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The Independent UK

National

Vicky Duncan

What £15 would have bought you 15 years ago compared to now

Smarty (Organization)

Here’s what £15 would have bought you 15 years ago – compared to now.

In 2008, based on the average UK price at the time, you could’ve expected to get the best part of seven pints for your money – but now you’d be lucky to get three and a half.

Back then you’d get 14 litres of petrol for £15 – however you’d get around three quarters of that now, 10.8 litres.

And while you’d get somewhere between one and one and half portions of fish and chips now, back then you’d have gotten more than you could ever eat in one go – a whopping six portions.

The findings were revealed by SMARTY mobile which has introduced their new SIM plans, including 150GB of data for £15.

Elin McLean, SMARTY’s general manager, said: “We live in an era of shrinkflation and rising costs, and £15 doesn’t go nearly as far as it used to.

“Everything from the cost of milk through to lotto tickets has increased in price compared to 15 years ago.

“We are constantly reviewing our plans to give more to our customers, increasing the value of our offering and not the price.”

The study also found a pint of milk in 2008 would have set you back less than 50p – more than doubling to £1.05 today.

Even tickets to the National Lottery aren’t immune; where it used to cost £1 for an entry, that now stands at £2.

And a Mega Millions rule change in 2017 also led to bigger jackpots for winners – but reduced the odds of winning in the first place.

The mobile brand also commissioned research of 2,000 adults, which found 86 per cent are fed up of pre-packaged items in shops shrinking in size, but not in price.

Chocolate bars were deemed the most irritating product to encounter this (37 per cent), followed by crisps that seem to contain ‘mostly air’ (31 per cent).

The same amount are fed up at broadband or TV providers putting their prices up at the drop of a hat.

And 15 per cent have even noticed a total wipeout – their toilet rolls seem to be shrinking in size, according to the OnePoll.com figures.

As a result, 82 per cent believe too many brands are taking their customers for granted, and 86 per cent think they should be doing more to support buyers at this time – not less.

Overall, adults believe utilities offer the worst value for money (39 per cent) followed by groceries (36 per cent) and cars (23 per cent).

A little under a fifth (17 per cent) feel ripped off by mobile phone contracts and 16 per cent are fed up with mark-ups when dining out.

In fact, half of Londoners (50 per cent) have stopped using goods or services in the last 12 months due to price rises or getting less value for money.

And it was also Londoners coming out top (38 per cent) to say they have less disposable income now than they’ve ever had before, with millennials topping the table (38 per cent) for the same thing.

However, with energy bills expected to fall in October, they’ll be hoping to see some improvement in their financial circumstances.

What things cost 15 years ago, compare to now: