Is Sussex & Surrey Becoming Too Expensive to Live In?

We talk frankly about why life in Sussex & Surrey seems to get more expensive every month — from energy and water bills to rent, trains and the weekly shop. We share the everyday frustrations people are feeling and the practical ways households are trying to cope, cut waste and push back against rising costs.

In this episode we cover:

• Rising utility bills and the debate around Net Zero and infrastructure
• House prices, the rental squeeze and what it means for younger people
• Commuting costs and train fares that feel worse value each year
• Grocery inflation, shrinkflation and ways to reduce food waste
• Council Tax rises, public services and the wider cost-of-living pressures

We also have some fun myth busting:

• The optimal thermostat setting at home (and Peter the Heater)
• Our shopping habits & the fury at self-serve checkouts
• How 'out-of-date' would you eat a yogurt to save wastage? 

Roundtable Featuring: Graham Dearing (Special Guest), Maureen Jones, Georgie Lucas, Iqbal Khan, Aga Es & James Tidy. Host: Clive Hilton. 

Please click on 'Send a text' above & join our Facebook group to share your perspective and suggestions for future topics - Thank you for your interest! Clive.

Transcript

Cost Of Living Sets The Tone

SPEAKER_05 0:00

Welcome to the Sussex and Surrey Soapbox. Real viewpoints, real opinions, and a balanced conversation on the community issues that matter.

SPEAKER_08 0:09

So welcome back. It's this Sussex and Surrey Soapbox. And this week we are getting into the cost of living. We've listened to you. A lot of the polls that we've been running. Cost of living has come up at the very tops across Sussex and Surrey is something that really matters. James.

SPEAKER_02 0:26

Yeah, absolutely appalling. The way that the uh increases in energy has driven up the cost of everything from the goods produced to your to just heating your own home. Um, we've been constantly told that energy is going to go down. Ed Minibank's saying that net zero is the future, net zero is a future. We're subsidizing it, spending tens of billions of pounds to do so. And does anybody actually believe him? Does anybody actually think that Ed Miniban's mad net zero idea will bring energy prices down? We used to have far cheaper energy that was similar to places like America and it's gone through the roof. It's it's totally insane what we are doing. And it's it's not only costing people, but also manufacturing and businesses can't cope in a country where energy prices are the highest industrial energy prices in the world.

SPEAKER_07 1:16

And the business taxes. That's another thing, isn't it? Those are rising. I don't think the war in Iran is going to help. We're in trouble.

SPEAKER_08 1:24

And and and and this is it, right? Oil prices already with the issue in the Middle East, oil prices are on the rise, and again it's spotlighting why aren't we making more use of the North Sea because of net zero, James, and what you're saying? Have we got our strategy wrong? Does it need to be updated? I never used to pay attention to the gas bill and let but now, absolutely. You know, it's funny, isn't it, how times change and um the heating is still for me in use and that needs to go off, I think, as we get into April.

SPEAKER_02 1:58

I I don't have central heating, so it's log fires still for me and coal fires. Um but yes, they're still on, they're still on when they need to be. Um but that does make their heating bill very cheap because it's just price of biological.

Water Bills And Sewage Capacity Fears

SPEAKER_08 2:10

But it's probably cheaper to build a bonfire in your lounge than it is to put the gas heating on for it. Well, exactly. But the other thing is is the water. We're thinking about housing development, all these new houses. Have we got the infrastructure to sort? I mean, for me personally, South East Water have only just lifted the host pipe ban three weeks ago, despite us swimming in water.

SPEAKER_03 2:31

Yeah, I've just had my water bill, and last year we were paying£54 a month, and we've got exactly the same consumption it shows on the graph on the back. And this year they've told me it's£97 a month. So I I actually phoned um the water company and said, you know, why is that? And she said, Oh, it's gone up 11%. So I said£11 on£54 is£97. So she said, Oh, well we'll we'll we'll have a look into it, we'll send somebody around to just check it out. But I just thought that's that's obscene. If it is£97 a month for two people, I don't think we're using an excessive amount of water, we've not got a particularly big garden. I certainly haven't had to water it for the last few months. Um, it's uh but it's it's not the only bill that gets gone up. Every single other bill has gone up too. So it's just out of control, it's sort of spiralling now, and it's just but I feel it's outrageous.

SPEAKER_08 3:21

You know, have you had the little letter? They send a letter where it's a short story about how life in the water world is very difficult, that made these savings, and by the way, you're gonna now pay more to help them. I I don't know what other business on the planet can go back to their customers and say, look, you know, trading's a little tough for us at the moment. We're gonna put your prices up and you're gonna pay it. Your direct debit next month, by the way, is up. I I I just think it's outrageous.

SPEAKER_03 3:49

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_07 3:50

For sure. Southern water as well, uh absolutely terrible. You have you seen how much they dump into the ocean in Werving in Brighton? Absolutely disgusting. If you go to Werving on a sunny day, the water is brown. Yeah, I don't even let my kids go into it. Like you could see it.

SPEAKER_02 4:09

You like yes, they are dumping um a lot waste, but that that's not why the water's brown. The water's brown just because it's it's sludgy, shallow water. That it's just bringing that up. It's not brown because of that reason. But no, they absolutely are. Um in Crawley, we we had when it was decided to be a new town, they said this town will never ever go over 120,000 people. We're already over that, and they want to build another housing development. So the sewage waste is already at maximum capacity to then retrospectively add capacity on is extremely expensive because they're putting more and more um sewage waste going through the old the old ways. So it's it's it's a numbers thing. It's where do we deal with all these people? Where can where how can we deal with this the all these new people that come into this country? Well, we're at capacity. We're at capacity. Reform UK has arrived.

SPEAKER_09 5:04

Of course.

SPEAKER_07 5:05

Immigration is the problem.

SPEAKER_08 5:06

We're gently hinting at the water companies.

SPEAKER_02 5:11

We're Crawley was supposed to never exceed 120,000 people. Do you think that we should exceed 120,000 people? That's that's the simple that's the for for people in Crawley. That's yes, I do.

SPEAKER_07 5:22

I mean, we've got areas all around us we can expand.

SPEAKER_04 5:24

Of course we can't infrastructure though.

SPEAKER_07 5:28

Yeah, of course, but then that's what they need to work on. It's not you can't just say should we grow or shouldn't we grow it? We should say, yes, we should, but we should do it properly. So where's the way of doing things? Me, I'm not planning to build anywhere.

SPEAKER_02 5:40

Where should where should the people go? Um and it's this isn't this isn't about immigration, this is about a town like Cordick. No, no, but having to grow it doesn't have space. Most towns, most most towns and cities have got a lot more land around them. We we don't.

SPEAKER_07 5:54

Okay, so we grow with the all the areas that have already been given planning permission, which have been loads. If you go towards where I live, Kingwoodville, and all the way past that towards Horsham, it's the but they just need to do it properly. So which destroys nature.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

All I can say is please stay away from my green belt. I bought where I bought for a reason.

SPEAKER_07 6:14

I mean, I understand it destroys nature, but at the same time, they've already been given the planning permission. I I'm not in control of that. All I'm saying is they've got the planning permission. As long as they do it properly. We've got Gatwick Airport here. We have somewhere where firstly we are blessed in cruelly to have such big companies here, Virgin's here, Boeing's here, uh Nestle's here, sorry. We have a lot of and we yeah, w why shouldn't we grow? Why shouldn't we expand it? And Gatwick's expanding. Like I've got kids here who are living here who are gonna live who I want them to have more opportunities here. And they have them. And the only way they'll get more opportunities and more people have opportunities is by growing. But like I said, as long as they do it properly.

SPEAKER_08 6:57

And I I think this is the bit we're all agreeing on that that that growth is a good thing. If if you're flying in, you see lots of greenland, there's lots of space, but the difficulty is the infrastructure, the water, the supplies, the education, the nurses, and in fact.

SPEAKER_07 7:13

We need the right people in place who would do it properly. How do you mean sorry? Yeah, what does property look like? Property looks like to make sure the infrastructure is done properly, the the water, the schools, and everything else that he just mentioned.

SPEAKER_02 7:25

But I I don't know, apart from perhaps Tilgate Park. Uh have you driven past Horsham, Kilmwood Vale, all the way to the street. No, that's that's not that's not Crawley there.

SPEAKER_07 7:33

No, no, but it to me it to me it's the same thing. It's it's if you're expanding the surrounding area.

SPEAKER_02 7:38

The surrounding area. I'm not as better about it. This is the exact issue, is that all all so yes, this is Horsham, and they're building connecting onto Crawley, which means we deal with the waste. People with the um i feel development, there's not gonna be any major through road, so they're gonna have to revert back into crawley. Well, hopefully they do it properly. They aren't planning on to though. Okay, well that's that's and this is the issue, right?

SPEAKER_08 8:01

Also in Copthorne, other places, there's lots of housing development, but is it is it really done in a considered thought? And I think this is the concern of communities. So, are people gonna go to the doctors? Where are they gonna go to school? How are we gonna get the water? I think if it's a scalable, if this was a business, we would be thinking about these aspects and and and covering off. And and that's what we mean by properly, I guess.

SPEAKER_07 8:24

So Kilmoodville, um, I'll be honest with you, they didn't do it properly. It's an example of what not to do. They rushed it, the roads are always flooded, they don't even have shops there, they've been there for about ten years. We only just got a bus a few months ago from the number that goes through. So there are ways to do things and there's ways not to do them. All this about not growing and you have to.

House Prices And Rent Reality Check

SPEAKER_08 8:46

I'll tell you what, it would be good to do housing development. Let's get a city planner here who can ask you. Someone from Hovis what good looks like. But getting back to the cost of living, anyone guess about what the average house price is in this area for a detached house? Let's start with a detached house. In Bedgeworth? Uh in in Surrey. Just generally, on average, in Surrey, a detached house, what do you think?

SPEAKER_00 9:09

Upwards of 400 grand.

SPEAKER_08 9:11

It's 960. I should say 500. 960. 960 for a detached house in Surrey is the average.

SPEAKER_07 9:19

And do you know what that is in Sussex?

SPEAKER_08 9:21

Uh not in Sussex, but I can tell you the average property, whether it's detached or not, across all of Surrey is 590. But if you want to detach, the average is nine, almost a million. Now, if you look at the wider, wider southeast area, average house price is 381,000. So particularly in Surrey, it's a bit of a hot spot, commuter belt. England as a whole, let's say, 292,000 is the average house price. So it's double in Surrey and quadruple if it's a detached house. So when we're thinking about the cost of living, that's one aspect. Now, if you're on the renting side, not much better. Anyone guess what the average rent is? Average property in this area.

SPEAKER_02 10:06

No, it'd be about six.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

What is an average property? Typically?

SPEAKER_08 10:12

So it is 1,400 a month. But as we know, we know people that are renting 1,600, if not more. In fact, rental is probably more expensive than mortgages, even with the mortgage rates where they are. So anyone that's finding it difficult to get on the housing ladder who's having to go through some rental, it's really, really difficult. Really tough. What else from a cost of living perspective are we are we seeing and noticing?

SPEAKER_03 10:40

My dog insurance has virtually doubled. But I think that might be his age. But um, you know, I've never touched wood, I've never made a claim on it. Um, but just every single, every single thing that comes in, because this is the time of year that the bills come in, isn't it? And every single thing that comes in has gone up uh ridiculously, and you just look at it and you think, oh god, no, not another one. Um I I you know I I don't know how people who live alone actually cope. I think you need to have two incomes in in any household, really. I think it's it's it's very, very sad that um and I think this this I but manually I bang on about community, but if you're both working flat out, or the whole family's working flat out, you don't have time to build community, you don't have time to have social activities, you don't have time to have a uh a a chat with the woman next door who might be struggling with her new baby or her I don't know, her menopause or her whatever it is. And I think that that then creates a whole different level of problems. And I think that the whole thing is just, you know, it's it's just too expensive to live. It's it is, you know, and my daughter was in Barcelona at the weekend, she said, Mum, I couldn't believe how cheap it is out here. She said, We've been out having dinner every night. It's just, you know, a quarter of the price of a home. Um, you know, why is it that in our country everything is just you just pay through the nose for everything?

SPEAKER_01 11:56

Don't you think though, think you like you talk about your dog insurance? And I've had the same thing with my pet insurance. And you know, I thought, well, that's jumped up, and I again I've not claimed whatever. But don't you find you ring up, you you have to kind of monitor these things, and if you actually get on the phone to them, it's like amazing how quick they can drop it. That's my first job tomorrow, actually. We'll reduce that. So they these companies, these people corporations and companies, they're just they're just unscrupulous. They just put it up because they think they can. And when everyone's talking about cost of living going up, that gives them even more excuse to hike it because everything else is going up, actually. And they hope you won't notice.

SPEAKER_03 12:30

At the end of the letter, it did say, you know, you've been with us for a long time, you might find a better deal elsewhere. I mean, yeah, it's insane, isn't it, that they have to they have to put that, you know. But I I will find a better deal elsewhere and with the likes of water supply, you don't really have a big choice, do you? I mean, you don't literally have a choice at all. That's right. But also going back, I mean, going back to the pet insurance, it's because uh, and this is another subject we can talk about, is that all the vets are now, you know, in groups, uh, and they can just charge whatever they want. A monopoly. So, yeah, exactly. So it's um it just doesn't help doesn't help the consumer. Oh, okay.

Net Zero And Energy Security Clash

SPEAKER_01 13:01

I I I'd like to say, you know, James was talking about um uh coal and fuel and oil. And again, with this around business, you know, I've seen through my life I'm 64, and there's always these crises that come around with oil isn't there. And how many times have I seen queues a mile long to the petrol station and when we can't get oil, everything goes into a panic and everything goes through the route? So I I get you know why people are against net zero at the moment and it hurts them, but I do believe that we need to be looking longer term. How much how lot much longer do we want to be held to ransom by these countries that have all the oil? And and we're just we're just sort of hoping that everything just swims along nicely and we get keep getting our supply. We've got to pla we've got to try and make us our energy cleaner, um, more homegrown and ecological, because then we we won't have this dependency on these tin pot countries that um can t turn off the taps at any given moment when something happens.

SPEAKER_02 14:01

So we we need more homegrown uh uh resources, which we have, so we need to start drilling for those. And we need to get them from those.

SPEAKER_01 14:07

But why just drilling? Why not more solar panels? Why not not more than that?

SPEAKER_02 14:11

You couldn't do it. It's impossible. So and for at least probably 50 years, because the electricity's got to come from somewhere, and if it's coming from somewhere windy, how we bring how are we bringing it down to this country? Are we gonna relay all the lines in the country to bring the necessary electricity, especially if people change to electric cars? It will be an impossible task. And as we've seen, despite the fact that we subsidise green energy, which is supposed to be cheaper, and we tax traditional fossil fuels, even though they claim that despite those things, it's it still seems to be costing us a fortune, we simply do not have the capacity. As nice as it is to say let's have a wind run in the garden and the house will run for free. We simply do not have the energy to bring the energy down from where it's coming from, which is Scotland and which is the north of England, down to the south.

SPEAKER_08 15:00

We definitely seem to be barking up the wrong tree when it comes to the energy strategy. And and and and for us to be self-sufficient as a nation, it feels like we're pretty reliant on our neighbours uh and and the geopolitics are are are kind of shifting. Um just coming back to the story of living abroad, I love this story where a couple in London moved to Barcelona and they travel back to London by a cheap airline, which actually works out cheaper than getting the train from Reading into London, and yet the cost of living is much cheaper, they get nice meals, they get the sunshine.

SPEAKER_07 15:35

I saw someone fly out there to do their shopping.

SPEAKER_08 15:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 15:38

Was that the one?

SPEAKER_06 15:39

Someone flew to Spain or wherever it was just to do the weekly shop, flew back, still saved 20 quid. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 15:50

Well, you you can laugh, but whenever I go to Poland to visit my family, I am shocked how high the food prices are in comparison to the average salary. Food over here is cheap. The proportion between salaries and the cost of groceries is very good. Believe me, it is very, very good.

SPEAKER_08 16:13

But what about the quality, Juke?

SPEAKER_00 16:16

The quality of food here is brilliant.

SPEAKER_08 16:18

Is it?

Trains, Mortgages, And Daily Pressure

SPEAKER_00 16:18

Yes, yes, it is. I get fresh fruits, fresh vegetables from different markets. Um you can buy meat from uh a good butcher's, you can buy good fish when you know when to look. Yes, it's not going to be as cheap as Tesco Value or a bargain basket, but it will be good. There is food of a very, very good quality here. And how does it in the United States?

SPEAKER_08 16:44

How's the cost of living affecting you, AKK? Because whenever we speak, I always get the impression you have a lovely neighborhood, lovely butcher, everything's perfect in Aggerland, yeah. Tell us that are you are you have you noticed the cost of living thing?

SPEAKER_00 16:59

Absolutely, absolutely. As a frequent commuter into London, I can see that the train fares are eating up a lot more of my wages than what they used to, even though comparably this is the cheapest ticket I've ever had. I used to commute from a lot further into London when I was making loads less than uh than right now. So this is the cheapest ticket. But ironically, it is eating up a lot, a lot more. I hate it, and we don't really get a decent service for what we uh pay. I'd love to shout, let's uh move away from private and let's go to you know public service, public trade.

SPEAKER_08 17:42

And we did we did a lovely episode deep dive with uh with our brilliant Steve Pritchard, who's a train driver on this. And um in any other way, so training. Absolutely, yes, trains are a big one.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

Yes, trains are affecting and yes, my my ivory tower is crumbling under the weight of uh the train fair, absolutely. But yes, but I'm I'm not blind, I don't live in a lala land. I absolutely see uh how people around me are struggling. I don't have uh a rent to pay purely because I happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right amount of money. Um, but I do have a mortgage, and um I do think a lot about uh how to balance my outgoings to make that mortgage work for me as opposed to be uh you know my coffin. So I absolutely do. I'm just trying to be optimistic because oh my god, we we can't complain all the time. If if all I did was uh was whining, where where would I go? I try to find optimism however I look at things, but yeah, it's absolutely hard. And my generation, especially my generation, has um really got the short end of the stick. If you look at uh the cost of housing, both in London and in Surrey, you will see that the average first-time buyer is in their mid-30s, mid-30s, people in their early 30s live in their mom and dad's box room. So what or are forced to house share? There is nothing wrong with house sharing because some people love a busy household, and as long as it is a choice of yours to have six housemates, go for you. But if it's not, then what what sort of society are we?

SPEAKER_08 19:30

And also on mortgage rates, uh, those that are on fixed term, which might be become variable shortly. I mean, interest rates have come down slightly, but they're still well up on where they were when these fixed uh rates were taken out. So that's also a concern for many listening.

SPEAKER_01 19:45

And they're likely to go up if this war continues.

SPEAKER_08 19:48

Let's be optimistic. What about Graham? How's the cost of living affecting you?

SPEAKER_04 19:55

Well, I I certainly noticed the difference in the cost of groceries. I mean, uh again, I'm in a rented accommodation. Um my rent's been stable since I moved in about six months ago. Um, so I can't really complain on that score. And again, I don't have most of these bills to pay, it's included in my rent, so um I'm lucky in that respect. But certainly I've noticed the cost of food and the groceries has gone up considerably. Um, and I'm shocked sometimes. Um so yeah, I mean I've I've noticed that much. And again, like petrol and car insurance and all these things as well, have just keep going up and up and up. So yeah, I'm definitely feeling it.

SPEAKER_03 20:36

I have a um uh delivery every week from Sainsbury's, and uh when uh the chap used to come to my door, he used to have sort of like four or five crates full of food, and it was, I don't know, let's say a hundred pounds for all this all this stuff, you know. And literally, as the months have gone on, I get less and less crates. And the other day I'd spent about 75 quid and I opened the door to him, and there's one crate on the floor, and there's a couple of things rolling around the bottom of it, and I thought, oh my god, that's my shopping! You know, there was nothing, literally, nothing of any substance there. There were a couple of meals uh and some cleaning products and and and some shower gel. That was it, and I just thought, how the hell, you know, how the hell do are we going to carry on if it continues to rise at this rate? Because this is now getting to sort of you know the point where if people can't even afford to give themselves the basic food, then you know a third world can't be a good thing.

SPEAKER_08 21:29

Especially with supermarkets, because we we do get loyal to a supermarket, but there is something a bit like that letter, you know, your pet bill's expensive, why not switch supermarket also? Because I think there is something around exploring other supermarkets, and I never had you down as a saying for this person, don't you have to say?

SPEAKER_03 21:47

Oh, I do venture into Marks and Spencer's occasionally, Clive.

Food Costs And Beating Waste

SPEAKER_00 21:51

I don't, which is why I'm saying food is affordable. One thing I'd like to add about groceries. Uh, look at to Good to go. Olio, there are the these are two fantastic apps that are designed to reduce uh food waste, which is colossal. And I hate it. There nothing infuriates me more, almost nothing, than food waste. I hate food being wasted. I don't like people throwing food away. So have a look at Olio and have a look at to good to go. They do not sponsor us. Um, and also if you have a Lidl nearby, Lidl does a fantastic thing where they um prepare crates of fruits and vegetables, perishables uh in general, for uh£1.50 pence or£2.50 uh marginal cost. The crates are huge. The fruits and vegetables are maybe uh you know a little uh beaten up or something like that. They're imperfect. Let's call them imperfect. Uh a little bit. They may they may do.

SPEAKER_01 22:56

Like the wonky bananas things.

SPEAKER_00 22:58

It it is something like the wonky bananas. They are perfectly imperfect, but they are perfectly good to eat. So uh guys, do look at that as well.

SPEAKER_02 23:06

I think this is yeah, this is this is uh a good point, is that uh yes, it's horrific, but we could look at economising by reducing food waste, which is good for the environment, it's it's good for everything. So if we are more prepared to perhaps ignore a sell by date, um or maybe a use by date if you're brave. Um but if we can do that, because it's something like a third of all of food is is thrown away. And I I I my first job was in Sainsbury's and it was horrific. I mean, you would just have uh hundreds of crates of uh boxes of raspberries and you go, right, they're all going in the bin.

SPEAKER_08 23:38

So so let's just do a quick vote on this because I'm always puzzled by this. So let's say sell by date. If you've got a yogurt, let's just salt with a yogurt, if a yogurt is a week out of date, uh, how many of you would eat it? Smell chicken.

SPEAKER_00 23:50

I would completely eat it. Dairy spoils after a month. Processed dairy, highly processed like a yogurt, will be good for up to a month past uh the sell by date.

SPEAKER_08 24:01

I'm a little bit of a poodle when it comes to this. What does that mean? So a month you would eat a yogurt a month out of date.

SPEAKER_00 24:08

Yes, I would eat I would definitely eat a yogurt a month out of date, uh subject to a visual inspection and a smell and taste check. But yes, 100%.

SPEAKER_07 24:18

As long as there's nothing green on it, we're good to go.

SPEAKER_00 24:20

I would say so. Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 24:22

If you and I were together, Agar, I think I'll be clearing the fridge out while you're sleeping at the end of the book. Anyway, um what about what about fruit? What about blueberries, for example? If they're out of date, how how many months?

SPEAKER_00 24:36

I think it's beautiful. As long as there is no mold on them, they are good to eat. That's as simple as that.

Council Tax Anger And Recycling Doubts

SPEAKER_08 24:46

I quite like your infuriate the thing you said about what infuriates me is the wastage of food. I tell you, what infuriates me, and maybe we'll go around and tell you what really infuriates about the cost of living, is the council tax. You know, where they give you this helpful letter and then you flip it over, and someone's done something with data to create a nice little pie chart. You know, how much goes to the library, how much goes to the bin men, all the rest of it, the policing. Not that we can change it, not that we can turn down the gas on certain things. No, no, no. But what really infuriates me is the amount that waste gets. The amount that when we talk about food waste, the amount of different coloured bins we have now. I worked out the other day the bin men now only effectively to come to get the normal bin every three weeks. They come every week to get the food waste and every two weeks to get the reset, but not to get the normal bin. I just find that infuriating for me personally. Council tax up, service less.

SPEAKER_01 25:41

Well, I can tell you that is in the pub trade, um that most pubs use private bin companies. And you put all uh this pub here, they'll have certain bins where they'll put all the glass, and there'll be other bins where they put food waste and all the rest of it. And my husband has told me that it it sickens him because he will stand there and he will watch the the their lorries come and they just put all this all it just all goes in the same lorry, it's all squashed down into the same lorry. And he's like, Why are we sorting out glass? And and he said, and they're making this fuss about people putting glass in the in the bins at home. But when these pubs and restaurants, it's all just getting binned, you know, into the same container. Into the same container, they're just not doing, you know. Um so there's a lot of a lot of abuse of this sort of recycling system, I think. It's it's that needs to be looked at.

SPEAKER_02 26:31

Yeah, and I think even at home, you might you might uh put in the right bin, it might go to the right binmen who are collecting it, but the the chance of it definitely being recycled is is not great, you know. Just because you spent time doing it doesn't mean they're going to. They'll they'll look for pretty much any excuse to not recycle it. Um and it's also not always more environmentally friendly to recycle something like paper where it's just so costly to try and make paper into paper when it just does degrade, you know. Um yeah, I think I think the solution for everybody with food waste is to get chickens and then you get free eggs, and your food waste can um and you get rats too, which you could eat.

SPEAKER_08 27:10

But what what infuriates you, James?

SPEAKER_02 27:13

About what? Cost of living. Um I think I think it that the farmers are getting a terrible deal because th they're the first to really feel the cost of energy increase and they're being sharfed by government. And then the supermarkets come along and they refuse to budge on prices. Or what they will do is they will offer a price and then offer a lower price and they're stuck. Or they'll cancel contracts. There'll be a dairy farmer who's milked all his cows and just has to pour it all down. But you're not a farming background. No, no, no.

SPEAKER_08 27:39

Why does it infuriate you?

SPEAKER_02 27:41

Oh, because it's just it's the right reform answer.

SPEAKER_07 27:45

Uh my grandfather's you what bothers you. What's affecting your life? Not Nigel Farage, not the rest of the crew. Because I have to let's just give a natural answer for what? I have N3. Just uh not a political answer, just be you, mate. Who is James? James Tiding. James, I don't want to mean reform, James Tidy reform. That's who I see every day. It's it's James Tidy reform. What bothers James Tiding? Can you not be bothered by something that affects? Let me give him an example, Igbel.

SPEAKER_08 28:18

What?

SPEAKER_07 28:18

Well, okay, what infuriates me, I spent ten years in prison and the amount of food that gets wasted every single day. I don't copy again in every jail. Oh no, but it's the truth. I'll be honest with you, it's something that really bothers me. Um the amount of uh potatoes, rice, fries, veg thrown out every day in every single prison up and down this country is ridiculous. If you actually looked into it, you would actually like yeah. And Cess's Kitchen could use that. Of course, yes, definitely. Uh I didn't even think that far, but uh yeah, but yeah, it's crazy. It is crazy. So is it is it raw produce? So they just overorder. No, no, they all or or overcook. Right. So the stuff that people so yeah, so they'll just always be on each wing, you'll see two trays of rice getting thrown away, a race right, a tray of potatoes, tray of v. It's normal. It's it's ask any inmate in any uh any any yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:15

What's really sad is that if uh the wardens tried to take that food for their personal use, they'd get sacked.

SPEAKER_07 29:23

Yeah, yeah. But uh yeah, the amount of waste in prison is crazy. The insanity of that though is is that they obviously continue to do that. It's every day. Every single day in every prison. Sorry?

SPEAKER_00 29:35

Does anybody know why is the food not donated to charity? Is it because of the country?

SPEAKER_07 29:41

It's already cooked, and who's gonna accept food from a prison? That prisoner I'm making.

SPEAKER_02 29:47

James, what infuriates you? Um, I'm gonna go on the food waste topic.

SPEAKER_08 29:50

No, you can't choose that as well.

SPEAKER_02 29:53

Well, it's it's it's different to food waste, it's about shooting.

SPEAKER_08 29:56

Shooting is gonna be another topic in its own right because I think that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_02 29:59

But the point is, is we have to have deer management and it all goes um so that the Ministry of Defence um just dig a big hole and bury a hundred carcasses, and that's not being eaten by anybody. Wow. So I think that's quite relevant. Or could you want to choose another subject?

SPEAKER_08 30:16

Oh, that's good. Let's get into that a little bit more.

SPEAKER_02 30:18

Okay, so so what I find infuriating is we have a huge amount of animals that need to be controlled, uh, like deer, and rather than people going and prep prepping that themselves, they'll go and buy food from the shop or they'll try and be environmentally friendly and have something grown from on the other side of the planet. And you have the Ministry of Defence shooting loads of numbers of deer to keep the deer numbers down, and rather than using this as a great source of food, it's just all dug into a big pile and and buried and just left a rot.

SPEAKER_08 30:50

Wow, that's an injustice, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 30:52

Yeah, and I I think if if you if you're lucky enough to live in the south east, there there are a lot of shoots around during the shoot shooting season, and you can go and contact them and say, I would like some pheasant or whatever it is you've shot. It takes two minutes to prep to breast a breast a pheasant or a duck, whatever it is they've got. And rather than spending six quid on breasts from waitroes, you've got something that's already been killed, it's not you're not harming anything because it's already dead. Um it's incredibly environment-friendly, delicious, nutritious, it's the my favourite food.

Cold Homes And Checkout Rage

SPEAKER_08 31:23

Very good. Any other things that are infuriating us from around the table when it comes to the cost of living?

SPEAKER_03 31:29

Having a cold house. I I I'm I'm almost sort of like um uh a sort of a headmistress around the house with the heating. I don't like I don't like to have it on because I worry about the bill. Whereas my husband, we call him Peter the heater because he constantly is um he plays thermo wars with me and he's constantly putting the heating up. But if the house is cold, um you know I say put another pullover on. But that's fine because I'm I'm I'm mobile, I'm quite capable of, you know, of warming myself up. But I think for the elderly and the and the the i the infirm, I think it's just miserable being in a cold room. And I think that to me is the thing that gets me down. It's it's people not being able to heat their homes so that they can live comfortably. Yes.

SPEAKER_08 32:11

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Especially the elderly. Um but so for you, what what what temperature would you set the house to?

SPEAKER_03 32:17

I'm quite happy with 20 degrees, um but my husband's more sort of 25 if he gets. 25? Oh, he's a devil. Absolutely devil. It is honestly. When I got married to him and when I was 23, I thought I'd gone into an early menopause because I was so hot the whole time.

SPEAKER_04 32:33

I said I do think men and women have a different thermostat internally.

SPEAKER_03 32:36

That's because we're very busy.

SPEAKER_04 32:37

What what temperature would you set it to? Well, I'd I would say 20, 20 degrees sounds pretty good to me. Yeah, 20, 22. My wife would be like, Oh, I'm too cold, I want to turn the heating up, and I'd be like, Oh, I wouldn't stop her, but I'd be comfortable at a it is usually that um men are a bit warmer.

SPEAKER_02 32:58

So it's usually the other way around. Women get colder quicker.

SPEAKER_01 33:01

I don't know, women of a certain age, let me tell you. Constantly threatening myself.

SPEAKER_00 33:08

It is true, women get colder faster, and women in general need higher temperatures. But I'm I'm like I'm like you, I'd prefer to put a layer on than to heat my house. It's the principle is should be to heat yourself rather than to heat your house. But from energy saving point of view, depends on the type of heating you have, but it's more economical to maintain a certain constant com a comfortable temperature around your house than to go from zero to twenty one degrees um every now and again. So heat for two hours daily. That is false economy.

SPEAKER_07 33:49

James, don't worry with age, you'll learn about menopause. Venezuela, you'll get there.

SPEAKER_01 33:59

Can I just get back to things that infuriate? Um, talking about cost of living, whatever. I go in in these big chain supermarkets, like you know, Tesco, Aster, and whatever, and you know, they are just raking in money, these supermarkets, just making so much money. And what infuriates me is these bloody self-serve checkouts. You you spent you're spending over 100 quid on, as you say, not a lot. There's no there's no wine in my basket, there's no red meat, it's just basic stuff, and I'm like, I'm always gobsmacked, it's always a hundred quid.

SPEAKER_08 34:33

I I agree with that, right? Because you used to have people in employment at cash, you had a nice conversation. They used to help you pack your bag. You remember that? Uh, but now you're right, you have to do their job for them. Do their job. But what really infuriates me is some supermarkets expect you to print the receipt and they'll only let you out when you scan the receipt to prove. And what's worse, some people will stop you and say, Well, let me just do a spot check that you've done this correctly, you know. This disrolls me. I think if you're gonna do a spot check, take it all out and you can scan it all yourself.

SPEAKER_01 35:10

And this is another thing with you know about men people's mental health because you're on at these checkout things, and every two seconds it's uh it's failing, and you you're having to put your hand up and wait for someone to come.

SPEAKER_08 35:21

And these poor people it's the weighing, it's when you put stuff in.

SPEAKER_01 35:25

Well, I don't know what it is, but it just goes wrong all the time.

SPEAKER_08 35:27

Blood pressure, I think. I know.

SPEAKER_01 35:28

And so you're you're seething by this point, you're getting really irritable.

SPEAKER_08 35:32

We could go shopping together.

SPEAKER_01 35:34

Customers are taking it out on the poor women that are working there or men that are running between and and then they they're so unsatisfied with their job now because they're just deep they're just in this pool of grumpiness around these tills. So they come over, they flick their card, and then they don't even look or speak to you. And so there's this kind of nastiness that is going on between customer and staff. It's not their fault, it's not our fault, but it's like just employment. Wait, it's the supermarket fault. They should open up more, more, more checkouts, and they're charging us more, and they're they're making God knows how much money, these big bloody supermarket charges.

SPEAKER_08 36:09

But thinking about Agas, like let's be optimistic thing, when I lived in the Netherlands, I I think our shopping habits in the UK are slightly different. So we would typically do a weak shop, right? I think everyone around the table would probably do a weak shop whether you get Saint Bridge to deliver it to you, Georgie, or whether you actually go to a shop. Yeah, you get a weak shop. Mostly in in Europe and in the Netherlands, it's you go shopping every other day or every day for a basket, for a small basket. And I think that's interesting as well, the actual behaviour and the and therefore you get fresher food because you're shopping every other day or something.

SPEAKER_03 36:43

So would you still go to a supermarket, or would you go to more of a local um greengraser or something like that?

SPEAKER_08 36:49

So the problem in the Netherlands is you you would go to a supermarket, but the game is different there. So you put you put it on the conveyor belt, and the the checkout would just scan things as quickly as they can. So the trick is what you do, you put something on the belt that needs them to take a tag off to slow them down so you can load the rest of it and then you can get to packing. Otherwise, they just squash all of your shopping at the end. So that's that's a large problem.

SPEAKER_03 37:14

But we have that little, they they they they're very, very speedy at middle, aren't they? Oh, yeah. And it's it's almost a game, isn't it, to get it all in? Get it all in your jolly.

SPEAKER_08 37:23

Anything else on cost of living before we wrap up?

SPEAKER_07 37:26

Space raiders went from a pound to£125 and they're now£1.35. All in the space about a year and a half, I think.

SPEAKER_08 37:33

Wow.

SPEAKER_07 37:33

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_08 37:34

And what about petrol at the pumps? Have we noticed that change recently with the middle?

SPEAKER_07 37:38

It's a hydrogen bus.

SPEAKER_08 37:40

When it's not on fire.

SPEAKER_04 37:44

Like with classic as well, more like Toblerone. Shrinkflation. Yeah, yeah. You actually think it's the same, there's the same packaging, but there's actually less product inside, and they keep raising the prices. And this is another thing.

SPEAKER_08 37:56

I mean, obviously the chocolate fair, but I mean Marsballs used to be bigger. I mean, I'm not imagining it. They seem tiny, seem like fun stuff, isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 38:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 38:05

Your hands just got bigger, mate.

SPEAKER_03 38:07

There we go. And parking, that's another thing that seems to have gone up ridiculously. Um, we went down to Brighton. Uh boycott Brighton. Yeah, exactly. It was about boycotting 36 quid to pack.

SPEAKER_08 38:18

Which is crazy. And if you make a mistake, the fine days.

SPEAKER_07 38:23

Yeah, she got one of those as well.

SPEAKER_06 38:27

I don't go to the bus lane last time. I was in the house. After that movie, thank you for the parking. I was like, no chance.

SPEAKER_03 38:31

You haven't even got a car in the card.

SPEAKER_07 38:34

I pay for the parking, I pay driving.

Wrap Up And How To Respond

SPEAKER_08 38:37

So we have special guests, Graham. Thank you so much for joining us for Menthair Listening Group in the cost of living discussion. Iqbel, uh, James, uh, Maureen, um, Georgie, and Aga. Thank you very much. And uh, we must say thank you to everyone at the Red Line and Cellar Room. It's been a fantastic location here in Betchworth. Lots of conversation. Do let us know what you think about this topic. Come and join us on the Facebook group. It is Sussex and Surrey Soapbox. Have your say. Uh, and let's help each other try to reduce some of these costs. That's the Sussex and Surrey soapbox. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_06 39:13

Thank you.

SPEAKER_08 39:14

Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 39:14

Thank you.

SPEAKER_05 39:16

Tell us what do you think? Leave a comment below or click on send a text. Thank you for listening to the Sussex and Surrey soapbox.