UK and NZ · 2015 to today · annual averages
There is no cost of living crisis on a Bitcoin standard.
Prices have not risen. The unit you measure them in has collapsed.
Objections, answered
- “You could do this with any asset that went up.”
- You could draw the chart, but the comparison would not hold. A stock carries earnings risk, management risk and dilution. A commodity carries production supply responses. Bitcoin has a fixed supply of 21 million, no issuer and no earnings to miss. It is the only candidate for a measuring stick rather than a bet on a company or a commodity.
- “Nobody earns in sats.”
- Correct, and this page says so plainly. This is the cost of living for savers. Anyone who saved in Bitcoin over these windows watched everyday life get cheaper against their savings, while anyone saving in pounds or New Zealand dollars watched it get more expensive. What you earn in matters less than what you save in.
- “You cherry-picked the window.”
- All windows are shown, including the bad ones. The honest windows section renders the single worst rolling one year window in the dataset, computed at build time, alongside what the longer windows actually show. If the data changes, that section changes with it.
- “It's too volatile to price things in.”
- Volatility is real over short windows, and the worst one year window on this page shows it plainly. Over multi-year windows the direction has been consistent: in every rolling four year window in this dataset (6 of 6), the weekly shop got cheaper priced in sats.
Methodology and sources
Every price on this page is an annual average from the named source. Sats values are computed as: sats = fiat price ÷ BTC price in that currency × 100,000,000. Historical conversions use the yearly average BTC price for the matching year, computed from weekly Kraken closes (XBTGBP directly; XBTUSD multiplied by the ECB USD to NZD yearly average reference rate for New Zealand dollars). No period is ever converted at a rate from a different era.
Current BTC rate, used for context only and appearing nowhere else on this page: £47,289 / NZ$110,671 as of 2026-07-04 (CoinGecko snapshot committed to the repository).
The weekly shop basket contains: 2 loaves white loaf 800g, 6 pints milk, 1 block butter 250g, 500g beef mince, 1kg chicken, 250g cheddar, 1 jar instant coffee 100g, 1kg bananas, 500g broccoli (UK), and 2 bottles milk 2l, 1 block butter 500g, 1 dozen eggs, 500g beef mince (NZ). Mortgage payments assume the average national property at 75% loan to value on a 25 year repayment mortgage at the average 2 year fixed rate for that year (Bank of England quoted rates for the UK; average carded rates for New Zealand).
The ONS retired its RPI average price series family in January 2025, so UK grocery and everyday series end at their 2024 annual averages. The UK egg series shown was retired in early 2022 and carries a shorter window rather than a spliced one. Draught lager has no 2020 value because pubs were closed and prices could not be collected. Gaps are shown as gaps: nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated.
Full source list, item by item
United Kingdom
- Bananas, per kg · ONS, RPI: Ave price - Bananas, per Kg, (CZMV)
- Beef mince, per kg · ONS, RPI: Ave price - Beef: home-killed, best beef mince, per Kg (CZPI)
- Broccoli, per kg · ONS, RPI: Ave price - Broccoli (GK8E)
- Butter, block, 250g · ONS, RPI: Ave Price - Butter Block, per 250g (KW9B)
- Average comprehensive car insurance premium · Association of British Insurers, average comprehensive motor premium †
- Cheddar, per kg · ONS, RPI: Ave price - Cheese: cheddar type, per Kg (CZNW)
- Chicken, whole roasting, per kg · ONS, RPI: Ave price - Chicken: roasting, ovn ready, frsh/chilld, Kg (CZOM)
- Average cinema ticket · UK Cinema Association average ticket price †
- Eggs, large free range, per dozen · ONS, RPI: Ave price - Eggs: Large, free range, per dozen (J9DM)
- Annual dual fuel energy bill, typical use · Ofgem price cap and typical domestic consumption values †
- Average combined home insurance premium · Association of British Insurers, average combined buildings and contents premium †
- Average UK house price · HM Land Registry, UK House Price Index
- Instant coffee, 100g · ONS, RPI: Ave price - Coffee: pure, instant, per 100g (CZNP)
- Milk, pasteurised, per pint · ONS, RPI :Ave price - Milk: Pasteurised, per pint (CZNT)
- Monthly mortgage payment, average UK home · Derived: HM Land Registry UK HPI and Bank of England IUMBV34
- Netflix Standard plan, monthly · Netflix published UK price changes, Standard plan †
- Petrol, unleaded, per litre · ONS, RPI: Ave price - Ultra low sulphur/Unleaded petrol, per litre (CZMK)
- Draught lager, per pint · ONS, RPI: Ave price - Draught lager, per pint (CZMS)
- Average UK monthly private rent · ONS Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR), average UK monthly rent †
- White loaf, sliced, 800g · ONS, RPI: Ave price - Bread: white loaf, sliced, 800g (CZOH)
New Zealand
- Beef mince, per kg · Stats NZ food price index, average retail price, beef mince per kg †
- Butter, salted, 500g · Stats NZ food price index, average retail price, salted butter 500g †
- Eggs, dozen · Stats NZ food price index, average retail price, eggs per dozen †
- Flat white, cafe · Industry surveys of average cafe flat white price †
- Median house price, national · REINZ national median house price †
- Milk, standard, 2 litres · Stats NZ food price index, average retail price, standard milk 2L †
- Monthly mortgage payment, median NZ home · Derived: REINZ median price and average 2 year fixed carded rates †
- Petrol, 91 octane, per litre · MBIE weekly fuel price monitoring, regular petrol †
- Average weekly rent, national · Tenancy Services bond data, national mean weekly rent †
† maintained by hand from the named source and pending external verification. BTC price history: Kraken public OHLC API (XBTGBP, XBTUSD, weekly); frankfurter.app ECB reference rates (USD/NZD); CoinGecko simple price (dated current rate). Data last assembled 2026-07-04.
Stop measuring your life in a melting unit.
The free Living on Bitcoin course covers earning, spending and saving in the unit this page prices things in. Or take the weekly signal: sound money thinking, no price talk.