This can't be right surely? Your takeaway on finance!

[Wack61]

Short version: A rich man can afford to pay £300 for a pair of boots that will last for 10 years and keep their feet dry all that time. A poor man can only afford to buy a pair of boots that cost £50, last a year, and will leak after 6 months. Over 10 years the rich man spends less on boots and the poor man still has wet feet.....

We talk about it a lot (event today) that the list price of the new GT matters less than the monthly payments....

C

Only that rich man would have triggers broom and a £500 repair bill after 10 years

I also don't believe people don't have £5 for food, I saw a queue at a food bank on the news, most of them in the queue were passing the time on their smartphones just the same as those queuing at pret

If people can get something for nothing they'll spend their money elsewhere.

 

[Zep]

I find the whole “they have smart phones, so they must be spending their money in the wrong places” thing interesting.

To do anything in the modern world you need some form of internet access, and there are plenty of cheap smart phones available as people upgrade. You can buy a good iPhone 8, perfectly usable, for £50. While it may be true that some people use food banks and then have a brand new phone every year, it doesn’t follow that everyone, or even a majority, using a food bank do that.

Some people are genuinely on the breadline in this country, the number of people using food banks has exploded in the last decade (https://www.statista.com/statistics/382695/uk-foodbank-users/). It’s not 2007 anymore, you don’t have to be rich to own, or need, a smart phone. You need to come up with another reason to claim food bank users are lazy and work shy.

 

[midlifecrisis]

I find the whole “they have smart phones, so they must be spending their money in the wrong places” thing interesting.

To do anything in the modern world you need some form of internet access, and there are plenty of cheap smart phones available as people upgrade. You can buy a good iPhone 8, perfectly usable, for £50. While it may be true that some people use food banks and then have a brand new phone every year, it doesn’t follow that everyone, or even a majority, using a food bank do that.

Some people are genuinely on the breadline in this country, the number of people using food banks has exploded in the last decade (https://www.statista.com/statistics/382695/uk-foodbank-users/). It’s not 2007 anymore, you don’t have to be rich to own, or need, a smart phone. You need to come up with another reason to claim food bank users are lazy and work shy.

Completely agree, and further to this, we moan about the price of energy, think of the poor souls on a pay as you go meter. The rates are extortionate, yet technology is available and cheap enough to make it equitable to those on direct debit.

 

[Wack61]

I find the whole “they have smart phones, so they must be spending their money in the wrong places” thing interesting.

To do anything in the modern world you need some form of internet access, and there are plenty of cheap smart phones available as people upgrade. You can buy a good iPhone 8, perfectly usable, for £50. While it may be true that some people use food banks and then have a brand new phone every year, it doesn’t follow that everyone, or even a majority, using a food bank do that.

Some people are genuinely on the breadline in this country, the number of people using food banks has exploded in the last decade (https://www.statista.com/statistics/382695/uk-foodbank-users/). It’s not 2007 anymore, you don’t have to be rich to own, or need, a smart phone. You need to come up with another reason to claim food bank users are lazy and work shy.

The breadline these days is no Sky TV

Many people manage perfectly fine without a smartphone , if you have a real need to use a food bank the cost of that phone should be being spent on food, but while it's free....

The queue of people queuing up for free food, most of them on their phones browsing instatoktube was the first thing I noticed.

 

[GeoffCapes]

Completely agree, and further to this, we moan about the price of energy, think of the poor souls on a pay as you go meter. The rates are extortionate, yet technology is available and cheap enough to make it equitable to those on direct debit.

Those on PAYG meters are generally those with poor credit, have defaulted on their bills previously or haven't got round to changing the meter (my first house, a new build, was a PAYG meter).

Which for the first 2 (at least) is penalising people for being poor.

 

[MAF260]

The breadline these days is no Sky TV

Many people manage perfectly fine without a smartphone , if you have a real need to use a food bank the cost of that phone should be being spent on food, but while it's free....

The queue of people queuing up for free food, most of them on their phones browsing instatoktube was the first thing I noticed.

What a load of sh1ite!!

8% of the UK do not have smart phones for numerous different reasons. It's 2022; people need to be able to communicate and the cost of that can be very low with SIM-only plans available at £10 per month or possibly less,

I call BS on you being able to see what 'most of them' were looking at on their phones from a news clip on the TV.

Who are you to judge?

 

[Oneball]

What a load of sh1ite!!

8% of the UK do not have smart phones for numerous different reasons. It's 2022; people need to be able to communicate and the cost of that can be very low with SIM-only plans available at £10 per month or possibly less,

I call BS on you being able to see what 'most of them' were looking at on their phones from a news clip on the TV.

Who are you to judge?

My plan including data, unlimited calls and texts and a phone is £10.99. I reckon sim only wil be a fiver.

Its virtually impossible to survive without internet access nowadays and for most that means a smart phone.

 

[Felonious Crud]

My plan including data, unlimited calls and texts and a phone is £10.99. I reckon sim only wil be a fiver.

Its virtually impossible to survive without internet access nowadays and for most that means a smart phone.

Yup. And how do you get work unless you have a phone number? A mobile will cost a lot less than a landline. And a mobile phone will cost a lot less (and has far higher utility) than a laptop.

 

[Scaf]

I have a sister in law who through medical conditions can’t work and lives on benefits.
She does not use a food bank (but should do) we ensure she has what she needs. does have a smart phone, it’s an old android passed to her though the family, she access Netflix though our family account (which allows multiple users).

Hospital appointments / doctors appointments etc all have to be coordinated online.

Sweeping statements about people are offensive.

Just remember someone somewhere will be saying that “if you drive a flash car you must have a small dick”

 

[Felonious Crud]

Just remember someone somewhere will be saying that “if you drive a flash car you must have a small dick”

Yeah, look, let's not go there, ok?

 

[allandwf]

Completely agree, and further to this, we moan about the price of energy, think of the poor souls on a pay as you go meter. The rates are extortionate, yet technology is available and cheap enough to make it equitable to those on direct debit.

Those meters tarrifs are higher too, which is also wrong.

 

[daverichardson]

Had my BGas domestic bill recently and I need to double check but upon my first reading I am paying £160 for the pleasure of having the utility at my front door. My circs have been such that I had not used gas or electricity (this takes into account the government hand out too during this period) except for a tiny amount eg for fridge freezer as reflected in my meter readings.

You can survive without internet and mobiles, we just choose not to and it is difficult so we get suckered in.
I did not know what an App was last year, now I have them all over my phone. Companies con you into installing their app
And yes I too think Sky is the real poverty line and I use Shanks Pony to visit surgery/hospital to make appointments.
It is life choices

running for cover now

 

[Oneball]

Had my BGas domestic bill recently and I need to double check but upon my first reading I am paying £160 for the pleasure of having the utility at my front door. My circs have been such that I had not used gas or electricity (this takes into account the government hand out too during this period) except for a tiny amount eg for fridge freezer as reflected in my meter readings.

You can survive without internet and mobiles, we just choose not to and it is difficult so we get suckered in.
I did not know what an App was last year, now I have them all over my phone. Companies con you into installing their app
And yes I too think Sky is the real poverty line and I use Shanks Pony to visit surgery/hospital to make appointments.
It is life choices

running for cover now

You’re lucky that you can walk to your doctors/hospital. Many can’t. You’re lucky you have an address that correspondence can go to. Many don’t.

Almost all interaction with government bodies “requires” some sort of internet access. They say there are methods in place to do without but my Dad who bookkeeps at the local homeless shelter says they’re impossible to use on a regular basis and many lose access to services because of it and the downward spiral continues until you’re dead from cold on a piece of cardboard on the high street and no one is able to identify your body.

 

[daverichardson]

True a little bit of luck but more planning ahead

There are alternatives to internet interaction with government bodies eg Paper tax returns in Welsh Urdu or whatever, we are coerced into on line stuff for their benefit and less so ours

 

[Felonious Crud]

True a little bit of luck but more planning ahead

There are alternatives to internet interaction with government bodies eg Paper tax returns in Welsh Urdu or whatever, we are coerced into on line stuff for their benefit and less so ours

Can someone really plan ahead to live in a town within walking distance of a doctors' surgery and hospital, just in case they're down on their luck one day?

 

[Oneball]

Can someone really plan ahead to live in a town within walking distance of a doctors' surgery and hospital, just in case they're down on their luck one day?

Not if the council chooses where you live.

 

[daverichardson]

I did

 

[philw696]

With so much advice being given it gets confusing.

 

[Wack61]

What a load of sh1ite!!

8% of the UK do not have smart phones for numerous different reasons. It's 2022; people need to be able to communicate and the cost of that can be very low with SIM-only plans available at £10 per month or possibly less,

I call BS on you being able to see what 'most of them' were looking at on their phones from a news clip on the TV.

Who are you to judge?

You're correct, I was generalising on the mostly younger women in the queue, I couldn't see what they were doing

My original post was in reference to catman's post about people not having £5 for ingredients for food hence my comment about people queuing at a food bank while browsing the Internet on their smartphones

I find it interesting you consider a phone is a necessity even if it means you can't afford food.

My daughter is doing her masters this year, she got the first job she applied for, 26 hours a week, there's plenty of work for those that can and want to but while things are being handed out for free many will sit back and let it roll in.

 

[MAF260]

With so much advice being given it gets confusing.
View attachment 107087

Are you back to trying to turn every thread into your own self-indulgent leftie yawn fest? Plenty of finger-pointing and zero solutions. Just like your idol, Corbyn!