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Road Tax Rant
coozer - 1/4/11 at 01:35 PM

Ha ha, the .gov are out to bankrupt the whole f*%$£ing lot of us!

Just paid £118.25 to tax the MNR for 6 months and checked the Shogun.. its gone up £15!

Your £205 rate is now £215.

How do we get rid of the current system and get out of Europe!

marcjagman - 1/4/11 at 02:01 PM

It is pricey but still cheaper than what a lot of Europe pays on their toll roads.

MikeRJ - 1/4/11 at 02:23 PM

quote:
Originally posted by coozer
Ha ha, the .gov are out to bankrupt the whole f*%$£ing lot of us!

Just paid £118.25 to tax the MNR for 6 months and checked the Shogun.. its gone up £15!

Your £205 rate is now £215.

How do we get rid of the current system and get out of Europe!


A tenner a year isn't exactly the end of the world, but with the ridiculous fuel prices now if takes the wee a bit.

MikeR - 1/4/11 at 02:38 PM

Reality,

the gov needs X billion of tax to keep going.

Its trying to cut the amount it spends, therefore the amount it needs except everyone objects to services being cut.

Road tax doesn't get spent on the roads, just like NI doesn't just fund the NHS.

If you don't pay road tax, they'll tax something else to get the money in. At least with road tax you have a choice / chance to avoid paying some of it buy driving a different vehicle.

ali f27 - 1/4/11 at 02:48 PM

I taxed mine yesterday for the 1st and paid 112 must have gone up on the first not interested in any political party but concerned about this lot dont seem to have a basic understanding of maths and its vital we have the country back on track have a feeling we aint seen nothing yet.
Why cant we employ some people from somewhere else to run the counrty if we cant find enyone capable here i certianly would not employ any of our politicians to run my company bet fuel makes £1.50 a litre this summer.
Lorrys run on diesal fact, everything we buy gets ride on lorry fact, fuel up 25% in 6 months fact, gov says inflation 4% lie how thick do they thing we are whats realy sad is i think they belive what they say must have gone to a different school to me

myke pocock - 1/4/11 at 03:07 PM

Well, you all have a choice. UKIP, Greens, BNP etc but if your going down that route it better be in big enough numbers or we will end up with what it is now. I agree that passing comment on sites like this is useful but it has to go further or else this just ends up as a winge and pressure relief system and nought else. Concerted effort by a lot of people is what is needed and that requires a lot of control, co-ordination and ruthless dedication. Any independant organisation out there want to give it a try? I bet not!

MikeRJ - 1/4/11 at 03:21 PM

quote:
Originally posted by MikeR
Reality,



Reality: we are paying 15% more for fuel than we were 12 months ago.

sonic - 1/4/11 at 03:38 PM

I just taxed an IS200 Lexus today and it cost £143 for 6 months.

Wait till they put it through the roof to cover the cost of the pothole repairs!

Its funny how they have been getting road tax out of us for years and years and putting the cost up all the time, but now they need to spend some money for pothole repairs there is no money.

Taking the P--S i think.

I was talking to an MD of a large house hold name company in York the other week and he said they have had employees with them for over 20 years who live in Leeds / Harrogate etc who are qualified people.

They are now resigning there positions and getting local jobs to home because they can no longer afford to run a car to work with the petrol costs etc, he said those people with there skill based over many years are non replaceable locally.

Now you might say that they should pay them more money but companies cannot afford to do that under the present climate and its only going to get worse.

We may now see a trend were companies are closing because they cannot get the skilled people they require to run there business even though people are out of work.

daviep - 1/4/11 at 03:59 PM

These threads make me laugh, moan all you like but it aint going to get better in the near future.

The squeeze has only just strated and everybody is crying already, wait until things really start to bite. This isn't going to be another of our magic six month recessions, things might start looking better in 5 or 6 years time. In the meantime we can expect less public spending and the weak pound to push the price of imported commodities up.

The hard facts are we have all had it to good for too long, and now the elastic credit cards that the country has been running on are all maxed out and we need to start repaying.

Davie

A1 - 1/4/11 at 04:05 PM

theyre taking the wee right across the board. if you think about it, theyve raised the vat the same amount as they dropped it, so that was a pretty hollow gesture... then theres the rediculous amount we pay for fuel... cant even have a pint now without getting shafted. its getting slightly wearing.

as i always say, we could cut benefits so only those who actually cant work get money for nothing. (dont mention redundancy-i have a plan for that!) Im sick of meeting people my age that are apparently 'disabled' and therefore cant work, even though they can do everything else fine and expect decent folk to pay for them!!

ill stop now.

well put davie


[Edited on 1/4/11 by A1]

coozer - 1/4/11 at 04:43 PM

According to today's Express we pay UE £77B ever year.. need I say any more?

And you who know me, I am jobless. I tried signing on but believe me that was worse than being skint! I rely on an agency and work ad hoc. Sometimes 6 days a week and sometimes none, anything in between.

Me and wor lass have tried to get work tax (she works 25 hours a week) and guess what? We are not entitled to it...

Beleive me this lying government is seriously pissing me off

daviep - 1/4/11 at 05:12 PM

quote:
Originally posted by coozer
According to today's Express we pay UE £77B ever year.. need I say any more?

And you who know me, I am jobless. I tried signing on but believe me that was worse than being skint! I rely on an agency and work ad hoc. Sometimes 6 days a week and sometimes none, anything in between.

Me and wor lass have tried to get work tax (she works 25 hours a week) and guess what? We are not entitled to it...

Beleive me this lying government is seriously pissing me off


So you drive a kitcar and a 4x4 and your complaining about the cost to run them, in my book they both come under the term "luxury", if you can't afford to run them then get rid, if you can stop moaning about it.

This is exactly why the country is up the spout, because the government didn't/doesn't have the balls to tell me/you that we don't have the right to have certain luxuries and that it's just tough.

Sorry to be harsh but I make what I would regard as good money but live a significantly lower class of lifestyle than most of my mates, the result being that I can afford to run 1x car 1x van 1x kitcar and 1x bike, I can't however afford a new TV or mobile phone or Ipod or a holiday every year but that's my choice.

Davie

tegwin - 1/4/11 at 05:38 PM

Davie, you do have a very good point there, but if I work my backside off to get a decent salary so I can buy these "luxuries" the ammount I get taxed every step of the way quite simply puts me off.....

I cant see me pushing myself to get a job like that, most likeley stay self employed and earn the minimum so I dont have to bend over for the privilage of living...

loggyboy - 1/4/11 at 06:17 PM

My Volvo costs £30 a year

russbost - 1/4/11 at 06:51 PM

You have to be realistic, the combination of the previous government who lied monumentally about the state of our finances & in 13 years managed to turn a massive SURPLUS into a much much more massive DEFICIT & then completely buried their heads in the sand as there was an election coming up & they didn't want to admit the parlous state of the economy, coupled with a global banking crisis (caused by greedy thieving money grabbing w**kers) who, surprise surprise are now back to their same old habits & don't appear to have lost a penny of their OWN money, added to a massive global hike in the oil price (this has NOTHING to do with our government) & add in one of the coldest winters with worst weather on record for god knows how long & you should hardly be surprised we need to tighten our belts!!! It's simple maths, you can't go on dishing it out if you're not earning it!

Perhaps if we genuinely clamped down on crime, benefit scroungers, illegal immigrants & stopped spending quite so many millions on being politically correct, administration, HR & health & safety budgets we might all be a bit better off - one of the biggest problems is that if the government (ANY government of any persuasion) actually did what needs to be done you'd have the entire media & loads of liberal bleeding hearts screaming blue murder about political oppresion & invasion of civil rights - we've spent so long being namby pamby & Nanny Stated that we no longer know how to look after ourselves, look at the generation who survived the war, they wouldn't be whingeing about our current lifestyle, they'd be very jealous!
Sorry, rant over

CraigJ - 1/4/11 at 07:02 PM

it has just cost £245 to tax the Ka, Leon and z750 bike for 6 months. i feel violated.

scootz - 1/4/11 at 07:26 PM

quote:
Originally posted by daviep
The hard facts are we have all had it to good for too long, and now the elastic credit cards that the country has been running on are all maxed out and we need to start repaying.


ABC... accuracy... brevity... clarity!

marcjagman - 1/4/11 at 09:03 PM

Not wanting to start any sort of political arguement I will air my opinions, and that's all it is, an opinion. People of a certain age like me may remember a certain Maggie Thatcher. In her reign the country had low unemployment, loads of money and all was well............or was it. Gas, electric were privatised as were telephone companies, car companies and so on, everything EXCEPT the Royal Mail and surprise surprise RM is making profits and still going strong, what happened to the rest of the industries? coal, cars and so on, not there any more. I am a qualified engineer by trade and there are very few jobs in my field as it's cheaper to import things now. Maybe, just maybe we are still paying for mistakes made by a government that was in power some 30 years ago as the country has no industries left that used to provide income for the country. Just my opinion and I am sure there are some that will agree and some that wont.

The Black Flash - 1/4/11 at 09:33 PM

Royal Mail? Making Profits and going strong? The Royal Mail with unfunded pension liabilities of 8 BILLION pounds which made a loss of 333 MILLION last year, and 200 million the year before that ? That RM?

myke pocock - 1/4/11 at 09:34 PM

What REALY gets on my ti*s are the Tory to**ers who continually say that it is the fault of the previous administration that we are in this position now. Do they REALY think that things would have been any better with them in place? I think the Chuckle Brothers (CAMCLEG) have been wielding a big stick and sending out a script for the ConDem faithfull to spew out at every opportunity.
And I do, of course, agree with the Maggie theory.

bj928 - 1/4/11 at 09:53 PM

well i have had enough of this country, and should be back off to america to work in a few weeks, more money in my pocket, and fuel at just 55p a litre, and my visa means i don't pay tax in either country, game on, i have a choice, and decided to leave, anyone wishing to join me, would the last one out please turn off the light

McLannahan - 1/4/11 at 10:04 PM

quote:
Originally posted by bj928
well i have had enough of this country, and should be back off to america to work in a few weeks, more money in my pocket, and fuel at just 55p a litre, and my visa means i don't pay tax in either country, game on, i have a choice, and decided to leave, anyone wishing to join me, would the last one out please turn off the light


BJ ....was it hard to find a job over there? I'd love to be brave enough to move to another country but that would be my worry, could I get a decent reliable well paying job! Is it driving you do?

Dangle_kt - 1/4/11 at 10:14 PM

My sister lives in Ireland.

There road tax is about 5 times ours.

daviep - 1/4/11 at 10:22 PM

quote:
Originally posted by bj928
my visa means i don't pay tax in either country


Really? How does that work?

I only ask as I work abroad a lot but have never managed to dodge the tax yet.

Davie

bj928 - 1/4/11 at 11:37 PM

quote:
Originally posted by daviep
quote:
Originally posted by bj928
my visa means i don't pay tax in either country


Really? How does that work?

I only ask as I work abroad a lot but have never managed to dodge the tax yet.

Davie


the visa i'm on (farming H2A) is tax exempt in the USA, they assume its a low pay job, short term, so don't want to mess with tax, but i can stay all year and do other duties over the winter, but i run a 18 wheeler all year round and earn about £2000 a month in my pocket, live in the truck, just have to pay out for a bit of food , to get round the UK tax, is to spend less than 91 days in the UK in any financial year ( april to april ), and be paid by an employer outside the EU, while working for a company outside the EU, so as i'm employed by an American company, paid by that company, and a tax exempt visa, i'm very happy

another good thing with the visa, it gets me a social security number, this lets me get a US bank account, US drivers licence, mobile on contract, and anything that is linked to the SS number, and most stuff in America is linked to SS number,

also, if you own a vehicle in america for 6 months while working there, you don't pay duty or vat when you ship it to uk, as long as you keep it a year in the UK, so you can find the right car and ship it to make some money tax free this way as well

bj928 - 1/4/11 at 11:43 PM

quote:
Originally posted by McLannahan
quote:
Originally posted by bj928
well i have had enough of this country, and should be back off to america to work in a few weeks, more money in my pocket, and fuel at just 55p a litre, and my visa means i don't pay tax in either country, game on, i have a choice, and decided to leave, anyone wishing to join me, would the last one out please turn off the light


BJ ....was it hard to find a job over there? I'd love to be brave enough to move to another country but that would be my worry, could I get a decent reliable well paying job! Is it driving you do?


i'm driving the big 18 wheelers, i looked everywhere for a way in as a truck driver, and the only way i could find was as a harvest crew member, i was lucky and landed a job with a company that runs a few trucks over the road on long haul work, and so didn't have to go on the harvest, but from what i here the harvest crews have a lot of fun, depending what job you want and/or what skills you have, there is always a way in to America, send me a PM if you want to know more and i might be able to point you in the right direction, its got to be better than this country these days

coyoteboy - 1/4/11 at 11:53 PM

quote:

What REALY gets on my ti*s are the Tory to**ers who continually say that it is the fault of the previous administration that we are in this position now


You mean exactly like the labour ones before them, who prattled on for 13 years about how they had inherited a problem (but after so long still hadn't managed to sort it out, and in fact made it worse)?

All politicians are driven by greed and desire to be in power, not by the desire to do the right thing. None of the opposition parties get to see the whole detail of day to day running so each successive government is in the dark when planning policy, leading to many things appearing to be lies, and it doesn't help that there's not really any easy answer to the problems that are here now - either way has massive issues, so neither choice will be popular. I just get a tad sick of people weilding party-political nonsense based on 20 year old stereotypes and ideals to moan about one party over another, rather than looking at problems as they currently are and looking at the possible solutions as they lie.

/rant

dlatch - 2/4/11 at 12:16 AM

quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
You mean exactly like the labour ones before them, who prattled on for 13 years about how they had inherited a problem (but after so long still hadn't managed to sort it out, and in fact made it worse)?

All politicians are driven by greed and desire to be in power, not by the desire to do the right thing. None of the opposition parties get to see the whole detail of day to day running so each successive government is in the dark when planning policy, leading to many things appearing to be lies, and it doesn't help that there's not really any easy answer to the problems that are here now - either way has massive issues, so neither choice will be popular. I just get a tad sick of people weilding party-political nonsense based on 20 year old stereotypes and ideals to moan about one party over another, rather than looking at problems as they currently are and looking at the possible solutions as they lie.

/rant



spot on you get my vote

is really boils my wee when labour supporters still blame thatcher about loss of industry in this country when labour done nothing to bring it back in the 13 years of power.
Bottom line is they are all a shower of poo

myke pocock - 2/4/11 at 07:36 AM

What you have failed to see is that I am saying that the current bunch of numpties are talking as if things would be tickety boo now if they had been in power and we wouldnt be in any kind of mess. I THINK NOT!!!

daviep - 2/4/11 at 01:36 PM

quote:
Originally posted by bj928
quote:
Originally posted by McLannahan
quote:
Originally posted by bj928
well i have had enough of this country, and should be back off to america to work in a few weeks, more money in my pocket, and fuel at just 55p a litre, and my visa means i don't pay tax in either country, game on, i have a choice, and decided to leave, anyone wishing to join me, would the last one out please turn off the light


BJ ....was it hard to find a job over there? I'd love to be brave enough to move to another country but that would be my worry, could I get a decent reliable well paying job! Is it driving you do?


i'm driving the big 18 wheelers, i looked everywhere for a way in as a truck driver, and the only way i could find was as a harvest crew member, i was lucky and landed a job with a company that runs a few trucks over the road on long haul work, and so didn't have to go on the harvest, but from what i here the harvest crews have a lot of fun, depending what job you want and/or what skills you have, there is always a way in to America, send me a PM if you want to know more and i might be able to point you in the right direction, its got to be better than this country these days


Have you done this before or is this the first time? I did something similar 2 years ago and spent less than 90 days in the UK but still had to pay my taxes, I even went to see a speciality accountant but to no avail.

The reason was a few years ago the definition of whether you are resident in the UK as "revised". Now if you have family, property etc etc in the UK and return within I think within 3 years you are considered "domiciled" in the UK and required to pay tax. I do know guys however who were payed abroad, lived in the UK but never paid their tax. I also know one guy who got caught 2 years after he came back and re-started working in the UK.

I guess what I'm saying is if you live in the UK be careful as you are probably legally meant to declare your income and pay income tax even if nobody asks for it.

Davie

bj928 - 2/4/11 at 07:30 PM

quote:
Originally posted by daviep
quote:
Originally posted by bj928
quote:
Originally posted by McLannahan
quote:
Originally posted by bj928
well i have had enough of this country, and should be back off to america to work in a few weeks, more money in my pocket, and fuel at just 55p a litre, and my visa means i don't pay tax in either country, game on, i have a choice, and decided to leave, anyone wishing to join me, would the last one out please turn off the light


BJ ....was it hard to find a job over there? I'd love to be brave enough to move to another country but that would be my worry, could I get a decent reliable well paying job! Is it driving you do?


i'm driving the big 18 wheelers, i looked everywhere for a way in as a truck driver, and the only way i could find was as a harvest crew member, i was lucky and landed a job with a company that runs a few trucks over the road on long haul work, and so didn't have to go on the harvest, but from what i here the harvest crews have a lot of fun, depending what job you want and/or what skills you have, there is always a way in to America, send me a PM if you want to know more and i might be able to point you in the right direction, its got to be better than this country these days


Have you done this before or is this the first time? I did something similar 2 years ago and spent less than 90 days in the UK but still had to pay my taxes, I even went to see a speciality accountant but to no avail.

The reason was a few years ago the definition of whether you are resident in the UK as "revised". Now if you have family, property etc etc in the UK and return within I think within 3 years you are considered "domiciled" in the UK and required to pay tax. I do know guys however who were payed abroad, lived in the UK but never paid their tax. I also know one guy who got caught 2 years after he came back and re-started working in the UK.

I guess what I'm saying is if you live in the UK be careful as you are probably legally meant to declare your income and pay income tax even if nobody asks for it.

Davie



this is my first time, but i don't have any property or family in UK, so all uk is to me, is a passport, and where i have to come to get a new visa, i have a C/O postal address, and thats it, oh and a basic savings account, if i get asked for tax in the UK i will have to pay it, but i won't go looking to pay it.

daviep - 2/4/11 at 10:15 PM

quote:
Originally posted by bj928
this is my first time, but i don't have any property or family in UK, so all uk is to me, is a passport, and where i have to come to get a new visa, i have a C/O postal address, and thats it, oh and a basic savings account, if i get asked for tax in the UK i will have to pay it, but i won't go looking to pay it.


I'm very jealous, sounds like ace fun, good luck.

Regards
Davie

jollygreengiant - 2/4/11 at 10:55 PM

quote:
Originally posted by myke pocock
What REALY gets on my ti*s are the Tory to**ers who continually say that it is the fault of the previous administration that we are in this position now. Do they REALY think that things would have been any better with them in place? I think the Chuckle Brothers (CAMCLEG) have been wielding a big stick and sending out a script for the ConDem faithfull to spew out at every opportunity.
And I do, of course, agree with the Maggie theory.


At work I get continually slagged off as a 'typical tory supporter' by our controller every time I critisise the previous government because she is a died in the wool 100% labour supporter (because her father was). The truth is that if anything, my own personal political belief is probably more communist than anything. Her response just makes me laugh and she cannot work out why (I have not told her about my real belief and political leanings).

So just to make a point.

The previous government has a LOT to answer for. They have sold the UK down the river without a paddle and were only interested in serving themselves.


JGG

[Edited on 3/4/11 by jollygreengiant]

nitram38 - 3/4/11 at 06:34 AM

ALL governments in nearly every European Country and the USA all created a Credit Fueled Economy.
They rode it and if you weren't sensible, YOU fell for it.
People have short memories about recession. I don't.
I've learned to save when I have excess, not use credit to buy and go without the latest "must have" until I can pay for them outright.
I've also kept my outgoings low so I can survive when times are hard. Most people increase their spending to match their income and when the overtime is cut back, are in a poor financial state.
Don't Blame anyone other than yourselves for taking out credit agreements, credit cards, loans etc.
It used to be that a man could borrow 1 times his annual income to buy a house. Now its 5 times a joint income.
You still end up with the same 3 bed semi except now you and your partner are paying 9 times more for it.
Supply and demand. You were lent 5 times joint incomes, house prices rose to absorb the available money.
Now only Childless, highly paid professionals can afford to buy basic housing.

The definition of insanity: Doing the same as everyone else and expecting a different result

If you follow others, you will end up where they are!

It's no good moaning about other people causing your misery when you were part of the problem in the first place!

jollygreengiant - 3/4/11 at 08:05 AM

quote:
Originally posted by nitram38
ALL governments in nearly every European Country and the USA all created a Credit Fueled Economy.
They rode it and if you weren't sensible, YOU fell for it.
People have short memories about recession. I don't.
I've learned to save when I have excess, not use credit to buy and go without the latest "must have" until I can pay for them outright.
I've also kept my outgoings low so I can survive when times are hard. Most people increase their spending to match their income and when the overtime is cut back, are in a poor financial state.
Don't Blame anyone other than yourselves for taking out credit agreements, credit cards, loans etc.
It used to be that a man could borrow 1 times his annual income to buy a house. Now its 5 times a joint income.
You still end up with the same 3 bed semi except now you and your partner are paying 9 times more for it.
Supply and demand. You were lent 5 times joint incomes, house prices rose to absorb the available money.
Now only Childless, highly paid professionals can afford to buy basic housing.

The definition of insanity: Doing the same as everyone else and expecting a different result

If you follow others, you will end up where they are!

It's no good moaning about other people causing your misery when you were part of the problem in the first place!


Well said. And the only people that have really benefited from all the money lending since the end of the last war are the rich and the unscrupulous (the latter, who have mostly been bankers and politicians).


edit bit.
The only reasons why I built a kit car were that I wanted a cheap run about, I wanted to recycle an old car and because I mostly had the skills that meant I could. I was not built as a luxury toy.

[Edited on 3/4/11 by jollygreengiant]

[Edited on 3/4/11 by jollygreengiant]

bj928 - 3/4/11 at 08:18 AM

i don't know how america has got into trouble, most people can earn a good wage, as i'm a truck driver over there i know how much a normal truck driver can earn, and average is about $45,000, now unlike the uK, you can get on the property ladder for half that if you look around, yes, you can still buy plenty of places in america for the price of a used car, even a place in florida near the disney with a pool and 3 beds are only $150k, about £100k, in the mid west where i'm based most areas have property for $20k and up, maybe even less, it may need a little TLC but not much, a quick search found this as an example, not the cheapest but an idea, still only $26000 for a 4 bed place http://www.texasrealestate.com/search/homeDetails.cfm?id=1003027277

nitram38 - 3/4/11 at 09:14 AM

quote:
Originally posted by bj928
i don't know how america has got into trouble, most people can earn a good wage, as i'm a truck driver over there i know how much a normal truck driver can earn, and average is about $45,000, now unlike the uK, you can get on the property ladder for half that if you look around, yes, you can still buy plenty of places in america for the price of a used car, even a place in florida near the disney with a pool and 3 beds are only $150k, about £100k, in the mid west where i'm based most areas have property for $20k and up, maybe even less, it may need a little TLC but not much, a quick search found this as an example, not the cheapest but an idea, still only $26000 for a 4 bed place http://www.texasrealestate.com/search/homeDetails.cfm?id=1003027277


Its all relative though.
Lower taxes but high health care costs and lots of poor people. I've been all over florida and the have and have nots are easy to see

Ninehigh - 3/4/11 at 09:00 PM

quote:
Originally posted by daviep
These threads make me laugh, moan all you like but it aint going to get better in the near future.

The squeeze has only just strated and everybody is crying already, wait until things really start to bite. This isn't going to be another of our magic six month recessions, things might start looking better in 5 or 6 years time. In the meantime we can expect less public spending and the weak pound to push the price of imported commodities up.

The hard facts are we have all had it to good for too long, and now the elastic credit cards that the country has been running on are all maxed out and we need to start repaying.

Davie


Define "looking better" and "had it good" please... I'm one of the few that hasn't felt the effect of this recession because I've been broke all this time... For most of my life I've been working to afford to get to work, and the only reason I'm as rich as I am is because Tony Blair made it illegal for a company to pay me less (and I'm in no doubt they would do too)

Now it's costing me more and more to get to a job I despise that I only do in order to get there and have somewhere to have come from... and barely a week goes by where I don't ask the eternal question "Remind me why we bother again? Why haven't we left this insult of a country and gone to live somewhere where intelligence isn't a minority?"

Missus is starting to see my point now...

daviep - 3/4/11 at 09:34 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Ninehigh
Define "looking better" and "had it good" please... I'm one of the few that hasn't felt the effect of this recession because I've been broke all this time... For most of my life I've been working to afford to get to work, and the only reason I'm as rich as I am is because Tony Blair made it illegal for a company to pay me less (and I'm in no doubt they would do too)

Now it's costing me more and more to get to a job I despise that I only do in order to get there and have somewhere to have come from... and barely a week goes by where I don't ask the eternal question "Remind me why we bother again? Why haven't we left this insult of a country and gone to live somewhere where intelligence isn't a minority?"

Missus is starting to see my point now...


Had it too good:-

Take a walk down any high street and count how many cars under 5 years old you see, probably the vast majority, also count the amount of iphones you see. Go to your local tip any day of the week and see how many perfectly good TV's are piled up after being junked in favour of 50" plasmas. These are all luxury goods and I'm sure a lot of them are being purchased on credit which people can't afford to repay.

Looking better :-

We eventually manage to become competitive in the global market again, we begin exporting products and the country becomes solvent, public spending is increased and we're all happy again

I can't comment on your personal circumstances but if your job isn't allowing you to live the lifestyle you desire then you need a different job, if this isn't possible where you are you need to move or consider working away from home. I served my time as a mechanic, after I got my first wage as a qualified man I realised that it was never going to allow me to live any kind of decent lifestyle, within 2 months I had quit and moved to get in to the oil industry. I'm now making at least 3x what I could imagine making as an agricultural mechanic.

Cheers
Davie