The TPU UK Clubhouse

[kurosagi01]

The problem with most takeaways is none of them are ever equal. You'll find many which are varying levels of disaster. They all might do things better and worse than one another. Then you come across one place that might not look good but turn out to make the best damn food out of all the other places you've been too and really blow the socks off you and you avoided the place because either its in a bad part of town. too far away to walk, didnt know they were there or didnt look all that from the outside.

There are tonnes of chicken and kebab shops. Its all about finding the place that makes the best chicken/kebab etc.

If you were dead set on fish & chips. I would have visited a few more places.

Not a issue if you live in a small town, unlike London you can go miles on end on a road and you will see chicken and kebabs, fish&chips, pizza and chinese takeaway.
Pineapple on pizza I don't have a problem with that to be fair.

 

[AusWolf]

That's absolutely mad, especially for a country/area with low-medium population density. The median house price for the whole of England is arround £307,000 but if you want to live in the south of England (but not greater London) then that median increases to pretty much £500k for Surrey for example.

That's why I've given up on ever owning a house. My plan is just keep on saving and renting until I reach the minimum retirement age (currently 55, soon to be 57), and then look for a cheaper country to live in.

 

[Tatty_Two]

That's why I've given up on ever owning a house. My plan is just keep on saving and renting until I reach the minimum retirement age (currently 55, soon to be 57), and then look for a cheaper country to live in.

Yeah, I do feel sorry for those in their 20's and 30's especially, gone are the days of healthy profits in house sale's to move up the property ladder like I enjoyed in the 90's and early 2000's where you could buy a large new house for say 120k and sell it 4 years later for 234k. I had a discussion with my youngest daughter only last week around the current propery market in England (she owns her own house bought new in 2019) and I mentioned that back in the early 90's mortgage interest rates got as high as 13.5% but it seems as though when they peaked last year they got to 5.25% and that hike broke the backs of so many hard working people she stated the obvious (but clearly not to me) that the average mortgage back in those days was probably 50 - 60k where as now it's more like 150k so any increase has a much higher impact.

Even if we see much more house building to relieve pressure on the market I can only see house builders milking everyone even in what may be a buyers market ............ sounds a bit like graphics card pricing

 

[AusWolf]

Yeah, I do feel sorry for those in their 20's and 30's especially, gone are the days of healthy profits in house sale's to move up the property ladder like I enjoyed in the 90's and early 2000's where you could buy a large new house for say 120k and sell it 4 years later for 234k. I had a discussion with my youngest daughter only last week around the current propery market in England (she owns her own house bought new in 2019) and I mentioned that back in the early 90's mortgage interest rates got as high as 13.5% but it seems as though when they peaked last year they got to 5.25% and that hike broke the backs of so many hard working people she stated the obvious (but clearly not to me) that the average mortgage back in those days was probably 50 - 60k where as now it's more like 150k so any increase has a much higher impact.

Even if we see much more house building to relieve pressure on the market I can only see house builders milking everyone even in what may be a buyers market ............ sounds a bit like graphics card pricing

The only difference is that graphics cards didn't just get ridiculously expensive, but ridiculously powerful, too. Sure, a 5090 needs you to remortgage your house, but you don't need a 5090 in the first place.

You do need a place to live, though. As long as you're renting, you're fine, but you'll never save up enough to buy a decent house. And with mortgage interest rates being unstable as they are, I'd rather not take out one if I can help it. I don't want to pay 200k for a 100k flat. Even 100k is a bit too much in my opinion. Everything is priced at where investors and landlords like it. Individuals are not meant to buy a house anymore.

 

[Space Lynx]

The only difference is that graphics cards didn't just get ridiculously expensive, but ridiculously powerful, too. Sure, a 5090 needs you to remortgage your house, but you don't need a 5090 in the first place.

You do need a place to live, though. As long as you're renting, you're fine, but you'll never save up enough to buy a decent house. And with mortgage interest rates being unstable as they are, I'd rather not take out one if I can help it. I don't want to pay 200k for a 100k flat. Even 100k is a bit too much in my opinion. Everything is priced at where investors and landlords like it. Individuals are not meant to buy a house anymore.

Shared council housing is not a terrible option. I think my friend almost bought a house before she lost her job unexpectedly, it would have been 110k for a 2br house, and the council paid the rest of it, she would have had to paid the council rent on it too of course, but once the 110k was paid off that would have only been like 200 a month I think she said.

Not ideal, but better than nothing. She literally lost her job the week before she was to view that house though, so yeah... can't ever predict the future. She was at the job for over a year, her Dad said something about UK law states that if you work at somewhere for 2 years, then it becomes much harder to let you go after that. So, a lot of places will cycle people out before they hit their 2 year mark. Not sure if that is actually what happened in this case, or if he was just venting frustration, but yeah she has always taken her job seriously, so it is a shame the way people treat other people in this world. Even if you think someone isn't doing a good job, maybe you know reach out, offer some extra training, etc. World has become a sad place of numbers.

 

[AusWolf]

Shared council housing is not a terrible option. I think my friend almost bought a house before she lost her job unexpectedly, it would have been 110k for a 2br house, and the council paid the rest of it, she would have had to paid the council rent on it too of course, but once the 110k was paid off that would have only been like 200 a month I think she said.

Not ideal, but better than nothing. She literally lost her job the week before she was to view that house though, so yeah... can't ever predict the future. She was at the job for over a year, her Dad said something about UK law states that if you work at somewhere for 2 years, then it becomes much harder to let you go after that. So, a lot of places will cycle people out before they hit their 2 year mark. Not sure if that is actually what happened in this case, or if he was just venting frustration, but yeah she has always taken her job seriously, so it is a shame the way people treat other people in this world. Even if you think someone isn't doing a good job, maybe you know reach out, offer some extra training, etc. World has become a sad place of numbers.

Work law is a tricky thing. Basically, as long as you have a full-time contract, your employer can only let you go with a legitimate reason that can be proven in front of a tribunal (if it ever comes to that). That legitimate reason is usually a layoff (redundancy), or a gross misconduct, or other serious breach of company policy. They cannot let you go for things like "not working hard enough", for example.

This is why a lot of places don't do full-time contracts, but instead employ what we call flexi workers through employment agencies. That way, they can decrease or increase your hours anywhere between 0 and 40 hours a week, move your shifts, and let you go anytime without a reason. The agency basically contracts you for X work, and the company can say that X work has finished any time, even if it hasn't.

 

[mechtech]

Yeah, I do feel sorry for those in their 20's and 30's especially, gone are the days of healthy profits in house sale's to move up the property ladder like I enjoyed in the 90's and early 2000's where you could buy a large new house for say 120k and sell it 4 years later for 234k. I had a discussion with my youngest daughter only last week around the current propery market in England (she owns her own house bought new in 2019) and I mentioned that back in the early 90's mortgage interest rates got as high as 13.5% but it seems as though when they peaked last year they got to 5.25% and that hike broke the backs of so many hard working people she stated the obvious (but clearly not to me) that the average mortgage back in those days was probably 50 - 60k where as now it's more like 150k so any increase has a much higher impact.

Even if we see much more house building to relieve pressure on the market I can only see house builders milking everyone even in what may be a buyers market ............ sounds a bit like graphics card pricing

Well here surprisingly a lot of the raw materials that used to be commodity prices have went way up cause greed. Owens Corning basically has a monopoly on insulation 7 years ago I bough a bag for $28cad, it's now about $90 so over 300%. Cement/concrete went up around $100/m3 around covid, hasnt come down much, lumber is still 100% more than precovid price. etc. etc. And you look at companies profits $600mil to $2.6bil for selling recycled glass, I would call it racketering/profiteering.........just a shame. And yes I have seen building contractors using labour with no craft/trade ticket and billing them out at $160/hr.

 

[AusWolf]

Well here surprisingly a lot of the raw materials that used to be commodity prices have went way up cause greed. Owens Corning basically has a monopoly on insulation 7 years ago I bough a bag for $28cad, it's now about $90 so over 300%. Cement/concrete went up around $100/m3 around covid, hasnt come down much, lumber is still 100% more than precovid price. etc. etc. And you look at companies profits $600mil to $2.6bil for selling recycled glass, I would call it racketering/profiteering.........just a shame. And yes I have seen building contractors using labour with no craft/trade ticket and billing them out at $160/hr.

That's what free market capitalism with no outside control gives us. Monopolies, loss of quality, and profiteering. But let's not get into politics.

 

[mechtech]

That's what free market capitalism with no outside control gives us. Monopolies, loss of quality, and profiteering. But let's not get into politics.

Well is was fairly historically stable up to covid, seems ethics and morals went out the window.............

 

[kurosagi01]

At the current state of the housing market, for newer generations to even have a chance now is to just save for a deposit+ all the fees the moment they start working from past college/a levels or university and SAVE.
Work and build up their career and maybe by the time they hit their late 20s to early 30s, depending where they live of course they might have a chance to buy a property if they have or met a partner that also had the same mindset.
That is only if they both have decent "career", honestly the sad reality is you have impossible chance if you are stuck working in retail/supermarket if there is no career advancements.
Edit:
Forgot to mention that they will need to accept living at home with their parents and hope they don't need to pay for anything or they only need to make small contributions to help support their parents like pay any bills or/and food.

 

[AusWolf]

At the current state of the housing market, for newer generations to even have a chance now is to just save for a deposit+ all the fees is the moment they start working from past college/a levels or university and SAVE.
Work and build up their career and maybe by the time they hit their late 20s to early 30s, depending where they live of course they might have a chance to buy a property if they have or met a partner that also had the same mindset.
That is only if they both have decent "career", honestly the sad reality is you have impossible chance if you are stuck working in retail/supermarket if there is no career advancements.
Edit:
Forgot to mention that they will need to accept living at home with their parents and hope they don't need to pay for anything or they only need to make small contributions to help support their parents like pay any bills or/and food.

Also no chance for people like me, who had to move countries to be able to afford a fairly decent living, and thus, had no savings upon leaving the parents' house.

 

[kurosagi01]

Also no chance for people like me, who had to move countries to be able to afford a fairly decent living, and thus, had no savings upon leaving the parents' house.

Crazy and sad really, another thing I forgot to mention as well as I was typing that on my phone but now i'm at my desk.
The newer generation do not have the patiences to do the "long" grind, nor do they want to work their bums off to deadbeat companies that offer 0 opportunities/advancements.
I still think this specific strategy would still work..given if both parties(partners) do the same thing.
Going by Skipton Lifetime ISA offer:
1.Open lifetime ISA account
2.Put £333.33 a month away no matter what
3.Do this for 5 years
4.Boom you both now have saved £40k+

You have 10% deposit for £400k property, but of course stick to whatever you can afford and the deposit amount will be a lot higher depending on the property value, change step 3 for longer duration if they want to wait longer or they are single. They can of course put more money away on a different account as well to reduce the amount of years they need to save, which it is recommended as all the other fees can be anywhere £3k-£10k depending on if they want stuff checked out as well.
Also to have funds available to buy furniture or any other essentials.
But if you was tell somebody to do that, the chances are they might not do it.

 

[AusWolf]

Going by Skipton Lifetime ISA offer:
1.Open lifetime ISA account
2.Put £333.33 a month away no matter what
3.Do this for 5 years
4.Boom you both now have saved £40k+

Anybody who legally can would be stupid not to have a LISA. It's the best way to save, either for a house, or for retirement (which is what I'm doing). Even much better than stocks and shares in my opinion.

 

[kurosagi01]

Anybody who legally can would be stupid not to have a LISA. It's the best way to save, either for a house, or for retirement (which is what I'm doing). Even much better than stocks and shares in my opinion.

LISA or even premium bond are the best way to save now is the way I see it as well.
Both give chances to increase your saving.
All these money experts or dumb finance "gurus" need to give a simple short "answer" or solution to younger generations to understand.
Instead of dumping ridicous ideas.

 

[AusWolf]

LISA or even premium bond are the best way to save now is the way I see it as well.
Both give chances to increase your saving.
All these money experts or dumb finance "gurus" need to give a simple short "answer" or solution to younger generations to understand.
Instead of dumping ridicous ideas.

Yeah, they seem to be all over investing in stocks and shares. But why would I do that when I could just put the money away with a guaranteed 25% government bonus?

Not everybody knows enough, or has enough patience to become a successful investor. Not to mention, your gain is other people's loss in investing (one company goes up, one goes down), just like in gambling.

 

[kurosagi01]

Yeah, they seem to be all over investing in stocks and shares. But why would I do that when I could just put the money away with a guaranteed 25% government bonus?

Not everybody knows enough, or has enough patience to become a successful investor. Not to mention, your gain is other people's loss in investing (one company goes up, one goes down), just like in gambling.

There has been a few "salary breakdown" from smaller creators which I think is a bit more beneficial but then you only need to watch 1 to understand the philosophy.
But yeah I have 0 interest in stocks&shares as well, regular joes just need to know how to save and have patience.

 

[Space Lynx]

Crazy and sad really, another thing I forgot to mention as well as I was typing that on my phone but now i'm at my desk.
The newer generation do not have the patiences to do the "long" grind, nor do they want to work their bums off to deadbeat companies that offer 0 opportunities/advancements.
I still think this specific strategy would still work..given if both parties(partners) do the same thing.
Going by Skipton Lifetime ISA offer:
1.Open lifetime ISA account
2.Put £333.33 a month away no matter what
3.Do this for 5 years
4.Boom you both now have saved £40k+

You have 10% deposit for £400k property, but of course stick to whatever you can afford and the deposit amount will be a lot higher depending on the property value, change step 3 for longer duration if they want to wait longer or they are single. They can of course put more money away on a different account as well to reduce the amount of years they need to save, which it is recommended as all the other fees can be anywhere £3k-£10k depending on if they want stuff checked out as well.
Also to have funds available to buy furniture or any other essentials.
But if you was tell somebody to do that, the chances are they might not do it.

So, I have been reading https://www.gov.uk/lifetime-isa how LISA works, I have to say, holy crap!!! If the USA offered this I would 100% be doing it, with the plan to wait until age 60 to withdraw any. Max of 4000 year is probably my limit anyway of what I can save for a long term account, so that would be amazing.

Dude, wth... everyone should be taught this in school in the UK and really a big campaign to get 18 year olds to take it seriously and do it. They'd be set for for retirement at 60 without having to worry about stock market, etc. At the end of the day you might make more money in stocks, but you might lose it all too.

If I could go back to age 15, I'd ask my relatives in England to adopt me, and I'd start saving into LISA at age 18, probably just do the max allowed of 4000 per year.

 

[Eva01Master]

Also, NS&I guys, kind of a good tool to save some money, even if peanuts each month.

 

[Space Lynx]

Also, NS&I guys, kind of a good tool to save some money, even if peanuts each month.

What does NS&I stand for? I don't know what that means.

 

[Eva01Master]

What does NS&I stand for? I don't know what that means.

It is National Savings & Investments, it's a lottery system where you accrue bonds, which are guaranteed by the state, but every bond you acquire has a serial number which participates in a monthly draw.
Edited to mention: You can cash out whichever amount of bonds you have at any moment, and the price of each bond is £1.

 

[kurosagi01]

So, I have been reading https://www.gov.uk/lifetime-isa how LISA works, I have to say, holy crap!!! If the USA offered this I would 100% be doing it, with the plan to wait until age 60 to withdraw any. Max of 4000 year is probably my limit anyway of what I can save for a long term account, so that would be amazing.

Dude, wth... everyone should be taught this in school in the UK and really a big campaign to get 18 year olds to take it seriously and do it. They'd be set for for retirement at 60 without having to worry about stock market, etc. At the end of the day you might make more money in stocks, but you might lose it all too.

If I could go back to age 15, I'd ask my relatives in England to adopt me, and I'd start saving into LISA at age 18, probably just do the max allowed of 4000 per year.

I got told to open a LISA from one of my older bro close friend, then its basic maths of making sure you are putting £4000(£333.33 per month) per year, guaranteed to get funds in from the gov every few months.
I only started taking it seriously at the start of 2021 and thankfully I got a major bump in my career and practically put about half of my paycheck into savings which worked in my favour in putting a 5% deposit down with my partner for new build.

Also, NS&I guys, kind of a good tool to save some money, even if peanuts each month.

What does NS&I stand for? I don't know what that means.

It is National Savings & Investments, it's a lottery system where you accrue bonds, which are guaranteed by the state, but every bond you acquire has a serial number which participates in a monthly draw.

The premium bond I mentioned earlier, NS&I and LISA are the regular joes best friend when it comes to saving.