Inflation remains at a high level. The prices keep going up. Consumers are repeatedly confronted with shocking numbers. FOCUS Online says which products and services have now become really expensive and how you can save.
Inflation is making things difficult for people, especially in the supermarket. The prices are rising, there are price adjustments almost every day.
When it comes to sunflower oil, consumers pay almost 70 percent more than in the previous year, clarified butter is a whopping 40 percent more expensive compared to 2021 and dried fruit is 60 percent more expensive.
Case study: The 500 gram pack of clarified butter costs 6.49 euros at Aldi Süd, Aldi Nord, Penny and Lidl. In December, customers paid EUR 4.69 for the same product. This emerges from the price monitor from FOCUS Online.
Consumers even have to pay 50 percent more for rice, and pasta and oatmeal have also gone through several price increases since the beginning of the year. The cheapest pack of spaghetti scratches the 1 euro mark in the supermarket for the first time.
For milk, butter, cream, yoghurt and quark, the price increase is 20 percent compared to the first half of the year. Consumers currently pay EUR 1.09 per liter for the cheapest UHT milk in a Tetra Pak. There is concern in the industry that given the ongoing drought and rising feed prices, the price per liter could rise to EUR 1.15 or EUR 1.20 in October.
“The price peak has not yet been reached,” predicts Peter Stahl, head of the Hochland cheese dairy in an interview with the “Schwäbische Zeitung”.
If you want to save, you have to plan well in advance and organize your purchase with brochures, apps and vouchers. A meal plan for the entire week can ideally reduce costs. You then only buy the ingredients you need to cook for the week.
When it comes to meat, fruit and vegetables, products from the “Last Chance” basket are an opportunity to save. The goods are about to expire and will be disposed of if they are not sold.
The catering trade is also confronted with increased purchase prices and energy costs. This also affects the prices on the food and drink menus.
A simple soup of the day costs 6 euros, a burger is available for 12 euros and up, and guests in a Munich tavern now pay more than 26 euros for a Wiener Schnitzel. The small side salad is no longer included, but costs just under 4 euros extra.
Price increases of over 20 percent are also not uncommon for beer, wine and aperitifs. A large cappuccino costs more than 5 euros – this was still a long way off last year.
Apps like “The Fork” ( download it here ) can save money in the restaurant. At the same time, it is worth asking about special offers when reserving a table. For example, there are often menus that restaurants put together more cheaply.
If you don’t want to miss out on going to a restaurant with friends, you should meet up for lunch at noon. For 20 euros per person you often get a drink, a soup, a main course and a coffee.
No matter whether plumbers, electricians or painters: the trade costs are skyrocketing given the current situation. In view of the increased fuel prices, craftsmen also impose a petrol fee on invoices. An additional flat rate is required for the journey, which drives up the final bill.
An important price driver are the costs for material and tools. According to industry services, prices rose by almost 30 to 50 percent. The customers feel that too.
A good six months ago, replacing a toilet flush with disposal, material and assembly still cost 170 euros, but a provider on “MyHammer” now charges 250 euros for it.
Anyone who needs a craftsman is dependent on the service. Ask the company for an estimate. At least you don’t risk any annoying surprise costs.
After the 9-euro campaign in buses and trains, passengers not only have to pay according to normal tariffs again from September – some price increases are also pending again.
In and around Stuttgart, for example, tariffs will increase by an average of 4.9 percent at the turn of the year, and by 3 percent in the greater Nuremberg area. In the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund there was already a surcharge of 3.9 percent in July. The Verkehrsverbund Mainfranken (VVM) said that the price increase that had been filed since the beginning of the month would only be “noticeable” for customers on September 1st, when the 9-euro ticket would no longer be valid.
Last year, consumers had to pay more for a haircut at the hairdresser’s. The prices increased by around four percent on average in 2021, as reported by the Central Association of the German Hairdressing Trade. Women paid an average of just over 66 euros per visit, men just under 27.50 euros.
In view of the high inflation, the increased energy costs and the higher minimum wage, visitors to the hairdresser pay up to ten percent more on average.
Home builders are going through tough times right now. Building materials are scarce and becoming more and more expensive. In addition, there are staff shortages at the construction companies. All this makes construction more expensive and delays it. If there is a delay in construction, the construction company must bear all additional costs. Even if the company does everything it can to procure the necessary materials, it still has an obligation. The builder can even assert claims for damages.
“As a rule, price increases have no effect on existing agreements, because consumer construction contracts are generally based on fixed prices,” says attorney Florian Herbst from the German Lawyers’ Association’s Construction and Real Estate Law Working Group.
The risks of material shortages and price increases are usually already factored into new contracts that are now being concluded. “We see significantly higher prices,” says Florian Becker, Managing Director of the Builder Protection Association in Berlin. “They reach dimensions where the estimated real estate value of the financing banks is significantly lower than the contractually agreed construction sum.”
Anyone who wants to buy a new car will have to dig deeper into their pockets in August 2022. According to the current list price, e-cars cost up to 14.5 percent more on average. This was the result of an evaluation by the Center for Automotive Research (CAR).
Further list price increases will follow in the coming months. This also applies to electric cars because lithium, nickel and other raw materials for battery production have already become significantly more expensive.
Automakers had already announced price adjustments for the summer in spring 2022. For example, Tesla charges around 7,000 euros more for the basic version of the Model 3. Ford increased the price of the Mustang Mach-E by a whopping 9000 euros and BMW increased the price of its plug-in hybrids by several thousand euros.
Rising prices for raw materials and energy, the uncertain gas supply in Europe, high inflation and rising interest rates increasingly burdened the business.
How can I save? Currently there are hardly any incentives to buy in the new car market.
Anyone who finds cheap T-shirts, sweaters, coats, jeans and sports suits should strike now. From autumn, the textile trade is threatened with a strong price surge. Double-digit price increases are to be expected for some products. As the Vice President of the Trade Association Textile Shoes Leather Goods (BTE), Andreas Bartmann, explained in the spring, the industry is still deep in the Corona crisis. Delivery delays in Asia will continue until at least the end of the year.
At the same time, large chains like H
This will have an overall impact on purchase prices from October.
FOCUS Online found out that there is a price adjustment of up to 40 percent for jeans, boots are 50 percent more expensive and consumers will also have to pay significantly more for coats this fall than they did in the same period last year.
Furniture manufacturers complain that they feel consumers are reluctant to buy. In July, according to him, incoming orders in the home furniture industry were almost 35 percent and in the upholstered furniture industry even 38.3 percent below the same month last year. For kitchen furniture, the minus was 6.7 percent.
Despite the lower sales, the industry is seeing jumps in sales. This is primarily due to the significantly increased prices. In the first half of 2022, German furniture manufacturers were able to increase their sales by 13.4 percent to around 9.5 billion euros. However, around ten percent of the growth was attributable to price increases due to higher material costs.
The next price adjustment is now in the offing for autumn. Because there are still delays in the manufacture of certain products made of glass and wood. In addition, raw material prices continue to rise. To make matters worse, the industry is struggling with increased transport and delivery costs.
Consumers will feel further price jumps from October, when the new furniture collection will be in the houses.
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