Prices are always rising and after what feels like several economic crashes across the globe in recent decades, it almost feels hard to keep count of how many times we have experienced a recession.

Due to this, inflation of wages has not matched the hiking price costs over almost every industry in the past 20 years, making it harder for people to live a quality of life they want by getting on the property ladder, or saving for a decent retirement fund.

What’s the difference?

Pretty much everything is different now, but it’s good to take a step back and fully understand how much things have changed price-wise over the past 20 years. Let’s take a closer look.

Property and housing

The median house price for a paid home has jumped up 259 percent from 1997 to 2016, this is a scary figure when you consider that 19 years really isn’t that long. Click here to see how property prices have changed over the years.

The current generation are stuck and young home buyers have a lot less freedom or potential than in the 90s. It also doesn’t look like things are going to turn around any time soon.

The good news to take from this is that it has inspired a lot of people to lead a healthier, more frugal and less materialistic lifestyle. The bad news is that some people will never get to buy a house because of these crazy price jumps.

Salary increases

According to ONS affordability data, salaries have risen by 68% from 1997 to 2016, which certainly doesn’t keep up with the current price trends of the property ladder.

There are distinct regional price difference as to where people live compared to property sales tags, somebody looking to buy a house in the North of England would certainly expect to spend a lot less than somebody buying a house in London.

There are a great deal of variables to consider and ways to combat the economic crunches.

The little things

Daily goods and typical things we spend on rise in price also, but because we see such things on a small scale, they appear to have less impact on our budget overall.

However, when you add them up it can have the same effect on such things as your utility or food bill over the space of a year.

A lot of research suggests that inflation coincides with government agendas, which would make total sense as they control almost everything. This isn’t a conspiracy theory but merely making sense of how price hikes go up to reflect the economic climate, as in which industries are booming and which aren’t etc.

It’s not all doom and gloom though, it IS possible to still save and live a good life. Many people have taken it upon themselves to start up a new home business or a side gig, surely there can be many positives to be found in that.

Allowing such things to make you feel defeated is not going to turn the tide, instead look to embrace it, do your research and find ways around any current you have. If other people are still living successfully, you certainly can too.

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