UK economy comes to a standstill

wymondham

You bunch of Ronnie Corbett's !! - you have digressed big time!! - "UK economic standstill" to "eating at your desk" :rotfl:

RichOneday_2

Generali wrote: »

The food thing:

For most people in England it seems to me that the idea of a meal is to make eating efficient. That is to make a meal and eat a meal as cheaply and quickly as possible. Enjoyment, conviviality and artisanship are all seen as dangerous eccentricities at best.

Food is food. It's a fuel for the body. Much like filling your car up quite frankly.

Enjoyment and conviviality is a different activity whereby you interact with other humans.

Why the two are seen as automatic bed partners when speaking and eating are two mutually exclusive activities is a bit of a puzzle.

I'm not being totally serious here, but it is an interesting point!

WTF?_2

Generali wrote: »

It should be a standard of living that is atainable by anyone who earns much above the average salary in the UK and just isn't unless you bought a house a long time ago.

I agree that a lot of the problem is down to high house prices although part of the problem for me is the stupid relationship Brits have with food (IMO of course) and this crazy idea that we should work all the time!

People are needing to work all the time to pay their mortgages and their credit cards. Long gone is the day when a single breadwinner could support a family and pay the mortgage and we can mostly thank ludicrous house prices for that.

And with cost-of-living price rises due to the inflationary environment of the last years squeezing people ever harder along with increased costs of credit (irrespective of central bank rates) the pressures are just going to get worse. Throw in a recession and the prospect of losing your job and the atmosphere should be even more horrible for many.

Chris2685

I wish it was possible to live on a single average wage and support a family... That would be one of my must haves for a comfortable life

fc123

Generali wrote: »

It should be a standard of living that is atainable by anyone who earns much above the average salary in the UK and just isn't unless you bought a house a long time ago.

I agree that a lot of the problem is down to high house prices although part of the problem for me is the stupid relationship Brits have with food (IMO of course) and this crazy idea that we should work all the time!

:wave: :wave: Generali. It will be great for your wife as she will get some time with her family plus they will get to know the grandchildren too.

My stepbrother is a dentist and had quite a 'big' lifestyle in Woking, private schools , big house, own practice bla bla. They all upped and went to Townsville a few yrs back (no family connections at all) and he is cleaning up; in terms of career and more balanced lifestyle.

His sons, all teenage boys love it only their skin has gone a bit odd (sun??) but the visiting is difficult as his father (my stepfather) has a heard cond so can't fly to visit there.

I feel that there are lots of Generali families who are either leaving, or planning to soon, and where will this country be without a varied spread of people?? Used to be called the Brain Drain...is it happening again? Will we end up a country full of Clampets families only?

I haven't got time to post all details (nor the emotional energy) right now but we are now being battered (like an old rusty nail with a big hammer) by big, greedy property company (desperately trying to hold onto their boom times) who have decided to try and increase our shop rent by 70%.

We have lost before we even start this rent review process (takes around 2 yrs and costs several thousand) so we are being driven out of business by rising property prices too.

There is survival scheme in place..........in fact I will have to post it on here soon just for the therapy, but it shouldn't need to be like this.
How long will it take for these property guys to suss out that the 'Money from Nothing' business model is running out of time?

When are you leaving?
It's going to be an adventure for the kids too.
Am off line for a few days...got to go to S London to sort out house....going to try and sell it :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: . If you don't laugh, you just end up sobbing!

fc123

wymondham wrote: »

You bunch of Ronnie Corbett's !! - you have digressed big time!! - "UK economic standstill" to "eating at your desk" :rotfl:

But perhaps it is the ultimate symbol of where we are now?

My grandfather always took out an hour for a proper lunch, had a stay at home wife, educated 2 girls through to Uni, large house in Windsor (he strated out very poor....proper poor, no shoes, limited education etc) and he certainly wasn't particularly high flying. He was a salesman for typewriters etc. He died a few yrs back aged 94.

No matter how much you do, how hard you work, all the reward from the effort gets sucked away in taxes or on lost 'benefits'....by that I mean, if you are of a certain income level you don't qualify for many welfare state items that your taxes are paying for.
You may never catch up.

Before HPI, if you inherited a house, you could choose to live in it or sell and buy a comparable value house elsewhere.
As inheritance tax stood still, I know of people who HAD to sell just to pay the tax due....and what was left only bought a lesser value house.
The effects of the wealth from each generation no longer trickling down to the next is going to also show up in the next few years.
Middle England suffering the most I guess.

Sapphire

RichOneday wrote: »

This population thing has been brewing for a long time. An annual cull of old people seems to be the answer which is used in may situations to control wildlife populations.

Not sure if the policy is a vote winner though!:huh:

It probably would be for many people – shows you how far family life has been split if this can even enter someone's head, and that selfishness and the 'me first' culture rules the day.:cool:

Fact is that there are simply to many humans on the planet – breeding should be strictly controlled to stop the massive drain on the planet's resources and the horrendous destruction of nature.

Perhaps there will be a plague of some kind that will naturally correct the balance on the planet and get rid of a large proportion of the surplus population, young and old. (Presumably you are very young.)

RichOneday_2

Sapphire wrote: »

It probably would be for many people – shows you how far family life has been split if this can even enter someone's head, and that selfishness and the 'me first' culture rules the day.:cool:

Fact is that there are simply to many humans on the planet – breeding should be strictly controlled to stop the massive drain on the planet's resources and the horrendous destruction of nature.

Perhaps there will be a plague of some kind that will naturally correct the balance on the planet and get rid of a large proportion of the surplus population, young and old. (Presumably you are very young.)

Er no! I would probably be in line for the cull lol I was jesting btw.

Sapphire

!!!!!!? wrote: »

People are needing to work all the time to pay their mortgages and their credit cards. Long gone is the day when a single breadwinner could support a family and pay the mortgage and we can mostly thank ludicrous house prices for that.

Isn't that mostly due to much higher expectations, though, rather than house prices? People have vastly higher expectations today than did my parents' and grandparents' generations. We in the UK, despite all the grumbling, have very high living standards compared to most of the world (including ownership of many totally peripheral and unnecessary luxuries).

The trouble is people always want more and more because they think others have more than they have and they are taken in by advertising that seduces them into thinking they 'absolutely must' accumulate an ever-increasing pile of rubbish. :cool:

(Sorry if this is not too clear, !!!!!!, but not thinking too straight because my mind is on other things.)

Sapphire

RichOneday wrote: »

Er no! I would probably be in line for the cull lol I was jesting btw.

Oh, OK. :rotfl: