Are earnings too low / living costs getting too high??

jonneymendoza · 15 Mar 2017 at 16:32

Madwelsh said:
I've back-read the last 6 or 7 pages or so, even the halogen oven posts!!! instant-pot duo for me!!! On topic, I came to Brum 94 for my degree, worked the city, almost killed myself, quit, went into nursing. I started renting a small 2 bed + boxroom terrace, £400 a month. Did the place up, put new kitchen / bathroom, laminate flooring etc, landlord was really good paid for the materials and my time, never put the rent up in 11 years.. First Daughter comes along Mar 08, start looking at property, hospital I work at is moving only 15 mins extra walk but to a much higher priced area. Start looking on rightmove at other towns, already knew simply couldn't afford the area to stay working where I was. Unbelievably, I'm going to look at a property we can just about afford, like proper beans on toast for 5 years, 5 mins from the new hospital, I see a guy in a corner house whacking a for sale sign in the front garden.. I don't believe in fate, but what are the chances? Happens to be the largest plot, also potential to build almost another house on the side. Big problem, we'd saved near £35k with our cheap rent, but the bank only would let us have an offset mortgage with paying 68k upfront. (The crash had just happened) Without my folks, I wouldn't be here typing. They stepped in and cashed in some of their investments and made up the difference. Now I have 2 kids, I'm already worrying about how they will get on the ladder, renting is dead cash, but it's ok if you aren't paying a huge amount, the place is decent, and you can save. Childcare is bonkers money, I could work full time for £40 / week and have someone else bring up my kids.. or I could stay at home bring up the kids and try and offset some of the costs. With children you want to give them the best food, I noticed add 'organic' to anything basically x3 the price. Using the plot we have I constructed raised beds, I bought a big greenhouse, in the summer all salad /tomatoes cucumbers and for 9 months of the year onions garlic etc all comes from the garden. I trade extras I have with a few folk on the street so I get chutneys and jams, home cooking etc. There are plenty of ways to save money, but getting on the ladder took the intervention of my folks, the last few years, wages have sat still, but prices, even of basic things have gone up, gas water electricity etc not to mention food. I notice this a lot more as I do the books for us as a family. I scour the internet for deals, I haven't had a new computer in 10 years!!! Currently my quidco is sat at 640 quid, so I'm hoping when I reach 1000, that's my present for the research! My dad thought he had it tough when he bought his first house, but by history it's getting tougher each year, the trick is to start doing things now, however small, it's amazing what a difference they make 10-15 years later. Sorry if it's a bit long
TLDR : My parents bailed me out 33k!

paragraphs!

Energize · 15 Mar 2017 at 18:11

The_Abyss said:
That's a sweeping generalisation. Labour costs are different proportions in different industries and businesses. For many that involve large amounts of manual work it is still their largest cost.

It doesn't matter as long as it's less than 100%, that's the point. If labor costs are less than 100% then giving the entire population a 1% payrise results in a price increase of less than 1% therefore everyone is better off. The idea that people are not better off because it causes an increase in prices is illogical.

regulus · 15 Mar 2017 at 20:56

Psycho Sonny said:
I buy things on sale or smartly doesn't mean I'm tight. For instance how many tight people do you know that drive a 3 litre petrol sports car that does 15-20 mpg? Costs a lot more than your average car in road tax and insurance, etc.

I like to get more for my money than simply overspend on things I know I can get for cheaper.

For example If I can save £100 by importing from USA I will. If I'm looking to buy a TV I will wait til it goes EOL before buying it. Why spend £1400 on a tv when you can buy the exact same tv in a few months for £799?

How many tight people do you know have a collection of headphones worth £2K+?

Just because I spend less for the things I buy doesn't mean I'm tight. i just like a good bargain. My kitchen for instance has a pizza maker imported from italy, an airfryer, coffee machine plus many more. Whereas a tight person would drink instant coffee from poundland. I drink cru kafe capsules.

Don't confuse liking a bargain with being tight. yes I pay £12 a month for sky Q silver package. Just because you pay £100 a month doesn't mean I'm tight, I just bought smartly.

You'll take a lot of pot shots from those eternally stupid with money. They're angry at their stupidity and inability to work smartly with their resources. They know the problem, they just don't have the intelligence to think of a solution or have the discipline to implement a solution and stick with it.

I buy exactly the same as you. My whole place looks like a sleek, modern, minimalist house. Every piece in there bought on special, 2nd hand or EOL. You'd never ever know what's new or 2nd hand as everything is obsessively well looked after and thought-through before investing into a product. Not one single item in there is unnecessary or a stupid impulse purchase toy I play with for a few days before kicking it under the bed and forgetting about it. Jeez, forget the money side of things, it's great for my sanity not having oodles of worthless crap scattered around I'll use once and never again. The money side is really just a nice bonus at this stage.

Spook187 · 15 Mar 2017 at 22:26

regulus said:
You'll take a lot of pot shots from those eternally stupid with money. They're angry at their stupidity and inability to work smartly with their resources. They know the problem, they just don't have the intelligence to think of a solution or have the discipline to implement a solution and stick with it.

Oh I see your calling me stupid because I do things differently with money, please don't insult my intelligence how I handle my income, we get it you lead a sterile life good for you bore of the year if I seen one.

SpeedFreak · 15 Mar 2017 at 22:53

Energize said:
It doesn't matter as long as it's less than 100%, that's the point. If labor costs are less than 100% then giving the entire population a 1% payrise results in a price increase of less than 1% therefore everyone is better off. The idea that people are not better off because it causes an increase in prices is illogical.

So what sets the price of the raw materials and supply chain within the product cost? In my experience it is demand fueled by afforability/ willingness to pay.

Energize · 15 Mar 2017 at 23:07

SpeedFreak said:
So what sets the price of the raw materials and supply chain within the product cost? In my experience it is demand fueled by afforability/ willingness to pay.

Products are charged at the price the market will bear, simply because more money is available does not mean the market will bear a higher price.

FoxEye · 15 Mar 2017 at 23:52

ci_newman said:
I have to agree with you here, my investments are seeing ~ 30% rate of return over the last 12 months.

30%? Really? Mental. That's got to be the exception rather than the rule. Hell, at 30% I could invest my savings and make my annual salary whilst not working at all!

All my money is in the bank depreciating. Knowing my luck, however, I'd end up losing everything if I were to try to invest it.

I know the government loves risk takers, and risk takers are largely rewarded in life, but taking risks isn't something I enjoy, nor have ever benefited from in any way. It is a complete anathema to me.

But 30%.... no, that can't be normal.

Rroff · 16 Mar 2017 at 00:12

FoxEye said:
30%? Really? Mental. That's got to be the exception rather than the rule. Hell, at 30% I could invest my savings and make my annual salary whilst not working at all!

All my money is in the bank depreciating. Knowing my luck, however, I'd end up losing everything if I were to try to invest it.

I know the government loves risk takers, and risk takers are largely rewarded in life, but taking risks isn't something I enjoy, nor have ever benefited from in any way. It is a complete anathema to me.

But 30%.... no, that can't be normal.

Technically the markets are up a lot for 2016 after a poor 2014, 2015, but I'm not seeing anything like that realistically i.e. index trackers.

Deus Ex · 16 Mar 2017 at 00:50

FoxEye said:
30%? Really? Mental. That's got to be the exception rather than the rule. Hell, at 30% I could invest my savings and make my annual salary whilst not working at all!

All my money is in the bank depreciating. Knowing my luck, however, I'd end up losing everything if I were to try to invest it.

I know the government loves risk takers, and risk takers are largely rewarded in life, but taking risks isn't something I enjoy, nor have ever benefited from in any way. It is a complete anathema to me.

But 30%.... no, that can't be normal.

Look at what the stockmarket has done since 2008, then look at what it has done over 30 years. Phenomenal years. I personally would like to thank all the cash ISA people for letting everyone else make money while they make £90 on £10,000.

FoxEye · 16 Mar 2017 at 09:35

Deus Ex said:
Look at what the stockmarket has done since 2008, then look at what it has done over 30 years. Phenomenal years. I personally would like to thank all the cash ISA people for letting everyone else make money while they make £90 on £10,000.

So people with savings (in the bank) are to be punished, and people who risk everything on the stock market are to be congratulated.

Hardly surprising when we have crashes, since everybody making money has the same "let's take a risk" mentality, and people who play it safe with their money are the subject of scorn and ridicule.

Jez · 16 Mar 2017 at 10:49

FoxEye said:
30%? Really? Mental. That's got to be the exception rather than the rule. Hell, at 30% I could invest my savings and make my annual salary whilst not working at all!

All my money is in the bank depreciating. Knowing my luck, however, I'd end up losing everything if I were to try to invest it.

I know the government loves risk takers, and risk takers are largely rewarded in life, but taking risks isn't something I enjoy, nor have ever benefited from in any way. It is a complete anathema to me.

But 30%.... no, that can't be normal.

Are you living under a rock and totally missed the incredible turmoil primarily in the wake of brexit :confused:

Some indexes have done 40%
http://www.hl.co.uk/funds/fund-disc...gal-and-general-us-index-class-c-accumulation

Basic FtSE 25%
http://www.hl.co.uk/funds/fund-disc...and-general-uk-100-index-class-c-accumulation

Point being that for recent times 30% for mixed investments is (ridiculously!) fairly normal

Rroff · 16 Mar 2017 at 11:13

Jez said:
Are you living under a rock and totally missed the incredible turmoil primarily in the wake of brexit

Some indexes have done 40%
http://www.hl.co.uk/funds/fund-disc...gal-and-general-us-index-class-c-accumulation

Basic FtSE 25%
http://www.hl.co.uk/funds/fund-disc...and-general-uk-100-index-class-c-accumulation

Point being that for recent times 30% for mixed investments is (ridiculously!) fairly normal

Last 3 annum:

26.75%, 2.87%, 39.89%

Only a small part of my money is in stocks and shares directly however (I have been considering putting more of my money into something like index trackers) - so I've not really felt that other than the 2015 hit going hand in hand with everything else.

Jez · 16 Mar 2017 at 11:29

Ridiculous isnt it, shame i dont have anything on those trackers

D.P. · 16 Mar 2017 at 11:38

And how well did these trackers do since 2007 or 2000. You always have to be careful with your starting point, a lot of people talking about large gains since the bottom of a recession. I lost around half my inheritance due to the 2 recessions.

Jez · 16 Mar 2017 at 11:42

They'd still be up on both of those scenarios' - we are above 2007 boom levels now.

But your sentiment is quite right, the huge percentage gains are more recent

FoxEye · 16 Mar 2017 at 12:00

Jez said:
Are you living under a rock and totally missed the incredible turmoil primarily in the wake of brexit

Some indexes have done 40%
http://www.hl.co.uk/funds/fund-disc...gal-and-general-us-index-class-c-accumulation

Basic FtSE 25%
http://www.hl.co.uk/funds/fund-disc...and-general-uk-100-index-class-c-accumulation

Point being that for recent times 30% for mixed investments is (ridiculously!) fairly normal

I might as well be living under a rock, because I've never even thought about investing my savings. I certainly didn't realise that the Brexit turmoil would be a money-making vehicle for some people.

I'm just not aware of this world of investments and the stocks/shares, so when people start talking about 30% returns on their money I'm totally amazed, because I never had an idea that this was possible.

But it's not a "safe" 30% return is it. I mean, for someone like me with a bit saved up but *no* knowledge of trading the stock market, I can't see how it would be anything other than a massive risk/gamble on my part...

Bear · 16 Mar 2017 at 12:19

I have a load of my pension money in an S&P500 tracker http://www.hl.co.uk/funds/fund-disc...ts/h/hsbc-american-index-class-c-accumulation when you look at the performance of the S&P500 since 1970 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S&P_500_Index the annual return is quite decent. There are figures going back 90 years and if you adjust for inflation its about 7% growth over 90 years even including the crashes http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/042415/what-average-annual-return-sp-500.asp

Psycho Sonny · 16 Mar 2017 at 12:29

FoxEye said:
I might as well be living under a rock, because I've never even thought about investing my savings. I certainly didn't realise that the Brexit turmoil would be a money-making vehicle for some people.

I'm just not aware of this world of investments and the stocks/shares, so when people start talking about 30% returns on their money I'm totally amazed, because I never had an idea that this was possible.

But it's not a "safe" 30% return is it. I mean, for someone like me with a bit saved up but *no* knowledge of trading the stock market, I can't see how it would be anything other than a massive risk/gamble on my part...

People who invest in something physical when money isn't doing well will likely always gain.

When Brexit happened. Pound flatlined and Gold prices rocketed. I then sold all my gold for a nice return. Gold didn't really go up in value though it was more that the pound weakened.

So if your investing in shares that are all bought in Dollars then when you convert back into £ then yes you will be doing a lot better off due to the weak £. However a weak £ isn't really good for anyone in the UK unless your a major exporter.

Also trump has made the markets move too. Brexit plus Trump has basically made those invest in something physical better off, people with cash in the bank have lost out as their £'s are now worth less. Quantitive easing will only make this situation worse. So if you have money in the bank invest it elsewhere. Property, stocks, shares, whatever, etc.

Nexus18 · 17 Mar 2017 at 15:45

I buy things on sale or smartly doesn't mean I'm tight. For instance how many tight people do you know that drive a 3 litre petrol sports car that does 15-20 mpg? Costs a lot more than your average car in road tax and insurance, etc.

I like to get more for my money than simply overspend on things I know I can get for cheaper.

For example If I can save £100 by importing from USA I will. If I'm looking to buy a TV I will wait til it goes EOL before buying it. Why spend £1400 on a tv when you can buy the exact same tv in a few months for £799?

How many tight people do you know have a collection of headphones worth £2K+?

Just because I spend less for the things I buy doesn't mean I'm tight. i just like a good bargain. My kitchen for instance has a pizza maker imported from italy, an airfryer, coffee machine plus many more. Whereas a tight person would drink instant coffee from poundland. I drink cru kafe capsules.

Don't confuse liking a bargain with being tight. yes I pay £12 a month for sky Q silver package. Just because you pay £100 a month doesn't mean I'm tight, I just bought smartly.

Well said!

I get accused of being "tight" too but like you, I just buy smartly. Unlike some, I have principles and will power

regulus · 17 Mar 2017 at 16:06

Nexus18 said:
Well said!

I get accused of being "tight" too but like you, I just buy smartly. Unlike some, I have principles and will power

Hehe. Accused of being 'tight' by stupid people ain't really much of an insult either

Especially by some of our more simpleminded members with a jihad against spelling and punctuation