Preparedness for when

daz378

Hope the hands are better GQ.....i had a form of excma on hands couple of yeas ago.....couldnt sleep ... thankfully cleared up now......replacing my windows next week ....housing women arranged an apppt and didnt turn up ... no phone call no respect.... slight mitigation if shes overworked........prepping as slowed in view of construction on the flats.....Question 5 of us 4 guys 1 lady going to blackpool on 7th aug ...asked me to book it bb etc ..... should i get money of them towards up front ....especially if when i reserve they ask for my card.... hefty weight in credit/debit card 2 nights approx 400 quid...sent an enquiry off to hotel ive used before.......you all take care

Ryanna2599

GQ - I hope your hands and teeth get better soon...

Daz - I don't think your friends could object if you ask them for the money before you pay for their accommodation.

I was brought up by parents who never took out HP or loans; they always saved and then bought what they needed. I remember my mum talking about the double digit mortgage rates of the seventies (when I was young) and how they cut back all unnecessary expenditure and made sure they paid the mortgage. When the rates dropped they carried on overpaying their mortgage by continuing the same payments as they'd adopted a frugal existence / dad had a pay rise.

I suppose this has rubbed off on me and my approach to finance; no loans or unpaid credit card debts. Don't get me wrong I do use credit cards but only spend what I know we can pay in full. When we bought our house in 1997 we made a mistake with the mortgage and it didn't let us make any additional / over payments. As soon as we were able to move we remortgaged to a One-Account where our savings/bank balance effectively off-set part of our mortgage and reduced the interest payment. This was the best thing we could have done as we have managed with a lot of careful money management to have paid off our mortgage earlier this year. This is a weight off my mind as we have 2 young children so we know we could manage if one of us lost our jobs.

moneyistooshorttomention

My mind is boggling too at the thought of 25%-40% cuts in Government Department Budgets. I literally cant think where that much could come from. I'm sure there are still some Wotname high-ups in various places busily doing "vanity spending" - ie spending to boost up their own personal reputation.

I certainly know there is still a mindset in Government Departments of "Quick - the end of the budget year is coming up and there is still a bit of money in our budget. Spend it fast on something/anything - rather than have a bit sitting there unused". One place there could be cuts is to grab for leftover monies "in the pot" come the end of a financial year (rather than having them get blown on a "use it up quick" basis).

There are doubtless too some private firms with Government contracts for supplying some goods/services/etc that are deliberately inflating the invoices - because its the Government paying = so lets just double/treble/etc the "real" prices for things.

So - that couple of things could be cracked down on. But I'm not convinced there is scope for as much as 25% being cut and still have a Society that we recognise as "our" normal Western etc Society.

I daresay whichever of us sees details of proposed cuts first will come and tell us here what is being proposed - so I shall await developments to see what these might be.

thriftwizard

I think we'd better prepare for yet another round of poor-bashing, and disabled-bashing, and big-family bashing, greedy-worker and immigrant-bashing in the press - it never ceases to amaze me how easily we can be made to believe that our national insolvency is all someone else's fault, and that if we're nasty enough to them, it'll all somehow get better!

happydays89

Doveling wrote: »

No :rotfl::rotfl:
Just realised I haven't got a bath to wash large items in if I need to at any point. I can also use it to bath the dog in

Multi-use item, very MSE!

Hope your hands aren't too painful

We found a large sandpit in the shape of a car,very thick plastic in our local charity shop.It was £2,we use it to bath the dogs in and then it stands between the a wall and shed until we need it.

[Deleted User]

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

There are doubtless too some private firms with Government contracts for supplying some goods/services/etc that are deliberately inflating the invoices - because its the Government paying = so lets just double/treble/etc the "real" prices for things.

There's also the matter of private contractors running over their quote, then the Government paying the difference.

Excuse me, but a quote is a quote.

If it ends up costing more than you quoted, tough!

Perhaps, if you have to cover the difference yourself, you will give a realistic quote in future.

ivyleaf

Doveling wrote: »

Good grief!
Just seen a snippet on BBC news website about cuts plans Osbourne wants next in all government departments except those which are protected.

I need to buy a large baby bath.

I was trying to make a connection between the cuts and you needing a baby bath Obviously GQ managed it!

We had a new bathroom suite put in in the 90s; it's ivory, and replaced a pink one which was here when we moved in.

ETA Having caught up, this post is now totally irrelevant as the discussion is now about the cuts. Oh well.

Butterfly_Brain

GQ ouchins, I hope that your hands start to feel better soon

I saw Osbornes proposals this morning, he is a lunatic, how can someone go from towel folding to chancellor?

I think all of these cuts are being instigated by the secret government of Bankers, Corporates and Bilderbergers.

The anti strike laws are against EU law, so I don't know how they expect to get away with them.

Doveling

It was talk of bathrooms and cuts that made me think about buying a baby bath . Train of thought took me to strikes and possible power cuts etc.

We had a walk in wetzone put in as I couldn't manage the bath any longer and we are also on a water meter. We all prefer showers so better for us all round. But no bath for emergency washing or water storage.

Little sandpit would be a good idea but I was thinking of something which I would be able to wash sheets and towels in by hand. (Things which won't fit in the kitchen sink.) Can get a bath for a pound from the charity shop.
Mr.D will just think I've bought it just for the dog

I think I might try to go through a normal day without electricity to see where gaps in my preps are. I will still use the gas hob because it will simulate the top of the woodburner (too hot to light that!)

Mrs LW was right, no use having all the gear if you don't know how to use it properly

1tonsil - are you ok still?

Hope Nuatha is just busy.

I don't know what a Bilderberger is. Off to look it up

Frugalsod

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I certainly know there is still a mindset in Government Departments of "Quick - the end of the budget year is coming up and there is still a bit of money in our budget. Spend it fast on something/anything - rather than have a bit sitting there unused". One place there could be cuts is to grab for leftover monies "in the pot" come the end of a financial year (rather than having them get blown on a "use it up quick" basis).

There are doubtless too some private firms with Government contracts for supplying some goods/services/etc that are deliberately inflating the invoices - because its the Government paying = so lets just double/treble/etc the "real" prices for things.

I think that over the last few years of fixed budgets inflation will have eroded much of that slack. Also departments will probably just get what they need anyway, like reams of paper which they will use anyway. Then if the next year they have any surplus they will get other items that they will need. This is a problem of the use it or lose it budgets that have existed in governments for many years. So by using it they keep their budget stable. If they do not use it they risk
having it cut. What should be the case is that they can transfer any surplus to a capital account to pay for major items like an MRI scanner etc. Though such activities would hinder a budget cutting government.

The fantasy that they cook up deals with suppliers is probably what the government want people to think to give them scope to slash budgets. What is far more likely to happen is that they prepay for next years goods and services if possible.

There are differences between administration of budgets and the actual provision of services. Cutting admin budgets to get the department to run more efficiently is admirable but many cases of such cuts both private and public have lead to a collapse of the organisation. Also suggestions of combining every NHS trust into a single buyer of drugs etc would yield bug savings but will nit be allowed because it hinders the scope for privatisation.