Inflation check.

[touchring]

Prices of everything has been rising in singapore recent 3 months, i'm getting a little irritated.

Just like to check with you folks living in different places if the following items have become more expensive recently?

1. Milk.
2. Bread.
3. Soya Milk.
4. Chicken meat.
5. Pump price - another hike today.

Anything else?

btw, do you guys know it is possible to change your paypal balance to another currency? I just did that, not sure i did the right thing.

[Rubber Duck]

You can have balances in several currencies all at the same time, but it costs to change money and is not particularly cheap.

Originally Posted by touchring

Prices of everything has been rising in singapore recent 3 months, i'm getting a little irritated.

Just like to check with you folks living in different places if the following items have become more expensive recently?

1. Milk.
2. Bread.
3. Soya Milk.
4. Chicken meat.
5. Pump price - another hike today.

Anything else?

btw, do you guys know it is possible to change your paypal balance to another currency? I just did that, not sure i did the right thing.

[jacksonm]

Here in .fi, gasoline prices are creeping back toward what they were a year ago. Diesel has traditionally been stable, while gasoline fluctuates with the markets. However, recently Diesel has also started fluctuating. And the government recently voted to tack on a 3 euro cents per litre tax on Diesel to make up for some unrelated revenue shortcomings. Add this on top of the so-called "diesel tax" that owners of Diesel engine cars have to pay every year (about 600 EURO).

Real estate has climbed like hell over the past few years as well, to the point of being out of reach for most people. Food prices have remained stable at the supermarket, but restaurants are raising prices.

.

[touchring]

Originally Posted by jacksonm

Here in .fi, gasoline prices are creeping back toward what they were a year ago. Diesel has traditionally been stable, while gasoline fluctuates with the markets. However, recently Diesel has also started fluctuating. And the government recently voted to tack on a 3 euro cents per litre tax on Diesel to make up for some unrelated revenue shortcomings. Add this on top of the so-called "diesel tax" that owners of Diesel engine cars have to pay every year (about 600 EURO).

Real estate has climbed like hell over the past few years as well, to the point of being out of reach for most people. Food prices have remained stable at the supermarket, but restaurants are raising prices.

.

Why would real estate be climbing when .fi has all the lake front land it wants?

Restaurant prices are tied to rent inflation.

I think either you'll soon experience commodities inflation later the year, or the tax is so high, the basic commodity cost is negligible!

[bwhhisc]

Originally Posted by jacksonm

Food prices have remained stable at the supermarket, but restaurants are raising prices.

Restaurant prices are definately on the move up, a lot of it having to do with the added fuel cost to deliver the food.
Also cost of cooking with propane or natural gas has risen, as have nearly all plastic items, paper and chemicals.
Benefits for employees, particularly health care goes up 10-20% a year, although many restaurants do not offer this.
Restaurant prices in particular for mid-range and lower ends have not taken many increases over the past years
and now they are forced to adjust to stay in business.

[jacksonm]

Originally Posted by touchring

Why would real estate be climbing when .fi has all the lake front land it wants?

Lakefront property is not generally for sale in Finland, all owned by the government. There are some available, but not like in the USA where every square inch of lakefront property is built on.

In Finland, most people live in high-rise apartment buildings with very tiny apartments. In fact most of the property in the country is government owned and you simply can not buy it. The government is very tight about releasing new tracts of land for sale to build on, and they generally don't do it for private people - only for companies who want to build apartments.

Sure, there are single houses available, but they are in the price range of over 10 years average salary. Most apartments are in the price range of 1-2 years average salary. Also, apartments are not generally rented here, they are all owned.

.

[touchring]

I found this interesting chart.



http://bigpicture.typepad.com/

[zenmarketing]

I'd like to see one that includes food and energy.

[jacksonm]

Originally Posted by zenmarketing

I'd like to see one that includes food and energy.

Talk about supply and demand wrt electricity...

Finland can't produce enough electricity for itself, so it normally buys from Sweden and Russia. The Finnish authorities said that if it gets really cold this winter then they will have to institute 2-hour rolling blackouts in order to meet demand, since Russia and Sweden will cut back on supply in order to serve themselves.

Power companies are in the position to raise the prices just about as high as they want.

.

[touchring]

Oil $97. They just hiked the gas prices again yesterday! Smells like price fixing and signaling. So far, gas prices has lagged behind oil prices causing a squeeze on refinery margins. Analysts believe that if oil prices sustains around the 90-100 level until end of this year, gas prices will soar next year.

[Rubber Duck]

Originally Posted by touchring

Oil $97. They just hiked the gas prices again yesterday! Smells like price fixing and signaling. So far, gas prices has lagged behind oil prices causing a squeeze on refinery margins. Analysts believe that if oil prices sustains around the 90-100 level until end of this year, gas prices will soar next year.

Dollar's gone Walkabout!

Originally Posted by jacksonm

Talk about supply and demand wrt electricity...

Finland can't produce enough electricity for itself, so it normally buys from Sweden and Russia. The Finnish authorities said that if it gets really cold this winter then they will have to institute 2-hour rolling blackouts in order to meet demand, since Russia and Sweden will cut back on supply in order to serve themselves.

Power companies are in the position to raise the prices just about as high as they want.

.

Tip. Buy yourself a buzz saw!

[touchring]

Originally Posted by Rubber Duck

Dollar's gone Walkabout!

Inflation is caused by excessive printing of money.

[Rubber Duck]

Originally Posted by touchring

Inflation is caused by excessive printing of money.

Inflation is actually caused by people being paid more than they earn, but the two are closely related.

[jacksonm]

Originally Posted by Rubber Duck

Tip. Buy yourself a buzz saw!

I've already got a couple of cubic metres of wood under the stairs. If it gets cold, I'll just fire up the sauna. It's about 12m2, so more than enough room for us. I am not too concerned, though; we don't have electric heating, anyway.

.