The Shrinking Pound

[emmie]

does anyone remember buying a pint for 14p?

http://money.aol.co.uk/2014/03/07/the-shrinking-value-of-your-pound-remember-when-a-pint-cost-14p/

[Old_Geezer]

I remember when pound notes were bigger.

[theshedman]

Yes early 70s a pint of Starlight cost 13p. Wasn't a good pint but the price was good.

[Old_Geezer]

They had lager in the UK 40 years ago ? Must've been a niche market then. I seem to recall the massive marketing push was about 3 decades ago to capture the youth market. Why did they not list ale instead ?

[Old_Geezer]

And fuel wasn't sold in foreign litres, but proper British Imperial pints !

[emmie]

i remember the white fiver,

[emmie]

wiki
Beer in England pre-dates other alcoholic drinks produced in England, and has been brewed continuously since prehistoric times.[citation needed] As a beer brewing country, England is known for its top fermented cask beer (also called real ale) which finishes maturing in the cellar of the pub rather than at the brewery and is served with only natural carbonation.

English beer styles include bitter, mild, brown ale and old ale. Stout was also originally brewed in London. Lager style beer has increased considerably in popularity since the mid 20th century. Other modern developments include consolidation of large brewers into multinational corporations; growth of beer consumerism; expansion of microbreweries and increased interest in bottle conditioned beers.

[BlueToffee]

My first pint cost me 1/5d, or 1/7d if you drank it in the lounge!

[emmie]

if you look at the link it is quite shocking at the value of the pound, to what you could get, i know wages are a lot higher, but even so,

[emmie]

from the link

The next fastest rise was in the price of houses - which is up 1699% over 40 years.

[DrFilth]

think my first pint was 1/3d

[DrFilth]

think 10 number 6 were 1/9d

[sandyRoe]

I remember pints at three shillings and fourpence. That was 6 for a pound.

[emmie]

its not just the pints of beer, our currency seems to have no value - i can buy 5 basic items, and spend a tenner,

[emmie]

Price rises
The dramatic changes can be seen in the rising prices since 1973
A pint of lager cost 14p. Today it's £2.87
A loaf of bread cost 11p. Today it's £1.30
A pint of milk cost 6p. Today it's 46p
250g of butter was 13p. Now it's £1.42
A dozen eggs were 33p. Today they're £2.78
A Kg of apples cost 28p. Today they're £2.02
A Kg of carrots cost 11p. Now they're 91p
A Kg of sausages cost 58p. Today they're £4.84
A Kg of sugar was 11p. Today it's 93p
Instant coffee was 28p. Today it's £2.67
A kg of self-raising flour was 15p. Today it's £1.19
A litre of diesel fuel was 8p. Today it's £1.41
A detached property cost just under £17,000. Today it's just over £305,000.

[factor-fiction]

It's not just the pound that's shrunk though- the same has happened with every major currency.

[emmie]

perhaps you are right, but i hate seeing money seemingly disappear up in smoke. Getting the shopping and paying the bills is getting harder and harder

[jno]

average wage in 1973 was about £2000, less for women; that's now an average monthly wage. So you an afford to buy more carrots.

[LazyGun]

I bought my first pint in 1976, and I cannot recall the exact price; I think it was somewhere around 50p.

Salaries have also increased, of course, although, probably not by as much as the price of comestibles. I think the average UK salary in 1973 was £2,000 pa.

[Canary42]

I don't remember the actual price but I do remember when you could get a round in for four people and still get change from a £1 note.

[sunny-dave]

It's really not as simple as saying 'oooh look how expensive stuff is now' - hang on I'll find some figures.