Everything is going up except our income.

Whoever would eat the crust in our house used to have extra butter (when it came off rationing).

My dad (being the extravagant man that he is) keeps his spreadable Lurpak in the fridge. He says it's worth paying over the odds in order to take it out and spread it in his (favourite) luxury seedy batch loaf.

To be fair he has always paid his properly accomplished taxes so I feel that he deserves his little treat.

Mmmmm Lurpak and seedy bread! Can't be beaten.

I dont do seedy bread, yuck, why should bread be seady? very strange. Crackers can be seady. Bread isn't meant to have things in it.

Seedy bread is VERY different to seady bread still alive

I love all things seedy.

It can you know wookie (oops sorry I mean chewbacca) you could put a layer of bramble jelly jam on top and then I would be in absolute bready heaven.

Oh stop ! Please! Not had bramble jelly for years. My granny used to make it and I'd love to taste that again.

Morrisons is the only place I can get it Chewy . Another one of life's little luxuries.

Chewy I make both bramble jelly (hubby hates the seeds) and jam every autumn. I'll send you a jar. We have loads of bramble bushes behind our house, so it's pretty cheap to make.

I never eat butter but DH does and uses it straight out of the fridge cutting off slices and placing it on his toast.
You can make butter anywhere why do we have to import it from Denmark ?
I have noticed price rises mostly in Morrisons, especially since our local store was refurbished. I have to buy more of my groceries from Aldi otherwise I am not going to be able to afford my favourite Champagne

Good for you harri you have to get your priorities right

I often see the Lurpak trucks rolling off the ferry and imagine all those lovely blocks of butter stacked inside. I might hold one up one day.

My dad won't have anything but his beloved Lurpak (why not, he does nothing else). My mum was terrible for butter and went through huge amounts. Mind you towards the end all she would eat was thin white bread, spread with a thick layer of butter.

I am now fancying some seedy bread, spread with butter and bramble jelly jam but sadly have to leave for work now.

Food prices have gone up I think (Tesco shopper mostly)alarming, and not to do with Brexit as we haven't left yet.

We are being conned all of the time, the government collects our taxes for the banks really.

I think the public's understanding of economics is very much out of date, even what people are taught in Uni is out of date.

We need new thinking about what makes everything tick.

I was thinking the exact same thing gillybob, my rates bill came in 2 days after being told of pension rise, the pension rise doesn't even cover this let alone the price rises in the supermarkets, soon we will have no choice but to pay our bills or eat, won't be able to do both, are they trying to kill us off in a subtle way? we worry about making ends meet, no luxuries which we have worked all our lives to be able to have in retirement, I never go on holiday or days out, never eat out & have my hair cut once a month (even that feels like a luxury now) stress causes a lot of illnesses, so we get ill & die because we can't get seen at the doctors, at ours the normal wait for an appointment is 4 weeks, could be longer, I often think they hope we have got better or died in the meantime, I try to treat myself hoping I will be better & they won't have to see me

Constantly read of the triple lock for pensioners as being grossly unfair. Have to say I'm very grateful for it. Hope TM lets it continue. Was recently corrected when referring to my Lurpak tub as butter. Apparently wrong: it's a spread and only the slab is butter. Check it out for yourselves....... Also would thoroughly recommend trying President butter. Flavour first class.

Lurpak just tastes a bit different - no, we don't have to import butter, we make tons of it here and we eat all kinds of butter but Lurpak is very nice indeed!
To put it simply, Lurpak® is a pale-coloured lactic butter. The process begins with roughly 20kg of whole milk to make every 1kg of butter. The most valuable and tasty part of the milk – the cream – is carefully “ripened” before being used for the butter making process. Lactic cultures are then added, giving a fresh and slightly aromatic note with the unmistakable creaminess that creates the characteristic Lurpak® flavour. That’s it. Nothing more is added, apart from a pinch of salt to our Slightly Salted varieties.

From the 'Telegraph' on income tax:-

'The highest paid 3,000 people in the UK pay more income tax than the bottom nine million, according to official Government statistics.
The figures show that the very highest earners - amounting to just under 3,000 people with a declared income above £2.7 million - will contribute 4.2 per cent of the total Government revenue from income tax in the current financial year.
By contrast, Britain’s nine million poorest paid workers contribute less than four per cent of the total income tax receipt.
In all, 29.9 million people pay income tax in the UK. According to the new figures released by HM revenue & Customs (HMRC), almost one-third of income tax payers contribute less to the Exchequer than the top 3,000 earners - equivalent to 0.01 per cent of the total.'

I realise you are talking about local tax, not income tax, but I would reiterate what others have said. Even here those who have larger properties pay swingeingly high rates of council tax and often do not avail themselves of the services.

In this country the national and local taxation systems are set up to make those on higher incomes and with greater wealth pay a disproportionately higher amount of the tax take.

Think about it. If you were a robber would you target a poor person or a rich one? Or as the bank robber said when asked why he robbed banks, 'Because that's where all the money is.'

On Monday the 'Telegraph' published a financial story outlining how the rich in the 1970's paid 11% of income tax. It is now 24%.

I think people get a lot of bang for their buck in this country but are not very grateful for the contributions of others.

Even here those who have larger properties pay swingeingly high rates of council tax and often do not avail themselves of the services

Not entirely true though Lilyflower . My previous example of my borough (poor NE ex-mining community) versus Kensington & Chelsea.

Band A in my borough £1025.44 Band D £1538.16

Band A in K & C £708.01 Band D £1062.02

Added to that the banding calculations are based on prices in 1991 which is so unrealistic in and around London. Whereas (and I am being deadly serious) the house prices in and around my borough have not increased very much at all.

I appreciate that there is more demand on public services in poorer boroughs but how can this be really fair?

Lilyflower this really is key "On Monday the 'Telegraph' published a financial story outlining how the rich in the 1970's paid 11% of income tax. It is now 24%. I think people get a lot of bang for their buck in this country but are not very grateful for the contributions of others."

Being grateful instead of worked up over nothing does seem a lost art, imo.

"I appreciate that there is more demand on public services in poorer boroughs but how can this be really fair?" Fair for who? Fair for the people who use the services and thus pay more or fair for the people who use private services and still pay (maybe at a slightly lower rate)?

What a sensible response J.

This ia a really fair look at well accomplished taxation (well done) and it's fair: "I realise you are talking about local tax, not income tax, but I would reiterate what others have said. Even here those who have larger properties pay swingeingly high rates of council tax and often do not avail themselves of the services. In this country the national and local taxation systems are set up to make those on higher incomes and with greater wealth pay a disproportionately higher amount of the tax take."

Okay well from your posts I gather (happy to be corrected ) that you are fairly well off Norah. Maybe you live in an "I'm alright Jack" kind of way. I don't know but it's certainly how you come across to me.

Let me just say though. The poorest people in society are often the most generous. Generous with their time, efforts, charity and giving (despite having the least to give). Is it anyone's fault which end of society they were born into?

I would hate to have your way of thinking. I really would. Fairness in a civilized society should be the richer more fortunate people helping the poorer and less fortunate but maybe that's not the way you think at all.

Anyway about council tax etc. I have never called the fire brigade but I pay for it. I have never required the services of a policeman but I pay for them too. Which of us ever know who/what we might need at any time?

We wanted devolution. Local services paid for by local taxation, administered by a local council which we could vote in and out. So poorer areas, with more take-up of benefits and services, need to raise more money. Think about it!

We tried a per-person system. Difficult to argur that it wasn't 'fairer' but it was too big a change, we revolted against the Poll Tax and returned to a property rate.

BUT property tax IS fair. The borough that has higher costs of servcies (more use) has higher taxes. That IS fair.

Sticking my fingers in my ears and singing "Ting-a-ling-a-loo"

Yes, Norah in your world it is very fair. I'm leaving it as that.