"Eeee, when I were a lad...."

Mrs C and I spent the weekend in South London at our daughter's
house, helping out with the gardening, doing a bit of baby-
sitting and "chilling out". When we stay there, we often drink
more alcohol in the evenings, as our hosts keep on offering more
and more of the stuff to drink ... but when good quality wine is
on offer, and there's no car driving to be done, drinking more
booze is very tempting, especially after the first drink or two.

Why does self control disappear after a drink or two, I wonder? :)

During the day on Saturday (while not under the influence, I
hasten to add), I went to the local Esso garage to put more
diesel into the car. I was horrified at the price ... it's shot
up to about £1.30 a litre ... when only a few months ago I was
paying well under a pound. Oil is liquid gold.

I read an interesting post in Keith's blog for 11 May, in which
he priced up the ingredients for a Yorkshire omelette made
for a family of four.

£4.76 at today's prices, compared with 90 pence back in 1991.

I sometimes think about how the price of stuff goes up and up
all the time, but then I ask myself if this matched by rises
in income levels. Comparing present day with the 1960s or
1970s, do you feel better off now, worse off or the same?

I remember the late 1950s, when a large loaf of bread cost ten
old pence (about 4p in new money), but now a good quality
loaf of bread costs over £1. (see this link)

My pocket money in the late 50s was sixpence a week, rising to
a shilling (12 old pence or 5p) in about 1959. I thought this
was quite a lot of money at the time ... as I could get into a
cinema matinee for 6d/7d (until there was an outbreak of polio
one summer, following which film shows for kids were stopped),
and a shilling would but 12 delicious penny chews. I tended
to save my pocket money rather than spend it, though I did buy
several "Noddy" books at 3s 6d each. One of my daughters now
possesses my set of Noddy books.

With hindsight, I should have spent my pocket-money
straightaway, as my younger sister did, and had a bit of fun.

Good grief ... I've just Googled one of the Noddy Books, which
is on eBay. My daughter's Noddy book collection is now worth
a few hundred pounds!