I don’t agree with borrowing money to go on holiday/get married etc but I suppose everyone has their own highly subjective definition of stupid.
We are a 2 car household because we both have to drive in completely different directions (at 90° to each other) to get to work & there’s no public transport. It takes me 3/4 of an hour to drive so walking or cycling aren’t a realistic option.
Well it is crazy to borrow huge sums of money to get married.
Mortgage investments are a little different.
We borrowed money to buy the freehold of our restaurant in
W.14 and it felt like a huge step at the time and the bank which gave us
the loan gave us 105% during a recession. The property was in recievership
at the time.
That property, infact that street holds a bookfull of history and secrets.
BBC Kensington House was just close by and so many good
programmes were conceived over lunches at Chinon.
Areana plans/meetings would sometimes begin at miday and
slowly sip their way through to 9.30pm when Nigel Finch realised
that he needed to get back to feed the ferret and other friends.
So I guess you came here with oodles of cash, no wonder you can afford holidays.
What do you call oodles of cash…
I sold what I had in Uk after a life time of working 16 hrs per day
6 days per week.
My life has never been extravagent but I have met some very interesting
people which took the place of extravagence.
So it has not been a life surrounded by money.
This is the day and age of inheritance…
I di n ot inherit property or funds from family and i only have only one
property.
Tim you refer to holidays as if they are rare.
I think that you are joking.
I hope that you are joking.
What is the story of your life?
You misunderstand my take on holidays, I believe everyone deserves and needs a break from work or their daily routine HOWEVER if you cannot afford to go away then staying at home will have to suffice in the same way as not having money for the latest iphone etc.
At various points in my life I have had no money for what I class as non-essentials - holidays, cigarettes, going out, mobile phones, SKY contract etc. It didn’t make me angry or jealous of others, it was just the way it was.
Before we moved here we had what most people would class as a privileged life, well paid jobs, three properties including a holiday home, money was no object. Something was missing though, I worked 60 hours a week and couldn’t spend much time with the kids so we decided to radically change our lives and came here to almost start again. It has been hard at times and our income has dropped drastically but it has given us a different perspective on what’s important and what’s not.
Yes I think that it has been hard at times for many of us who have come
to settle here.
But most of us came to a different style of life.
As I mentioned before people in UK want… and they want it all now.
They think that they should. have what…their neighbours, work mates and
friends have got: second and third properties, well paid jobs and designer
“stuff”.
i mentioned too that the people I know now enjoy the basics…
a walk with the dog, a meeting with friends…often involving a meal.
Many of my friends are french and they are satisfied with their lives…
they do not excist…they enjoy the essance of simplicity.
I like being with them because I can be myself.
Maybe in London I had to be like every one else…
And it was so competative in a way which was not pleasant.
I really did not need Michelin stars,reviews in magazine or
designer clothes.
I needed to finish what I had started in a country which I had
always found engaging.
360 million will be spent on repairs at Buckingham Palace.
How is that paid for?
Who pays for it?
“The sovereign grant is the funding formula under which the Queen normally receives 15% of the annual profit from the crown estate. The trustees recommend she receive 25% for the 10 years the work is taking place and the grant should be returned to 15% when building work is finished in 2027.”
In short… the Queen pays for it, by using income from the Sovereign’s investments and property.
The cost of repairing the Houses of Parliament are ten times that, money well spent or should that go to helping the poor?
If it means saving lives yes.
The politcal mob can thrash out their differences in
an old school or warehouse.
They are trying to clean up a little just for the Royal wedding I think it is normal but don’t worry the homeless will be back when all is finished.
There are homeless all over the world and unfortunately there will always be as long as the world exists.Think me.
The english population of course will pay a part of the refurbishing of Buck Palace
Yes there are homeless all over the world, tearing down or neglecting historical buildings won’t make any difference !
Exactly Stella , when our five children were young our once a year hoiday was spent with my in laws We were lucky they lived in Surgeres not far from the sea, Royan, Chatellaillon, Ile de Re etc.
Today as we are in our seventies and eighties we stay at home as we are lucky to live out in the country.
Every two years we go to Canada to visit our son and his wife and grandson.
So holidays for us hasn’t been a huge question, you just have to decide how to spend the money you have got.
By my post I think that you can tell that I mean the British people
the young and the fairly old and the people who are denied life saving
operations. The care services for the young and the old need enhancing.
Yes Historic buildings are wonderful but life is more precious.
If it affeceted your families you would be by my side saying the same thing.
Yes Carol I agree you just have to decide how to spend the money you have got…
not the money which you do not own.
The problem of the world s inflictions of poverty and war are universal.It is not
a job of work for UK alone.
I have illustrated the type of holidays I have experienced…and they have been in
accordance to what was possible at the time financially.
You really come across as a saint Barbara, I assume you live in a modest house here,volunteer at the nearest Resto du Coeur or Emmaus and give blood whenever possible etc.
No I am not a saint.
And I have explained my housing situation…I believe.
i/we take care of cats ,some are wild and I pay for their
operations…so that they can no longer breed and
become ill and defenceless. We have 7 of our own and they
are extreemly happy and that is great to experience.
My blood is no good to anyone due to the toxins.
We have a difference of opinions that is all…
But here comes the judging again!
Just having a little giggle Barbara. Love the idea of PMQ’s being played out in a warehouse though.
And why not.
They poke fun at each other like a bunch of kids…why on earth do they
need a wonderful historic buiding.
Take care of the British people not those who play at being kind.
Personally I exist every day ,to enjoy outings, to go to a little restaurant not far from home, I exist also.
Having an argument with my husband and making up after is my existence.Good and bad are my existence.
Looking after my grand kids when they need to be looked after, that is my existence.Exist and accept our life is my existance…
And I love it!!!