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One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

bbc.com

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Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#491

Post by ricardobayes »

Doctor_Fegg wrote: post #197
jameshush wrote: post #153

Visiting family in the UK for the first time in about five years. Costs here are _way_ higher than I remember. I bought three hamburgers, three drinks, and two large pops at a burger shop here, the total was 48 GBP (about $60 USD). This was at Five Guys. I couldn't believe it. I visited my co-worker in the UK, and over some beers, he mentioned he's getting taxed at 48-50% on top of this. Also 20% VAT on regular shopp…

Five Guys is absolutely atypical and has always been very expensive. A burger and a soft drink in a Wetherspoons (love them or loathe them) will be between £5 and £7 depending on the burger. > he mentioned he's getting taxed at 48-50% on top of this That's the higher rate for those who earn the most and, again, atypical. https://www.gov.uk/income-tax-rates

7 pounds for a burger is ridiculously low. Even here in the Spanish countryside a burger costs 12-14 euros.

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#492

Post by Symbiote »

InCityDreams wrote: post #364
rcarr wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> UK was already creaking at the seems in the 2000's. I left in 2011 and have spent the last 5 years crawling up a sewer pipe of regulations trying to get my post brexit immigration sorted. As someone planning to leave and never come back, can you give me a brief overview of some of the shit I might not know about that I'm going to have to deal with?

Make sure your gov.gateway is accessible for later pension stuff. Make sure you can keep your uk bank account if in the new country - i couldnt. Had to close it and transfer costs are high in emergencies. If your bank has an app Make sure it will work in thd new country. I had to change to UK on my phone for a year (Google rule?) to be able to get an app.

We're a fair few years on, but I changed to a very large bank before emigrating. Nowadays a second account with Wise or similar would probably suffice for occasional use.

I should have moved my UK phone number to a pre-pay plan on a premium network (O2, Vodafone etc), I left it on a budget one which cancelled it with very little notice.

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#493

Post by yuhong »

Gordonjcp wrote: post #66
mobiuscog wrote: post #9

There will be a whole lot more cancelling, when (if) they actually remove landlines in 2025.

They're not removing landlines. BT are no longer providing PSTN service. The existing copper infra will still be used for DSL services. Gradually these will get phased out and replaced by FTTP, but there's no real rush to do that.

[dead]

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#494

Post by traceroute66 »

76SlashDolphin wrote: post #456
traceroute66 wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be perfectly frank, most people in the UK (and elsewhere really) just need to learn how to cook ! From a UK perspective, being able to cook achieves: a) The ability to buy raw ingredients in bulk b) You can cook dishes that last you multiple meals (and NO, this does not mean eating the same thing) c) You can make soups and stocks from bones (all you need is bones, cheap vegetables, cheap spicing, and water) d) VAT…

The issue is that cooking becomes more enjoyable and fast if you have a well-stocked large kitchen which not many can have due to size constraints or budget constraints. Then there's also cleaning which is never enjoyable and takes a big chunk of time. Cooking is definitely efficient at 3 or more people, can have tradeoffs with 2 people and makes little sense if you live alone or with non-cooperating flatmates.

> if you have a well-stocked large kitchen which not many can have due to size constraints or budget constraints.

I'm sorry but that is oft-repeated nonsense that you have to have a well-stocked large kitchen to be able to cook at home.

You can cook as well in a small "galley" style kitchen as you can in a large one.

Other than herbs, spices and maybe a few bottles/cans of this and that, you don't need to keep vast stocks of anything. All you need to do is engage the brain and do a little bit of forward-planning for the week ahead.

How do you think people who grew up in, for example, communist-era Eastern Europe survived ? They all cooked at home. They certainly didn't have access to a supermarket so they could have a "well-stocked large kitchen". And their kitchens were certainly not large. Yet they ate well, they ate healthily.

> Cooking is definitely efficient at 3 or more people, can have tradeoffs with 2 people and makes little sense if you live alone

This is also utter tripe, again oft-repeated.

In 2023 we are blessed with this thing called refrigeration.

Again, engage brain and plan ahead.

You can make a variety of dishes for the immediate days ahead and put them in the refrigerator. As long as you stick to basic sensible food hygiene, food will be perfectly safe after a few days to a week in the fridge.

Leftovers can go in the freezer. You can equally (and should !) for example put a supply of stocks and soups in the freezer (soups for when you need a quick meal, stocks to add flavour and depth to other dishes).

It's not rocket science. It is simply, regrettably, a skill that has been lost in today's culture of immediate gratification and laziness.

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#495

Post by ilikerashers »

leoedin wrote: post #480
ilikerashers wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can we have your childcare, your healthcare and your housing market please in exchange? Childcare alone in Zone 4 London is £2000 per month.

For one child? My nursery in zone 3 is £1500 a month.

Where is this nursery? Even my brother in Newcastle is paying £75 per day. Or is this for over 3's with both parents on <100k.

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#496

Post by yootyootr »

asdff wrote: post #472
skippyboxedhero wrote: post #409

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We don't all live in London big man.

How much do you even pay in the UK for a 5 guys hamburger? the previous comment had a complicated order. For reference, in southern california, the regular hamburger is $10.79 from five guys. A lot higher than in n out, a double double is less than $5, but probably $2-3 cheaper than what you'd pay at a low key sit down restaurant like a brewery or whatever.

The Walthamstow (North London) Five Guys is selling the regular hamburger right now for £8.65 which in dollars is $10.75.

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#497

Post by leoedin »

ilikerashers wrote: post #495
leoedin wrote: post #480

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For one child? My nursery in zone 3 is £1500 a month.

Where is this nursery? Even my brother in Newcastle is paying £75 per day. Or is this for over 3's with both parents on <100k.

North London, near Turnpike Lane. I think all the nurseries I enquired at in the area charge somewhere between £1200 and £1700 a month full time. Our previous nursery in Brixton was £1625 a week for a full time place. It probably helps that those are cheaper parts of the city.

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#498

Post by c7THEC2DDFVV2V »

blitzar wrote: post #479
c7THEC2DDFVV2V wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

thats incorrect. you lose your tax free allowance, which is a furtger 12,500 tax paid. Plus you need to consider graduate tax and the interest on those 'loans' which currently sits at 4.5%

Its an even higher tax rate if you buy 50,000 of drugs with your money and call it a heroin tax.

what on earth?

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#499

Post by c7THEC2DDFVV2V »

dukeyukey wrote: post #328
c7THEC2DDFVV2V wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

thats incorrect. you lose your tax free allowance, which is a furtger 12,500 tax paid. Plus you need to consider graduate tax and the interest on those 'loans' which currently sits at 4.5%

But you're still only paying the lower rates on income until you hit £125000, and at that income those student loans aren't gonna exist for long.

they will exist for a while because you need to get to that level in your career. People rarely leave uni and get 100k+ jobs. If you leave uni and find a job paying at 50k and you get increases of 2.5% each year, it will take over 20 years to repay.

Re: One million cancel broadband as living costs rise

#500

Post by c7THEC2DDFVV2V »

ac2u wrote: post #399
azornathogron wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking as a pedant: The top marginal rate is actually 60% and happens when you cross the threshold where you're nominally in the 40% band but you're also losing your personal allowance. The effect is, for every £2 extra income you lose £1 personal allowance (exposing an extra £1 to taxation) and pay 40p tax on that. That's 20% in addition to the 40% you're paying anyway, hence 60% marginal rate. Once you hit the in…

yeah if you're on that rate and not dumping every penny you can into your pension allowance each year (and using up any unused allowance for previous three years), you're crazy.

whats crazy is forcing people to save for something they have no guarantee of seeing. Giving the pension age keeps increasing a pension is nothing more than paying into a pot you will never be able to fully use. Especially given how people are taxed on their pension payments.
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