2023 he did not come alone. It comes with a general rise in prices of products and services in all the country. These respond to different factors, but they highlight the inflationwhich reached 12.53% in November, and some measures adopted by the new government.
For starters, the increase in minimum wage of 16% will lead to increases in the charges made to workers for their social security. The new contribution in health, pension, compensation fund and labor risks will be 383,100 pesos for those who earn a minimum wage. In the same way, the payment of the moderator fee, or co-payment, that workers pay to the EPS (Health Promotion Entity) when attending a medical appointment will increase.
The Soat (Mandatory Traffic Accident Insurance) will have an increase of 11.7% in annual nominal terms. For their part, all-risk policies, used to cover personal and third-party damage caused by automobiles, will also have a strong increase.
“Of 100 pesos that are paid in claims in the automobile industry, 75 pesos go in those daily claims that we have for cans. That is where we began to find the reasons why car insurance has increased”, explained the president of the Federation of Colombian Insurers (Fasecolda), Carlos Varela, to Noticias Caracol.
Also, as of January 16, the 30 tolls in charge of Invías throughout the country will increase their price according to inflation.
Likewise, given the inflation, the national government proposed a 13% cap on the price increase for utilities, rent, food, electricity, and public transportation.
However, there is something extra for parents who have children in schools, since they have to make an effort to acquire school supplies, which in many cases become useless. To save on the purchase of these you can follow the following tips:
– Set a budget: With the supply list in hand, review the most important supplies your child needs and come up with a budget. Organize the supplies of the most essential, the one you can wait for, in case the money does not reach you.
– Take inventory and reuse: There are materials that have a long useful life, check at home the school supplies that are still in good condition and your child can reuse such as notebooks, colors, suitcases, colors, pencils, among others. This not only benefits your money, but also the planet.
– Resort to barter: If you have acquaintances or relatives with children in lower or higher grades, you can organize a school supply exchange, this will benefit everyone and give new life to materials such as books, rules, colors and even uniforms.
– Look for promotions: be attentive to the discounts and promotions that chain stores carry out, yes, do not forget to compare prices.
– Shop at second-hand stores: there are plenty of second hand items that are being sold in mint condition, so don’t be shy about checking out the options you can find at thrift stores.
– Buy wholesale: In the case of notebooks, folders and blogs, you can avail yourself of wholesale prices in some warehouses and stationers. You can even get together with a relative or acquaintance and compare all the school supplies.
Keep reading:
