There's been a lot of talk about how energy bills are going to worsen the cost of living crisis for people this month.
Worth noting that a lot of people's MOBILE bills are about to do it, too.
They tend to include inflation increase clauses that hit roughly now.
Energy bill increases hit primary rent payers or home owners.
Suddenly discovering your phone bill has gone up by a tenner per month (depending on provider) is something that makes EVERYONE wince a bit.
This is because phone providers love to link contracts to the Retail Price Index and "it's inflation. Honest" is a lovely excuse for a big bill rise.
So watch your inbox for a generic seeming email on 'minor' changes to your contract, which will casually mention a 10%+ increase in your bill.
Also, a gentle reminder to people that:
"This is why I buy my phone outright and use <cheap SIM contract>"
Is a sort of hipster version of:
"The kids today need to cut back on phones and save their money"
It's just a different kind of privilege assumption.
It assumes that someone can achieve the level of cash-on-hand that enables them to purchase the phone they want.
Alternately, it assumes they grew up in a household in which saving money was possible and a thing they have been taught and are able to internalise.
Bluntly: If you grow up poor or in a household where money-management isn't something your parents were good at, then it can be an intense mental struggle to do it as an adult. Even if you have the opportunity to do so that they didn't
This is one reason why things like phone bill price increases, or other monthly costs and micro-loans linked to RPI increases will hit the poor disproportionately hard this month.
It's not just that they can afford it the least. It's that the ways to avoid those costs hitting you hard require spending money up front.
@jo_the_hat @marktyndall @garius PSHE = Pratchett Social Health Education
"Homework tonight will be based on pages 120 - 140 of Equal Rites. PDF copies of the relevant section can be downloaded from the website"
@garius Virgin Media/Mobile and O2 prices going up 17.3%. All the while the staff salaries were set to increase by only 2% in 2023 and were set there in Jan 2022
To smack the employees in the face even harder they are congratulating themselves about profits being up last quarter as well
My BT bill is going up 14% this month.
Tied to the Consumer Price Index, apparently.
Which would make sense if I wasn't on a business broadband contract!
(It's basically a bullshit excuse to put broadband prices up to match the cost of tomatoes, even as wholesale energy prices are dropping. Bastards.)
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