Who's considered emmigrating because of tax?

Oldernotwiser

Randvegeta wrote: »

How do you figure low earners pay less tax. And you are telling me, that a combined income + tax credits etc, you have a family of 4 living a GOOD life? Define good for me.

I never said you can't live without at least £50k, and I was referring to pre-tax. But let's be real here. On 20k a year, you how can you afford a place to live for 4 people, food, bills, occasional shopping, evenings out, holidays etc. You're saying £5k /yr per person buys a GOOD life?

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but if you can live a GOOD life in the UK for £20k, I'de like to know where so I can stop wasting my money here!

FYI, you say £20k includes all your credits etc. Seriously, please break down your expenses for us since I simply don't believe it.

I'm going to estimate here:

£20k /yr = £1666 / month (assuming this is your take home pay)
Rent - £700 (at least right?)
Food - £600 (4 people!)
Bills - £100
Total Basic Living cost = £1,400

That leaves less than £300 to pay for a car, shopping, holidays, savings etc. And This is assuming of the £20k you earn, you keep £20k due to some tax credits etc. Where's your tax contribution?

Surely you don't think that people need to spend £35 per week each on food to be living a good life!:eek:

Are you sure you're really suited to being a member of MSE?

Randvegeta

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Surely you don't think that people need to spend £35 per week each on food to be living a good life!:eek:

Are you sure you're really suited to being a member of MSE?

While I was a student, I managed to live on less than £2 /day on food, but it was a serious struggle. I think £5 /day is a reasonable number. It is by no means a lot. You can't buy all that much with £5.

Other than students and poor people, who lives on less than £5 /day on food? And if so, what do you eat? Where do you shop?

missprice

Randvegeta wrote: »

While I was a student, I managed to live on less than £2 /day on food, but it was a serious struggle. I think £5 /day is a reasonable number. It is by no means a lot. You can't buy all that much with £5.

Other than students and poor people, who lives on less than £5 /day on food? And if so, what do you eat? Where do you shop?

morrisons
we eat a lot of bread
pasta based stuff
noodle based stuff
rice based stuff blah blah
only doin this cos i soooo want to move to canada and am trying so hard to pay off remaining mortgage before i go less than £14k now

we feed 4 of us for around £60 a week
rarely need to top up shop only if we eat all the bread or spare kids come round and eat it for us

oh and we grow a whole load of stuff to eat too

Randvegeta

missprice wrote: »

morrisons
we eat a lot of bread
pasta based stuff
noodle based stuff
rice based stuff blah blah
only doin this cos i soooo want to move to canada and am trying so hard to pay off remaining mortgage before i go less than £14k now

we feed 4 of us for around £60 a week
rarely need to top up shop only if we eat all the bread or spare kids come round and eat it for us

oh and we grow a whole load of stuff to eat too

Any meat in your diet? Pasta, bread and rice is cheap. As are a number of different vegetables, but even the cheapest meat is expensive on a budget. £5 /day is really required.

If you grow your own vegetables, than this is not really the norm. It is a luxury not available to most people. Certainly not if you live in a flat or in the city.

gadgetmind

robin_banks wrote: »

if you think this would be the answer to your problems you're assuming that you won't be packing your negativity if you do choose to do so.

Those who leave the UK also leave the negativity behind, nestling in the heads of those who hate success, and can't resist the urge to punish it and drive it away.

dori2o

Randvegeta wrote: »

How do you figure low earners pay less tax. And you are telling me, that a combined income + tax credits etc, you have a family of 4 living a GOOD life? Define good for me.

I never said you can't live without at least £50k, and I was referring to pre-tax. But let's be real here. On 20k a year, you how can you afford a place to live for 4 people, food, bills, occasional shopping, evenings out, holidays etc. You're saying £5k /yr per person buys a GOOD life?

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but if you can live a GOOD life in the UK for £20k, I'de like to know where so I can stop wasting my money here!

FYI, you say £20k includes all your credits etc. Seriously, please break down your expenses for us since I simply don't believe it.

I'm going to estimate here:

£20k /yr = £1666 / month (assuming this is your take home pay)
Rent - £700 (at least right?)
Food - £600 (4 people!)
Bills - £100
Total Basic Living cost = £1,400

That leaves less than £300 to pay for a car, shopping, holidays, savings etc. And This is assuming of the £20k you earn, you keep £20k due to some tax credits etc. Where's your tax contribution?

Mortgage £316 (bought house for £43k in 2002)
Food £160/£180
Bills (gas/elec/wat/council tax) £250
Insurances £75
Fuel £100
Sky/Internet/Phone/Mobile £110
Meds £10
This leaves about £70/£80 a month to do whatever with. £15 of which is used to pay for next years holiday. spending money for the holiday comes from selling things on e-bay/gumtree and quidco rewards, and the 2 months where no council tax is paid.

missprice

Randvegeta wrote: »

Any meat in your diet? Pasta, bread and rice is cheap. As are a number of different vegetables, but even the cheapest meat is expensive on a budget. £5 /day is really required.

If you grow your own vegetables, than this is not really the norm. It is a luxury not available to most people. Certainly not if you live in a flat or in the city.

tis only this year and last been growing stuff
it still not enough to feed us all all the year
agree i lived in flats and growing stuff is not an option (specially on the 90th floor:))

we do eat meat
usually chicken, but some beef, lamb, ham
i am not a big meat eater though the others can be
any meat we buy is usually on the offer shelf and has to be frozen same day, suausgaes go quite far and can be cheap when on offer BOGOF etc
not saying less than a fiver a day is practical forever but for now as i am trying to pay off mortgage to help my family then it is a need
however if everyone started complaining then i would alter the way we shop and buy better stuff but til then none of us is starving so i carry on:)

Gas_Powered_Toothbrush

Randvegeta wrote: »

£5 /day is really required.

It's really not. I eat a well-balanced diet with meat, veg etc all included and my food costs are nowhere near £5 a day. You may need close to £5 to feed yourself for one day in isolation, but over a month, the cost drops well below that.

dori2o

Gas_Powered_Toothbrush wrote: »

It's really not. I eat a well-balanced diet with meat, veg etc all included and my food costs are nowhere near £5 a day. You may need close to £5 to feed yourself for one day in isolation, but over a month, the cost drops well below that.

Very true.

Where possible we make use of any deals our local butcher/supermarket has.

For example, last week I spent a little extra on the shopping by buying 4 packs of meat for £12. 1 pack lamb steaks (3), 1 pack of beef steak (4) 1 pack of beef strips (350g), 1 pack boneless chicken fillets (3). We will get 6 meals out of that including 2 curries and a large pie that will probably be large enough for me to have a piece for dinner at work aswell, thats about £2.50 a meal when you add a bit of mash, veg, rice etc.

Also, it helps if you can keep fruit and veg fresh for longer. We now keep all of ours in mesh bags on shelves in the shed. The cool air keeps the fruit and veg fresh where as keeping it in the fridge/in cupboards etc does not allow the stuff to breath naturally. We've found our fruit and veg lasts at least 3-4 days longer than it used to.

We never buy pre packaged cheese anymore (Except Tesco's own 39p cheese slices as I like them on toast), always get it fresh cut from the local deli, much cheaper and tastier.

It amazes me the crap people buy whilst out shopping, and how people will only buy 'named' brand as apparently it tastes better. What absolute tosh.

Randvegeta

dori2o wrote: »

Very true.

Where possible we make use of any deals our local butcher/supermarket has.

For example, last week I spent a little extra on the shopping by buying 4 packs of meat for £12. 1 pack lamb steaks (3), 1 pack of beef steak (4) 1 pack of beef strips (350g), 1 pack boneless chicken fillets (3). We will get 6 meals out of that including 2 curries and a large pie that will probably be large enough for me to have a piece for dinner at work aswell, thats about £2.50 a meal when you add a bit of mash, veg, rice etc.

Also, it helps if you can keep fruit and veg fresh for longer. We now keep all of ours in mesh bags on shelves in the shed. The cool air keeps the fruit and veg fresh where as keeping it in the fridge/in cupboards etc does not allow the stuff to breath naturally. We've found our fruit and veg lasts at least 3-4 days longer than it used to.

We never buy pre packaged cheese anymore (Except Tesco's own 39p cheese slices as I like them on toast), always get it fresh cut from the local deli, much cheaper and tastier.

It amazes me the crap people buy whilst out shopping, and how people will only buy 'named' brand as apparently it tastes better. What absolute tosh.

If on a £5 /day budget, believe me, you cant get away with buying named brand. I always buy the cheaper Tesco/Sainsbury's version where possible. But I guess I do eat quite a lot (3000 + cals/day) and I have a strict low fat, high protein diet. Which means MEAT!

That being said, short of reducing meat intake, less than £5 /day has got to be a struggle. But I don't buy the cheapest meat or eggs etc. no way I'm going to buy caged chickens/eggs or any other cruel meat.