charity calendar - update

Cuts both ways that one. The flipside is that thirty years ago people took on high mortages for houses to find that inflation made the debt virtually insignificant a few years on when inflation had moved the goalposts.

Nowadays, a mortgage which takes 35% of your income today will still be doing similar in ten years time.

True, but folks didn't create the inflation -governments do that. At points, like now; albeit on a small scale governments do it as a matter of policy. "good for the system"

I wonder how many realise that, or that the "ooh look my house is now worth 10X what I paid for it" isn't worth it.

Steve

in article snipped-for-privacy@gate-int.tarcus.org.uk, Ian Rawlings at snipped-for-privacy@tarcus.org.uk wrote on 11/5/05 6:30 pm:

Bit of a technical glitch in my master plan then!

Why not just accept that we're all criminals really, no matter how hard we try not to be so? I'm always slightly concerned by those who claim never to have broken any law, never to have used 'bad language', never to have been other than 'the perfect citizen', for they are the ones who inevitably have something to hide "behind closed doors".

If every 'law' were enforced, there would be no liberty - at all.

Ah, I was a few months ahead of you there. Still, interesting to see my judgement wasn't too off the mark :-)

I thought about that for a while, and although it may initially seem to make sense, it did cross my mind that a wrinkly will probably only take the one seat...

There is a very good argument for banning kids in cars (oh, and my mother-in-law). I'd far prefer the 'distraction' of a mobile telephone any day...

You wouldn't be calling....

No, of course you wouldn't.

In message , Mother writes

Depends how you define cost. The cost of a bus making a journey from a to b is largely independent of the number of passengers carried. The marginal cost of carrying one extra passenger is very small. The cost per passenger depends on the number of passengers being carried.

I think the argument is that the passenger is also aware of what is going on around you and should modify their conversation accordingly whereas the person on the other end of the phone is totally isolated, or something like that. I was at a local Police Forum meeting last night. Number of fatal/serious accidents in Cheshire were up 12% last year. The police representatives put this down mainly to speed and using mobile phones.

But it does. That is why NI is separate from Income Tax.

Nope. I was merely pointing out that what the previous poster was advocating had in fact already been tried, and resulted in rioting. I have always suspected that the instigators were those who suddenly found themselves having to pay a local tax but hat is only supposition on my part.

Pensioners are calling for the link to be restored between state pension and average earnings. That way they also share in the increasing prosperity of the country. Currently state pension is linked to RPI which effectively means their standard of living is frozen. The link was broken by the Thatcher government but our "socialist" chancellor has said he has no intention of restoring it. In fact he said in his speech tot eh CBI last November ti was one of the best things that Thatcher ever did and our prosperous economy was based on it.

In message , Tim Hobbs writes

But what of those who couldn't afford their own house?

House price inflation is subject to supply and demand - very little supply, very great demand. Demand used to be rationed by mortgage availability - you actually had to have a savings account with most lenders to get in the queue for a loan. There is also the expectation of a very much higher quality of building than was the case in the 60s - fitted carpets work tops, kitchen cupboards, double glazing central heating were all extras.

Exactly. It's a fixed asset and the only way you can turn it in to cash is to sell it (then were do you live) or borrow against it. Don't be taken in by these "equity release schemes". They're just sales bullshit for "have a loan at a higher rate of interest than a normal mortgage."

In message , Mother writes

That's why they should all be in the back - preferably of a 101.

But not in any way upon their age, educational status or demographic group.

Yes, but they are relatively trivial costs. The greatest cost is the land, not the worktops or radiators. The rampant house price inflation of late has not been on par with general RPI or earnings inflation, and thus people are saddled with genuine long-term debt whilst those who joined the housing ladder 30 years ago (todays pensioners) very quickly found their mortgages to be a relatively small proportion of their income.

Renting a house is generally more expensive month on month than paying the mortgage on one.

Not being able to afford a house is actually a case of not being able to afford a deposit (not much of an issue these days). Previously the council offered an alternative in the form of state subsidised housing, which meant those who weren't willing / able to pay the full market price (rent or mortgage) ended up with no fixed asset and rent bills until the day they died. Homeowners have no housing bills (apart from maintenance) from the age of 50-60.

As compared to their current council tax which is a large proportion.

I bought my house in 1979 just before Thatcher won the election and interest rates shot up to 11% or more. A lot of house owners had a very hard time of it.

and council tax - but their income is much reduced. The only difference is that they may have repaid their mortgage. But the asset value of their house is paper wealth - it doesn't pay the bills.

I've heard back from The Breast Cancer Campaign in reaction to a few angry emails, some from folks on here and some from folks on the Modelling forum where most of the models in the project hang-out (thanks for the support folks), The Breast Cancer Campaign are now saying that as long as I can assure them that the models won't be naked (I already assured them of this) and as long as we don't use their logo (don't get me started on that one) then they are happy with the association. Well to be honest that pissed me off a bit, alot of people are offering their time and skills for free to raise money for them and they won't even let us use their logo. But it is the cause we are supporting, not the muppets in the office so I'm sure you'll all join me in going ahead as planned.

Regards. Mark.

For personal reasons which are irrelevant here, I and Grumble will have to drop out I'm afraid.

righto, I shall amend the website, tis a shame that..

Regards. Mark.