What's no longer good value for money?

Mrbeatceast

energy prices 

overspender22

Now TV subscription. Last time i had it it was £5.99 and it’s now £9.99!

Nasqueron

overspender22 said:

Now TV subscription. Last time i had it it was £5.99 and it’s now £9.99!

And you still get adverts / sponsorship

I think when my current boxset is done, I'll cancel it and we can watch something on Prime which other half has

Exodi

Airport parking (though I'm not sure there are many alternatives)!

It was only a few years ago where I would pay maybe £40 for a week at a park and ride (e.g. APH, Purple, etc).

Now - over double that. God knows what's gone on to cause airport parking to double/triple in cost in just a few years?

From reading news articles, it seems to imply it might be to make up for the airline losses incurred during Covid?

Going out for dinner is another one. God forbid you get alcoholic drinks with your meals....

Middle_of_the_Road

Fish and chips. Used to be a cheap meal... now more like fine dining prices.

penners324

TV tax. You get charged it whether you watch the BBC or not. Ludicrous 

jbrassy

The triple lock on state pensions. It's basically a mechanism to milk young people of their income to maintain the wealth of the older generation.

Exodi

jbrassy said:

The triple lock on state pensions. It's basically a mechanism to milk young people of their income to maintain the wealth of the older generation.

I agree. Despite it being inherently unsustainable (and everyone knowing this), taxpayers are forced to pay for it because older people tend to turn up to vote more than younger people, and politicians are acutely aware of this.

Just look at the last couple of years. Inflation surges in 2022-2023, pensioners enjoy a 10.1% increase on account of inflation. Workers wages increase in response to inflation in 2023-2024, pensioners enjoy a 8.5% increase on account of worker pay increases, a tasty little double dip (and this was counted during the month where many public sector workers received one off bonuses, meaning the earnings figure was higher than it should have been. Even the idea of removing the bonuses from the equation and increasing pensions by a meager 7.8% caused absolute uproar among pensioners which politicians couldn't be bothered to deal with).

I could have only dreamed of receiving a 10.1% increase followed by a 8.5% increase.

Which is fine if I reach retirement and they're still piling on annual mickey mouse increases, and it's my turn to repeat to young people that it's harder for me to get a job than it is for them to get a third or fourth job. Unfortunately for me (and the youngsters) it will inevitably need to be gutted in the future as public pensions are already an unfathomably large liability. Or the increase in retirement age outpacing the increase in average life expectancy. Unfortunately most political parties aren't willing to prematurely terminate their governship by making pension changes, especially as newspapers love dusting off the dated and archaic stereotype from the 1900's that pensioners are all poor.

Nonetheless, you need to be careful voicing a view like that on a forum like this (especially one that skews to an older demographic) lest be you be met with typically unrelated replies about how they 'paid into the system' (though are usually net beneficiaries of the tax system).

ColdIron

Hurrah for the triple lock. I'm retired and have 'paid into the system'. I would also support a huge engorgement of NHS funding now that I might need it

Exodi

ColdIron said:

Hurrah for the triple lock. I'm retired and have 'paid into the system'. I would also support a huge engorgement of NHS funding now that I might need it

Witty, though I'll probably be the same when I retire, who knows.

HillStreetBlues

Tipping since introduction of higher rates minimum wage.