I still have the original ticket stub for the British Caledonian flight from London to Hong Kong which I took when I first went to work there in 1982. It cost almost £500 for a one-way flight.
You can get a return ticket on that route today for less than that.
Chris
On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 12:28:03 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@jibbering.com (Jim Ley) mysteriously appeared thru the usenet mist to inform us thus...
You'll have to take that up with abelard. I'm sure he'd enjoy debating the matter with you.
I agree food/clothes are essentials but most elderly folks don't spend much on either in absolute terms but a lot as a proportion of income. It varies but the example of potatoes I gave you is not uncommon. Moving is an impractical solution for many given the costs and family links etc. Stamp duty anybody? You need to consider that it's 'very' difficult for old people to move home - roots/stress etc.
I'm referring to Sains/Asda/Tesco/Safeways. You will not find spuds much cheaper although prices vary with the season. Spuds have ceased being a low-cost staple food in Britain and are now subject to market forces (ie whatever price the market will bear).
Agreed, supermarket water is much cheaper. But bottled mineral water is much the same price in most of the pubs/clubs I frequent in London. They decline to serve tap water and used to randomly search clients before entering who they thought might have 3-4 minature bottles of gin/whisky/rum hidden in their pockets (it was much cheaper to buy a can of coke and pour in your own rum). Then look at prices of some new designer alcopops.
That might be down to the Airlines you use. I know there are some low-budget airlines offering better prices today but BA are now adding £30(?) surcharge per flight. Tickets to Brazil cost the same or more today than 15 years ago (£6-£700) unless you want to fly with LAN Chile or summat.
I never claimed any figure. Check the thread. My position has always been the same: inflation is subject to each person's pattern of spending and the greatest rises tend to fall on those who spend a large proportion of their oncome on 'essentials'.
Elderly folks don't travel much or buy new home gadgets. Their costs have gone up by gas/elec/council tax increases, all of which have gone up a lot in the past 5-10 years. Gas has gone up 15-20% in the past 2 years alone.
See above.
Indeed but it doesn't alter the facts about their inflation.
On 21 Oct 2005 05:48:37 -0700, snipped-for-privacy@virgin.net mysteriously appeared thru the usenet mist to inform us thus...
No, I was pointing to prices increases which don't seem to find their way into the RPI. The club I referred to declines to serve tap water.
But my earlier point is that OAPs etc spend a much larger proportion of their income on the essentials like gas/elec/CT etc, so their inflation is higher than a person who spends their money on the latest gadgets etc.
But you recommend the site, so presumably you agree with abelard's explanation?
Don't they get help with fuel costs?
On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 12:46:00 +0100, JF mysteriously appeared thru the usenet mist to inform us thus...
This is exactly what's happening in the US. It's the plus side of the offshoring issue which benefits those who still have jobs.
That's possibly because many of the goods coming out of China today are from non-Chinese owned companies - eg Samsung have plants there and their manufacturing skills are being deployed.
Can you please answer the question of where you're spending over 50p a kilo on spuds?
So now it's a rich person, they have assets above stamp duty positions, I struggle to have much sympathy with such people moaning about costs, there are of course other ways of releasing cash without incurring stamp duty.
It's very difficult for anyone to move house, it's not relevant to their age or income, and certainly it shouldn't mean other people should subsidise them even more they already are being.
Er, not in any of the parts of the country I shop in those stores charge anything like 50p a kilo for spuds.
So go elsewhere! The pubs I frequent don't have a problem serving tap water, I've even left establishments leaving the entire rest of the round sitting on the bar when the tap water request has been declined
- 3 pints ullage will hit profits and focus minds pretty quickly, maybe you should start with the same effect, bars learn, as I say the pubs I frequent in London don't have the problem.
That's perfectly reasonable for them to do, and I fully support them doing so.
Well inflation isn't based on "the same brand..." 'cos that's silly.
So, if the base price is 20 quid, whereas 5 years ago it was a
100quid, then a 30quid surcharge certainly doesn't matter.however not essentials such as Food, Clothing, Telecoms - in fact just essentials such as Council Tax and Heating - 2 things which the majority of the truly poorest get signifcant benefits for (100% council tax benefit for low income people, free money for pensioners, so are actually irrelevant for the truly poor)
Jim.
I believe that he doesn't.
I don't think it counts, because it doesn't belong to you.
tim
I am reasonably sure that this is unenforcable. Though that would depend upon why they might refuse permission. If the clause said "which will not be unreasonably withheld" and whenever they did refuse it was for a reasonable reason then they'd be OK, but they can't just use "because we say so" as the reason.
No he can't. He has suffered no loss.
tim
They may already be somewhere smaller.
>[snip]
Amateur economist question here; by what mechanism would high oil prices necessarily cause interest rates to rise?
My guess is that in order to attract foreign investment to balance the extra money spent on importing more expensive oil, interest rates would need to rise.
Thoughts, anyone?
Cheers, Alex.
On 21 Oct 2005 07:58:57 -0700, snipped-for-privacy@virgin.net mysteriously appeared thru the usenet mist to inform us thus...
There is the govt Xmas heating handout but I'm not sure at what age that kicks in w/o checking and it doesn't cover Council Tax. Of course there are other benefits people can claim if they want to surrender their privacy and take a course in form completion!
On 21 Oct 2005 07:57:39 -0700, snipped-for-privacy@virgin.net mysteriously appeared thru the usenet mist to inform us thus...
I didn't intend to 'recommend' the site. I pointed to it for an explanation of RPI vs true inflation which lardy claims (the latter) is M4-GDP. I've never analysed his definition in any detail to have a worthwhile opinion on its correctness - hence my suggestion to the OP to take the explanation up with lardy. Afaik lardy has never explained why M4 growth-GDP (if higher) is true inflation except that it must cause extra demand in the economy (which then causes RPI) but I'm also sure that there are armies of academics/economists who would disagree.
Perhaps you have an interesting view on this?
It is the property of the distribution agent. Gas or electric.
£200 and you get it at 60
Council tax is evil. A few years ago my wife was ill and had to give up work and I was earning only £6k a year. We got dunned for £700 council tax. A pensioner couple get a guaranteed income of around £169 a week yet claim poverty.
The landlord has every right in this instance. The tenant passed himself off as me when he asked Southern Electricity to change the key meter to an account meter and Southern Electricity didn't bother to verify his identity. The tenant's lease has a clearly worded clause that precludes buggering about with fixtures and fittings if I don't want them buggered about with. Who owns what is irrelevant. I buy only well-managed leasehold properties for buy to rent therefore I don't own the buildings. That doesn't give tenants the right to knock through hatchways and such nonsense.
Southern Electricity later apologised to me and said they were 'reviewing' their identity verification procedures. So that's all right, then.
On Fri, 21 Oct 2005 16:44:53 GMT, AlanG mysteriously appeared thru the usenet mist to inform us thus...
Indeed. Not all oldies live in high-value homes.
OK,
But the end effect (wrt the meter) would still have been the same if the tenant had first said "Mr X has moved out, I have moved in and wish to be made responsible for the bills".
This is a normal process and the leccy board never checks with the outgoing person (experience tells them that if they did, the normal response to such an enquirry would be, no response).
However, what I think that you are saying is that they applied for a credit meter in your name leaving you responsible for the bill? Presumably you are reselling, in which case different rules apply (as I said in my first post). Why do you do this BTW? You must be restricting your choice of tenant by doing so, it's not a sellers market anymore.
This is plain and simple fraud and has nothing to do with F&F.
As I've poinrted out already, this can't include the leccy meter as that belongs to the leccy board and they are free to do what THEY want with it.
Look at it the other way. The tenant moves in and there is a credit meter. The tenant then fails a credit check with the leccy board and *they* say, if you want a supply you have to have a key meter. Do you think that a clause in a lease would stop them from fitting it. If you tried to enforce your clause in court do you think that the court would say it applied to somone who wasn't a party to the original contract. No chance.
No it's not. The leccy board own the meter. It is they who are buggering with it.
This is because there is a clause in the head lease that you enforcing in a sub lease. The situation is different for the leccy meter.
From the pov of the financial consequences, I think that it is. The number of times that they have this problem must be tiny. They are free to take a decision to take the loss when it does happen rather than to implement expensive checks for everyone when only a tiny minority cheat.
From the F&F pov it doesn't matter. You don't have a case. This isn't your property, you can't make demands about what is done to it (the leccy board do this for you).
tim
Then council tax and heating etc. won't be a significant part of their income... (as if they are also on low income the council tax benefit will completely nullify that cost)
Jim.
hummingbird wrote
I'm an oldie retired person (71) on state pension plus SERPS, (I was one of the lucky ones before the Tories sabotaged it), plus a small company pension which is inflation-proofed up to 3% maximum. I have three VCRs and two DVD recorders, two PCs, and three GPSs etc. Get the picture? Electronic hardware is dirt cheap.
The big problem is that I just had a 12% increase in gas prices, and a similar hike in electricity, and water rates are also way above inflationary increases, and those can't be avoided.
If I hadn't 'saved up' before enforced early retirement 14 years ago, and ensured that I am now a nett saver, I would be in deep doo-doo.
I have, over the last few years, moved all investments into ISAs, and can assure the doubters that saving IS worth while. Money = power.
I wish I could convince my grown up children that they might live to be
90, and could still have a life.BeanSmart website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.