The thing I like least about the recent wave of inflation is having to now forensically check every cafe/restaurant menu to decide whether I can afford to eat there. Never really had to do that before. But prices are soaring while my freelance income remains much the same.
Something I've noticed about restaurants in this cost of living crisis... if it's an existing restaurant, it'll put up prices but feel the need to have some continuity with their previous prices.
If it's a new restaurant replacing an old one, they just jump straight to high prices, the $35 bowls of pasta etc. And I never pass through their doors.
Dining out has gotten ridiculous. We’ve cut way back, but last night we took our daughter out to dinner… two grilled salmon sandwiches that were mostly bread and an ahi rice bowl that was mostly rice, $96. Add a 20% wage adjustment for our server and we were at $115. Add 3 drinks and we were at $170.
Seriously?? The Met Gala theme is all about "celebrating clothing and fashion so delicate it could never be worn again"?
How much more tone-deaf could one be, than to celebrate planned obsolescence and conspicuous consumption in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis (not to mention the climate crisis)? #MetGala#PlannedObsolescence#sustainability#ClimateCrisis#CostOfLiving
The big price rises at cafes and restaurants are helping me save money, because there are red lines I will not cross.
Eg I'm not paying more than $15 for a sandwich or $25 for a pub/cafe main. And I'm definitely not paying double figures for a slice of cake! Jesus.
Pubs and bars are getting a bit cheeky with pricing zero-alcohol beers too. I don't mind $9-$10 for a Heaps Normal, but no way am I paying $12. It's soft drink after all, get real.
Malaysian and Philippine #unions discuss #LivingWage and decoupling of #productivity and wages, "It is evident that the global economic system is a failure that only favours few owners of #capital"
Just read on FB a young mum bemoaning the fact it costs £45 for her teenage lad to attend the high #school prom, plus around £200 for suit hire (for just 4 hours!). Some other mums are trying to help her, but I was just thinking "why the fuck did we import this whole concept from the USA in the first place?" What was wrong with the "end of term school disco?"
Don't get me wrong about the linked news bulletin on public sector wages. I am very very very happy and grateful (especially to my Union!) to be getting a 3% raise as of April 1st. This is one of the biggest single-year raises I’ve had in 23.5 years working at VIU.
But the cost of a loaf of bread has increased by 100%, and no I am not exaggerating, in the past year alone so....
We just received our "jaarafrekening". This is the final yearly invoice sent by our energy company. They are about to pay us €252, and we will continue to pay them €5 per month next year, just like last year. i.e. overall our energy company is paying us about €200 for last year's electricity. Everything in our home is powered by electricity. No gas connection. No wood burner.
Nothing that we've done to achieve a negative energy bill was especially expensive. In particular, our installation of a air-air heat pump and a couple of extra solar panels cost far less than several of our neighbours paid for the wood burning stoves they've installed, which stink up the neighbourhood all through winter.
We also don't have to buy wood to burn.
People concerned about the cost of heating with gas buy woodburners at a higher rate than heat pumps largely because they have no idea about the relative costs. If they knew, perhaps we could have clean air.
I'll write a comprehensive blog post at the end of March about energy consumption, costs & emissions due to the heatpump vs. gas this winter. I can tell you already that we using a lot less total energy now.
The African Development Bank is warning that the rising cost of energy, food and other commodities in several African countries, including Angola, Ethiopia and Kenya, could trigger social unrest. Already, people in Africa's most populous country, Nigeria, have been marching to protest the high cost of living, prompting the...
Only £1 over the direct debit for Gas & electricity this month (credit on the account deals with this). Seeing how standing charges account for around £23 of the total and the stupid cost of electricity I'm not sure how we could do any better and considering what i see some others paying per month we're getting by without too much in the way of shocks.
Pisser is we were paying a third of this only a few years ago. #CostOfLiving#GasAndElectricity#UK
Lidl offering me 15% off a welding helmet. How I'm not running down there right now to avail myself of this offer is a mystery. #sarcasm#CostofLiving#UK#coupons
A report into soaring grocery prices, rising energy bills and steep airfares will be released on Wednesday amid expectations its findings and recommendations will cause a headache for some of the country's biggest and most powerful companies.
It comes amid a cost of living crisis that has intensified an already-growing distrust of supermarkets, airlines and energy companies.
At the heart of the price gouging inquiry, initiated by the ACTU and led by Allan Fels, is determining in a high inflation environment what's general inflation and what else might be influencing pricing behaviour, the main offending price gouging industries, how they do it and how it impacts everyday Australians.
Fewer Koreans are getting married due to rising costs of weddings and apartment rentals. In this context, the decrease in marriages may be the leading cause of the country's falling birthrate since most couples only have children after marrying.
African Development Bank: High Cost of Living in Africa Could Cause Unrest (www.voanews.com)
The African Development Bank is warning that the rising cost of energy, food and other commodities in several African countries, including Angola, Ethiopia and Kenya, could trigger social unrest. Already, people in Africa's most populous country, Nigeria, have been marching to protest the high cost of living, prompting the...