Well with fuel prices dropping will you be asking for a pay rise?
Did you take a pay cut when they went up?
I’ll ask, but I think I know what the tight git will say. 
m1cks:
Did you take a pay cut when they went up?
In ‘real’ terms yes as it’s been used as a reason NOT to have a rise for the last 5 years
Don’t forget that “Times are 'ard” when fuel prices are rising… Times are 'ard when they are falling according to this week’s news, and times are 'ard when the business owner has to holiday in St Maartens instead of Barbados this year. All three reasons are reasons for giving the staff a pay cut - or at least another year of “wait and see” pay freezes…
When business is finally “Good” - you’ll be told "Your pay rise is limited to inflation (this year’s only, low as it is rather than a catch-up total for the past 7 years) - we don’t want the economy to overheat.
The Excheqeur even threatens business leaders with things like “interest rate hikes” should this ‘warning’ not be heeded.
Funny thing is - I thought it was exactly the same business leaders who’ve been banging on about raising rates to give their handsome savings pots a better return?
If that’s what they wanted to achieve, then imagine what could happen if we all got a “catch-up” pay rise of around 50% to make up for the last 5 years of frozen pay, and real terms cost of living increases of around 50% when the true rates of public inflation are factored in properly?
It’s always been easier to sell the big lie to the small people than the small lie to the big people.
…but it’s dead easy to sell BOTH lies to the middle people! 
m1cks:
Did you take a pay cut when they went up?
^^^^^ beat me to it 
Unless you’ve had an “inflation-busting” pay rise each and every year since the credit crunch - you’ve actually been “stealth robbed” via inflation purely from the way the inflation data is calculated.
If you ADD an item that’s falling in price that you hardly ever buy and REMOVE an item that you buy nearly every day, but it’s rising in price
…You can fiddle the inflation figure from a more realistic level of around 7% to the one we’re told is “it” for the moment, which is 1.7%
Now take 7 years of being palmed off with “wage rises” of exactly this “lower” reported rate of inflation - and you are being fed the illusion that your pay is at very least “marking time”.
In fact, the difference between 7% and 1.7% - the 5.3% compounded over the 7 years in question - your pay has actually fallen in real terms by 43.5% (after compounding) all the while you thought it was “standing still” but were puzzled as to why you keep running into the overdraft/credit card before the end of each month…
It’s the difference between the “reported rate” and “real rate” that gets everyone, even those with loads of money, as they’d need to be investing it at more than 5.3% AFTER TAX has been deducted just to “stand still” here. It’s even harder for them with cash in the bank. 
Who’s worst off of all? - Those on meagre wages, AND substantial savings…
Winseer:
Unless you’ve had an “inflation-busting” pay rise each and every year since the credit crunch - you’ve actually been “stealth robbed” via inflation purely from the way the inflation data is calculated.If you ADD an item that’s falling in price that you hardly ever buy and REMOVE an item that you buy nearly every day, but it’s rising in price
…You can fiddle the inflation figure from a more realistic level of around 7% to the one we’re told is “it” for the moment, which is 1.7%
Yes, how it works is this.
In the “basket” there are eggs, milk, bread and a video player. The video player costs £300.
Every month, the cost of eggs, milk and bread goes up, and the cost of a video player comes down. So there’s no inflation.
After 10 years, a video player only costs £30, so out of the basket it goes and in comes a DVD player, which costs £300.
Every month, the cost of eggs, milk and bread goes up, and the cost of a DVD player comes down. So there’s no inflation.
After 10 years, a DVD player only costs £30, so out of the basket it goes and in comes a Blu-Ray player, which costs £300.
Rinse and repeat…