this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2023
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Apologies in advance for a wall of text. Will try to put it under a spoiler.
spoiler
As someone who actually had swine flu, I remember that time fairly well. The flu was Not Fun. Economic conditions were a little different but not too much. You could, and I did, live without a home computer. Still had to have a mobile phone though. My boys had both reached the downhill slope of uni, and were fairly independent and both were earning and contributing to the household costs including labour costs.Price of food was distributed differently - meat was relatively cheaper than today. Lamb was still a relatively cheap meat due to large supply. Pork was relatively expensive as not so much was imported as is today. Also only a few categories of milk - real milk and reduced fat removed coloured water which was promoted as healthy. Soy milk really wasn't a thing much, and the whole gluten-free thing hadn't really gotten started. It was available in health food shops, but not usually in supermarkets. Somewhat reduced choice of vegetables available in supermarkets - you had to go to a market or side of the road stall for interesting veg.
As a rule of thumb, the biggest perceived health threat was FAT. And there was fat-free almost everything available (except maybe bacon), and butter was the true cause of the downfall of civilisations if you believed the healthfood press. People even avoided eating eggs because of the fat content. Processed food still hit the sugar pretty hard, and sugary food was marketed as "low fat" and therefore healthy. Not healthier, just healthy in general due to increased 'energy'. This still happens today.
Less 'foreign' food in supermarkets, but plenty of ethnic restaurants. And imo restaurant food was relatively cheaper than today - so we ate out more, but got a LOT less takeaway and no home deliveries. Lots of people still did a weekly shopping trip and this was also an entertainment thing and had to be co-ordinated with the TV's programme schedule. You could tell when a popular programme was being broadcast because the supermarkets would be empty.
Power prices, well I had solar on my roof for hot water and electricity, so I didn't perceive any problem with that. Lots of people bitched and moaned about the price of power but it was generally agreed that gas was the cheapest option. Electric stoves were still a distinct step down from gas for cooking, and induction just wasn't on the radar. Reverse cycle aircon was still fairly new, and not trusted by many. After all, how could your air con also be your heater? The cost of petrol was also a constant whinge. Memories of the millenium drought were still fresh, so saving water was a priority and the cost of water was going up up up.
This period was also the last gasp of the great home renovation boom that hit in the 1990s and lasted until about 2010. I don't miss that, or the convos about one's latest renovation at any and every social event including the pub so help me God.
In my opinion, the chief difference between then and now is the drop in real wages, and rising rental costs.
The actual cost of living (outside of housing cost) as a percentage is not all that different when you take the change in HOW and WHERE we spend money into account. We are outsourcing or delegating a lot more stuff to commercial providors and insisting that it be delivered to us. This comes at a cost. There is less money available to pay for it. It's a choice not a right, imo.
Thanks for this. It all sounds about right. I was a grown adult through all of it, just really don’t remember much.
(By it not affecting me much I meant - I was already a hermit! I was already poor!)