It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

elsien

Onebrokelady said:

YorksLass said:

Lurpak Spreadable 500g on promo at the Co-op at £4 - but offer finishes tomorrow so hurry if you want some.

Conversation overheard today in Co-op between cashier and assistant:

Assistant: I wouldn't want to be on tonight's shift.
Cashier: Why?
Assistant: They will have to change every shelf edge price ticket to get ready for tomorrow's 20% price increase on everything.
Cashier: Why are they putting up prices by 20%?
Assistant: I've no idea.  Other SMs are doing their best to attract customers and what does the Co-op do?  Put up prices.

Does this mean 20% on Co-op products only or literally on everything they sell?  I'd love to know what is the rationale behind this.  Make of it what you will but I can see my meagre shopping there morph into nothing.

It's because they can and is yet another example of greedy companies ripping people off at the moment 

I think that’s far too simplistic. I’d be very surprised at any company putting everything up by 20% overnight because the market doesn’t work like that.
But costs are rising / fuel costs to get goods to the shops, production costs, shortages. I don’t think you can say that price rises are purely down to companies wanting to rip off the public. Yes they want to make a profit - at the end of the day that’s what living in a capitalist society means- but they also have to keep an eye on the competition so as not to lose all their customers. But the laws of supply and demand also dictate prices - our bread isn’t going to stay the same when there’s no wheat coming out of Ukraine and other countries/companies also want to buy what there is. For example. It’s a global market and this is the effect that has. 

tooldle

I’ve not seen 20% uplift on prices in our local co-ops. As a co-op member (1 share) in several of the co-op retail societies, I get points on my shop (converted to cash when needed) and a small percentage of my spend goes to a local charity (I get a choice on who to support). The co-op app also offers additional discounts. As a co-op, there is a commitment to ethical purchasing and a good number of fair trade products sold. Largely staying true to the founding principles.

The modern day co-op would seem far more generous / flexible than the co-op I worked in as a teenager. For that society, the members dividend was paid as a ‘free item’ each month. With 3 out of 4 of us being members, some months we would receive 3 cans of Mr ‘sheen, or some other product that would not be used. I much prefer the points system. 

sammy_kaye18

Hello all

I have been looking at our heating. My neighbour likes to keep her heating on a lot over the winter so some of her heat seeps through to us. My sons room is always lovely and warm and now she has her two kids living with her again I think they are keeping the heating on much more. I'm peri menopausal too so the hot flushes are going to do me wonders this winter I think! 

Well today involved freezing more blackberries so I now have over a kilo in the freezer in my little freezer tub so I'm happy that that will make us a few small jars of jam to put aside and keep us going. 
My courgette plant has also been producing more flowers too so I will be having more of them by the looks of too. Considering I only planted two plants I have had a good crop of them this year. I also have spotted another 4/5 small cucumbers but have plenty of flowers so who knows how many more will appear from them. 
My strawberries have gone from 3 plants to 13 plants with the runners they have put out. I think I will need to make the bed bigger or perhaps try to train them up the fence so they can hang down! 

I am going to visit my sister tomorrow and my 4 nieces with my grandmother and my father tomorrow. He is coming to pick us up so me and my sister are going to have an exchange.....she ahs two chilli plants that have gone mad (she doesn't eat much spice) so I am going to swap with her and give her some homegrown veg in exchange for a plant. I think then I will make something from them for my FIL for Christmas as he likes spice. 

I am thinking that on the next few dry days I will be sorting my greenhouse out as I dont have much in it at the minute as everything is outside so I will prep it for winter growing and work on securing it ready for the bad weather we will inevitably get in the colder months. 

Its just been on the news about a false autumn already. 

cuddlymarm

The weather feels like it’s changing already. The early morning feels autumnal but without the cold if that makes sense.
One thing not being mentioned here is money, don’t forget if there is a power cut cash machines won’t work and neither will shop tills. So a stash of change might be handy.

ladyholly

Many shops especially the supermarkets will have to close if there is no power as they rely on the bar codes to show the prices. No price tickets on goods these days.

Wednesday2000

cuddlymarm said:

One thing not being mentioned here is money, don’t forget if there is a power cut cash machines won’t work and neither will shop tills. So a stash of change might be handy.

We always try to keep cash at home now and some change too. One year close to Christmas I had to take my cat to the emergency vet by taxi and all the cash machines near me were empty. 

elsien

I think we have to take steps to prepare but also be careful not to catastrophise. If there are power cuts, which is by no means certain at the moment, they should be planned rolling ones which would allow time for both businesses and consumers to be prepared. We're more likely to be talking a couple of hours than full days. 

slm6002

I did wonder how it will work if it does happen

Hannimal

I think we can get through a powercut or two - haven't we all already! I agree these would be planned ones. I always wonder why we don't have more "earth hours" that could actually save our economy quite a bit and have an impact on the environment. If we did a (voluntary) 1h earth hour a week, lighting up fewer streets, and so on, I think most people would happily join in. I'd really welcome more campaigns towards using sustainable modes of transport and so on. I know it is very unlikely councils will sponsor free bus passes, but what about free 10-20 journeys on public transport per year? Give that to everyone and I think it would make a bit of a difference. I just feel there are small, relatively cheap ways of motivating people to change their habits that could have a meaningful impact. 

Bigjenny

During the power cuts in the 70's, we had a timetable of when the cuts would be in our area, around 3-4 hours if I remember, may have been longer, so we could plan ahead.