Biggest scam you didn’t know was a scam

[Sillysausage2]

Lighthearted 😂
I saw an Instagram post earlier about the biggest thing you don’t realise is a scam and we all accept as normal.
We all have stories about how our parents raised 7 kids etc in a 3 bed if they were lucky, my grandparents had 9 in a 2 bed 😂
the aim for everyone now is buying or building massive houses, 3 en suites at least, we spend the weekends in Ikea, home bargain etc buying shit we don’t need and cleaning the houses with the 4 bathrooms!
I swear I’ve spent more Time cleaning the legs of chairs than is reasonable and I seem to wash the walls of my bathroom far more than people ever mentioned.
I don’t remember my mother ever cleaning the panelling on the walls.
is it all a scam? Are we busy fools?
sometimes I got to centre Parcs like places and think how simple my life would be if we al only had one suitcase each

My 2nd dh is. So sorry you lost yours.

"Kids are expensive" - no, they are not. Childcare is expensive, kids can cost very little money.

Ok but.... every single child needs childcare. Either a parent doing it in lieu of paid work or outsourced.

I don't quite understand how this could be avoided - are you saying everyone should get family to look after the baby/child unpaid?

They don't get to choose how they spend their time, what and when to eat, wear, where to go and not go. The money is in the hands of the grown ups too. Some grown ups GIVE children freedom of choice over some of these things but children are not free.

Nah. They can only go where they're allowed to. They eat the food you give them wear the clothes you buy them. You make all the decisions. They have no money, no choices. They have to go to school. They hardly ever get to decide how to send their time.
You on the other hand have money and choices Yes you have to work but you chose what and where and when. You eat what you want, wear what you want, go where you want, see who you want. You can travel and do what you want.

You're free. They are not

£12 to park at Alton Towers this year.

The scam of adult education - Open University and other unis preying on the vulnerable older people by advertising all over bus shelters, promising 'a new career in your 50s' if you do a degree. I think this should be banned and actually, not only banned, but looked into for mis-advertising, mis-selling, fraud, etc. Vulnerable people in difficulties are lead to believe that the world of employment will embrace them at 50 if they did a degree. These universities are no better than scammers like Tony Robbins selling courses or lectures of 'How to become a millionaire' by running a business from your bedroom.

I had a uni mate, a fellow student, I was a 20, doing masters, she was 39, doing a PhD (European politics or something similar at the LSE) because some idiot lecturer told her 'she will get a great job in Brussels with that, plus a great life style'. She emerged with her PhD in this idiotic subject at 43, with no work experience apart from baby sitting and dog walking (she had a modest British Council grant to indulge in this folly). Obviously nobody wanted to have anything to do with her, there were plenty of 25-year olds with the same PhDs, plus languages (she had none) and she is now working for a charity, saying daily that it was all a lie, that she wasted her best years on a hollow idea, did not have a relationship/children and she regrets it all massively. Her mum, a down-to-earth seamstress was telling her it was a scam, it was idiotic to embark on a mature student's journey, that she was wasting her life opportunities, but she did not believe her at the time. Now she says she wished she did.

Shaving!

Solicitors; estate agents; care homes. I don't expect any of them to be free, but by God some of them could do more to make it seem a bit less like being mugged when they can't be avoided, because you have to pay up, no matter how piss poor or negligible a service you've received.

Ultra processed food, made with the crappiest, cheapest ingredients. The resulting products may appear 'cheap' in price, but in terms of all the things that should be valued about food (healthiness, nutrition, freshness, not trashing the environment) - they most certainly are not cheap.

None of these things are 'scams'. They might be awful ways to live, or even flat out rip-offs, but not 'scams'.

Capitalism, which kind of covers most of the previously mentioned issues

That the NHS is free. It’s the biggest scam going. It is free at the point of delivery and we all pay for it. When something is “free@ it makes complaints more difficult than they should be. For decades now almost an entire population has put up with sub-optimal standards due to misplaced gratitude. Why should the public be grateful for a service for which they have paid?

the same applies to universal free lunches for children in reception and stage one. It was dreadful when my dc were little and we paid directly. I imagine it’s still dreadful but it’s free so complaints must be difficult.

@godmum56Tretinoin

The food industry is embracing the idea of lab grown meat, what could possibly go wrong?

When the children left home we downsized from a huge house with multiple bathrooms & land looked after by a gardener,to a top floor flat with a balcony overlooking the sea. We had some wonderful family times in our home but I wouldn't go back now if I was offered it for free. We love our cosy flat with beautiful grounds in a quiet neighbourhood. Large imposing houses are impressive but the work involved & the costs involved, no thanks. Lived it,loved it (at the time) wouldn't go back 😁

My young relative said it was like being put in prison.

Those tight backpacks every runner now uses for <10k runs. You’re literally going to be out of the house for an hour, calm down you don’t need luggage

I think a lot of big name coffee shops are scammers. I had two coffees yesterday and when I paid for the second one realised that I had spent £10 on coffee in the space of a couple of hours. From coffee shops that have been brought to task for not paying tax.

???

UK mortgages and how you can’t sign up for a long low one.

In France, you chose the bank which will lend you the money on a long or short mortgage, say 25/30 year on the lowest rate. You sign on at that rate for all the period you want. If the bank rate goes down you can negotiate for a lower one either at the original bank or another but the banks cannot put the rate up.
Why can’t English banks do the same?
Note, French banks will not lend on English properties so don’t try queuing.

Another UK scam is leasehold, it doesn’t exist in other countries except England and Wales, or otherwise in very special circumstances.

It is like those in power, the rich, do not want to let go of Feudalism.

And to can transfer the low mortgage onto the next property you buy

Organised religion has to be up there.

I don't think that's a scam. I think she made a bad choice. I have a PhD and do not regret it. I wanted to dig deeper into the subject I was interested in. I also had a career before I undertook the PhD and completing it has enhanced my work and prospects.

I thought everyone knew that academic qualifications don't make you valuable to the work force without work experience? I was told this when I did my first degree many moons ago.

It's the same scam, isn't it? If you could keep your car at the end of the PCP, you probably would be less tempted to take a new one. We had to come up with 23k somehow. Which we paid, immediately sold the car at a profit and bought an old banger while swearing to never enter any form of car loan agreement again.

Botox and face/lip fillers - especially for young women. No one has ever looked better with them and you can spot the plastic faces a mile off - they just look ridiculous - especially if they have the teeth and lashes to match as well.

Pointless SUV cars .