Cost of Living Crisis

[david63]

You could perhaps try a little harder

... or buy more and send it on to a worthwhile cause

[towny44]

You could perhaps try a little harder

... or buy more and send it on to a worthwhile cause

Buying six bottles of wine at a time when there is a 25% discount seems sensible to me, regardless of how little or how much you drink.

[Meg 50]

Everyone says cut back on phone contracts/ netflix etc etc. But often people are locked into a fixed term contract from which there is no escape w/o incurring penalties

I do not understand why people who are on poverty level wages ever think they can afford these items. We were dirt poor when first married, and had to do without these sort of luxuries until our income increased.

I read somewhere that one is only one pay slip away from the breadline. One day able to afford these ' luxuries - the next redundant....

But yes, I sometimes wonder about others.

[Jan Rosser]

You could perhaps try a little harder

... or buy more and send it on to a worthwhile cause

You pair are a bad influence

[Whynd1]

Budget this month gone south as my hairdryer blew up this morning. A girl cant be without a hairdryer.

Lindsey

[Whynd1]

I see the Swansea Bay heath authority are giving the beds from the field hospital to the vunerable and families.

Whilst this is laudable, I dont see why they couldnt be reused elsewhere in the NHS.

Lindsey

[david63]

I dont see why they couldnt be reused elsewhere in the NHS

Probably because the NHS have more beds than they know what to with

[Ray B]

Or are they not of the quality that you would expect to see on a ward.

[Stephen]

Budget this month gone south as my hairdryer blew up this morning. A girl cant be without a hairdryer.

Lindsey

I know what you mean Lindsey

[Mervyn and Trish]

Or are they not of the quality that you would expect to see on a ward.

Quite likely. NHS beds are very specialised. Not the sort of thing you'd find in the average home.

[barney]

While the cost of living crisis is very real for some, the big crisis down here is the lack of housing to rent.
Hardly anything ever available and if anywhere does become available, it’s snapped up in seconds.
Nearly everything that would have been rented locally is now Airbnb.
Local workers, irrespective of profession just don’t have anywhere available.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Very hard to find rentals here too. And the housing market to buy is very much a sellers' market too. Nothing stays on the market for long.

[Manoverboard]

Prices in rural Dorset have shot up and some houses have sold in hours rather than weeks or months as used to be the case.

[Whynd1]

A house by us went up for sale, not in the best of conditions will need a lot of updating.
4 bed detached. Its in the right catchment area for a very good comp school £550.000.

I was suprised considering it needs work.

Lindsey

[oldbluefox]

Second homes and holiday lets in the Lakes National Park are a great problem. Local people looking for a home are priced out of the market and have to leave. Some valleys which used to be thriving with their own shops, post office and community centre are now devoid of any of them and are dead in the winter. Of course local traditions are also lost. Some properties are only visited two or three times a year. It's very sad to see.
Tbh I don't know what the solution is. I think it may be too late and the genie has already been let out of the bottle. I do feel that any properties which are not let on a permanent basis should pay increased council taxes or something similar. Can we really afford to have so many empty properties when locals are forced elsewhere?

[Stephen]

Unless you’ve sold and are a cash buyer you’ll be very lucky to get the house you want around here. On the market one day and sold within a week, if not sooner.

It’s the mud and salt that attracts them

[Kendhni]

I am disappointed with the great cabinet think tank that only managed to come up with ideas such as changing MOT to every 2 years. Does that mean that road safety is no longer an issue ... something they have been telling us for years is the reason for MOTs? Other great ideas included telling broadband companies that they should tell people if there was a cheaper deal (maybe we could find a cheaper government) and increasing the number of children a child minder could look after (so child safety is no longer a concern either).

Fortunately they chose to meet again and put their collective brain cell back to work ... hopefully come up with more realistic ideas that shows that this group of millionaires has even the most basic understanding of the situation they have been instrumental in creating for the average person.

[david63]

changing MOT to every 2 years

That one did seem a bit pointless as means to soften the cost of living problem.

telling broadband companies that they should tell people if there was a cheaper deal

Cannot disagree with that as other utility companies have to do it.

increasing the number of children a child minder could look after

In two minds about that. I see the safety issue but not being in the child minding business I cannot comment on the current levels. In any case reducing the number of staff in a child minding business by one, or perhaps two, will not make a significant change to the cost.

[towny44]

I think changing the MOT to 2 years is long overdue, car technology and build practises have made todays cars far safer and longer lasting than when the MOT first came in, I would think changing it to 3 years would be unlikely to increase the risk factor significantly. Possibly with the occasional spot checks for tyres, brakes and exhaust emissions, it could be increased to 5 years, along with heavy penalties for those failing the random tests.
My niece was a full time child minder for years, but grew weary of the many new rules and regulations, and early years teaching they had to comply with. So probably costs could be reduced significantly if the nanny state withdrew some of its tentacles, and also for nurseries.

[david63]

I think changing the MOT to 2 years is long overdue, car technology and build practises have made todays cars far safer and longer lasting than when the MOT first came in,

Agreed, but don't forget that the MOT applies to all cars over three years - be it a "modern" four year old car or a 24 year old banger car.

Surprisingly though some countries have moved to having six monthly MOT checks.

[towny44]

I think changing the MOT to 2 years is long overdue, car technology and build practises have made todays cars far safer and longer lasting than when the MOT first came in,

Agreed, but don't forget that the MOT applies to all cars over three years - be it a "modern" four year old car or a 24 year old banger car.

Surprisingly though some countries have moved to having six monthly MOT checks.

Even a 24 yr old banger will have been built to a far higher spec than one built in 1960 when the MOT test was introduced. Back then after 5 years they were all a rust trap.

[Mervyn and Trish]

I'm not sure the MOT is entirely about the age of the car. It's also about how well the owner looks after it. Some will put off fixing a fault until the MOT is due and that could be lethal. I'm not sure either how missing an MOT solves the cost of living crisis. A test that is passed costs relatively little compared to the other costs of car ownership. It is the necessary repairs that push up the cost and they will still be needed after two years, with possibly an extra 12 months of unsafe motoring in the meantime.

[Kendhni]

I'm not sure the MOT is entirely about the age of the car. It's also about how well the owner looks after it. Some will put off fixing a fault until the MOT is due and that could be lethal. I'm not sure either how missing an MOT solves the cost of living crisis. A test that is passed costs relatively little compared to the other costs of car ownership. It is the necessary repairs that push up the cost and they will still be needed after two years, with possibly an extra 12 months of unsafe motoring in the meantime.

I know of several people that use the MOT to inform them what needs to be fixed (I have done this myself) ... the cost of a works out cheaper than a mechanic carrying out diagnostics.

[Manoverboard]

The rules 'n' regs for running a nursery are absolutely ridiculous and totally over he top especially regarding ethnic and gender issues. Based on what Mobietta can tell me, as an ex owner of such an establishment, I could write pages on it ... but I won't.

[Ray B]

Re the MOT. Main concerns are brakes, tyres and lights.
A high mileage driver may need new tyres and brakes pads more often. If the tyres and pads were just above the limit at the MOT, it may be just a month or two when the tread wares to below the limit and possibly the brake pads too.
With over a year before the next test, the car could be a serious danger to all other road users with lethal consequences.
Not everyone checks their car is safe.