Following the announcements of the Autumn Statement, people are questioning how it will affect the cost of living? There is no real wage growth, a rise in inflation and the cost of living is increasing. Mr Lender, a UK based short term loan provider, takes a look at the Good the Bad and the Ugly…
The Good
Let’s start with the good – welcoming news is the increase in the living wage to £7.50, which can mean an increase of 30p an hour from next April making a huge difference for many people.
For people in rented accommodation they will be saving on the extra costs that the agents have been pocketing in the past.
The personal allowance – the sum you can earn each year before paying tax – will increase as planned to £11,500 from April 2017, so we can keep a bit more for our living costs.
From September 2017 parents of pre-schoolers will be cheering as the childcare scheme will be increased to 30 free hours, parents working more than 16 hours a week and earning less than £100,000 a year will be able to claim an additional 15 extra childcare hours to the 15 hours already available.
For the motorists with fuel being a major out-going the news that Fuel Duty will be frozen will be welcoming news as this can look at saving the average car driver £130 a year and van driver £350 a year.
The Bad
If you are looking to go on holiday, the hopes of the cut to Air Passenger Duty sadly were not mentioned, meaning the cost in 2017 could be £150 for long haul flights and £75 on economy flights over 2,000 miles.
The Ugly
Additional costs such as owning a car will be an ugly cost as the increase in insurance premium tax from 10% to 12% in June 2017 will add to the cost of buying car insurance. The AA says the average policy will cost £10.70 a year more after the change.
If none of this is going to help cut living costs as we so wished, perhaps we will have to take the matter into our own hands and create a new way of living for the new year.
Perhaps look at cutting your bills by shopping around and comparing energy bills with comparison services which can be easily found and used online via price comparison websites.
Next time you do your food and household shopping try swapping some well – known brands for own brands and value products you will be surprised how much you save and don’t actually sacrifice taste or quality and one rule we always stand by is ‘NEVER SHOP WHEN YOU ARE HUNGRY’.
You may find another major saving in checking your Council Tax band, it’s such a major living cost yet most people would never challenge the monthly charge. If you do take 10 minutes to check and challenge your named band you could slash the cost and perhaps even receive a rebate from previous years.
Challenge and haggle all your household bills and costs and you won’t lose a thing, but you may gain a few extra pounds in your pocket and a winning feeling!