Posted by admin on Jul 2, 2009 in
Main Content Welcoming the recent fall in inflation, debt management companies have highlighted the significance of this drop to people struggling to manage their debts.
In October, the CPI (Consumer Price Index) measure fell from 5.2% to 4.5% – the largest month-on-month fall in 16 years. Having said that, the reading of 5.2% was the highest reading in 16 years, so even a reduction of 0.7% falls far short of returning inflation to a ‘normal’ level.
“Remember the Bank of England’s target for CPI inflation is just 2%,” said a spokesperson for the debt management company. “At 4.5%, today’s rate of inflation still means prices are rising more than twice as fast as the Bank would like – this reduction simply means that the speed with which things are getting more expensive is slowing.
“More to the point, CPI has been over the Bank of England’s 2% target ever since October 2007, so today’s consumers are still dealing with the cumulative impact of a full year of high inflation. And the timing makes that elevated cost of living particularly dangerous: today’s consumers are also dealing with record levels of personal debt, as well as rising unemployment.”
As a result, there are many people finding it hard to manage their debts: trying to stretch a shrinking budget further each month. “For anyone in that position, any decrease in inflation can’t come fast enough. They’ll be relieved to see some expenses – such as petrol – coming down, but many other things are still far higher than they were a year ago. A recent article in The Guardian, for example, reported that a basket of 24 staple items in the UK’s biggest three supermarkets now costs 17.8% more than it did last November.”
Looking forward to next year, it seems the Bank of England is expecting inflation to eventually drop below its 2% target, and perhaps as low as 1%. “This is good news for two reasons,” said the spokesperson for the debt management company. “Not just because it’ll mean prices are (relatively) coming down, but also because it could allow the Bank to cut the base rate even further.
“Clearly, a lower base rate could help many people currently struggling with their finances. People on tracker mortgages will see the most immediate benefit – many of them have already seen their mortgage payments drop by hundreds of pounds compared with July, when the base rate stood at 5.75%.”
Nonetheless, too little inflation can be as dangerous as too much – and we’re now facing the possibility of deflation in 2009. While economists agree that a short stint of deflation would not be a problem, any sustained period of shrinking prices could seriously damage the economy.
Deflation means a decrease in the price of property, shares and goods of all kinds. People therefore wait to buy expensive items, as it only makes sense to wait until the price comes down. Falling demand means companies sell less and are forced to reduce their workforce.
“It’s clear the Bank of England has a delicate balancing act ahead of it: when it comes to normal people managing their debts, deflation could be as big a danger as high inflation.”
Tags: Bank Of England, Budget, Consumer Price Index, Consumers, Cpi Inflation, Cumulative Impact, Debt Management Companies, Debt Management Company, Debts, Guardian, Last November, Personal Debt, Rate Of Inflation, Recent Article, Rsquo, Spokesperson, Supermarkets, Target, Unemployment
Posted by admin on Dec 25, 2008 in
Main Content No matter whether you are looking for discounts at online stores or for special deals at supermarkets you can find all sorts of online coupon websites that can help. These stores will work to help find special discounts that are created by online businesses or manufacturers for special discounts that are legal for you to use.
The Coupon Cabin, which is at couponcabin.com, has been one of the most respected websites for coupons for years. There are all sorts of discount codes that you can get through this site. These include coupons for major retailers that have their own online stores, including the Home Depot, Target, Kohl’s and the Gap. Some online only stores, including the shoe website Zappos.com and the National Football League’s online shop, have coupons on this site too.
AnyCoupons.com is another of the great sites for online discounts to check out. This is an especially convenient site in that all of the categories for discounts are easily laid out for you. These include savings for electronics, baby products, shoes and even college textbooks.
CoolSavings.com started originally as a site for supermarket coupons, but today there are all sorts of special discounts available through this site. These include travel coupons and coupons to get free things from various online retailers. You can even send in to get free samples online through links provided on the site. You can also enter your email address and zip code to get discounts for your local area.
There are several different websites for you to check out to get some special discounts on items that you can find at your local supermarket. These online discounts can be used to help with buying anything that you are looking for at various different markets. SmartSource, which is online at smartsource.com, has been working with supermarkets to allow for coupons to be distributed at stores for years. Their website now offers discounts on all sorts of different products. Some of them will only be used in certain areas though.
Also, some supermarket chains will offer online coupons at their own sites. Therefore, if you have a Kroger market in your area you should visit the store’s site for online coupons that you can use at your local Kroger. Some supermarkets like Harris Teeter will even honor competitor coupons.
If you live outside the United States or are going to be traveling out of the country you should check out websites for online coupons outside of the area. For instance, Valpak.com has coupons for supermarkets in Canada to use. Also, RedFlagDeals.com has coupons to print out and use in Canadian stores. Other countries will generally have businesses like this for their retailers.
These are all some great online coupon websites that you should definitely look into. These sites offer all sorts of great discounts for your purchases, and you can get discounts for all kinds of materials. No matter what you’re looking for odds are you can find online discounts for it.
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