andyh wrote:
Anyone who hasn't got savings got a bashing in the press yesterday. Apparently 15 million Brits are "making no effort" to save.

www.guardian.co.uk/money/2013/feb/25/mil...thout-future-savings

No effort?! LOOOLLLLL!!!

They don't have anything to fucking save, lol

andyh wrote:
I know, whoever said that was on some sort of crazy "let them eat horse" trip.

Whilst I know a surprising amount of cautious non-borrowers, I also know people who go into their overdraft every month. Also, I know people who are just crap with money. Then there's a lot of people who aren't in debt, but that can't manage to save a significant amount.

To be honest, in theory, a lot of people who aren't on unemployment benefits could probably afford to save something. All that really means though, is that they can afford to pay cash to get their car or boiler fixed, rather than borrow money for it.

Ffs, talk about that inciting anger!

I get through my days believing in my heart that there lives a Guy Fawkes in all of us.

Beppe Grillo should be in the UK at the next election

That article sucked ass. We could save if it wasn't for the cost of Mr P having to do a 50 mile round trip to work everyday, soaring eneergy bills etc. I have a burner, we've insulated well, but it's not enough. Meanwhile, the inflation and rising bill and living costs are eating into the money I'm deperately trying to save for my solar hot water syst em (so I can save money on my future energy bills).

I'm trying to grow my own food, which is kind of working out as more of an expensive hobby - so I must be doing it wrong. Also, my cooking from scratch is going the same way. The price of decent food is fucking unbelieveable now. I take back what I said about the obesity crisis. I might be happy to live off beans, lentils and shit, but I still want some decent meat. I honestly don't know how anyone with more than one teenager copes. I totted up our food bills recently and almost fell over. We don't shop at posh places and I try to be frugal, whilst getting what I think is decent quality food.

Will this inflation bollocks stop at some point?

LesleyPumpshaft wrote:
I can totally see where you're coming from with the above.
I used to drive 60 miles into work each day if you recall not long back. I'm just 2 miles from work now but the rents came down to a level where they're less than the fuel for the 60 mile trip in.

I also have the added advantage of getting home and eating my bloody tea a lot sooner than 9pm each night...

andyh wrote:
The petrol/diesel prices are a huge piss take now. I know greenies would love to get people using their cars less, but what about earning a crust? It can be even worse in rural areas without good public transport. It grinds my fucking gears it does Andy.

LesleyPumpshaft wrote:
This is what I like about Ireland, its 95% nowt but fields so to speak. You only need to drive a mile out of Cork for example and its as if you're in Yorkshire.
60 miles out is like being in the middle of nowhere.

They have a weird social welfare system here, if you've been in employment a year and you lose your job then you get twice the UK dole, 80% of your rent paid and several orders of magnitude larger child benefit regardless of whether you're in work or not.

IIRC when I first arrived here child benefit for 4 kids was 770 euro a month. Its dropped a fair bit now but its probably still at least double the UK.

Basically I just treat a euro as if its a pound and I get along just fine.

The last couple of jobs I've had have been a half hour drive away, and even that costs me a tank of diesel per week @ around £77. That's the main reason I carried on looking for something in my home town. Being able to get around can give you an advantage when job hunting, but it's a Catch 22 - you need a car sometimes to get a job, and you need the job so that you can afford the fuel to get to work. (Public transport round here is very unreliable and even more expensive).

And the price of a typical trolley of shopping has literally doubled in the last few years in my experience.

When I had an allotment, Lesley, I didn't find it much cheaper than buying stuff (except things like strawberries & raspberries) but certainly it was more wholesome & satisfying.

Andy, you do paint a rosy picture of the Emerald Isle. Moving isn't really an option for us due to one thing or another.

I know just what you mean Gilly and some people won't want to employ someone without their own transport. The way the cost of motoring is rising, it's only a matter of time before people are losing their jobs because they can't get to them. I feel so depressed about it all at the moment. There's a couple of good reliable public transport routes here, but if you need to go anywhere else, you might as well forget about it.

To be honest, I bought a jar of Marshmallow Fluff during my weekly shop the other day. It's lovely on digestive biccies with jam, peanut butter or even both. I get my shopping delivered as I reckon it is cheaper. The two main supermarkets near me are Lidl - but they don't sell everything for a weekly shop, the stock is limited. Or, there's a huge Co-op, which at least is a more ethical supermarket, but the prices are eye watering, you might as well shop at Waitrose. By the time you have driven to another supermarket, you might as well get it delivered.

I enjoy growing my own stuff, I didn't need compost this year as I've got my own and it's lovely, full of gorgeous big fat worms. Last year was a bad year, everything got water logged and attacked by slugs. Grrr! The year bebore was excellent though!

Its mostly specific job fit thats the first hurdle to move then ofc theres the kids education, Ireland is just about the only place a brit can go abroad so to speak and yet still tick almost all the boxes.
I've considered a load of other places but when you have a family its too much of strain anywhere else imho.

If you're single though then the worlds your oyster so to speak.

Ireland sound tempting andy, especially as I'll be truly single soon, but I think I've had enough of the weather on these isles.

Maybe spend "summer" here, then off to warmer climes in our winter.

As for travelling to work, it took me over an hour to get home last night, and it's only 17 miles...grrrr.

jhado wrote:
Down under is damn tempting, not as easy to move there though as people would expect, even for Brits.
You basically need a job and sponsorship and it has to be in the right industry before you even get a working visa.
I quite fancied it but too much of a ballache unless you're in healthcare I reckon.

Canada seems tempting and I speak french which is a big plus but again theres this visa rigmarole to go through.

As for the weather yeah, the UK and Ireland are the cloud capital of the world imho.
Never extremely cold but always bloody grim and miserable heh.

A friend was telling me today that on a few online newspapers today the B of E was 'considering' NEGATIVE interest rates!!!!
I shall try and have a look but my wireless connection is playing up!

Jane

That's a coincidence, because I have this open on another tab.

www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news...t-rates-8512047.html

'Leave your money with us and we'll give you most of it back'

psketti wrote:
Yeah

Social Unrest is the only thing that is going to change anything now. It ain't gonna come from the top.