mhifoe

If you have a Wilkinsons near you they are doing 3 energy saving lightbulbs for £4. They've got much better recently as well. Nice warm colour and they start up at about 60% brightness, getting to full brightness in under a minute.

From www.statistics.gov.uk, the following table is gross weekly earnings for full time workers in 2004. 10 per cent earned less than 230.3 25 per cent earned less than 299.6 50 per cent earned less than 422.1 25 per cent earned more than 593.9 10 per cent earned more than 825.3

The thing is, people with household incomes of £100k should not have to buy flats and terraces. A £100k income should be enough to buy a great big house. Not that long ago, people who worked in shops and factories were buying the houses that can now only be afforded by people on very high salaries. Also, there are a lot of engineers on this website. We tend to be quite a bitter bunch.

Indeed. My job as a footballer earns my £25,000pw. Most of my friends earn £20,000-50,000 per week. Therefore the average earnings in the UK are 25,000 per week, plenty to support current property prices.

Try leaving your ivory tower for a second and considering where people work in the UK. Around the country are places called 'shops' and 'supermarkets' which employ millions of people earning under £12k. Millions more work in factories and offices earning £15-20k. Now if your argument is that housing is affordable because investment bankers and company directors can afford to buy dilapidated terraced houses in stabsville, please say so. It does not follow that because lots of people you know are loaded the rest of the population are.

Here's a good one I've posted before, which is still for sale: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-674...pa_n=1&tr_t=buy Or you could by one of these: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-771...pa_n=2&tr_t=buy http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-812...pa_n=2&tr_t=buy

Is there any chance I could be added to VIP members to avoid the flood control restriction?

I went to buy a HiFi rack from MFI some years ago. They said it would take 6 weeks for it to be delivered. If you want cheapo furniture, you might as well go to Argos. At least it'll be in stock and you can take it back if you don't like it.

I certainly don't accept that I should have to live in a studio flat. If I was single and in my early twenties it wouldn't be a problem. But with a wife and thoughts of children I want a house, even a 'grotty two bed'.

That list of properites includes studio flats, retirement flats and a shared ownership property. Are you seriously suggesting that a 100 grand studio flat in manchester is good value?

Bank lending really is incredibly lax. My bank occasionally write to me inviting me to borrow 20 grand or have my credit card limit increased to £25k. Last year I phoned up Virgin credit cards to transfer a balance and the operator asked my if I'd like to transfer £3,000 into my bank account to spend on anything I like. She said: "It's like free money!"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4398004.stm

Whilst you and I may be able to reduce our energy usage, the effect on industry is rather different. A story in electronics weekly last month said that semiconductor manufacturers are facing soaring bills. The cost for an average fab has gone up from $2m to $5m. Their only choice is to put up prices or go bust.

I think a lot of the problem is that the bullish argument about affordability involves 2 average earners buying a 1 bed flat in stabsville. In order to put forward this argument the millions of people on low wages must be ignored. Never mind that fact that the supermarkets that now blanket our country are staffed by hundreds of thousands of people earning under £6 ph. My wife's parents bought a detached house on a single salary (A warehouseman for M&S). Now a similar salary wouldn't even buy a studio flat.

You don't need to spend a lot of money on boots. I wear German Para boots which cost £40 at an army surplus. My previous pair lasted me 10 years, and they were my only footwear. Cartainly better than cats or similar which cost a fortune and fall to pieces.

Pylons tend to buzz when the air is very wet. Today's weather could well account for it.

If they are really taking the mickey you could always take them down. Some time ago an estate agent attached a sold sign to a lamppost at the end of my street. It was simple to nip along with a pair of pliers and take it down.

One of the flats has been reduced to £56,500 today (previously it was £60,000). Strangely another one has appeared with a laughably optimistic asking price of £65,000.

I was watching a government drone on the news earlier claiming that this was the result they wanted. What a moron. One thing of interest is that this doesn't apply to local government workers. I notice the deal mentioned covers nurses and teachers, who I'm sure people would miss if they went on strike. I wonder if the government are planning to hold firm on making local government workers for longer.

There's an easy solution to that. If it fails the MOT and needs more that £200 work you just throw it away. My last car which I scrapped this week cost me £450. I've had it for 2 years and spent a total of £200 on maintenance (Brake caliper to pass MOT and replacement battery). Remember that most cars made in the last 10-15 years don't rust, so it's not like it used to be where every MOT would require massive amounts of welding.

17k is plenty if you rent a room in a shared house with bills included. If you have to pay council tax and bills you will be under more pressure. For example, I rent a 2 bed house for 500 a month, which is no problem. However, council tax and bills are approaching 200 a month, especially with the recent hikes in gas and electricity prices.

Here's one in Basingstoke: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-459...pa_n=1&tr_t=buy Living Area (10' 1" x 9' 8") It even has a pull down bed!

Indeed. 8k on a TV is small change compared to the depreciation on a BMW. I used to rent a room in a house with a guy who was a BMW salesman. He said that he had recently sold an well specified 8 series that lost 40 grand as it was driven off the forecourt.

It was on Today this morning. John Humphries gave him a right kicking and he had no answers. There's a link to it on the first page of this thread.