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'
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
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