Preparedness for when

Frugalsod

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

I am not too clued up on this year's budget either, But that link does make me think how safe is our money... what part give me the jitters was, they can take your money if they 'think' you are avoiding tax..


again everyone's gut instinct to draw out and leave just enough in your account to tick it over... for me I will be lucky to draw out a fiver lol...but then again, they will get suspicious of that!!!


why haven't this been mentioned on the news???


I am getting more and more suspicious about news channels lately..... I feel the news is being 'filtered' as wyt haven't this been mentioned on the news???, as I feel this is def news worthy,

To be fair to HMRC they can only do this if you have not responded to multiple letters for tax claims. Now we will all know if we have any of those outstanding.

Also with the risks of a bank bail in like Cyprus very high I would not have more than £5000 in a bank anyway. Plus if you ever become unemployed if you have more than £6000 you would not get means tested benefits anyway.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

GQ totally agree, I an screaming foul language at the tv screen when I see the government telling people on the news the economy is recovering and is back to its pre 2008 figures.state etc do they really think that we are that stupid to believe them? it is more like 'they' are the stupid ones for thinking we will believe them..lol...


I decided not to go into work to day, to catch up on a few things in the garden etc... BUT I am also going to try and do 4 - 6 week rotating meal plan, ( do 4 or 6 weekly meal plan, ) and try and make my shopping bill as cheap as possible... which will be hard to stick to a set amount even with a meal plan, as the prices on food items are so up and down... and a 30p here and a 10p increase on a few items and you seriously notice it..


Edit... if We needed to replace a few items in one go in our house we would seriously struggle... we desperately need a new sofa and chairs etc, our dog died nearly 2 years ago, and he wrecked them lol... we haven't got round to replacing them yet, but when we do it will be secondhand, from the bay or local adverts..


my phone screen is cracked to, but works perfectly well... thinking of changing that to sim only, or PAYG

jk0

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

I decided not to go into work to day, to catch up on a few things in the garden etc...

LOL. You're a bad influence on us CTC.

[Deleted User]

GQ I guess that a lot of the non essentials we all have being not affordable if they break will be annoying but not life changing and we'll have to get used to having less gadgets. Breaking washing machines and vacuum cleaners, fridges and freezers would be more than inconvenient and would be life changing if we couldn't afford to replace or buy second hand. Vehicles being unrepairable and even second hand ones being unaffordable would be a serious inconvenience if you're used to the freedom of being able to choose where and when you travel however, NONE of these things are essential to any of us, after all our forebears lived without even electricity, certainly none of mine were rich enough to have more than a bike until we got our first old bone rattler of a car when I was in my teens. I and no doubt many of us older ones can remember life without fridges and washing machines. You had to shop daily and the weekly wash took all day and was done by hand and with a mangle. We'd ALL OF US manage, it would be more time and labour intensive but we'd manage and still be able to live a good life. We would have less stuff but, we'd still be clean, our homes and clothes would still be clean and we might even be a little fitter for the extra energy expended in the chores. Nothing in this life is written in stone and I guess we've been really privileged to live through the peace and affluence of the past 70 odd years, we humans are made of reslilient stuff in the main, we might huff and puff and moan about things, but really we'll cope whatever life throws our way, Lyn xxx.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

jk0 wrote: »

LOL. You're a bad influence on us CTC.

lol.... I need this to save my sanity...hubby and I have our own business and its been an extremely stressfull year or two... and I just cant cope at the moment, I feel like walking away from the rat race and saying 'F' the lot of you, BUT sadly there is a thing called money that no matter how self sufficient you try to be, you are pooped without it...

jk0

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

lol.... I need this to save my sanity...hubby and I have our own business and its been an extremely stressfull year or two... and I just cant cope at the moment, I feel like walking away from the rat race and saying 'F' the lot of you, BUT sadly there is a thing called money that no matter how self sufficient you try to be, you are pooped without it...

Oh, you're quite right CTC. I only work on properties one day on, one day off. The other days I garden, diy, surf online, and do paperwork & housework.

This stops any of those jobs being oppressive, as you always know you will be doing something different tomorrow. Also, you often think of a solution to yesterday's problem when you are doing something else.

For anyone who can afford to do what I do, I really recommend the lifestyle.

GreyQueen

Well said, Mrs LW.

I lived for 3 years without a fridge and it is entirely do-able but would by a PITA in such a warm flat as mine. I used to live in a freezing bedsit but now have a tiny well-insulated flat. Thankfully, I now know how to make a zeer pot. If the communal heating went off due to a powercut, it would have to be reset after each and every powercut as the industrial gas boilers have electrical controllers, we would have no heat nor hot water.

I've lived without both. I prefer hot water over cold, but as my late Grandma used to tell Mum, when she perceived weak whining behaviour like refusing to play outside in the rain Yer neither sugar nor salt.

Meaning, of course, that you won't dissolve if you get wet.

I never used to have a vacuum either and could perfectly well manage my uncarpeted floors and 3 rugs with a brush and pan. Actually, I'd give serious thought as to whether I'd replace my vacuum if it died. It's about 15 years old but is only lightly used due to the lack of space here, and Henrys are robust appliances anyway.

I already know people who are one big repair bill from scrapping cars which they can afford to run but not replace, and a shocking amount of people in their twenties, thirties, forties and above are getting cash help over the bumps from their own parents, because they just can't make it on their own 100% of the time.

I've already decided that when some things wear out, I won't automatically and unthinkingly replace them, I will look at doing without and managing the old-fashioned way. Partly because of thrift, partly because of wanting to live a simpler life. Such as cutting confidential paperwork up with scissors rather than replacing my shredder when she dies.

Yup, we can do perfectly well without a lot of the things we have, but our economy is one which relies on consumerism as we've outsourced our production to the rest of the world. If we're not going the have lots of us employed in retail, logistics, warehousing and distribution, what are we going to be doing with our time and how will our economy look?

Frugalsod

jk0 wrote: »

One problem I can see with this is that it makes the taxman God.

If someone has a difference of opinion with the taxman, the taxman no longer has to take him to court, he can just decide to claim the money. Then the person would have to take the taxman to court to get the money back.

(Rather like 'guilty until proved innocent'.)

While I agree with you, if you are in any situation where you might owe them tax you will have an accountant. If between you and your accountant you are unable to deal with this then you both have problems. For most people they are on PAYE and have no outstanding tax issues except for those on emergency tax, yet they get any overpayments back eventually. In the past I have had numerous dealings with the Tax and VAT man. I never experienced any problems. If you are upfront and explain your predicament they can be very helpful. Though I suspect that many people get into a mess because they do not put aside any tax provisions on a regular basis. Then when the tax bill comes in they have a struggle.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

with us we employ people too, and TBH I could go back to where we started... with only me, and hubby working for someone else, yes we will still be stressed, but it wouldn't be the stress of trying to keep everyone in work, and people not doing their job properly and ending up us losing work etc..


I am extremely lucky I can take a day or two off, or finish early etc, but sadly hubby cant do this...so sadly its very rare we take time off together...which I think we both need...


I did think about trying to save and buy some cheap properties to rent out, so we would have a small income stream, but now we have bought the smallholding, and have this place ( mortgaged) we have zero surplus money,, as we are trying to save every penny to do the ranch up ( major work)


so I am in a right pickle, do I stop and save money to buy a property to rent out, and then go back to saving and renovating the 'ranch' ????? so then we have at least started the ball rolling in trying to get a small income coming in for when we are older/retire ( hubby is 51 and I am 48 this year)


EDIT... sorry waffled on slightly off topic.. but just thinking about income for the future... when prob state pension will just about buy you a loaf of bread and a pint of milk a week

short_bird

GreyQueen wrote: »

The economy is on the up, yes? So why is everyone I speak to tightening their belts, declining holidays or capital expenditure on household goods, scrimping and saving?

This might be why. Contains swearing.
http://longtermplan.org.uk/