MSE News: Savers hit as inflation remains high

Stompa

bendix wrote: »

Precisely. But, Stompa, it's not just the 0.1% increase in food bills that has us . . . .ummmmm . . 'reeling'. It's also the jump in air transport costs, don't you know?

Since my air fare costs are £0.00 I don't much care about that particular aspect!

bendix

I often wonder what my personal rate of inflation is, based on things I consume.

I only spend about 30% of my after-tax income. I don't spend money on petrol, cigarettes and I eat mostly fresh fruit and vegetables. My spending on clothes is largely work-related, and when I need to buy new shirts for work, I usually wait until Lewin's have a 4 for £100 sale which seems to be pretty much every month or so.

I spend a fair bit going home to Thailand three times a year, but aside from that my costs seem to be pretty much the same this year as last and I certainly see no evidence of inflation impacting my lifestyle.

bendix

Stompa wrote: »

Since my air fare costs are £0.00 I don't much care about that particular aspect!

Funnily enough, air travel is one of my biggest expenses, but - again - if you're smart it's easy to minimise the cost. If you check any airline's pricing for London to Bkk, the price can range from £450 return to over £2000 return, and that's economy class.

Well, duhhhhh, it doesn't take a genius to work out that being flexible can save you a fortune.

My travel costs are less this year, than they were last.

Stompa

bendix wrote: »

I often wonder what my personal rate of inflation is, based on things I consume.

Well I guess there's:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7669072.stm

or:

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=14762

though it looks like neither is particularly up-to-date.

LongTermLurker

Yes, more sensationalist drivel, and always from MSE GUY.

Martin, we've asked before, please can you stop your "journalists" reducing MSE to the level of the Sun? It's terrible.

What's wrong with intelligent financial information? It would be nice to know you're reading these responses and are concerned about the drop in quality. Please could we have an official response?

neil324

bendix wrote: »

Funnily enough, air travel is one of my biggest expenses, but - again - if you're smart it's easy to minimise the cost. If you check any airline's pricing for London to Bkk, the price can range from £450 return to over £2000 return, and that's economy class.

Well, duhhhhh, it doesn't take a genius to work out that being flexible can save you a fortune.

My travel costs are less this year, than they were last.

Flights last year where cheaper, Emirates ran flights all year except peak times at around £400 on all their routes to BKK, you seen their pricing this year?

Airlines have cut capicty this year so are not so desperate to fill seats like last year. Yes you can get deals if you wait for sales and are flexible with dates or go out of Heathrow. But you need to compromise, flights are dearer.

fullstop

No need to worry inflation will soon fall below the target, the "economists" and "experts" have been predicting it will soon fall back into line for about two years now, once one off situations are taken into account.

sabretoothtigger

neil324 wrote: »

Flights last year where cheaper, Emirates ran flights all year except peak times at around £400 on all their routes to BKK, you seen their pricing this year?

Airlines have cut capicty this year so are not so desperate to fill seats like last year. Yes you can get deals if you wait for sales and are flexible with dates or go out of Heathrow. But you need to compromise, flights are dearer.

How does the total cost of your travel compare. Is the pound still travelling well

I remember after 2001 the cost of flying dropped a fair bit on atlantic crossings especially which caused Concorde to become uneconomical I think.
If less people are flying now I can well believe airline fares could drop for some routes

I think the story headline is fair as inflation is likely above the savings rate putting people into a losing situation. It might not be obvious for a while, Im not certain the figures make it clear now or not

I get that people dont feel poorer. No doubt the government will hear of it when the consensus is different