Anger at forth coming COL crisis

[MyCheekyEagle]

Of course I understand that the ME war is going to have an impact on oil prices & that will get passed onto the already struggling families; but when things stabilise again & maybe oil prices reset the greedy corporatez never pass this saving back to customers fo they. They just think as we've got used to these new higher prices we'll just keep them there. This thought has given me the rage most of today!
Just needed to vent somewhere, thanks if you listened..

Isn't Carers allowance something like 60 quid? Hardly worth gaming the system for.

People can happily survive on non-ultra-processed crap. I do. You get used to it and start enjoying it.

"Can always find money for some foreign cause or other though!!"

The UK foreign aid budget has been cut from 0.7% to 0.5% of GNI since 2021, and will likely be cut to 0.3% in 2027 (so more than halved).

Please do not spread misinformation that encourages further hatred and racism. Foreign aid is important and what we do in other countries also impacts our own country and our own lives. We are all connected.

And you're one of the lucky ones able to stock up, with a freezer and cupboards to fill!

I NEED coffee yes it’s an addiction
I don’t care

Most people on here will prpbably be pensioners one day, myself if included, MN will still be blaming pensioners for exsisting. Like they do with regards to the older generation buying their homes, but are only too happy to take a resulting inheritance. 🙄

@Clubbiscuit "Billionaires are the problem"

Really ?

The top 25% of income taxpayers will pay more than three quarters (76%) of all income tax this year.
In 2024-25, the top one per cent of income tax payers earned 13.3 per cent of total income and paid 28.2 per cent of income tax. This is up from 22.7 per cent in 2005-06, a full 20 financial years ago.
The top ten per cent of income tax payers earned 35.1 per cent of total income in 2024-25 and paid 60.2 per cent of income tax, up from 52.9 per cent in 2005-06.

35.6 per cent of the adult population paid no income tax at all in 2023-24.

Christ, it's ideas like this when it gets in the public domain starts stupid panic buying. Better to add a few things each week to your shop if you can.
Anyone remember the Great Loo Roll panic? Now that was really stupid.😁

I think Starmer is a calm steady hand at the helm right now.
At least he understands and respects international law. And so far is refusing to be dragged into the Middle East insanity.

As for the cost of living, we can only buy what we can afford. We have two teens they are the only things I have the bandwidth to worry about, I honestly don’t care how much petrol costs as long as we don’t end up with them being conscripted.

Me too. .it gives me the energy to go to work!

No.
Most pensioners have contributed into the system

What about those that haven't?

How so?

If the sun don't shine and the wind don't blow you get zilch.

And electricity storage is still a problem.

Have you seen the size of the battery/ies on electric cars ?

I bet the Government will just give out more cost of living top ups. The thing we always seem to be be to afford in this country is more handouts.

We would rather live in a society which supports people past working age to not starve on the streets. Or be forced upon younger relatives, usually female if they are available let’s face it, because not all pensioners deserve to be dependent on their family members.

We have known for decades now the state pension will pay bills and feed you just, if you want more that’s up to you.

So we don’t mind the pensions bill, pensioners whinging they should get more and more and more grates a bit, but they’re not going to do we can largely ignore that.

Food for thought though, if 35% of claimants are also working (a lot of benefits are top up for housing or similar), is this not also to do with Cost of Living issues? If people are working, but still unable to afford rent and food without subsidies, personally I also see that as a failure of the system / artificially inflated costs.

More than half of benefits claimants spend is for retired people too, that I don't think most people begrudge. I think the amount of people who are claiming who actually aren't working too, or retired, is the minority. Out of those, the amount who are able bodied and could indeed work, is smaller still. It's just that the few able-bodied, non-working, benefits cheats are so annoying! Which is why they stand out in people's minds. But the actual spend on them, doesn't explain away the hardship most people face.

Chickenlittlesmum,we have 12 solar panels,2 batteries. There's a wind farm, I can see from the road,last few days,no wind. O sun.

So how much energy did you get ?

Yeah always enough money for a handout or a top up.

I don’t feel poor, but the last two years are the first time since I was a child (in poverty) that I’ve had to really think about if I need certain things. We are definitely eating less meat and cheaper cuts. We are going out less and opting for free stuff. We definitely don’t drive as much. I think because I have been poor I am somewhat at an advantage because I know the ropes and all the tips and tricks to make things go further, but it is scary how much things have gone up.

Most of the UK's geology is unsuited to geothermal apparently. A deep geothermal plant started operations last week in Cornwall, but the only other one mentioned in on the thread I started on the subject is in Southampton.

This is a huge part of the problem, our politicians are not paid well compared to the industries that attract our best talents, so you end up with successive governments of mediocre over promoted people.

@Ilovemyshed I filled my oil tank up 3 weeks ago and it was 57ppl, it's now around 130ppl (Scotland). I usually fill up Dec/Feb/May/Sep. If the price doesn't drop I can see me only being able to fill half the tank in May.

I see the Martin Lewis has been looking at this and Ed Miliband has written to the Fuel Distributors Ass to warn against misleading practices etc. Who knows if that will make any difference.

Our village petrol station is normally a bit more expensive than others, on Sunday it was £1.31 a litre, I happened to pass an Esso service station of the motorway, just 10 miles away and they were charging £1.61 a litre for unleaded, its shocking.

@CantBreathe90 "If people are working, but still unable to afford rent and food without subsidies, personally I also see that as a failure of the system / artificially inflated costs."

I wonder what are they teaching kids in school about budgeting, meal planning and basic cookery? (And I mean girls as well as boys)
That's where it starts.

No-one has to eat expensive "junk food" for a start -

https://realfood.tesco.com/budget-meals.html?sc_cmp=ppcBing+-+Real+FoodMPX_SEA_Mixed+Acquisition_GEN_Real+Food+-+Value_Campaign+Budget_1013998dinner+recipes+on+a+budgete&&msclkid=474f773c43621f58d6f91e939d6ada37&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=MPX_SEA_Mixed%20Acquisition_GEN_Real%20Food%20-%20Value_Campaign%20Budget_1013998&utm_term=dinner%20recipes%20on%20a%20budget&utm_content=Real%20Food%20-%20Cheap%20Recipes%20-%20Phrase&gclid=474f773c43621f58d6f91e939d6ada37&gclsrc=3p.ds&gad_source=7&gad_campaignid=20089522012

@Chickenlittlesmum

Schools try and teach this but if it isn’t demonstrated at home what can they do?

@rockinrobins Please do not spread misinformation that encourages further hatred and racism.

Since when has putting your own country first been seen as "racism".?

There are sadly many people in the world living in appalling situations but
we cannot help them all, neither can we bring them all here.