Cost of living crisis.

[grobyfox1990]

35 minutes ago, dsr-burnley said:

That's not my point.  My point is that in 1947, when it was very very cold and there was a severe shortage of power, there was no reported increase in deaths of people of working age.  You claim that this year, whether it's cold or not, there will be many deaths.  Why will so many people die?  I can see no evidence that they would.

Yeh I know, but i've deliberately not mentioned winter 1946 in my initial post because it is so irrelevant. The stats will be almost meaningless, were dead people counted by a bloke in a top hat going door to door with an abacus? You and i have no idea how many people died that winter. It's like when India report covid deaths, they have no idea, 10m's of people are born and die every year without touching a register.

 

1 jan onwards will be different because it's not just energy that's going up. Never mind that the gas and elec unit rate i was paying on 27 Feb 2022 (when on a fix) will quintuple on 1 Oct 2022. Then double that again on 1 Jan 2023. Inflation will reach 15% atleast. In an annual comparison - food, petrol, essentials may almost double. Need an ambulance? 24 hour wait. Mortgage needs refixing? Double/triple the rate. Rent up for review? Landlords are selling and/or hiking rent massively. Tax, insurance, every bill you can imagine going through the roof. In a context where Govt finances are in an unknown mess, public services are on stirke, we are a weakening influence gloally and we have a temporary leader in place, and up to 25% of UK adults have £100 spare. People will simply die.

 

I'm not a scare monger, i believed Brexit will have no real impact on us long term, covid was vastly overblown, but this is different. I feed into Gov and FCA/PRA stats and this is worse than anyone I work with has seen in their lifetimes.

 

Edit - kinda wrote this in a rush whilst on the bog and finished earlier than expected and remebered a few more stats. On those that think Govt intervention will help. Public debt is now 96% of GDP, highest its been since the 40s or 50s when we were a significant force on global debt markets. We had around £30bn of fiscal headroom in Feb, that's ALL gone in inflation costs alone. The rate of inflation for the poorest 20% of people may go above 20%. If the Govt turm the bazooka on to help, we will be lumbered with higher taxes and ruined public coffers for decades, prolonging deaths. If they don't, deaths now.

Edited 30 August 2022 by grobyfox1990

[dsr-burnley]

14 minutes ago, grobyfox1990 said:

Yeh I know, but i've deliberately not mentioned winter 1946 in my initial post because it is so irrelevant. The stats will be almost meaningless, were dead people counted by a bloke in a top hat going door to door with an abacus? You and i have no idea how many people died that winter. It's like when India report covid deaths, they have no idea, 10m's of people are born and die every year without touching a register.

 

1 jan onwards will be different because it's not just energy that's going up. Never mind that the gas and elec unit rate i was paying on 27 Feb 2022 (when on a fix) will quintuple on 1 Oct 2022. Then double that again on 1 Jan 2023. Inflation will reach 15% atleast. In an annual comparison - food, petrol, essentials may almost double. Need an ambulance? 24 hour wait. Mortgage needs refixing? Double/triple the rate. Rent up for review? Landlords are selling and/or hiking rent massively. Tax, insurance, every bill you can imagine going through the roof. In a context where Govt finances are in an unknown mess, public services are on stirke, we are a weakening influence gloally and we have a temporary leader in place, and up to 25% of UK adults have £100 spare. People will simply die.

 

I'm not a scare monger, i believed Brexit will have no real impact on us long term, covid was vastly overblown, but this is different. I feed into Gov and FCA/PRA stats and this is worse than anyone I work with has seen in their lifetimes.

You wildly overestimate how primitive the UK was in 1947.  In medieval times, there would be no proper record of births and deaths, but 1947 wasn't medieval times.  In 1947 they counted how many people died.

 

Also in 1947 (history again, I'm afraid) the economy was in poor shape.  Inflation was 10%, the national debt was huge, unemployment was moderately high.  We were just coming out of a major war.  Coal was severely rationed, so whether you could afford it or not, you couldn't get it.  Central heating was more or less non-existent.  People (though it may be hard to imagine) had less money then than they have now, and food was scarce anyway, rationing in full flow.  The NHS didn't exist.  It wasn't an earthly paradise, not even when you compare it with now.

Edited 30 August 2022 by dsr-burnley

[GingerrrFox]

In 2022, with the money that is generated in this country, none of this should be happening so it’s a damning insight as to the failures of capitalism. Inflation has been driven by large multi-national companies trying to maintain profit margins yet people are constantly being fed the narrative that it’s people wanting a fair salary for their job and by being greedy asking for more money rather than “making cut backs”, the media are trying to push the working class and middle class against each other in the hope the population forgets who is really raping this country economically. 
 

None of our essential utilities should be controlled by privately owned companies. We need to try and adopt the Nordic model as soon as possible so that our future generations aren’t in the same shit storm that we are currently. 

[urban.spaceman]

2 hours ago, Bilsthorpe Blue said:

Does anyone know what percentage of our electricity comes from either wind turbines or solar panels?, 

It's just that I haven't seen an increase in cost for sun or wind

https://grid.iamkate.com

[leicsmac]

37 minutes ago, grobyfox1990 said:

Yeh I know, but i've deliberately not mentioned winter 1946 in my initial post because it is so irrelevant. The stats will be almost meaningless, were dead people counted by a bloke in a top hat going door to door with an abacus? You and i have no idea how many people died that winter. It's like when India report covid deaths, they have no idea, 10m's of people are born and die every year without touching a register.

 

1 jan onwards will be different because it's not just energy that's going up. Never mind that the gas and elec unit rate i was paying on 27 Feb 2022 (when on a fix) will quintuple on 1 Oct 2022. Then double that again on 1 Jan 2023. Inflation will reach 15% atleast. In an annual comparison - food, petrol, essentials may almost double. Need an ambulance? 24 hour wait. Mortgage needs refixing? Double/triple the rate. Rent up for review? Landlords are selling and/or hiking rent massively. Tax, insurance, every bill you can imagine going through the roof. In a context where Govt finances are in an unknown mess, public services are on stirke, we are a weakening influence gloally and we have a temporary leader in place, and up to 25% of UK adults have £100 spare. People will simply die.

 

I'm not a scare monger, i believed Brexit will have no real impact on us long term, covid was vastly overblown, but this is different. I feed into Gov and FCA/PRA stats and this is worse than anyone I work with has seen in their lifetimes.

 

Edit - kinda wrote this in a rush whilst on the bog and finished earlier than expected and remebered a few more stats. On those that think Govt intervention will help. Public debt is now 96% of GDP, highest its been since the 40s or 50s when we were a significant force on global debt markets. We had around £30bn of fiscal headroom in Feb, that's ALL gone in inflation costs alone. The rate of inflation for the poorest 20% of people may go above 20%. If the Govt turm the bazooka on to help, we will be lumbered with higher taxes and ruined public coffers for decades, prolonging deaths. If they don't, deaths now.

That's a pretty grim overall picture.

 

The only thing I'll add is that I sincerely hope things won't get this bad, because something not mentioned in this post - namely world/"natural" events over the next couple of decades could make this all much worse, and we really need to be facing those on a firmer footing.

[grobyfox1990]

23 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

That's a pretty grim overall picture.

 

The only thing I'll add is that I sincerely hope things won't get this bad, because something not mentioned in this post - namely world/"natural" events over the next couple of decades could make this all much worse, and we really need to be facing those on a firmer footing.

Yes I didn't want to mention climate as thats far more debateable compared to whats going to happen in a few months, which is a simple fact. But regardless, we have now conceded we need to end attempts to reverse temperature increases, instead 'prepare' for a world with a 1.5 degree increase. Btw that world means drought, flooding and frequent wildfires with devastating hunger, displacement and widepsread DEATH on our doorsteps!!

[leicsmac]

2 minutes ago, grobyfox1990 said:

Yes I didn't want to mention climate as thats far more debateable compared to whats going to happen in a few months, which is a simple fact. But regardless, we have now conceded we need to end attempts to reverse temperature increases, instead 'prepare' for a world with a 1.5 degree increase. Btw that world means drought, flooding and frequent wildfires with devastating hunger, displacement and widepsread DEATH on our doorsteps!!

Yeah. The current crisis is hardly giving us the tools, time or inclination to engage that bigger problem down the road, is it?

[ozleicester]

Amazing... still the tory lickspittles defend them and their outrageous policies, worst of all are the dumb "working class" people who think these criminals represent them.

Greed and selfishness drives it all.

If you earn less than $100,000 and have ever voted for this scum... you are part of the problem

[grobyfox1990]

10 minutes ago, ozleicester said:

Amazing... still the tory lickspittles defend them and their outrageous policies, worst of all are the dumb "working class" people who think these criminals represent them.

Greed and selfishness drives it all.

If you earn less than $100,000 and have ever voted for this scum... you are part of the problem

$100k is nothing, especially when you consider many of these people may well consider themselves ‘rich’ and engage in some serious keeping up with the joneses. Without wanting to get political and everyone has their reasons for voting they way they do, but to be ‘rich’ in this country I reckon means liquid assets of around £5-10m? And only the rich should vote Tory in theory…

[Greg2607]

3 hours ago, Babylon said:

This is my concern, I'm self employed and fairly comfortable to the point of the rises don't really impact me greatly (outside of less cash in my pocket). But that could soon change when half of my customer base either closes or stops paying me, because they need to cut back. 

 

There was a twitter post yesterday about a small Cafe in Leicester, their gas and electric bill was going from something like £10,000 a year to £55,000 a year. And they were basically coming to the conclusion they would just have to close. 

 

Lord of the flies, coming soon to a country near you. 

I've got a real life example of this as well. 

 

My Mum and Step Dad have recently had to close their care home business.  It had been in operation for 30 years, for people with learning difficulties.  With the squeeze on pay at one end and their energy bills at the other, they have had to shut up shop.  energy went up to £5k a week in April, so god knows what it would look like in October. 

 

They now face the very real prospect of having to sell their home, as they have no income, and at 60 & 64, no real prospect of securing meaningful employment to cover the last few years of their mortgage. 

 

15 Staff now unemployed (including my sister) and 10 residents who have had to move into supported living (which really isn't suitable for their needs) as there are no available care home places. 

 

the UK is going to implode in the next 18 months.  I don't think we are far off being a failed state.

 

NHS on Verge of Collapse, Mass redundancies around the corner, 1000's of SME businesses disappearing from our high streets, people struggling to eat or heat their homes. Mortgage defaults... 

 

It's a grim picture. 

 

but at least Boris had a nice extended holiday. 

 

[SemperEadem]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62688692

 

When they were mostly on their knees anyway.

[urban.spaceman]

2 hours ago, Greg2607 said:

I've got a real life example of this as well. 

 

My Mum and Step Dad have recently had to close their care home business.  It had been in operation for 30 years, for people with learning difficulties.  With the squeeze on pay at one end and their energy bills at the other, they have had to shut up shop.  energy went up to £5k a week in April, so god knows what it would look like in October. 

 

They now face the very real prospect of having to sell their home, as they have no income, and at 60 & 64, no real prospect of securing meaningful employment to cover the last few years of their mortgage. 

 

15 Staff now unemployed (including my sister) and 10 residents who have had to move into supported living (which really isn't suitable for their needs) as there are no available care home places. 

 

the UK is going to implode in the next 18 months.  I don't think we are far off being a failed state.

 

NHS on Verge of Collapse, Mass redundancies around the corner, 1000's of SME businesses disappearing from our high streets, people struggling to eat or heat their homes. Mortgage defaults... 

 

It's a grim picture. 

 

but at least Boris had a nice extended holiday. 

 

I've always believed that some jobs, ones that are crucial to society, should be like a "calling" for people and should therefore being protected at all costs - nursing/medicine, teaching, looking after vulnerable people like people with learning difficulties and physical and mental health problems and caring for the elderly. This government has been actively hostile to these jobs in its decision making and voting, in pay and working conditions. It's no wonder that 44% of teachers in England plan to quit within five years, 27,133 people left the nursing register  in 2021-22 - an increase of 13% from 2020-21, Over 400,000 (410,000) staff left social care last year. Not to mention other sectors - rail workers, postal workers, dockers, BT/Openreach, civil servants, barristers, bus drivers... are all seeing strike action. Because they're being treated like shit by a party who have always known the price of everything and the value of nothing.

[Bellend Sebastian]

What I really didn't need to help with budgeting over the next couple of months is for HMRC to balls up my tax code so my pay this month is £500 more than usual, to be clawed back by them as and when they see fit

[Greg2607]

7 minutes ago, urban.spaceman said:

I've always believed that some jobs, ones that are crucial to society, should be like a "calling" for people and should therefore being protected at all costs - nursing/medicine, teaching, looking after vulnerable people like people with learning difficulties and physical and mental health problems and caring for the elderly. This government has been actively hostile to these jobs in its decision making and voting, in pay and working conditions. It's no wonder that 44% of teachers in England plan to quit within five years, 27,133 people left the nursing register  in 2021-22 - an increase of 13% from 2020-21, Over 400,000 (410,000) staff left social care last year. Not to mention other sectors - rail workers, postal workers, dockers, BT/Openreach, civil servants, barristers, bus drivers... are all seeing strike action. Because they're being treated like shit by a party who have always known the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Carers in particular.  It's a super difficult job, but you can earn far more, working in a supermarket or in a call centre.  Yet when our grandparents/parents reach an age that they need care, or we need it ourselves, we all bemoan the fact that we can't access people to support us.  Society should place a higher value on those roles. but by the same token, they should also provide the funding, to allow the care homes to pay higher salaries in the first place. 

[ozleicester]

.

Edited 30 August 2022 by ozleicester

[Foxdiamond]

7 minutes ago, Greg2607 said:

Carers in particular.  It's a super difficult job, but you can earn far more, working in a supermarket or in a call centre.  Yet when our grandparents/parents reach an age that they need care, or we need it ourselves, we all bemoan the fact that we can't access people to support us.  Society should place a higher value on those roles. but by the same token, they should also provide the funding, to allow the care homes to pay higher salaries in the first place. 

My wife was a care assistant looking after elderly and those with physical problems. She did this job for 27 years before retirement. It was always badly paid. I know she made a positive difference to the people she looked after. Not too strong to say she was loved by many. I would not have done her job for £1000 a week let alone the paltry sum she did receive. I always said that elderly people in their later years are invisible as are those that look after them. As said you can earn more in a supermarket. The social care budget should be increased to provide better wages. Thank you for highlighting the job carers do 

[Tommy G]

49 minutes ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

What I really didn't need to help with budgeting over the next couple of months is for HMRC to balls up my tax code so my pay this month is £500 more than usual, to be clawed back by them as and when they see fit

Stick it in a savings account and earn some interest  then! That 2% interest rate will really make a difference 

[Ashley]

Anyone clued up on what to do regarding bills? Is it worth canceling DD and paying for what we use? Is it worth creating another thread for such advice? 

Edited 30 August 2022 by Ashley

[Bellend Sebastian]

7 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

Stick it in a savings account and earn some interest  then! That 2% interest rate will really make a difference 

I expect to be able to use the profits to heat my home for upwards of 3 seconds

[harpendenfox]

41 minutes ago, Foxdiamond said:

My wife was a care assistant looking after elderly and those with physical problems. She did this job for 27 years before retirement. It was always badly paid. I know she made a positive difference to the people she looked after. Not too strong to say she was loved by many. I would not have done her job for £1000 a week let alone the paltry sum she did receive. I always said that elderly people in their later years are invisible as are those that look after them. As said you can earn more in a supermarket. The social care budget should be increased to provide better wages. Thank you for highlighting the job carers do 

Your wife deserves a medal. In all seriousness it is people like your wife who should receive honours, not faceless civil servants. Please tell her from me I think she is a bloody legend. My son lives in residential care. His carers are poorly paid and wonderful. The managers of those carers are, by and large, better paid, and rather lazy. 

[Foxdiamond]

6 minutes ago, harpendenfox said:

Your wife deserves a medal. In all seriousness it is people like your wife who should receive honours, not faceless civil servants. Please tell her from me I think she is a bloody legend. My son lives in residential care. His carers are poorly paid and wonderful. The managers of those carers are, by and large, better paid, and rather lazy. 

Thanks harpendenfox. You know I have often thought she and her colleagues were deserving of a medal. All the best to you and your son.

[FoxesDeb]

On 09/08/2022 at 19:16, FoxesDeb said:

You can, just be aware that you might be getting a discount for paying by DD, and that your monthly payments are designed to build up credit over the summer to cover the higher usage months in the winter.

 

Lots and lots of people are cancelling DD's with their energy companies, and reclaiming their credit, but they may well struggle when the higher bills come in over the winter.

 

On 09/08/2022 at 19:17, FoxesDeb said:

Paying for what you use is fine if you can afford the much higher bills in the winter, but many people need to budget so they're better off spreading the yearly cost equally over 12 months.

 

48 minutes ago, Ashley said:

Anyone clued up on what to do regarding bills? Is it worth canceling DD and paying for what we use? Is it worth creating another thread for such advice? 

The above are my replies when someone else asked the same thing a few pages back 

[grobyfox1990]

51 minutes ago, Ashley said:

Anyone clued up on what to do regarding bills? Is it worth canceling DD and paying for what we use? Is it worth creating another thread for such advice? 

I’d be intrigued to know if you find a decent DD. All deals I come across are outrageous. Been on the standard SVR cap since feb when my last fix ended 

[yorkie1999]

1 hour ago, Ashley said:

Anyone clued up on what to do regarding bills? Is it worth canceling DD and paying for what we use? Is it worth creating another thread for such advice? 

You can change to a variable monthly DD, which means you pay for what you use, not an estimate of what you will use, but still get the discount of DD. This alongside a smart meter allows you to control how much you're spending. If you haven't got a smart meter, you have to send them the meter readings.

[urban.spaceman]

2 hours ago, Greg2607 said:

Carers in particular.  It's a super difficult job, but you can earn far more, working in a supermarket or in a call centre.  Yet when our grandparents/parents reach an age that they need care, or we need it ourselves, we all bemoan the fact that we can't access people to support us.  Society should place a higher value on those roles. but by the same token, they should also provide the funding, to allow the care homes to pay higher salaries in the first place. 

They're such hard workers too. I'm a carer too for a young man with autism and I've been kicked, bitten, punched, slapped, screamed at and threatened over the years (though the absolute worst abuse I've suffered is being forced to listen to S Club 7). Proper carers go through this every single day and still turn up to earn a pittance. Some of the people who brag about "working hard" wouldn't last a day in a care home. You're right that society should value these roles, and I think many people do, but unfortunately we have a 'class' of people in charge who only value the small bits of coloured paper and how much of it they can hoard for themselves.