Cost of living crisis.

[Dahnsouff]

Give free school meals to all, but allow people to opt out - not means testing.

Same should have been done for the energy subsidy policy

[tom27111]

On 10/10/2022 at 09:57, Fazzer 7 said:

Are you certain they pay for gas 2 years in advance and not 6 months?

Positive

 

All British energy companies do.

[filthyfox]

I'm growing my own vegetables next year to help reduce costs.

Even with buying soil and growing containers, the worth will exceed the cost over a two year period.  I work out a 30% profit.

Bloody brilliant as I will be growing carrots, and my bunnies love the tops

[rachhere]

19 minutes ago, filthyfox said:

I'm growing my own vegetables next year to help reduce costs.

Even with buying soil and growing containers, the worth will exceed the cost over a two year period.  I work out a 30% profit.

Bloody brilliant as I will be growing carrots, and my bunnies love the tops

It’s great fun as well. Although can be a bit disheartening At times when plants get diseased or eaten by unwanted visitors. Top tip from me would be to grow runner beans. We have always got a plentiful crop and they are such an efficient use of space 

[dsr-burnley]

40 minutes ago, tom27111 said:

Positive

 

All British energy companies do.

But surely the reason so many companies went bust in the early part of this year was because the gas price rise had caught them by surprise?  If they had 2 years' relatively cheap gas guaranteed, they would have been coining it in.  As it was, their maximum charge was determined by the cap based on the second half of 2021 and this meant they were making losses on every therm they sold.

[Sol thewall Bamba]

Diesel back up to 1.99 a litre on my way to work, Brent Crude currently trading at $91 a barrell. Daylight robbery doesn't even start to describe it.

[RobHawk]

15 hours ago, rachhere said:

It’s great fun as well. Although can be a bit disheartening At times when plants get diseased or eaten by unwanted visitors. Top tip from me would be to grow runner beans. We have always got a plentiful crop and they are such an efficient use of space 

And peas, bloody lovely out the garden and dead easy to grow. 

 

Cucumbers and courgettes are dead easy too in a cold frame

[rachhere]

3 minutes ago, RobHawk said:

And peas, bloody lovely out the garden and dead easy to grow. 

 

Cucumbers and courgettes are dead easy too in a cold frame

I have never really had success with peas - no idea why! I think maybe the variety I chose. As you say, courgettes are great - we ended up with so many that I was having to google recipes with courgettes (courgettes and sweetcorn fritters are worth making!) 

[Babylon]

Was paying £57 a month for Virgin media phone, broadband and TV. Contract ended in June and was due to jump... so I've sacked off the landline and TV box that I never use. They've done their broadband at 350mbs for £19 a month, which is bloody great really. 

[Suzie the Fox]

On 12/10/2022 at 22:56, filthyfox said:

I'm growing my own vegetables next year to help reduce costs.

Even with buying soil and growing containers, the worth will exceed the cost over a two year period.  I work out a 30% profit.

Bloody brilliant as I will be growing carrots, and my bunnies love the tops

And the fruits taste sooo much better.

 

Last year i did Raspberrys, Blueberrys and Strawberrys. French beans & Peas (Tomatoes, Cucumber and Peppers in the greenhouse.)

 

I often rotate as i've heard different fruit/veg requires different nutrients from the soil so planning on Potatoes & Carrots next year. 

 

Also have a few pots that are dedicated to spices. (Oregana, Mint and Basil) 

 

Never really liked gardening much, but its got to be quite a hobby as i've got older. 

[filthyfox]

4 hours ago, Suzie the Fox said:

And the fruits taste sooo much better.

 

Last year i did Raspberrys, Blueberrys and Strawberrys. French beans & Peas (Tomatoes, Cucumber and Peppers in the greenhouse.)

 

I often rotate as i've heard different fruit/veg requires different nutrients from the soil so planning on Potatoes & Carrots next year. 

 

Also have a few pots that are dedicated to spices. (Oregana, Mint and Basil) 

 

Never really liked gardening much, but its got to be quite a hobby as i've got older. 

I need LOADS of parsley for my bunnies 😃

[Leicester_Loyal]

The figures for re-mortgaging are pretty scary. I've just had a look out of curiosity as I've got 3 and a half years left on my fixed term.

[Lako42]

11 minutes ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

The figures for re-mortgaging are pretty scary. I've just had a look out of curiosity as I've got 3 and a half years left on my fixed term.

This is one disaster that I'm insulated from in a direct way as I got a 1.29% 5 year fix in Jan but **** me there are going to be people in serious difficulty from the numbers I'm seeing for remortgages. 

[adam]

1 hour ago, Lako42 said:

This is one disaster that I'm insulated from in a direct way as I got a 1.29% 5 year fix in Jan but **** me there are going to be people in serious difficulty from the numbers I'm seeing for remortgages. 

Miy fixed deal runs out in March. Hoping for some sort of miracle before march! 

[polarbear]

18 minutes ago, adam said:

Miy fixed deal runs out in March. Hoping for some sort of miracle before march! 

Overpay as much as you can before then

[filthyfox]

Tory Government is an absolute shambles. I can't vote for these liars and criminals.  They could have really helped us, the little people.

 

They have abandoned us all to the mercy of their banker mates 

[Thefox81]

Next year is going to be worse than these past 2 and a half years isnt it?

Edited 17 October 2022 by Thefox81
Spelling

[FoyleFox]

58 minutes ago, adam said:

Miy fixed deal runs out in March. Hoping for some sort of miracle before march! 

And now the energy support package is only valid until April.

 

 

2 hours ago, Lako42 said:

This is one disaster that I'm insulated from in a direct way as I got a 1.29% 5 year fix in Jan but **** me there are going to be people in serious difficulty from the numbers I'm seeing for remortgages. 

3 hours ago, Leicester_Loyal said:

The figures for re-mortgaging are pretty scary. I've just had a look out of curiosity as I've got 3 and a half years left on my fixed term.

Although I was absolutely raging in Feb '21 when the bank refused to port our mortgage or lend us any money due to my furlough, when we were planning our move, despite only agreeing the loan in July '20. I now think they did us a massive favour.

 

The current mortgage rates are going to look terrifying for a lot of people. There are loads of old people (like me) who lived through rate hikes 30 years ago, moaning that it was like this in our day. However, they aren't comprehending the value of monthly payments now. I recently saw a house a couple of doors from my first house come on the market. My mortgage on that first house was £34k, so when the interest rate were fluctuating, my monthly increase was probably £15 or £20. Said house is on for £200k. 10% deposit and then that's £700 a month using Lako's fix rate. The Nationwide product on RightMove has a 5.96% rate, with a monthly cost of £1,156. That's an awful amount to suddenly find. On top of the increase in the cost of everything else.

 

 

[ajthefox]

My first time buyer two year fixie ends at the end of April. Just over 400 a month at 3%. Borrowed less than 100k. 

 

Looks like it's going up to 550 ish.

 

Although that was about a week ago so God knows where that is now thanks to these completely and utterly useless, not even quasi intellectual twats in charge.

Edited 17 October 2022 by ajthefox

[VLC86]

48 minutes ago, ajthefox said:

My first time buyer two year fixie ends at the end of April. Just over 400 a month at 3%. Borrowed less than 100k. 

 

Looks like it's going up to 550 ish.

 

Although that was about a week ago so God knows where that is now thanks to these completely and utterly useless, not even quasi intellectual twats in charge.

You can fix it 6 months before it ends.

[ajthefox]

26 minutes ago, Costock_Fox said:

You can fix it 6 months before it ends.

I've been speaking to my adviser the last couple weeks so it's in hand.

I wouldn't put it past this shit show making it an extra 100 quid worse in 10 days though.

 

[VLC86]

2 minutes ago, ajthefox said:

I've been speaking to my adviser the last couple weeks so it's in hand.

I wouldn't put it past this shit show making it an extra 100 quid worse in 10 days though.

 

At the minute banks are sitting back having hiked the rates up and watching how it develops. Unfortunately nobody knows what the next steps are, ****ing shambles.

[dsr-burnley]

12 hours ago, filthyfox said:

Tory Government is an absolute shambles. I can't vote for these liars and criminals.  They could have really helped us, the little people.

 

They have abandoned us all to the mercy of their banker mates 

Interestingly, Bank of England base rates history goes back to 1694.  The first time it dipped below 2.25% for more than a few months was in 1894, for 19 months at 2%.  The second time was 1932-1951, also 2% (barring a couple of months in late summer 1939). And that was all until 2008 to date.

 

Rates even now are historically low.  The low interest rate has caused and will continue to cause problems especially relating to soaring house prices, but the interest rates now are not high (especially with inflation at 10%) and this particular stick isn't one to beat them with.  It's keeping rates of interest artificially low that's the big failure, not being the ones holding the baby when the reckoning finally comes.

 

It's the problem with cheap borrowing.  If a scarce but necessary  resource is made available on cheap credit, its price will go up and up and up.  And when the cheap credit ends, or even if it just goes from stupidly cheap to ordinary cheap, then the people who have taken high mortgages to fund their necessary purchase find that the value of their asset goes down while the repayment costs go up.

 

Governments for many years (since Blair certainly and Major probably) have been working on the basis that there is no boom and bust, that prices and values will go up for ever while inflation and interest rates will not move, and printing unlimited money will never have a cost attached.

 

The semi-coup against Truss was to stop her putting measures in place to correct this.  The establishment consensus is to carry on as before, keep on borrowing, and trust it will be all right.  But they won't be able to stop interest rates from rising, and they won't be able to square the circle of making house prices cheaper for first time buyers while keeping house prices high for existing owners.

Edited 18 October 2022 by dsr-burnley

[Dahnsouff]

Agree @dsr-burnley interest rates have been too low for far too long, it has become too normalised

[Innovindil]

26 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

Agree @dsr-burnley interest rates have been too low for far too long, it has become too normalised

Great take in theory, but people around my age have never known anything different. At what point does something go from being normalised to actually being normal. 

 

For all the people who would like to see house prices drop or make a few quid in savings accounts, seeing people unable to afford their mortgages isn't great.