In with Netflix, out with DVDs - and don't even think about paying for a gardener

14 new items have been added to the nation's consumer price inflation 'shopping basket'

Kevin Spacey as Washington politician Frank Underwood in Netflix's House of Cards (Netflix)

This year's inflation 'shopping basket' has been published by the Office of National Statistics, revealing some surprising changes in our tastes and spending patterns.

Gone is the money we used to throw away on wallpaper paste, hardwood flooring and tufted carpet - along with gardeners' fees.

We're also cutting back on automatic drive-through car washes - in favour of hand car washes - and after-school club charges.

Take-away coffee is out on its ear too - but our taste for convenience cappuccino hasn't waned entirely. It's already on the list, where it's represented by posher take-away lattes.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, sales of DVD recorders are down, but so too are DVD rental internet subscriptions. Instead, more of us are choosing to pay for video on demand subscription services such as Netflix to watch films from home.

According to the basket, which is updated every year to take price rises and trends into account, we're now choosing to blow our wages on 'grab and go' foodstuffs such as flavoured milk and fresh fruit snack pots.

Honey is another new addition to the list, after being introduced to improve coverage of the under-represented sugar, jam, syrups, chocolate and confectionery market, and we're also splashing the cash on wild bird seed, necklaces and canvas shoes.

The consumer price index is calculated by collecting a sample of prices for a selection of goods from retailers across the UK, from 150 different locations. It may seem random, but it can be taken as an indication of long-term patterns of consumer spending.

Most of the items in the shopping basket are unchanged for 2014, out of a total of 699. Of those, just nine items have been removed, 14 added and 25 altered slightly.

Out

Wallpaper paste

Hardwood flooring

Tufted carpet

Gardeners’ fees

DVD recorders

DVD rental internet subscription

Automatic drive-through car wash

Takeaway coffee

After school club charges

In

Flavoured milk

Fresh fruit snacking pots

Honey

Mixers

Car wash, manual or automatic

Canvas shoes

Men’s clothing hire

DVD rental/video on demand subscription services

Wild bird seed

Plant food

Interchangeable lenses for digital cameras

Necklaces

Tufted carpet, 100% manmade fibres

Tufted carpet, minimum 80% wool