Cost of living crisis.

[Greg2607]

58 minutes ago, grobyfox1990 said:

If you are in the 100-125 bracket and your PA is starting to taper off, make more voluntary contributions to your pension to get you below 100k taxable income.

jesus I wish I was.... no, i'm just tipped into £51,000!

[pazzerfox]

3 hours ago, FoxesDeb said:

Personally I wouldn't want to take the risk. If people genuinely can't reduce their usage to an affordable amount, which seems like is going to be the case come October if it isn't already, they should probably continue to pay what they can afford, then at least they'll be seen to be making an effort. Rates are usually slightly lower for people on DD payments too.

 

Non payment of energy bills goes on credit ratings, which is something else people will want to avoid if they can, and if you have a debt bigger than I think £500 your supplier can refuse to let you switch away, too.

 

For anyone who is struggling, there's some help here:

 

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/getting-help-if-you-cant-afford-your-energy-bills

 

 

 

Each to their own but non compliance by the masses would make a far bigger impact.  There will be so many who cannot afford to feed themselves and their families, that radical action will be needed.  I very much doubt a politician or a big corporation will be the answer to end this debacle.

[pazzerfox]

The hypocrisy is staggering.

 

https://nypost.com/2022/07/19/climate-buster-biden-green-czar-john-kerrys-jet-unleashes-tons-of-co2/

 

 

[leicsmac]

18 minutes ago, pazzerfox said:

The hypocrisy is staggering.

 

https://nypost.com/2022/07/19/climate-buster-biden-green-czar-john-kerrys-jet-unleashes-tons-of-co2/

 

 

Are either of them standing on a platform of reducing air travel as a means of fighting climate change, then?

 

I hope that they aren't, because if they are they're picking decidedly small fruit compared to the behemoth that is ground based vehicles and, above all, energy generation. To say nothing of the fact that its perfectly possible to change the way affect the atmosphere without significantly affecting quality of life.

 

But hey, a Trump/Murdoch rag has to keep putting out these hit pieces to stop people from focusing on the overall problem of increasing global temperatures, right? Can't make much money from the status quo if they don't.

 

NB. This has been said multiple times but I'll repeat it here - accusations of hypocrisy, even if accurate (don't think they are in this case) are relevant only to the human response regarding climate change,  they change nothing regarding the scientific facts of the matter. The laws of thermodynamics and the consequences that they give to Earth really don't care about who is a hypocrite or not.

Edited 22 July 2022 by leicsmac

[Nalis]

I asked this in the questions thread but as it got lost it might be more applicable in here as others might be thinking the same thing:

 

Question about Cashback on using debit or credit cards.

 

One of those things I should know more about than I do at my age but here we are...

 

Is it literally as simple as getting, say, a percentage of your card usage at certain retailers in cash (well, cash in the bank)? 

 

I manage my money quite well so struggling to figure out what the catch is as it seems like an easy win to get cash for doing nothing out of the ordinary. Is it data driven or something, like clubcards? Also, is it taxable income?

[ozleicester]

[pazzerfox]

1 hour ago, leicsmac said:

Are either of them standing on a platform of reducing air travel as a means of fighting climate change, then?

 

I hope that they aren't, because if they are they're picking decidedly small fruit compared to the behemoth that is ground based vehicles and, above all, energy generation. To say nothing of the fact that its perfectly possible to change the way affect the atmosphere without significantly affecting quality of life.

 

But hey, a Trump/Murdoch rag has to keep putting out these hit pieces to stop people from focusing on the overall problem of increasing global temperatures, right? Can't make much money from the status quo if they don't.

 

NB. This has been said multiple times but I'll repeat it here - accusations of hypocrisy, even if accurate (don't think they are in this case) are relevant only to the human response regarding climate change,  they change nothing regarding the scientific facts of the matter. The laws of thermodynamics and the consequences that they give to Earth really don't care about who is a hypocrite or not.

"Are either of them standing on a platform of reducing air travel as a means of fighting climate change, then?"

 

One of them barely knows his own name @leicsmac

[leicsmac]

7 minutes ago, pazzerfox said:

"Are either of them standing on a platform of reducing air travel as a means of fighting climate change, then?"

 

One of them barely knows his own name @leicsmac

I'd appreciate a simple answer to the question. You know, in the interests of truth and all.

 

Though if we're not going to get one, I will point out in reply to this that the bloke who "barely knows his own name" at least treats the future of human civilisation with a little more care and attention than his predecessor did, diminished capacity or not.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62241954

 

I would have thought the events of Monday and Tuesday would have convinced even the unconvinced in the UK of the nature of the threat and the fact that it's on its way, and fast.

 

[grobyfox1990]

38 minutes ago, Nalis said:

I asked this in the questions thread but as it got lost it might be more applicable in here as others might be thinking the same thing:

 

Question about Cashback on using debit or credit cards.

 

One of those things I should know more about than I do at my age but here we are...

 

Is it literally as simple as getting, say, a percentage of your card usage at certain retailers in cash (well, cash in the bank)? 

 

I manage my money quite well so struggling to figure out what the catch is as it seems like an easy win to get cash for doing nothing out of the ordinary. Is it data driven or something, like clubcards? Also, is it taxable income?

Yes, with the Chase, Amex and Barclaycard credit card, the cashback gets put as a debit onto your account. So, essentially, it is cash. Really really worth getting one for everyday spending, its free money.

[Benguin]

45 minutes ago, ozleicester said:

First we seize all the wealth from the billionaires - roughly 28 Trillion usd 

 

Then the global markets crash rendering that to be worth 10 cents on the dollar and mass unemployment, pensions depleted etc

 

Then we send 400 usd to everyone on the planet 

 

Then we are all poor. 
 

not condoning billionaires but that meme is and should only ever be a meme 

[grobyfox1990]

4 minutes ago, Benguin said:

First we seize all the wealth from the billionaires - roughly 28 Trillion usd 

 

Then the global markets crash rendering that to be worth 10 cents on the dollar and mass unemployment, pensions depleted etc

 

Then we send 400 usd to everyone on the planet 

 

Then we are all poor. 
 

not condoning billionaires but that meme is and should only ever be a meme 

Tbf your reply above is about as pie in the sky as the original meme.

[Innovindil]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62267324

 

And poof, just like that, they found enough money for an inflation busting payrise. 

[Parafox]

3 hours ago, Innovindil said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62267324

 

And poof, just like that, they found enough money for an inflation busting payrise. 

Just goes to show what cnuts BA are. Just like P&O. Except P&O sacked people and had them escorted off the ships. Making them bigger cnuts.

Edited 22 July 2022 by Parafox

[Trav Le Bleu]

6 hours ago, Benguin said:

First we seize all the wealth from the billionaires - roughly 28 Trillion usd 

 

Then the global markets crash rendering that to be worth 10 cents on the dollar and mass unemployment, pensions depleted etc

 

Then we send 400 usd to everyone on the planet 

 

Then we are all poor. 
 

not condoning billionaires but that meme is and should only ever be a meme 

Surely someone has to be rich, in order for anyone to be poor?

[Trav Le Bleu]

As for the cost of living crisis, it doesn't seem to have curtailed people's online spending. Still far more parcels than we can cope with at my work.

[Lako42]

36 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

As for the cost of living crisis, it doesn't seem to have curtailed people's online spending. Still far more parcels than we can cope with at my work.

It's not curtailed people's spending full stop. 

 

We live in an age where many people take luxuries as devine right. 

 

Big holidays, beers, dinner out. I still see all of these things at full capicity at the minute. 

 

People are in for a big shock. 

[grobyfox1990]

1 hour ago, Lako42 said:

It's not curtailed people's spending full stop. 

 

We live in an age where many people take luxuries as devine right. 

 

Big holidays, beers, dinner out. I still see all of these things at full capicity at the minute. 

 

People are in for a big shock. 

It definitely has curtailed people spending. The latest retail figures prove that, and they have a time lag. The public are reining in their spending

[Leicester_Loyal]

15 hours ago, Parafox said:

Just goes to show what cnuts BA are. Just like P&O. Except P&O sacked people and had them escorted off the ships. Making them bigger cnuts.

Exactly what will happen on the railway in 2024 unless we stand up now.

 

The Government have just agreed a new deal with P&O btw, after saying it was disgusting how they treated their employees, they then go straight back to them and do a multimillion pound contract with them.

 

13 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

As for the cost of living crisis, it doesn't seem to have curtailed people's online spending. Still far more parcels than we can cope with at my work.

It'll be nights out, social events (theatre, cinema, sports), restaurant visits and takeaways that take the hit before people stop buying products. Meridian is absolutely booming every Saturday, but people saved a decent amount of dough during lockdown.

 

I think it'll take a while to hit but the situation will be a lot different in 9 months time compared to now, a lot of people will cope, they'll cut back slightly, they'll do more hours at work, they'll make it work, however some won't be able to do any of this, and these are the ones that will default on their mortgages, their rent or their utility bills.

[Soup]

On 23/07/2022 at 12:08, Leicester_Loyal said:

 

It'll be nights out, social events (theatre, cinema, sports), restaurant visits and takeaways that take the hit before people stop buying products. 

I think you're right on this. A very sad reflection of modern life unfortunately. 

[urban.spaceman]

 

 

[HighPeakFox]

On 20/07/2022 at 08:23, Bert said:

That doesn’t give him any right to put the fear of life into people. 

Have you ever read the newspapers, or watched most of this country's news output?

[stripeyfox]

On 22/07/2022 at 14:31, Nalis said:

I asked this in the questions thread but as it got lost it might be more applicable in here as others might be thinking the same thing:

 

Question about Cashback on using debit or credit cards.

 

One of those things I should know more about than I do at my age but here we are...

 

Is it literally as simple as getting, say, a percentage of your card usage at certain retailers in cash (well, cash in the bank)? 

 

I manage my money quite well so struggling to figure out what the catch is as it seems like an easy win to get cash for doing nothing out of the ordinary. Is it data driven or something, like clubcards? Also, is it taxable income?

If you pay your credit card off in full every month then the cashback can be a nice little bit of "free" money. But there will be a significant percentage of people who may start off with the intention of doing this, but fall behind and end up paying much more in interest than any cashback is worth. The credit card companies know this. For every regular "pay it off every month" person there's probably hundreds who don't.

 

 

[Bert]

43 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

Have you ever read the newspapers, or watched most of this country's news output?

No, tell me the last time any of it was good news? 

[HighPeakFox]

Just now, Bert said:

No, tell me the last time any of it was good news? 

I think you might be missing my point here Bert. They scaremonger and manipulate our fears the entire time. To pick out a man with an immense knowledge and understanding of the way finances work and point the finger at him is, I would suggest, looking in the wrong direction.

[RobHawk]

49 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

I think you might be missing my point here Bert. They scaremonger and manipulate our fears the entire time. To pick out a man with an immense knowledge and understanding of the way finances work and point the finger at him is, I would suggest, looking in the wrong direction.

I've actually worked alongside Martin Lewis in the past when I used to work in money advice. 

 

My take on him wasn't overly positive, he's a journalist first, loves a sound bite and clearly knows what he's doing. 

 

However the one thing I would say is his heart is in the right place and he wants change, even if we had different approaches on how that should be acheived. I'm sure there's an element of clickbait with him (journalist first) but also he's right in what he says. It's going up again dramatically in October, the only thing we don't know is exactly how much. The picture keeps getting worse though. 

 

I have a lot of respect for him and what he's acheived. Definitely someone I still note of and I use the MSE website all the time.