The Christmas Cost
I’ve teamed up with Admiral insurance for their cost of Christmas campaign. The idea behind the campaign is to see how the cost of the festive season has changed over the last 40 years.
Admiral have created a very clever widget which people can interact with. Simply select which year you’d like to find more about (2006, 1996, 1986 and 1976), and then you can compare this against your spend at Christmas to find out what items have gone up and if prices have dropped on certain items. You can find the widget online at admiral.com/costofchristmas.
Admiral have also included some extra data showing what expensive items people add to their house insurance after Christmas. Usual items included are TVs etc, but surprisingly to me engagement rings and art were also added.
After looking at the widget, Admiral have challenged me to do a virtual shop of the high street using the prices of 1986 for a selection of items to find out how prices have changed, and whether they’ve gone up or down. I found this a really interesting challenge!
So here we go! Here is my virtual shop, all in my virtual shopping basket.
Turkey. 1986 Price: £15.42. 2017 Price: £15.00 Iceland
Pigs In blankets. 1986 Price: £4.30. 2017 Price: £2.00 Tesco
Sprouts. 1986 Price: £ 0.83. 2017 Price: £0.65 Asda
Broccoli. 1986 Price: £0.63. 2017 Price: £0.50 Asda
Potatoes. 1986 Price: £0.41. 2017 Price: £0.46 Asda
Carrots. 1986 Price: £0.40. 2017 Price: £0.60 Asda
Frozen Peas. 1986 Price: £0.84. 2017 Price: £0.76 Asda
Cabbage. 1986 Price: £0.43. 2017 Price: £0.69. Asda
Stuffing. 1986 Price: £0.67. 2017 Price: £0.59. Asda
Mince pies. 1986 Price: £0.81. 2017 Price: £0.79 Aldi
Christmas pudding. 1986 Price: £2.67. 2017 Price: £2.00 Asda
Cheese board. 1986 Price: £2.72. 2017 Price: £2.50 Asda
Bag of Sweets. 1986 Price: £0.60. 2017 Price: £0.70 Asda
Advent Calendar. 1986 Price: £2.44. 2017 Price: £0.50 Morrison’s
Pack of Fizzy Drink. 1986 Price: £1.34. 2017 Price: £1.50 Morrison’s
Bottle of White Wine. 1986 Price: £2.96. 2017 Price: £4.25 Morrison’s
Bottle of Red Wine. 1986 Price: £2.61. 2017 Price: £3.18 Asda
Champagne(bottle). 1986 Price: £11.95. 2017 Price: £15.00 Asda
Cream Liqueur(bottle). 1986 Price: £6.07. 2017 Price: £7.75 Asda
Brandy (bottle). 1986 Price: £7.32. 2017 Price: £11.00 Asda
Women’s dress. 1986 Price: £291.02. 2017 Price: £52.00 lispy
Men’s Tie. 1986 Price: £59.44. 2017 Price: £12.00 Next
Girls pyjamas. 1986 Price: £33.04. 2017 Price: £17.00 Next
Boys pyjamas. 1986 Price: £32.75. 2017 Price: £18.00 Next
Watch. 1986 Price: £144.01. 2017 Price: £124.99 H Samuel
Child’s Bike. 1986 Price: £153.31. 2017 Price: £73.34 Tesco
Wapping paper. 1986 Price: £1.30. 2017 Price: £1.00 Asda
Greeting Cards. 1986 Price: £2.16. 2017 Price: £1.00 Asda
Christmas Crackers. 1986 Price: £6.36. 2017 Price: £5.00 Asda
Artificial Xmas Tree. 1986 Price: £67.61. 2017 Price: £34.99 Argos
Cinema Trip. 1986 Price: £11.87. 2017 Price: £20.00 Odeon
Panto Family Tickets. 1986 Price: £59.27. 2017 Price: £79.00 Theatre
Washing-up liquid. 1986 Price: £1.06. 2017 Price: £1.00 Asda
Bin Liners. 1986 Price: £1.80. 2017 Price: £1.07 Asda
Tin Foil. 1986 Price: £1.95. 2017 Price: £1.50 Asda
Total from 1986: £932.40. Total from 2017: £512.31. Saving £420.09
Incredibly I made a saving of £420.09. Not that I intended too, but some items are definitely cheaper all these years later.
That’s it. My virtual shop of the high street using a budget from 1986. My findings are that while some foods stayed the same price, or in fact were on a number of occasions cheaper. There didn’t seem a lot of difference in price from 1986 as far as food was concerned.
Alcohol has quite dramatically gone up in price, and I found it difficult to keep the budget for alcohol in line with the prices of 1986.
Clothes have dramatically reduced in price. This of course could be down to the fact that more and more clothes are made abroad, therefore there are lower labour costs which have reduced the price to the consumer.
Finally I found this a very interesting and fascinating study in how prices have changed over the last 40 years. It has certainly surprised me.
Why not give it a go? I would love to hear your thoughts.
Disclosure This is a commissioned post produced in collaboration with Admiral.
20 Comments
Lewis Brown
December 14, 2017 at 9:27 am
Ooo. Very interesting. I’ll be giving this a go later. Not from 1986. I wasn’t thought of.
Zaleina
December 15, 2017 at 2:10 am
I can’t believe inflation only affected the alcohol!! Good point about the clothes though – and it’s reassuring that food has remained more or less the same.
Dad
December 15, 2017 at 2:53 am
That’s really interesting. I wouldn’t have guessed that at all. #ThatFridayLinky
Maria | passion fruit, paws and peonies
December 15, 2017 at 8:11 am
That’s so interesting – I expected all the prices to have gone through the roof. xx #ThatFridayLinky
Tash
December 15, 2017 at 8:21 am
What a great read. I love this kind of stuff… I’d love to see what the average income/wages were back then too. #ThatFridayLinky
Daddy Poppins
December 15, 2017 at 8:57 am
Some of those prices are really interesting. The disparity between a dress then and now is mad!! Although I won’t show my wife or she’ll start using the price change to buy 4 dresses and say it only cost ‘like 1 from the 80’s’ 😂
Amy – The Rolling Baby
December 15, 2017 at 9:05 am
Wow! I would have thought that prices would have gone up, so it’s great to see that there’s such a big difference across the years #ThatFridayLinky
becca farrelly
December 15, 2017 at 11:02 am
Really interesting as I would automatically presume a lot of items would have been cheaper in 1986. I was also born that year! 🙂 I will definitely be trying this out as I love a good stat!
#ThatFridayLinky
Nita
December 15, 2017 at 11:44 am
Wow this is fascinating! I thought prices would have gone up dramatically with inflation and cost of living etc. We really should be thankful that we’re paying roughly the same price (or cheaper) and actually earning more in this year. #ThatFridayLinky
Mama Grace
December 15, 2017 at 1:02 pm
Wow. That’s a lot cheaper. I guess my brain starts thinking at what cost and what corners have been cut? Who were the labourers? How are the animals being managed? It’s great that things are more affordable though. #ThatFridayLinky
Kate
December 15, 2017 at 2:26 pm
This is surprising and quite fascinating. I think I will show my children this too. #ThatBinkyLinky
Justin
December 15, 2017 at 2:28 pm
Tell me about it, trying to ignore the cost of Christmas over here. #ThatFridayLinky
Helen
December 15, 2017 at 2:47 pm
Wow how interesting! It is so intriguing to see how the prices compare all these years later 🙂 #ThatFridayLinky
Heather Keet
December 15, 2017 at 5:39 pm
This is so interesting! #ThatFridayLinky
Dave – Dad’s Turn
December 17, 2017 at 9:27 am
Really impressive that you can find most things cheaper than average 20 years ago! Wouldn’t have expected it. #thatftidaylinky
Jo – Pickle & Poppet
December 17, 2017 at 9:30 pm
Oh my goodness I am actually shocked that there was so much that was cheaper. In my mind it 2017 would have been the higher prices. Interesting read. #ThatFridayLinky
Jacqui
December 18, 2017 at 10:35 am
These stats are so interesting. When you have 5 kids you have to do everything you can to keep costs low!! 🙂 #thatfridaylinky
Chloe
December 18, 2017 at 6:28 pm
Hi, this was an inter stein read and the prices were completely different to what i expected them to be #thatfridaylinky
Musings of a tired mummy…zzz…
December 20, 2017 at 9:14 pm
What an interesting comparison! I assumed everything was more expensive now but the drop in the cost of clothes is something my mum always talks about #thatfridaylinky
Lisa Pomerantz
December 24, 2017 at 11:57 am
This is so very interesting Nige! Now, we need an app for why we ‘feel’ so very broke! Happiest of holidays to you and yours! On to 2018! <3 #ThatFridayLinky xoxo