Commercialism rant! (long but worth a read)

chippy_250

Is it just me being cynical or does anyone else feel the same way. I'm almost 21 and I feel like I'm just here on this planet to make money for the big companies out there.

1. Price of running cars is a rip-off.
I've been driving now for almost 4 years and I've never owned my own car or had my own policy. The way things are I'm not going to either! Now I'm a good safe driver, never hit anything and done the Pass plus course. So I test the water on a cheap 9 year old Fiesta on a compare website to see how much insurance will be. Thought it would be about £750....BUT NO, IT'S £1500 for the cheapest! !!!!!!
Is this a joke? That's like me buying a car every year! Thats not even with petrol, tax and repairs etc.
Why is it the LAW to have insurance? How can they let companies charge these meaningless figures? How can it be illegal not to have insurance? It is not anywhere near £1500 to insure me. Your making at least 90% profit on this alone!
They can't make it a LAW to purchase something privately! It's not fair!
Well I'm not paying it anyway. Screw drriving, I'm just not paying that stupid amount end of.

2. House prices & mortgages

Why are mortgages sold privately?
Just like car insurance, they shouldn't be allowed to charge these stupid interest rates. The base rate is practically zero yet these stupid private companies are ripping us off.
No-one my age has got a mortgage yet. And I know at least 250 people my age! WELL i'M NOT MOVING OUT UNTILL I CAN PAY FOR MY HOUSE IN CASH! YOUR NOT GETTING MY MONEY!

3. Savings accounts
Was thinking of setting up a savings account but they're all crap. WHY DO I WANT TO LOCK MY MONEY WITH U FOR YEARS FOR POXY 3% INTEREST!
Don't even get me started on savings!

4. Clothes shops
Quality on the clothes out there is terrbile. Some shops seem to think they can charge designer prices without actually providing the designer quality.
How is a T-shirt £25? Why the hell do I have to equal 3 hours of my hard earned work to buy this piece of $h!t?
For example, lets name names.
Burton = Expensive, boring, really plain clothes!
Republic = Expensive, plain, over rated clothes!
River island & top man = expensive, trashy, disgusting clothes!
All the clothes shops are utter crap!
The clothes arn't even fashionable and they are charging rip off prices.
Also apparently Scarfs and belts are at least £12! !!!!!!. How is a belt £12? Luckily I managed to find one for £2.50 in Primark. It's stiff as hell and uncomfortable but it looks good and thats my kind of price!


Well anyway I better round off this rant. I'm basically getting ripped off everywhere these days. The governent needs to start providing for the public and stop these big private comapanies ruling us. They need to provide Base rate mortgages for people and realistic insurance prices.

I'm loving the recession. Can't wait to wake up and watch a big company go bust! I love watching them moan on Tv and saying how times are so bad that they can only afford 2 Villa's abroad now and not 5. I hope they all go down the pan, that's what I say!


Any thoughts?

(PLEASE READ MY ADDITIONAL POST ON PAGE TWO!)

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Yep.

You exist to make people richer.


Unless of course you decide not to & do something about it.

shaven-monkey

chippy_250 wrote: »

I'm almost 21 and I feel like I'm just here on this planet to make money for the big companies out there.
It's not fair!
I'm just not paying that stupid amount end of.

they shouldn't be allowed to charge these stupid interest rates. The base rate is practically zero yet these stupid private companies are ripping us off.

3. Savings accounts
Was thinking of setting up a savings account but they're all crap.

4. Clothes shops
Quality on the clothes out there is terrbile. Some shops seem to think they can charge designer prices without actually providing the designer quality.
How is a T-shirt £25? Why the hell do I have to equal 3 hours of my hard earned work to buy this piece of $h!t?

The clothes arn't even fashionable and they are charging rip off prices.
Also apparently Scarfs and belts are at least £12! !!!!!!. How is a belt £12? Luckily I managed to find one for £2.50 in Primark. It's stiff as hell and uncomfortable but it looks good and thats my kind of price!

Well anyway I better round off this rant. I'm basically getting ripped off everywhere these days. The governent needs to start providing for the public and stop these big private comapanies ruling us. They need to provide Base rate mortgages for people and realistic insurance prices.

Any thoughts?

It's not fair.
You are just on this planet to provide profit for large companies and their shareholders as far as they're concerned.
The big companies are indeed ripping you off.
You can of course try to vote with your vote to get an MP who isn't just a corporate !!!!!.
You can vote with your wallet by not paying for trashy designer clothing that's made for the same cost as generic clothing in sweat shops.

In short: It isn't fair, It isn't just, it isn't going to improve.
Start a revolution in your head, get a bike, invest your money wisely and get on with it.

nickj_2

chippy_250 wrote: »

Is i
Well anyway I better round off this rant. I'm basically getting ripped off everywhere these days. The governent needs to start providing for the public and stop these big private comapanies ruling us. They need to provide Base rate mortgages for people and realistic insurance prices. Any thoughts?

firstly , welcome to the real world
secondly , don't hold your breath waiting for the govt to provide for the public, they treat us like cash cows - just the same as the big private companies

Procrastinator333

chippy_250 wrote: »

Is it just me being cynical or does anyone else feel the same way. I'm almost 21 and I feel like I'm just here on this planet to make money for the big companies out there.

1. Price of running cars is a rip-off.
I've been driving now for almost 4 years and I've never owned my own car or had my own policy. The way things are I'm not going to either! Now I'm a good safe driver, never hit anything and done the Pass plus course. So I test the water on a cheap 9 year old Fiesta on a compare website to see how much insurance will be. Thought it would be about £750....BUT NO, IT'S £1500 for the cheapest! !!!!!!
Is this a joke? That's like me buying a car every year! Thats not even with petrol, tax and repairs etc.
Why is it the LAW to have insurance? How can they let companies charge these meaningless figures? How can it be illegal not to have insurance? It is not anywhere near £1500 to insure me. Your making at least 90% profit on this alone!
They can't make it a LAW to purchase something privately! It's not fair!
Well I'm not paying it anyway. Screw drriving, I'm just not paying that stupid amount end of.

2. House prices & mortgages

Why are mortgages sold privately?
Just like car insurance, they shouldn't be allowed to charge these stupid interest rates. The base rate is practically zero yet these stupid private companies are ripping us off.
No-one my age has got a mortgage yet. And I know at least 250 people my age! WELL i'M NOT MOVING OUT UNTILL I CAN PAY FOR MY HOUSE IN CASH! YOUR NOT GETTING MY MONEY!

3. Savings accounts
Was thinking of setting up a savings account but they're all crap. WHY DO I WANT TO LOCK MY MONEY WITH U FOR YEARS FOR POXY 3% INTEREST!
Don't even get me started on savings!

4. Clothes shops
Quality on the clothes out there is terrbile. Some shops seem to think they can charge designer prices without actually providing the designer quality.
How is a T-shirt £25? Why the hell do I have to equal 3 hours of my hard earned work to buy this piece of $h!t?
For example, lets name names.
Burton = Expensive, boring, really plain clothes!
Republic = Expensive, plain, over rated clothes!
River island & top man = expensive, trashy, disgusting clothes!
All the clothes shops are utter crap!
The clothes arn't even fashionable and they are charging rip off prices.
Also apparently Scarfs and belts are at least £12! !!!!!!. How is a belt £12? Luckily I managed to find one for £2.50 in Primark. It's stiff as hell and uncomfortable but it looks good and thats my kind of price!


Well anyway I better round off this rant. I'm basically getting ripped off everywhere these days. The governent needs to start providing for the public and stop these big private comapanies ruling us. They need to provide Base rate mortgages for people and realistic insurance prices.

I'm loving the recession. Can't wait to wake up and watch a big company go bust! I love watching them moan on Tv and saying how times are so bad that they can only afford 2 Villa's abroad now and not 5. I hope they all go down the pan, that's what I say!


Any thoughts?

1) Guessing you are young and without much NCB? Sorry, but you are the victim of statistics. It only takes 1 in 100 to write off someone else's £50k BMW to wipe out most of the profit on those policies.

How would you feel if someone drove in to your car, wrote it off and then said oh, sorry, no insurance and no money. Plus, the amount of fraud around car insurance also drives prices up. Yes they make a profit, but less than you think. If you really believe they are so profitable, buy their shares. At least you know you will get a bit of your premium back that way!

2) Ok, so you don't believe in the free market, please could you suggest an alternative?

3) Risk vs reward. Plenty of things out there that pay more. Your choice.

4) If there is so much profit in it, set up your own clothing line and make a packet. And shop around. hotukdeals .co .uk

You clearly don't like the free market, or capitalism. They are not perfect, by a long way, but if you can suggest an alternative I'm all ears!

fimonkey

Lol @ the OP, you genuinely made me laugh because once upon a time I felt like you, - Then when I hit 30 I had a kinda mini revolution in my head and thought "you can't beat these rip off merchants/capitalism/free market lark. So join them instead"! i.e learn to play the game instead of just moaning about it - and as another poster said - vote with your feet!

1. Do you need to own a car? Work out how much you're spending on public transport and see if it compares. Don't forget other pro's and con's of owning a car vs public transport too. For instance with the latter you're never the designated driver so can party away. You can work/read whilst sat on a bus/train. You get fit whilst cycling. If you genuinely need a car then go for a very small model that has zero or very little road tax. Consider a reasonably new car (you don't need an MOT in the first 3 years and they often are still under warranty for parts. For instance Hyundai have a 5 year warranty I think - all saves money). And look out for the insurance policies which limit your mileage by actually tracking you. Check if its cheaper having another driver on your policy, and make sure you're choosing the right profession to represent you. With respect to financing the car, - 0% credit card then bounce the balance around so you've effectively bought the car with no interest.

2. Nothing wrong with renting if that's what you prefer to do. Gives you a lot more freedom to move around and no responsibility for paying out for a boiler repair in the winter. There's a culture of house ownership in this country but it doesnt mean to say you have to follow the masses and join in. You can make your money work harder for you elsewhere.

3. Only put emergency cash in a savings account (i.e 3-6 months salary). Start working out what to do with the rest if you have any in terms of the stock market etc. Educate yourself whilst you can on the different ways of investing and be pro-active about making your money work for you.

4. Stick to primark and/or make your clothes last longer. As you get older you begin to care less about fashion anyway. My favourite cardigan is now 10 years old.

Moaning about something is the first step because it means you recognise there is a problem. Being pro-active is the next step! Not all your peers will be skint, some will be doing very well for themselves without the help of bank mum/dad - the ones who think outside the box! Resolve to be one of these people and you'll do well because you have plenty of time ahead of you!

The best phrase I heard is that regardless of the Government (Tory or Labour), "the people who work the hardest are paid the least" - its about working smart rather than working hard you see. Work out the rules of this game we call 'life' and then use the rules to your advantage and be patient!

Good luck and great rant!

... oh and by the way in terms of the Government providing for the people? - We've just had 10+ years of that (Labour) and look where it got us! A nanny state where people expect to be compensated (blame culture and ambulance chasing solicitors doing well), looked after (benfits system for all and sundry) and cosseted (ridiculous health and safety legislation). The more you give people the more they will expect!

Time for us to stand on our own feet. A Government should steer but delegate the rowing (not my phrase but I liked it so remembered it to use again). People need to take responsibility for their own fortune in life and now is a pretty good time to take advantage of that if you're young with no ties in life like a mortgage.

Loughton_Monkey

chippy_250 wrote: »

Is it just me being cynical or does anyone else feel the same way. I'm almost 21 and I feel like I'm just here on this planet to make money for the big companies out there.

I can assure that we all feel the same way. We all fully understand that 20 year olds are being totally ripped off and exist solely and exclusively as fodder to make other people rich.

chippy_250 wrote: »

1. Price of running cars is a rip-off.
I've been driving now for almost 4 years and I've never owned my own car or had my own policy. The way things are I'm not going to either! Now I'm a good safe driver, never hit anything and done the Pass plus course. So I test the water on a cheap 9 year old Fiesta on a compare website to see how much insurance will be. Thought it would be about £750....BUT NO, IT'S £1500 for the cheapest! !!!!!!
Is this a joke? That's like me buying a car every year! Thats not even with petrol, tax and repairs etc.
Why is it the LAW to have insurance? How can they let companies charge these meaningless figures? How can it be illegal not to have insurance? It is not anywhere near £1500 to insure me. Your making at least 90% profit on this alone!
They can't make it a LAW to purchase something privately! It's not fair!
Well I'm not paying it anyway. Screw drriving, I'm just not paying that stupid amount end of.

Absolutely right. That will teach them. Of course in my day (I'm 61 now) I luckily didn't have to pay that stupid sort of amount for insurance. I was extremely lucky in being just short of 30 before I could afford buy our first car. It was only a 10 year old Mini, and so I could just scrape together the Insurance Premium.

chippy_250 wrote: »

2. House prices & mortgages

Why are mortgages sold privately?
Just like car insurance, they shouldn't be allowed to charge these stupid interest rates. The base rate is practically zero yet these stupid private companies are ripping us off.
No-one my age has got a mortgage yet. And I know at least 250 people my age! WELL i'M NOT MOVING OUT UNTILL I CAN PAY FOR MY HOUSE IN CASH! YOUR NOT GETTING MY MONEY!

This is absolutely wonderful fighting talk. Britain needs more people like you. With a backbone! Those that deliberately hold back from filling in that mortgage application and thereby deny those fat-cat bankers the profit from your loan. They would only use the huge profits to pay themselves large bonuses. All at your expense.

I was stupid. I bought a house when mortgage rates were about 17½%. And they rose again. Which is one reason why I sit here in my mortgage-free house, worth almost 6 figures, absolutely regretting making those bankers richer than I was.

If you take my advice, you will rent all your life. That way, you will 'show them' for the next 60 years that they are not going to get a penny out of you. Mark my words. Far better to rent all your life. Let your landlord suffer! He's the poor !!!!!! who has got to pay these exhorbitant Interest rates of around 4%. OK, your rent will cost a lot more than this, but at least you are sticking to your principles and not directly subsidising these bankers.

chippy_250 wrote: »

3. Savings accounts
Was thinking of setting up a savings account but they're all crap. WHY DO I WANT TO LOCK MY MONEY WITH U FOR YEARS FOR POXY 3% INTEREST!
Don't even get me started on savings!

Poxy. I couldn't have put it better myself. People like me had the 'luxury' of interest rates up to 15%! Brilliant rate. This was back in the 70's. OK, OK, I know you might look it up and find inflation at 27%, but we were proud of economising in those days, and well able to bring our 'own personal' inflation down to 10% by living on Baked Beans and toast.

You owe it to yourself, and to the country, never to have any money to save or invest. You will get ripped off. Spend every penny you get (and more if you can) and ensure that not a penny reaches Financial Institutions in any form of savings, even pensions. That way, when you retire, you can stand proud knowing that you have denied the banks a fortune.

chippy_250 wrote: »

4. Clothes shops
Quality on the clothes out there is terrbile. Some shops seem to think they can charge designer prices without actually providing the designer quality.
How is a T-shirt £25? Why the hell do I have to equal 3 hours of my hard earned work to buy this piece of $h!t?
For example, lets name names.
Burton = Expensive, boring, really plain clothes!
Republic = Expensive, plain, over rated clothes!
River island & top man = expensive, trashy, disgusting clothes!
All the clothes shops are utter crap!
The clothes arn't even fashionable and they are charging rip off prices.
Also apparently Scarfs and belts are at least £12! !!!!!!. How is a belt £12? Luckily I managed to find one for £2.50 in Primark. It's stiff as hell and uncomfortable but it looks good and thats my kind of price!

Phew! When I was 20 I couldn't afford any clothes, what with still being at University and saving up to get married. Luckily, my wife had an ancient sewing machine. Of course I had to work in my holidays and at evenings, and am ashamed to say that one of my jobs was as a 'night watchman' with a string of Alsations, sitting at the haulage company all night. But the reason I did that? A Uniform. You seem to have all the good requirements yourself to aspire to something like a traffic warden. Go for it. They probably provide free uniforms from Primark.

chippy_250 wrote: »

Well anyway I better round off this rant. I'm basically getting ripped off everywhere these days. The governent needs to start providing for the public and stop these big private comapanies ruling us. They need to provide Base rate mortgages for people and realistic insurance prices.

I'm loving the recession. Can't wait to wake up and watch a big company go bust! I love watching them moan on Tv and saying how times are so bad that they can only afford 2 Villa's abroad now and not 5. I hope they all go down the pan, that's what I say!


Any thoughts?

We're all getting ripped off. They moaned a bit in my day - on my rented black and white television. [I couldn't afford to buy one. They were absolutely rip-off prices then].

And I think we all share your wish for all these big companies to go bust. Like a pack of cards. It will bring down all the smaller companies as well. That will teach the company you work for! And it will be better for you. You can sit at home on job seekers allowance. Now at 0.5% base rate mortgages, you can borrow a huge amount for that. Probably buy the best house in your street.

Final thoughts. Maybe you should organise a demonstration. Let us all know when and where and I'm sure we'll all be there with the placards. "We love the Recession", "3% Mortgages? Can't Pay. Won't Pay", "Savings rates are Poxy". And we can deliver a petition to Number 10 proclaiming that they should force all 'big' companies to go bust, and then 'provide for the public' with all the spare money they have.

Bangerchick

I'd like to have written what LM just did, but er.... I was beaten to it!

JonnyBravo

Chippy by name......

Sounds like you've just come out from under your parents wing and realised how hard it is to support yourself.
Welcome to the real world.
I'd add loads more but to be honest LM and others have summed it up nicely.

Have a nice Christmas!

System

I bet this is practically identical to some of AD9898's posts when he was that age.

System

Serious answer re: car insurance, get a quote with Elephant and add your parents as named drivers.