dieseldog999:
covid panic is here to stay for the forseeable future ( like it or not).
im well aware it may financially harm some employed drivers,and bankrupt some firms completely.
so only on a personal basis as it only really affects me in a minimalistic sense,then is anyone else actually not giving a monkeys and enjoying it?
the only noticeable difference to my normal life is not going out for 2 or 3 meals a week and apart from that until me or my misses catch it then im loving the chill factor.
every day is a sunday with the standard lie in,and play with the hobbies, tinterweb and netflix as and when it suits.
no visitors/cold callers/inlaw visitors.
my misses goes shopping alone now so theres less chance of me getting the sniffles,and the bank balance has never looked so good with all the impulse buying rubbish that she does firmly hit on the head.
to that effect,i had by credit card stolen 4 years ago on holiday in tunisia,i never reported it,as whoever nicked it spent less than my misses normally does) 
for those reasons alone then for me the half hearted lockdown has its plus points.
is it suiting anyone else to the effect that they ether are not giving a toss,or enjoying it?
Your lucky you can remember every day as being a Sunday,being retired I can`t remember there being a day called Sunday every day is the same unless I look at corner of the corner of the screen for the time and date and then look at a calendar 
not enjoying it at all,as i’m worried to death what the outcome will be,if and when this ■■■■■ is over.with a son a daughter and an almost 5 yr old grandson,and a niece who is expecting,what sort of future is facing them? 
The future will be rough for a few years financially and then it will get better. I am always optimistic about the future.
I’m enjoying it. Retirement was a bit hectic, its nice to see quiet roads, have the time to pootle in the garden and take the dogs for long walks. Be nice to be put on the boat but as tjat is my biggest problem, its no problem at all.
Good to see most coping with this horrible virus but sadly a lot are not. Unfortunately I suspect the lockdown will have to go on for a long time yet (months rather than weeks) otherwise the spread will get out of control.
It’s not all bad news though. We will beat this and get through it and there will be benefits as we are already seeing.(environment) They are finding out more and more everyday about this virus and the much needed antibody test kits are ready for use and will make a massive difference.
Follow the rules as most are and we will win this battle.
The easiest way to manage a “Downturn” in one’s finances - is cut your overheads more quickly than your income is in freefall right now…
For instance, if you have lost a shift that would have paid £100 gross, then you’re not really down £100 for losing that shift…
You would have only taken home £65 of that for starters, because you’re paying PAYE taxes and NICs…
You’d also have to pay for Fuel to commute and Food for lunch at eatery prices, always dearer than what you can eat for at home.
So, if you allow £10 for a daily commute fuel-wise and £5 for your eats whilst at work per shift…
You’re really only losing £50 per day overall rather than the £100 gross it started out at. - Right?
I don’t think you can buy a day’s extra holiday for a mere £50 these days - so Enjoy your stay at home with your families, rather than get upset about it. 
^^^^ if I was working shifts that paid £100 gross I’d be looking for other employment.
Yes, I am aware that you were merely picking an arbitrary figure.
dieseldog999:
Winseer:
The easiest way to manage a “Downturn” in one’s finances - is cut your overheads more quickly than your income is in freefall right now…
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
easier said than done for the ones that live to the limit of their joint earnings with the house,2 cars,jetski,holidays all bought still to be paid off,mortgaged to death and everything else on the drip and credit cards.
there the ones who will be slitting their wrists.
One of ours drivers lives this way, you know the type; bling car in the car park, latest
I phone and I pad etc. Absolutely has to max every hour every week to keep his head above water. A year or so ago he was in danger of drowning in debt so another one of our drivers who was a financial adviser in a former life agreed to look at his finances. Long story short he saved him around £350 per month. What does this cabbage then do the next day? Yep he went out and chuckied up a new car for his Mrs for £300 per month! You can’t educate pork sadly.
How it has affected us.
-
For me, nothing really changes. I am doing more online shopping and selling stuff online, most auction houses have closed down but I do online bidding. My customers can pick stuff up from the storage unit using my account name and reference number. The biggest problem I have is eating out and no pub in the afternoon. I also do the hoovering and cooking, washing and cleaning.
-
My wife has been a community nurse for 17 years, before that she was a physiotherapist. She hasn’t worked on the “Ward” for 25 years, but she has been deployed to the Covid 19 Action Team■■? Basically since she had the call, she has been to 4 different buildings in a 15 mile radius, she is suddenly doing 12 hour shifts, up from 8, on her feet all day where she drove around in her previous role. She cleans defecation of old men who cannot be hoisted out of bed, she measures fluid intake and fluid output, food intake and waste output, she feeds them, washes them, she reads to them, turns over the TV, medicates them and dresses them. Most of them show signs of CV19, 3 have died, luckily on her days off or during the night. At present she is only doing 12 hour days as she is asthmatic with diabetes, so can be called vulnerable.
-
The Kids, my step kids. The eldest is a home carer, he is 24 and has to visit 4 or 5 people 3 times a day, to get them up, get them in the shower, make their breakfast or dinner or tea, he has to collect prescriptions and make notes about them all. As he drives, he gets the outlying areas, so often leaves the house at 6am and gets home for about 10pm. Since he started doing this job he has been paid the National Minimum Wage. Because he isn’t 25, he doesn’t get the National Living Wage.
His sister 21 is at University doing teacher training, she is paying her university fees, but the university is shut, she is paying for her student accommodation and is in lock down, because they have free internet and a link to the university, she is staying put. Her lecturer gives them tasks to do over Facetime or Zoom. Her little waitressing/bar job is in furlough and she has already got the paperwork, but no money yet, she will get an average of her last years related earnings every three weeks with it costing her any fuel for her car which now needs a battery as it has been parked so long. She will emerge as a teacher without setting foot in a classroom as its all virtual.
I feel really sorry for all the NHS and Care Workers. I feel really sad for the Daughter who has wanted to teach for 15 years. Her boyfriend is also training to be a teacher, they have their exit strategy all worked out at 21. I havent even decided what I want to do when I grow up yet.
the maoster:
dieseldog999:
Winseer:
The easiest way to manage a “Downturn” in one’s finances - is cut your overheads more quickly than your income is in freefall right now…
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
easier said than done for the ones that live to the limit of their joint earnings with the house,2 cars,jetski,holidays all bought still to be paid off,mortgaged to death and everything else on the drip and credit cards.
there the ones who will be slitting their wrists.
One of ours drivers lives this way, you know the type; bling car in the car park, latest
I phone and I pad etc. Absolutely has to max every hour every week to keep his head above water. A year or so ago he was in danger of drowning in debt so another one of our drivers who was a financial adviser in a former life agreed to look at his finances. Long story short he saved him around £350 per month. What does this cabbage then do the next day? Yep he went out and chuckied up a new car for his Mrs for £300 per month! You can’t educate pork sadly.
But look at it this way, he also has an extra £50 to just simply squander every month. 
Good point, well made. That’s got to be around 20 lottery tickets he could invest in!
dieseldog999:
Winseer:
The easiest way to manage a “Downturn” in one’s finances - is cut your overheads more quickly than your income is in freefall right now…
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
easier said than done for the ones that live to the limit of their joint earnings with the house,2 cars,jetski,holidays all bought still to be paid off,mortgaged to death and everything else on the drip and credit cards.
there the ones who will be slitting their wrists.
Indeed. It isn’t any coincidence that the main ones defying any lockdown measures - are those very “dinkies” (dual income no kids idiotic, endlessly stupid) types who are still living it up large… 
…until someone else makes the decision for them to pull the rug, and send them with their expendable jobs to the poorhouse - to contemplate where they can buy a stanley knife from in short order… 
the maoster:
Good point, well made. That’s got to be around 20 lottery tickets he could invest in!
I notice that with Horses and Dogs gone, the action with on-line betting now seems to be on foreign racing, and home-casino/virual type games…
Meanwhile in the shops - it seems to be rather harder than usual to find shops that sell scratchcards any longer, but you can still get the normal lottery tickets…
On the other hand, those with the jet skis and foreign holidays will be laughing at the richest men in graveyard types.
…We’ve not had a total wipe-out of a cruise ship entirely filled with retired elderly folk eh?
A few clusters among those on board - yes - but hardly the “2 out of 3 dead” like you’d expect to rival the Titanic eh?
without the virus those type of "holid a
ys" stuck on a vessel full of pretentious arm holes is my idea of hell… 
m.a.n rules:
without the virus those type of "holid a
ys" stuck on a vessel full of pretentious arm holes is my idea of hell…
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+1
salmonella at sea in prison with the option of drowning.
if i ever won a free cruise,then it would be tickets flogged on ebay and a few weeks in tunisia or similar.
the maoster:
dieseldog999:
Winseer:
The easiest way to manage a “Downturn” in one’s finances - is cut your overheads more quickly than your income is in freefall right now…
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
easier said than done for the ones that live to the limit of their joint earnings with the house,2 cars,jetski,holidays all bought still to be paid off,mortgaged to death and everything else on the drip and credit cards.
there the ones who will be slitting their wrists.
One of ours drivers lives this way, you know the type; bling car in the car park, latest
I phone and I pad etc. Absolutely has to max every hour every week to keep his head above water. .
Funny is that, I know somebody just like him. …think you’ve met him in fact. 
Makes me laugh how he always tries and feels the need to try and convince me ‘‘how better off he is financially in the long run’’ and how he got a deal he ‘‘couldn’t turn down’’ every time he gets himself further into debt, …thus making him work even more hours a week to pay off all his hp and leasing ‘‘good deals’’ debts.
Decent enough lad, but strange ideas.