Cost of Living

[Trips]

If it's that much of a monopoly (like, it's one road in and one road out) then surely they can charge what they want permanently on either side? Why faff around.

And how have these Norwegian folk not copped on to do a bit of a round trip and fill up on the other side one day? You'd only need to turn around wherever you can, first roundabout or whatever.

Are you suggesting that it's bullshit? I'm not buying that (not til the afternoon when it's cheaper, anyway)

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

?
The car won’t do 1mpl
Your mileage is a bit out as well

But I agree with you!

I realised after it was shoddy maths but the point stands

 

[sycophantia]

Just looked it up (look at me and my wild Friday night )

33 miles from Newport to Grindly Brook. 25 minutes in decent traffic. X 2 of course.

So to do that, over a year, based on filling up once a week:

3,432 miles worth of diesel = £4,458.17 on that price above (remember, this is just the extraneous journey that you wouldn't make otherwise because it's "saving you money")

And 41-42 hours at least to make that weekly trip.

You know, I'd pay the extra few pence a litre

It's probably more like once a month, a tankful of diesel will last a retired person ages usually.
Fuck me I went out to get a loaf of bread last week from Penkridge (cos I like a specific loaf that bakery does) I was enjoying the ride and ended up doing 80 miles. There's no logic involved, us old people have no time constraints, I'm lucky that I don't have to watch every penny any more.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

It's probably more like once a month, a tankful of diesel will last a retired person ages usually.
Fuck me I went out to get a loaf of bread last week from Penkridge (cos I like a specific loaf that bakery does) I was enjoying the ride and ended up doing 80 miles. There's no logic involved, us old people have no time constraints, I'm lucky that I don't have to watch every penny any more.

When I had loads of time but no real money in Hamburg one day I rode the entire U1 U-Bahn line back and forth in a loop and got off at random stops to have a mooch around . Was a blast.

Economically your man's choice makes no sense but if he enjoys it, go with it

 

[sycophantia]

When I had loads of time but no real money in Hamburg one day I rode the entire U1 U-Bahn line back and forth in a loop and got off at random stops to have a mooch around . Was a blast.

Economically your man's choice makes no sense but if he enjoys it, go with it

It's not an economy thing with him, he thinks he should support them over our local garages cos they're not ripping people off, he can be a contrary twat sometimes.
It's not something I would do, it's not even a nice ride.

 

[EpsomWolf]

It's probably more like once a month, a tankful of diesel will last a retired person ages usually.
Fuck me I went out to get a loaf of bread last week from Penkridge (cos I like a specific loaf that bakery does) I was enjoying the ride and ended up doing 80 miles. There's no logic involved, us old people have no time constraints, I'm lucky that I don't have to watch every penny any more.

I think that’s a really good point.

I’d always loved driving and riding and was getting quite depressed with the ever increasing costs and punitive restrictions, but particularly the way the purchase of any new vehicle became a micro-analysed mathematical equation. For a lover of cars or bikes it’s a sad day when you are purchasing one with the same mindset and enthusiasm as choosing a boiler or heat pump.

I appreciate this is a cost of living thread and there are times when we all feel the squeeze more than others, but fuck it, this time just bought a motor I/we are passionate about, to have some fun and kick back against the slide to misery with a little bit of common sense thrown in for good measure.

Does feel like cost pressures are sucking the pleasure out of most enjoyable stuff irrespective of whatever it is that floats your boat, but bollocks, sometimes you’ve got to remind yourself of what it is you enjoy and embrace it if you can.

 

[Paul]

 

[The Bear]

I've always enjoyed driving, but even in my 40s now I still don't feel the urge to get in the car and drive around aimlessly for hours.

 

[EpsomWolf]

It’s difficult to have any fun on the roads nowadays anyway. Noticable how many people now have track cars and bikes for weekends fun and drive a sterile eco-box during the week. Granted roads aren’t race tracks so safer for everyone to be fair.

It’s all very good if you’ve got the resources to have a foot in both camps. If you like driving but can’t go to the track, the future is looking very bleak indeed.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

I don’t think I have driven a car since last July. Very particular circumstances and I fully intend to buy one out here when i am settled, but that is a bit mind blowing when I drove every day for at least thirty years before.

Got my eye on a Kia Stinger GT2. $65k Aus and seriously, seriously quick and fun.

 

[Dublin Drummer Wolf]

I'm only driving since last July but really enjoy and find it actually relaxes me.
Last year was extremely stressful with buying and moving into a house, starting a new job, and testifying in a murder trial all at the same time. I very nearly had a breakdown and found that on stressful days, getting out on the road helped to clear my head. I focused solely on the road and didnt think about anything else whilst out.
Also, the area where we have moved (North County Dublin) has some lovely roads. Lots of farms around here, close to the coast and little other traffic on the road so it was enjoyable to discover the little towns and villages in the area.

 

[sycophantia]

I've always enjoyed driving, but even in my 40s now I still don't feel the urge to get in the car and drive around aimlessly for hours.

I'm the opposite, aimlessly driving/around makes me happy.

 

[Wolf Hunting]

If it's that much of a monopoly (like, it's one road in and one road out) then surely they can charge what they want permanently on either side? Why faff around.

And how have these Norwegian folk not copped on to do a bit of a round trip and fill up on the other side one day? You'd only need to turn around wherever you can, first roundabout or whatever.

I imagine a few do Dan, but you know what it's like, it's people. They can't be bothered. Apathy. there's a good bit of it about.
As far as I can remember whilst Bodo is tucked away against the sea, there are several roads out of the place, but I'd bet they all had dinner together and everyone does this mad thing.

 

[Del Woppio]

Not strictly Cozzie Livs, but jesus... BT planning to cut 55,000 jobs, with "a good chunk" of them being in the UK, saying they'll use AI to bridge the skills gap. 55,000 jobs - out of 130,000 employees/contractor roles. A fair bit is down to the fibre roll out nearly completed so contracts not extended, and they're going for a 'natural wastage' strategy, so rather than compulsory redundancies they'll just not replace leavers and retirees.

And the Post Office lost £1bn last year. There's no way the legal requirement of delivery six days a week everywhere can be sustained with those sorts of losses.

I know we've avoided a technical recession and all that, but things are really fucking bad for a lot of business and people

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Suella Deville will expect them all to pick fruit

 

[Sniffer]

Suella Deville will expect them all to pick fruit

It would probably pay better than many jobs out there. The rabble currently in charge bang on about high skilled/high wage economy but for society to work then all types of jobs need to be filled. My better half works for a darling of the FTSE 100, does unsociable hours (upto to 11pm during the week) and gets no more than a few pence above the national minimum wage. Weekend work gets a whopping £1 an hour more. The hours work for us as a family (and the pay used to better in comparison to the NMW) so until that changes then we'll have to ignore the advice of Jake Berry about finding a better job. I guess that by accepting these conditions that the we are contributing to the reality that the country is in a race to the bottom. Find a good skilled job earning decent money and if you dare complain that your T&C's are being eroded then you become the enemy of the right wing press.

 

[Kenny]

House prices have properly gone stupid

A bungalow at the end of our street went up for sale. Kind of know the owners so as you do, time for a bit of being a nosey git. Now they have done the place up very nicely but its just a 2 bedroom standard sized bungalow...thought it would be around £250k. How wrong was I.....£450k!

For that much I would want a cellar filled with gold to be part of the deal

Mulling over whether to get our house valued now...mainly so I can bitch about how much a fookin bungalow is compared to our house.

 

[Kenny]

This is the listing. Its very nice and some nice spec items installed but am I the only one who cannot see £450k in its value

Frogmore Road, Market Drayton, 2 bedroom, Detached Bungalow

'Ashton' is a beautifully presented Detached Two Bedroom Bungalow offering you an impressive Open Plan Kitchen/Dining/Lounge space with...

www.barbers-online.co.uk

The image from the front doesn't show the road that runs right by it and is a nightmare to get down due to street parking and if a car is coming the other way, you have to pull onto their gravelled area to let cars by.

 

[Del Woppio]

Aye, it's mental. When me and the ex bought a house together 9 years ago, we paid £226k for a gorgeous 4 bed detached, end of a culdesac, next to a field and a lake, massive open plan kitchen diner, it's beautiful. You can't shit for £226k now, even in fucking Brownhills where I'm renting at the moment. It's genuinely heartbreaking and a massive contributor to my mental health issues, the thought/knowledge that I'll never be able to own a home, and my 'retirement' is basically going to be just rancid poverty and probable until I die. I earn good money, but it's just impossible to run a home on your own and save at the same time

 

[jlo]

Exactly the same as what Del says (also see the Capital Gains thread @Kenny). Without getting into specifics, we're also on pretty decent money (though only for last two years) between two of us but apparently the average deposit nowadays is £60k. Lol, even saving up 10% of that is a challenge is this climate. We're having to explore shared ownership which I'm still not sure is the best approach, though in London there is a good chance you won't be burdened with it when needing to sell. Also as mentioned in the other thread, my current place has almost trebled in value in the last 14 years when the economy has barely moved.

Let's be realistic, it's not going to change quickly enough either is it. Feel for you too Del, unless you're born into a privileged situation it's nigh on impossible.