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

Florenceem

Been working at SA today - food bank was much busier than last week. We have people of all ages coming for help.

Katiehound

"I've used Fairy w-u-l for years but will be trying a different one when I've finished the bottle I'm using.  It's gone up in price to £3 (1190 ml bottle size) but it's not so much that that's prompting the change, more the "new, improved formula".  It's definitely thinner, doesn't seem to work as well as it did before and smells awful.   "

I couldn't get the 'quote box' to work so ended up cutting & pasting.

I haven't used Fairy w-u-l for years
I'm fairly sure that Aldi's has a Good Housekeeping recommendation (or maybe that's the laundry liquid!)
This time I bought Mr T's own (price matched with Aldi) in the rhubarb & rose fragrance which makes a pleasant change- and works fine. 44 pence for 450ml

Golly- 98 p per litre cfw Fairy@ £2.62 - or more per litre

London_1

I live near to a small shopping precinct, (three minutes walk away) and have noticed that a few of the shops are changing their opening hours, and have started closing for lunctime I was wondering if this was a cost cutting exercise to save on energy. 
Perhaps we will be returning to the days of the 1950s when shops had half day closing .

Even the big local  Tesco about a mile away isno longer is 24 hours.
My DD went there on Wednesday night around 7.30 and said many of the shelves were bare of goods and this is quite a big shop as well.

JackieO xx

Florenceem

I use Ald. washing up liquid after being a Fairy user for years.

annieb64

No Aldi own brand wu liquid in our local store for the last two weeks. Fortunately I always keep a bottle in hand so am OK for another couple of weeks.

TheBanker

London_1 said:

I live near to a small shopping precinct, (three minutes walk away) and have noticed that a few of the shops are changing their opening hours, and have started closing for lunctime I was wondering if this was a cost cutting exercise to save on energy. 

Where I am a couple of local shops have cut their hours, but the reason is staff shortages. By closing for lunch, they can manage with one person less because they don't have to cover the breaks. Every other business seems to have a notice in the window saying 'Staff wanted'. 

millie

Spendless said:

I bought some Fairy w-u-l today, original  and noticed that the Platinum fairy that used to be in a silver bottle is now in a clear one, just the bottle is more moulded (has a slight pattern on it). Other than that it's green liquid just like original. Anyone know what that's about having 2 varieties  of fairy, one more expensive look very similar to each other rather than different - I can see that causing some confusion.

Thats interesting, because the better Aldi washing up liquid used to be in a platinum bottle but for quite while now both bottles are clear and look the same.

in_my_wellies

I think clear bottles is for recycling purposes. Milk now has white tops in a couple of store I use 

https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/buying-and-supplying/muller-and-waitrose-scrap-coloured-caps-on-milk-bottles-in-plastic-recycling-trial/665252.article

YorksLass

TheBanker said:

Near me there were two Co-ops within a 1 minute walk of each other. The smaller of these became a NISA, although they still sell Co-op branded goods. They stock a smaller range, charge more and don't accept the Co-op loyalty card. I expect it to close soon as it's always empty, not surprisingly. I only ever go in if the real Co-op has run out of something I want. 

We are very lucky that we still have our Post Office. Becoming more essential now there are fewer banks, and the banks that are left aren't open all day/every day any more. The high street I use has gone from having four banks with ATMs to none in the space of three years. The only free ATM now belongs to the Post Office.

Yes, we had two Co-ops - one still is (with an ATM outside) and the other became a Nisa last September.  Like yours, it stocks a small range of Co-op items but, as you say, more expensive and no use of Co-op loyalty card.   Their stock consists mainly of what I call "junk" food - ready-made sandwiches, pot noodles, crisps, fizzy drinks and the like.  Very little in the way of F&V, meat etc. They removed the ATM that was inside the store, the SA clothing bank collection bin outside disappeared and they stopped selling alcohol and pork products (religious reasons of the owner).  The chap who owns it also owns a garage next door with a Spar shop and a Costa attached.  The grapevine has it he's going to knock the store down and extend the garage. although I haven't seen any planning applications for that - yet.  Whatever happens, it closes its doors next week so Goodbye Nisa.

The PO is closing next Tuesday and the staff aren't being transferred anywhere else but they did apparently have an offer to work in the Spar, stocking shelves.  I'll leave it to you to work out what their response was!  

Our High Street is a fair walk from where we live and has changed a lot over the last 40 years.  We lost a butcher, two bakeries (one was Jewish and sold wonderful bread and bagels), two greengrocers one of which also sold fresh fish, a newsagent and several bank branches.  All replaced with charity shops, a couple of cafes, a wine bar and a barbers.  Oh, and an undertaker.  Now I don't mind a browse around the charity shops sometimes and may well need the undertaker one day but in the meantime I'd like some "proper" shops.  

We even lost our two pubs - one is now an M&S food hall and the other is a community centre that isn't used to its full potential.

Our local parade of shops consists of a Chinese/Thai take away, a fish shop (awful), two units used by the Council (not open to the public) and a small (expensive) convenience store/off licence selling yet more "junk".

A bit further afield, but still within walking distance, we have a shopping centre with a large Sainsburys, a Homebase, an Argos, an adult gym, a children's gym, a unisex hairdressers, a veterinary/pet food outlet, a Habitat, and a Costa.  There's a library that's well used but, as it also serves as a community hub, the range of books is much more limited than it used to be.  There was also an orthodontist and a travel agency but they've gone recently so those units are now empty.

Auntycaz

When they closed our post office it reopened in our local pub and the one in the next village opened in the local library when theirs closed down. Better for me as its now nearer the bus stop so I don't have to walk so far.