Colwyn,
If you read the article you will see it is NOT the Mail who put the figures together but uswitch and moneysupermarket.com. They just used their figures to show what is really happening.
As for the items they excluded - electrical goods such as TV's and washing machines, plus clothes - yes we all need them BUT they are not essentials.
I shop every week and I see the price of everyday items going through the roof. Add the cost of fuel to that and we have a real problem. Then add in the rising cost of services such as water, electric and gas (all essentials) and you will see the NOS figures are a sham!
Never mind though - if you can afford a new TV or some clothes after all that at least they are cheap due to us buying most of them from China. Oh - and broadband is down in price:D
I'm off to barbecue my old clothes for tea and microwave the tv for afters
