure I'd want to live there, to be honest.
Great place to visit though.
@maximax8 (31053)
• United Kingdom
21 Apr 13
Hello Janey. It is shocking how prices have gone up in the United Kingdom. The cost of fuel is high so it costs more to transport goods like furniture or food by lorry on roads. Value Added Tax is added to many things. Much fruit and vegetables haven't grown well due to poor weather. Ocean Spray stopped doing there bottles of cranberry juice. I phoned them and they said grapes had a poor harvest. They had to make less and charge more to afford to buy grapes. They now sell a 0.75 liter carton instead of a 1 liter bottle. I think the price is too high. Vanilla puddings used to cost 1 pound. Now they are 1 pound 25 pence or one pound 50 pence. I shop around and compare prices on the Internet. It is silly when costs go up to double or in the case of your glass table triple the price. Bills seem a lot higher. I locked into a electric and gas contract, changed phone and Internet deals and changed my mortgage to less time to pay less interest. Thinking of saving accounts interest rates are way too low.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
22 Apr 13
Yes, my in-laws change their savings accounts every year it seems. Shouldn't have to do that, is my argument. Also, many people cannot be bothered and stay with the same Utility company, for example. Whichever way you look at it they all rip us off in some way or another.
I never knew that about the cranberry juice. I've noticed that - in some instances - containers of 'stuff' aren't even to the top. You take a look next time you're out and you will see what I mean.
@scarlet_woman (23465)
• United States
22 Apr 13
oh yea it has.the worst tho is the utilities.it's highway robbery,and makes it harder to buy the other things we need.my water bill alone has 12 seperate charges included per month.
also doesn't help that america's minimum wage hasn't gone up in balance with it.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
22 Apr 13
Our minimum wage isn't great either (especially for 16-18 year olds) but - if it wasn't for the Labour government there wouldn't be one at all. I do think it gets abused though, especially if employers pay cash in hand to their foreign employees, that type of thing.
@derek_a (10874)
•
22 Apr 13
Yes, I have notice too Janey. For a while the credit crunch seemed to be driving prices down and government held back on petrol costs, but now it's like the traders have got fed up and putting their prices up again. I was talking to a guy in Currys a few months ago and they were saying how profits had been cut to the bone and he reckoned that was why the likes of Comet had gone through. I wonder if the manufacturers are taking a cut, because if the big stores are struggling, then surely it must be because wholesale prices are not being cut back and to get customers' interests they have to keep offering better deals. 
_Derek
_Derek@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
22 Apr 13
I receive email alerts from the likes of BHS and Debenhams and I've lost count of how many discounts are offered - usually on a daily basis. This is fine if the products in question aren't over-priced to start with..but they are. I won't pay more than £20 for a top, for example but I bet - to you - even that's too much lol.
@bounce58 (17387)
• Canada
23 Apr 13
I've noticed that too! That everything has been very expensive.
The problem over in our part of the world is that stores here make it easy for people to buy things on credit even though they're expensive.
There's a furniture store a block away from where I work, and they offer deals where you don't have to pay for the items for almost two years. You get lulled into getting new things, and not paying for it for a long time. But the moment that day you're required to pay, wham! You get hit with a very high interest.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
23 Apr 13
Is it not interest free just after the payment date rather than just before or on it? I was led to believe that, if you paid for something in full, after - say - 12 months is up..then there's no interest charged? But, I guess, if the payment cannot be made in full that's when the interest kicks in?
@wolfie34 (26771)
• United Kingdom
20 Apr 13
My ex partner had a glass dining table, and I hated it, absolutely hated the thing, it was a nightmare to clean, and no matter how hard I cleaned it, I got smears and it scratches so easily, I used it as a computer table as well, it was situated in the kitchen. I suggested putting a table cloth on it, but no my ex didn't want that! Why have a glass table if you are going hide it? But honestly I would never ever consider buying a glass. I had a shock when I went to the garden centre, the prices they were asking for a simple wheelbarrow. A metal one was 70 quid and a plastic one was 80. Sorry but I was expecting to pay 35 pounds, NOT double. How can they justify that price for a wheelbarrow? Greed. We shop at Tesco, mum went to Sainsburys for a change and she was outraged at the prices of food there!
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
21 Apr 13
Yes, we had a Sainsbury's built recently (the only big one in Carlisle) and it's way more expensive than the other supermarkets. The in-laws shopped there once, stopped and went back to Morrison's lol.
Tesco is my pet hate conglomerate and I'm glad they're losing money. Sick of the sight of them. It's the nearest supermarket (well, of the big 4 anyway) to us but I've boycotted it so we go to Morrison's instead. A bigger ASDA is being built just over the road from us so it will be interesting to see what that's like.
People moan about there not being a Primark in Carlisle but there isn't a site big enough for a store to be built as they tend to be massive. The one in Blackpool is huge and it took over the Littlewoods store when it closed down. There are probably more people in there at any one time than in all the other stores put together. I would never buy clothes from Primark (unless I was a stick, I would then) but Mum bought a couple of hand towels, face cloths and a scrunchie for the shower and paid virtual peanuts for the whole lot. Really good quality too. Contrast that with BHS that were selling pedestal mats for the bathroom for £14 EACH! I couldn't believe my eyes. I know I love their website and everything but the High Street version is pants..and, no, I wouldn't buy any of those from there either!
Oh, and don't get me started on Outlet shopping. There's one called Fleetwood Freeport and the M&S and NEXT outlets there are no cheaper than the main ones. Used to be but not anymore!
Rip off Britain, I hate it!
Tesco is my pet hate conglomerate and I'm glad they're losing money. Sick of the sight of them. It's the nearest supermarket (well, of the big 4 anyway) to us but I've boycotted it so we go to Morrison's instead. A bigger ASDA is being built just over the road from us so it will be interesting to see what that's like.
People moan about there not being a Primark in Carlisle but there isn't a site big enough for a store to be built as they tend to be massive. The one in Blackpool is huge and it took over the Littlewoods store when it closed down. There are probably more people in there at any one time than in all the other stores put together. I would never buy clothes from Primark (unless I was a stick, I would then) but Mum bought a couple of hand towels, face cloths and a scrunchie for the shower and paid virtual peanuts for the whole lot. Really good quality too. Contrast that with BHS that were selling pedestal mats for the bathroom for £14 EACH! I couldn't believe my eyes. I know I love their website and everything but the High Street version is pants..and, no, I wouldn't buy any of those from there either!
Oh, and don't get me started on Outlet shopping. There's one called Fleetwood Freeport and the M&S and NEXT outlets there are no cheaper than the main ones. Used to be but not anymore!
Rip off Britain, I hate it!1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157485)
• United States
21 Apr 13
Yes, it has been quite obvious this last few months that everything was going up and up. I do not know if things will ever go down again.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
21 Apr 13
No, I don't either. It's so depressing if I think about it long enough..so I tend not to if I can help it!
@changjiangzhibin89 (16518)
• China
21 Apr 13
People's currency purchases less each year .But then,this high price would be scaring away possible buyers like you.They might as well price it reasonably,small profit but large volume.
@inopiratum_a_medio12 (877)
•
21 Apr 13
Due to currency devaluation and commodities remains the same prices (inflation), the value of money depreciates
@Hopefull90 (921)
• United States
20 Apr 13
Things are going up here because the government keeps making money. The value of our dollar goes down the more they print.
@lizziegee (297)
• Philippines
21 Apr 13
Hello there. It goes the very same here in the Philippines. Everything gets more expensive as days pass, even if the government says that we are having a better economy than we did before. I don't believe them when they say that. Nobody feels that the economy is stronger now. The poor gets poorer and the rich gets richer.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
22 Apr 13
I know what you mean. The other day the media were going on about the Rich List and 3 Russians are in the Top 5 here in the UK!
