Photos

[Matt A]

What happens if you hack your way past SWMBO's firewall?

[The Natural Philosopher]

The curious and interesting thing is that it is a self fulfilling prophecy.

With the lack of necessity for employers to provide a living wage for a single family member, there is no recourse BUT to both work. One salary was never enough, so the other salary was compensated by using the labour of the at home person to save money. Mending clothes, cooking from cheap fresh ingredients, doing own housework, and DIY for dad at the weekend.

By cooking for yourself, you can save about 50% on food costs.

Without the need for smart clothes for work, clothing costs are reduced to a fraction.

Remove all te tax you have to pay, and the opportunity cost of not working is actually quite low.

My wife was travelling 120 miles a day to work for £33k a year in London. I calculated that we would only be £5k worse off if she stopped.

She probably contributes about £1.5k in garden vegetables now, and without a cleaner, that's the £5k easily met.

Thiobngs she/we dont do include

- eating out cos we are both to shagged to cook

- retail therapy as a stress reduction measure after a weeks working

- running two good up to date reliable cars

- doing 15k miles a year *each* in them. We are down sub 10k together.

- having to buy and wear suits and smart clothes. I get through a couple of pairs of jeans an half a dozen pairs of socks and underwear a year max. My wife now knits pullovers as well. They last about 5 years.

[Tim W]

Matt A wibbled on Sunday 13 December 2009 19:37

If she's running BSD, I'd probably find myself stuck in a jail.

Otherwise, the IDS kicks in.

If she's in a good mood, honeytrap.

[Owain]

Plumbing? Some of that pipework looks pretty.

Owain

[Owain]

I grew up with one working and one non-working parent. But we didn't have a phone, telly, washing machine, foreign holidays, fitted carpets, fancy clothes etc.

Could hardly move for books though.

Owain

[Owain]

As people on benefits have realised.

It's really difficult to actually make money from being employed, unless you steal stationery and flog it off at a car-boot.

Owain

[The Natural Philosopher]

Or central heating. Fuck it was cold..

We did get a washing machine a a fridge in the mid 50's.

not too many of those..but the library was useful.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Which is the insanity of this flavour of socialism.

Tax the spend, not the earn.

tax luxury goods, not necessities.

[Matt A]

Ha ha, my company seems to operate on a virtually bare stationary cupboard, so I guess I am stuffed!

[The Natural Philosopher]

well unless you have castors on, that's not surprising.

>

[Owain]

That's 'cos your colleagues have nicked it all!

Owain

[Owain]

Unfortunately most flavours of ism decide to tax both the spend and the earn. Whether condoms are luxuries or necessities, it only takes

50,000 12-packs for the 5% VAT to pay for Quentin Davis's bell-tower.

(Could be worse - in Ireland they're taxed at 13.5%)

Owain

[Tim Lamb]

I'll vote for that.

AIR purchase tax was discontinued because it was difficult to collect. Since then we have VAT foisted upon us.

regards

[Stuart Noble]

All of which are relatively cheap now, unlike the roof over your head, which is relatively horrendously expensive.

[Tim W]

Owain wibbled on Sunday 13 December 2009 21:17

Thanks :)

This is the quality I aspire to with all the work. But, unlike some people, I usually don't manage it! Obviously, the plastic in the pictures is temporary lashups. I decided to do all the end runs properly in copper, and just bring tails into the tank cupboard. There's going to be an arse load of piping in that space when I do the CH - so I really want to plan it, hence stopping the tails short for now.

My wall tiling looks OK though. Floor tiles aren't bad - though I regret not using a thinner grout line. I need to go over the floor grout in the bathroom with another thin coat and seal them properly after everything is done.

The photos aren't a showcase of fine work, because everything is half done and undecorated. I see it looking fairly decent once everything done (I hope!).

[The Natural Philosopher]

No, that's stayed on average at about 10 times earnings. To buy.

[Stuart Noble]

[Peter Johnson]

PT was replaced by VAT. As I recall, the switch to VAT must be nearly

40 years ago, it was complicated, inflexible and had lots of rates. VAT was an early stage of European harmonisation, a percentage of it going to the EU.

[Adrian]

Peter Johnson gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

1973, so - yes - the same time as EU membership.

Umm, no. UK VAT stays within the UK.

The EU "membership fee" is defined as a percentage of GDP, set by country

- NL is highest at 0.5%.

[djc]

25 years ago my flat cost a little more than twice my earnings. I earn twice as much now. I stopped believing the house prices when people told me my flat was worth five or six times my current earnings, I didn't beleive 10 times earnings was a sane price three years ago and it certainly isn't now.