For the people living in 2023, pocket change is a rare sight. Long gone are the days of the £1 note, and spare change is seen, well, sparingly. The value of the pound has fluctuated considerably since its introduction in 1971, and thanks to inflation, it doesn’t get you nearly as much as it used to.
While it may feel as though a single pound won’t get you very far, it can still nab you some nifty offers. buy you your very own piece of the internet, thanks to domain and web hosting providers Fasthosts bringing back their offer where £1 domain names are up for grabs!
To put this offer in perspective, we’ve compiled a list of five items that you used to be able to get a hold of for less than £1 so that you can better understand how far (or short) your pennies are stretching in 2023.
A 99
Remember the great 99 shortage of 2021? The popular summer treat consisting of soft serve vanilla ice cream topped with a Cadbury’s flake chocolate is certainly a national favourite. A story which goes back to the 1920s, a 99 did at one stage cost 99p. But due to inflation, one in 2023 will set you back around two quid. In the summer of last year, there were reports that some 99s were going for a staggering £5 in parts of South London.
A bus ticket
Historically, buses have been a cheap and eco-friendly alternative to driving. Bus tickets have been continuously rising in price throughout the decades, but have recently been capped in Greater Manchester by mayor Andy Burnham. This cap currently sits at £2 per single fare, double of what bus journeys used to cost up until 1999 across Greater London.
A pack of cigarettes in the 80s
Smoking – even with its health impacts – is still synonymous with pop culture and the 80s. They’ve also now been immune to the perils of inflation. A standard pack of 20 cigarettes costs £12.50 today, compared to an average price of 0.80p back in 1980. That’s a 1,462% increase!
Petrol
The UK has the 27th highest price of petrol globally, behind Iceland and Hong Kong who rank first and second. It’s understood that in the UK over half of the cost of a litre of petrol is tax, 36% fuel duty, and another 17% VAT. Believe it or not, the last time a litre of petrol was under £1 was in 2009. In the 1970s, £1 could get you two gallons of petrol with change left over.
10 Freddos
Freddos… A national treasure since it first appeared on our shelves in 1973. In 2000, a Freddo would set you back 10p, rising to 17p in 2010, before reaching an eye watering 30p in 2017. Currently at 25p a piece, prices have now stabilised, but not for long according to the Freddo Index. On this website, “Freddonomics” attempts to explain inflation, and how wages are rising and pay falling, with the illustrious chocolate cartoon frog.
