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Craig Earl
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 13 July 2019
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1654
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| Posted: 23 January 2026 at 7:07am | IP Logged | 1
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I live down in Kent in the UK (South East of the country) and my wife and I both work full time. We try to go away once or twice a year, but we don't do an awful lot of socialising (maybe I'll meet with friends every five or six weeks). We are comfortable but sensible with our money, and live within our means. For us, it's all about saving for a retirement that is (hopefully) not too far away.
What you get for your money these days is so much less than it used to be ('shrinkflation' is alive and well in the UK).
I happened to catch an episode of 80's UK TV series MInder recently, where the main character visited a newsagents with a confectionery stall. Those choc bars looked at least one and a half times bigger than today's options!
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Greg McPhee
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 August 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 5181
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| Posted: 23 January 2026 at 7:33am | IP Logged | 2
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Craig, I every now and again succumb to having a Yorkie bar.
I have noticed they have gotten smaller, but more expensive over the past few years.
And don’t get me started on the size or number of Jaffa Cakes in a pack now.
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Bill Collins
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 May 2005
Location: England
Posts: 11511
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| Posted: 23 January 2026 at 7:39am | IP Logged | 3
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Shrinkflation is definitely on the rise. I remember when
Curly Wurly bars were a good 10" long, and it isn't an
optical illusion cos i now have adult hands! Terry Scott
a U.K. comedy actor used to adverise them on tv an adult
dressed as a schoolboy and they were definitely that big
in his hands!I remember the cardboard inside the
packaging of certain chocolate bars, Bounty springs to
mind. But in the last 20 years the manufacturers have
sneakily pumped up the ends of the packaging of chocolate
bars, so it seems you're getting more. Also i have seen
on a fair few 70's nostalgia sites comparisons with the
size of 70's and modern chocolate wrappers.I don't mind
price rises in restaurants too much in the U.K. as the
minimum wage keeps rising and we don't have the tipping
system the U.S. has.Don't forget we had shrinkflation in
comics, reduced page counts, but the price stayed the
same, then went up. It's why i stopped buying them as
they just weren't value for money anymore.As for
holidays, we holiday in the U.K. nowadays for various
reasons and i know it would be cheaper to holiday
abroad.My previous job i worked at for 25 years and
initially it was fine, then we were sold to a quite well
known U.S. company and were doing fantastically well,
then one of the head honchos in the U.S. was found to be
embezzling money to an offshore account in the Caribbean.
To cut a long story short the company was banned from
trading on the U.K. stock exchange and we were sold again
to try and cover the money lost. The new owner a member
of the House of Lords no less was already known to be a
shady character, stealing the pensions of one company he
owned, falsely claiming £30,000 of expenses for
"commuting" to Parliament, which he claimed was a
misunderstanding due to the language barrier despite him
living in the U.K. since the early 60's and was allowed
to pay back with no futher consequences, and a few years
later the group as a whole was put into administraion and
we all lost our jobs, the shady Lord's billions safely
ring-fenced. So i know big business can be very shady and
poorly run.
Also i rarely go to gigs nowadays as i refuse to pay
100's of pounds for a ticket, i remember when it was £5
for an arena gig, and i just feel it's a rip off
nowadays.
Edited by Bill Collins on 23 January 2026 at 7:41am
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Edward Aycock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 13 July 2024
Location: United States
Posts: 113
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| Posted: 23 January 2026 at 12:24pm | IP Logged | 4
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As it's Easter season in a couple months, look at how small the Cadbury Creme Egg has become.
Edited by Edward Aycock on 23 January 2026 at 1:32pm
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Trevor Smith
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 3646
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| Posted: 23 January 2026 at 12:36pm | IP Logged | 5
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I'm convinced that that's the reason for the move to
packaging them in a plastic shell, as opposed to the old
foil wrap - harder to notice how small they've become.
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Michael Penn
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 13098
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| Posted: 23 January 2026 at 1:44pm | IP Logged | 6
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I feel like this topic might violate the JBF rule to not start a negative thread... just kidding, but... OUCH, inflation...!!! Brutal.
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Dave Kopperman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 December 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3887
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| Posted: 23 January 2026 at 1:58pm | IP Logged | 7
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@James & Greg: thanks for the poop about Veolia. That certainly aligns with my experience as a customer/outside observer; not particularly helpful or knowledgeable help desk, opaque or non-existent community outreach, the general feeling like actually serving their residential customers runs counter to their business plan.
I can only imagine they bought a water company in southern New York State because they knew that there was going to be a lot of tech expansion in the region - not because the existing Joe Homeowner market was so lucrative.
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Dave Kopperman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 December 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3887
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| Posted: 23 January 2026 at 2:01pm | IP Logged | 8
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I should add for context (in a thread about the cost of living): water rates have not noticeably risen since Veolia took over.
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Edward Aycock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 13 July 2024
Location: United States
Posts: 113
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| Posted: 23 January 2026 at 2:15pm | IP Logged | 9
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Dave, I am so water aware. I often go to the NY City Reservoir Watch site during drought times to see where we are. Thankfully, in an apt, I take maybe 5-10 minute showers and don't have a lawn or car.
As for cost of living, remember on "Arrested Development" when Lucille asked Michael, "How much could one banana cost? Ten dollars?" and we all thought that was funny?
Edited by Edward Aycock on 23 January 2026 at 3:28pm
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135566
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| Posted: 23 January 2026 at 2:55pm | IP Logged | 10
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I live alone in a house formerly occupied by a family of 5. So I figure my long showers actually represent a reduction in water usage!
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Steve Coates
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 November 2014
Location: Canada
Posts: 907
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| Posted: 23 January 2026 at 4:31pm | IP Logged | 11
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We have a 262' deep water well with perforations from 162' to 262' and produces about 5 gallons per minute. So, water is not a problem. Typically while I shower. I shut the water to soap up and open the water to rinse. There is considerable reduction of soap and water usage.
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Steve Coates
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 November 2014
Location: Canada
Posts: 907
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| Posted: 23 January 2026 at 4:37pm | IP Logged | 12
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Calgary had a watermain break in June 2024 and another break recently.The piping has exceeded its life expectance and will continue to rupture, but there does not seem to be any proactive repair measures planned.
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