Things that piss you off that shouldn't

[Amsterdam_Neil_D]

43 minutes ago, blandy said:

Credit is the root of it,

Agreed but also it's what they think they need.  A mobile, laptop, smartwatch & clothes will set you back 2 - 4k as they want the latest stuff.  Add to the the cost of going anywhere and there is a higher cost to just living IMO.

All I wanted was a new football most of the time when I was younger and I was happy.

[mjmooney]

4 hours ago, HanoiVillan said:

The problem is not laziness but incentives, and that's why education isn't the solution.

The problems with teaching personal finance in schools are: 1] Everyone's personal finances are different, and for some people they are or will be a source of shame; 2] Teenagers have little immediate need for the knowledge because they have little actual money, and 'prudent' actions like writing a will or getting life insurance might as well be a problem from another planet; and 3] There's no time in the curriculum anyway.

If we want to know why adults in their 30s haven't started seriously saving for a pension, we need to ask questions like 'why do people have so little in the way of savings', 'why does it take 25% of your working life to save for a deposit for a house' and 'why are people getting married later and having fewer kids'. Humans are humans, their character does not change over generations. If @mjmooney started saving without any education, it will presumably have been because life circumstances made that the logical thing to do, ie the incentives lined up. Now, the incentives don't line up; I'm sure they do for some, but for many they clearly don't.

You are of course correct, and I should have included those caveats in my post. I'm not for a moment suggesting that young people have it easier than my generation did; that is clearly not the case. Just that generation blaming (either way) is wrong. We all have to adapt to changing circumstances. 

There are any number of valid reasons why young people aren't saving for pensions, mortgages, etc. But 'nobody told me' isn't one of them. 

 

 

Edited June 26, 2021 by mjmooney

[blandy]

1 hour ago, Amsterdam_Neil_D said:

Agreed but also it's what they think they need.  A mobile, laptop, smartwatch & clothes will set you back 2 - 4k as they want the latest stuff.  Add to the the cost of going anywhere and there is a higher cost to just living IMO.

All I wanted was a new football most of the time when I was younger and I was happy.

Me too, maybe a bike as well. But society has changed and become more consumerist, and it wasn’t today’s teenagers that did that. It’s not their fault that the internet was discovered and computers and portable telephonic apparati. They were discovered by Tim Berners-Alexander-Bell in the 90s before today’s youth were even invented. Us old ‘uns might have been happy when they started doing telly in more than 2 colours, but now all 5 colours are available for tv and internet tubes who wouldn’t want that?

But yeah, sound advice and coaching about how to manage money, about interest rates and pensions and savings and stuff - people need that, and not just the toddlers. There’s plenty of adults that could do with more numeracy and financial smarts.

[bickster]

The missus' sister is visiting this weekend. She arrived whilst I was out picking up my daughter from the train station,

On the way back home, I said to my daughter, I bet your Auntie has just driven straight onto the drive straight and blocked access to the whole of the rest of the drive (You could easily fit three cars on it with only a small amount of jiggling.)

Bet won!

Not only that but her car is also over hanging a newly planted flower bed blocking out any sun for them until she f**ks off

She's also decided to stay until Monday now (she was going Sunday)

I'm in the man cave until we go out for a meal for the missus' birthday or some more reasonable people turn up I can talk to without wanting to grab a kitchen knife

[Xela]

You could just ask her to move her car a bit? 

[sidcow]

3 hours ago, Amsterdam_Neil_D said:

Agreed but also it's what they think they need.  A mobile, laptop, smartwatch & clothes will set you back 2 - 4k as they want the latest stuff.  Add to the the cost of going anywhere and there is a higher cost to just living IMO.

All I wanted was a new football most of the time when I was younger and I was happy.

I think this is the crux. 

Everyone wants the best of everything and they want it now regardless of affordability.  The best house possible, the best car possible, probably on lease because you can get a slightly better car slightly cheaper than buying. 

So you put the bare minimum into a pension or savings because you need the 3 series instead of the focus. 

When we bought our first house we had second hand stuff from all over the family.  Same when the kids arrived, begging and borrowing all sorts of stuff.  My nephew bought a house 4 years ago and just had their first baby.  Everything in the house brand new, everything for baby brand new.  We offered some stuff from the loft but they didn't want it. 

I've no idea if it's all on credit or whatever but I would bet my bottom dollar that me and Mrs Sidcow were piling far more money into our pensions at that age than they are now. 

Edited June 26, 2021 by sidcow

[bickster]

24 minutes ago, Xela said:

You could just ask her to move her car a bit? 

Is Southampton where she lives a bit?

[Xela]

1 minute ago, bickster said:

Is Southampton where she lives a bit?

You can only ask

 

[Xela]

20 minutes ago, sidcow said:

I think this is the crux. 

Everyone wants the best of everything and they want it now regardless of affordability.  The best house possible, the best car possible, probably on lease because you can get a slightly better car slightly cheaper than buying. 

So you put the bare minimum into a pension or savings because you need the 3 series instead of the focus. 

When we bought our first house we had second hand stuff from all over the family.  Same when the kids arrived, begging and borrowing all sorts of stuff.  My nephew bought a house 4 years ago and just had their first baby.  Everything in the house brand new, everything for baby brand new.  We offered some stuff from the loft but they didn't want it. 

I've no idea if it's all on credit or whatever but I would bet my bottom dollar that me and Mrs Sidcow were piling far more money into our pensions at that age than they are now. 

We definitely live in a more materialistic world. I'm not sure what has driven that? Is it social media? Or just humans changing as time moves on? Most people want the latest technology, the biggest house, the new cars... does it make them genuinely happy? Or is there an element of keeping up with the Joneses? 

i'm kind of lucky in that none of that interests me really. I'd rather have more money invested and retire 15 years before those people. Not having to work is a bigger aim for me than having a new Merc or an iPhone 12 Super Duper Max Pro Plus. If you can afford to do both then fair play too you! You've done well! I guess we're all different really and have different motivations but I kind of think i've cheated the system by not being motivated by trinkets and possessions. 

 

[Xela]

8 hours ago, mjmooney said:

Minimalism and the whole cult of decluttering. OK, nobody wants to be one of those mentally ill hoarders who fill their house with mountains of garbage, and I do enjoy the occasional clearout, but I like having stuff. I like to be surrounded by the things that are the landmarks of a life - books, records, pictures, musical instruments, furniture, gadgets, whatever. I like to walk into a room that has lots of things to look at, things that tell stories - not four white walls and a chair. I can't think of much worse than living in such an austere environment. 

I'm in the process of decluttering. Not to the extent of four white walls and a chair but a lot of stuff in my flat is superfluous and I never use/look at. I'd rather get down to just having meaningful stuff around me. Books I like, gadgets that are useful, etc. Not stuff to fill a space in the room. Quality (in terms of purpose) not quantity I guess for me. 

[foreveryoung]

Can't get trades men at the moment, an the ones you can get are over charging. Literally nearly threw a geezer out the other day when he wanted £320 to fit a supplied radiator in my lads room, even said it'll take about 3 hours. Cracking hourly rate if you can get it. I was quoted £90.00 last year.

 

Edited June 26, 2021 by foreveryoung

[swaib2004]

Id rather spend my money now and enjoy it. Than die with loads in the bank with a lovely pension. 

[Davkaus]

2 minutes ago, swaib2004 said:

Id rather spend my money now and enjoy it. Than die with loads in the bank with a lovely pension. 

There's a sensible middle ground to be found between living a  penny-pinchiong life and never enjoying yourself to save for the future, and ignoring your future to keep yourself entertained in the short term. It sounds like you've not found that middle ground.

[Xela]

As @Davkaus says, there is a middle ground to be had. I probably need to enjoy my money a little bit more... but i genuinely don't think i'm missing out on a huge amount. I eat out, plenty of breaks/holidays (in normal times!). I live in a nice area, I drive a nice car.... i'm not living on gruel and tap water and wearing a hessian sack for clothes and plastic bags for shoes.

Covid was a bit of warning to people -  a lot of jobs will go when furlough ends... and a lot of people are only a 1 or 2 months away from financial oblivion. I'd rather not have that stress of having no buffer for when/if the shit hits the fan. I appreciate some people aren't in that position to save, but for the people that are, I'd recommend getting a emergency fund saved. 

 

[sidcow]

1 hour ago, swaib2004 said:

Id rather spend my money now and enjoy it. Than die with loads in the bank with a lovely pension. 

 But will you think that when you are 70?

Have a word with your (future) self. 

I remember as a kid getting a little annoyed thinking about the millennium thinking I would be 30 and therefore way too old to actually enjoy it. 

[Phil Silvers]

******* Yodeling Dominoes pizza advert, STFU

[sidcow]

7 minutes ago, Phil Silvers said:

******* Yodeling Dominoes pizza advert, STFU

Oh man. I only said to my lad today, there are some adverts that are SO bad that they actually put you off buying a product. This is one such ad. 

Someone on Twitgram should start a viral campaign for people to stop using Domino's until the advert is removed from broadsast. 

It's a complete abomination. 

[Seat68]

Going to say it loud and proud. The domino’s yodelling ad is my current favourite. 

[sidcow]

Just now, Seat68 said:

Going to say it loud and proud. The domino’s yodelling ad is my current favourite. 

[Xela]

2 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

Going to say it loud and proud. The domino’s yodelling ad is my current favourite.