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jabby posted:It's crazy how many tax advantages there are to running a business. I was a one-man company for a while when I was doing locum work and the amount of stuff you can write off against tax is ridiculous. Drove somewhere? Write off the fuel. Write off the car. Stayed at home? Write off your heating bill. Write off some of your mortgage. Write off the crisps you ate. You probably shouldn't write off your car
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Oct 27, 2020 16:27
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peanut- posted:Exactly how many KT goons have we got in here? I'm another one. Islington for me but that stretch of road past the bull & gate, the forum, the vine, southampton arms, i go down a lot on my way to the heath to go
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Oct 27, 2020 16:29
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peanut- posted:Exactly how many KT goons have we got in here? I'm another one. I'm Finchley too but used to be Highgate, so I went through Kentish Town (and indeed past those shops) everyday for 4 years. It is indeed the one by the Vine.
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Oct 27, 2020 16:29
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mudskipp posted:I thought new cars were being sold mostly via perilous finance deals. Yeah I just looked it up and 32% of new cars are on leases, and 91% of new cars bought are on finance. The Perfect Element posted:My wife used to live next door to a kebab shop in Nottingham that was only ever open for around 2 hours a day, and their customer demographic was almost exclusively taxi drivers who'd buy all their takeaway in opaque paper bags. Similarly there was a chippy in my town that was never that busy, and the owner got busted for selling drugs out of the store.
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Oct 27, 2020 16:32
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Unthinkably bad car financing was one of the big linchpins of the 2008 crash. There's actually a pretty solid thread to be pulled that the PT Cruiser alone was at least notably important in the arse falling out of that entire industry.
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Oct 27, 2020 16:34
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WhatEvil posted:Yeah I just looked it up and 32% of new cars are on leases, and 91% of new cars bought are on finance. As people have gotten poorer, and companies more greedy, there's been a distinct trend to change everything from a one-time purchase to some form of subscription or rental. Really apparent in software, used to be you'd just buy Office or Adobe Lightroom etc. outright and then you owned it. Then you'd have the option of buying an upgrade when they released new features. Now it's just pay monthly, forever, or we take it away. Feel like owning a movie or box set? Nah, have Netflix and Amazon Prime where again you keep paying forever otherwise you lose access to everything. Music? Spotify. Car? PCP or lease. Smarthome tech? Better pay monthly for the cloud services for the rest of your life otherwise your cameras/lights/speakers become expensive paperweights. Basically just like the current generation doesn't have the wealth to own a house, just rent one or borrow one from a bank, slowly the concept of owning anything is being taken away. Pretty soon few people will own their their house, car, phone, consumer goods, software, entertainment, etc. and if you ever lose your job or become disabled literally everything will be taken away from you. Life on subscription. jabby fucked around with this message at 16:48 on Oct 27, 2020 |
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Oct 27, 2020 16:46
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peanut- posted:Exactly how many KT goons have we got in here? I'm another one.  I've lived between Finsbury Park and Holloway since, ooh, 2006-ish. KT is super close by, great local shops and I worked there for a couple of years around 2010-2012 - the Vine was one of the after-work locals, along with the Junction at the top of Lady Somerset road. Never saw anyone go into that carpet shop though!
I_Socom fucked around with this message at 16:52 on Oct 27, 2020 |
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Oct 27, 2020 16:49
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So the EHRC report is coming out this week. I'm guessing that we would've had a lot of leaks all over the hostile press already if it was as damning as Corbyn's critics would like. I think I read Labour have had a draft copy since July?
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Oct 27, 2020 16:52
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jabby posted:Life on subscription.
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Oct 27, 2020 16:53
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Guavanaut posted:This is a depressing thought, and also why we really need to focus on universal basic services, otherwise the whole country will become run on the Soda Stream Sparkle Saver Plan at 10x what it actually costs. It's also what the Tories mean when they talk about the "dream of home ownership". Homes won't get any cheaper, mortgages will just get bigger and bigger and take up more and more of your income for longer. The endgame is you'll "buy" a house at 30, finish paying the mortgage at retirement, then sell the house back to the bank to pay for your nursing home care. You get to call yourself a homeowner but the house forever belongs to the bank.
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Oct 27, 2020 17:15
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WhatEvil posted:Yeah I just looked it up and 32% of new cars are on leases, and 91% of new cars bought are on finance. Yea was discussing this with a much better paid friend who also drives an old car, I couldn't understand who had the cash to buy all these brand new shiny machines but it all made some kindof cynical sense once you look up the financing figures. Hopefully people enjoy em anyway. I wish these subscription services had abit more leeway for when you don't have time to make he most of em. I like the idea of psnow but all I really want is a way to play MGS4. You end up paying for swathes of mediocre crap in these streaming services too.
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Oct 27, 2020 17:17
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https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2020/oct/27/david-squires-on-marcus-rashford-boris-johnson-school-meals?CMP=share_btn_tw MY DINNERS ARE OF MODERATE SIZE
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Oct 27, 2020 17:17
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peanut- posted:Exactly how many KT goons have we got in here? I'm another one. I lived in KT for a couple of years, then Camden and finally FP for a decade (gently caress) before I left the UK. 16 years in London total, it was great.
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Oct 27, 2020 17:18
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Making me ashamed to be a big dinner eater. The insidiousness of the tory party is without limit
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Oct 27, 2020 17:27
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Still on A KT tip, did the Southampton Arms fare alright through these trying times? Imagine it'd be a mare to socially distance in there. The Pineapple was always the Pro Tip for pre-Forum drinking, seeing as the Assembly House has the joy of 'first thing you see out of the Tube + a big football crowd in for the screens' and The Bull & Gate is a corporate gastropub nowadays.
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Oct 27, 2020 17:31
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jabby posted:As people have gotten poorer, and companies more greedy, there's been a distinct trend to change everything from a one-time purchase to some form of subscription or rental. There's separate things going on though. One thing is the games/music/films industry changing to subscription because that is the only way they can make money in the age of the internet and everybody being able to copy/download everything for free super fast. That wasn't by choice, they had to do that to survive. The other things is people taking on more and more consumer debt as everything from household appliances to cars is sold via financing to obfuscate the costs and get people to buy stuff that is really expensive. Paying £30 a month sounds not too expensive for that new thing you need but do it for two years and you've paid 30*24=680 quid for something that is 600 when bought straight up and buying the cheaper version for £400 would have been good enough too prolly.
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Oct 27, 2020 17:36
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jabby posted:As people have gotten poorer, and companies more greedy, there's been a distinct trend to change everything from a one-time purchase to some form of subscription or rental. It’s not driven by more greed, for the simple reason that the last generation of capitalists were no less grasping than the current one. It’s driven by greater expectations of stability. Within a typical western corporation, targets are really important. If you beat target then you get a prize and maybe a pat on the head - as an individual contributor. As a manager your skillset is supposedly ensuring that the targets are correct. So while you will be rewarded if targets are beaten and punished if they are missed, your actual best outcome each year is to ensure they are beaten but only by a bit. Manage a team that always overperforms and you’ll soon find out what you are actually being judged on. Because the mechanic driving this is that the management needs to show the investors constant growth, and 50% growth today followed by 3% growth next year doesn’t help me when incentives aren’t built around that. This is why most fictional portrayals of amoral corps are wrong: the amorality is real but it’s systemic, not the result of individual rogue executives deciding to dump the toxic sludge next to the orphanage.
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Oct 27, 2020 17:42
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Goldskull posted:Still on A KT tip, did the Southampton Arms fare alright through these trying times? Imagine it'd be a mare to socially distance in there. The Southampton Arms seems fine as they're mostly ignoring social distancing completely and also as many of the other rules as they can get away with. The Pineapple (aka the best pub) is managing it all really well, doing table service etc without losing the atmosphere.
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Oct 27, 2020 17:43
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Beefeater1980 posted:It’s not driven by more greed, for the simple reason that the last generation of capitalists were no less grasping than the current one.
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Oct 27, 2020 17:46
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It's also a symptom of historically low interest rates for the past 10 years. Selling you a good on subscription when the cost of loaning out money is only 1%-2% means a 0% offer doesn't actually cost you anything at all, there isn't a better return available anywhere else than the increased sales. There's also the panic this has put into global pension funds - holders of huge amounts of money that desperately need 5%-6% returns to pay out their promises. Honestly the privately invested pension fund is probably a huge cause of financialization, since it's created this huge pool of investment capital sitting around for bankers to extort money from to justify their existence.
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Oct 27, 2020 18:01
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https://twitter.com/premnsikka/status/1320852918195683330?s=20 Oh wow, I know we've spoken a bit about the Plymouth Brethren ITT before but I didn't realise that many of them were also Tories.
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Oct 27, 2020 18:01
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Goldskull posted:I'm Finchley too but used to be Highgate, so I went through Kentish Town (and indeed past those shops) everyday for 4 years. It is indeed the one by the Vine. So you're saying this thread is the North London metropolitan elite?
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Oct 27, 2020 18:06
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peanut- posted:The Southampton Arms seems fine as they're mostly ignoring social distancing completely and also as many of the other rules as they can get away with. Good news. goddamnedtwisto posted:So you're saying this thread is the North London metropolitan elite? Apparently so, although if anybody saw how I was dressed shopping in Iceland this aft I doubt they'd use the word 'elite'
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Oct 27, 2020 18:09
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WhatEvil posted:https://twitter.com/premnsikka/status/1320852918195683330?s=20 One of my grandfathers was born into the Plymouth Brethren - left when he was 16. But he was most definitely a 'working class tory' (he worked in a factory in Coventry and lived in a council house if you want the evidence.) His view was that you were born into your place in society and there you should stay. The 'nobs' (as that pair of grandparents used to refer to the upper crust) were ordained by God to be your 'betters'. Don't know how much of that came from Brethren. My nan (married to him) was Labour (except for 'the coloureds' and 'the darkies' - had UKIP existed when she was alive, she would definitely be a UKIPer).
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Oct 27, 2020 18:11
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mudskipp posted:Yea was discussing this with a much better paid friend who also drives an old car, I couldn't understand who had the cash to buy all these brand new shiny machines but it all made some kindof cynical sense once you look up the financing figures. Hopefully people enjoy em anyway. A weird quirk of car financing via PCP (and affects leasing too I suppose) is that paradoxically a more expensive car can be cheaper or at least comparable to obtain via the aforementioned financing methods. Basically premium cars depreciate less, which means the guaranteed final value at the end of the agreement is so much higher, so there is less to pay over the term of the finance which = cheaper monthlies. It’s how you see so many people bombing around in expensive hot hatches. Of course this does mean they haven’t got a hope of being able to afford the balloon payment at the end of the agreement, so they’re stuck with either giving the car back and having to cough up a deposit for a whole new car/finance, or pray there’s some equity between the final value and actual value at the time so they can part exchange it. Did you know negative equity loans exist? That’s a fun one.
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Oct 27, 2020 18:28
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Negative equity mortgages are one of those things you hear and immediately understand why the entire housing market is in the shape it is.
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Oct 27, 2020 18:41
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lol at all of this what the gently caress https://twitter.com/l_a_dunn/status/1321134736878784513?s=20
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Oct 27, 2020 18:48
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Jaeluni Asjil posted:If it's on FB and if 'unfriending' or 'blocking' is not an option for family reasons then you can 'unfollow' or 'mute for 30 days'. Quite a few people I know are using these options these days (and I know some of my family/friends are using them against me if they can't take the truth about the tories LOL). Occasionally I wonder what he's up to, so out of curiosity I'll check his profile, and then will instantly be reminded why I unfollowed him. Ever since the first rumblings of the EU ref he's been a lightning rod for any kind of racist idiocy. His latest thing is referring to Owen Jones by a bizarre and extended series of homophobic slurs, so not having to see that poo poo is great. The one bizarre stereotype he doesn't go for is poppy christmas though, and every year he gets in a fight with his brother who owns a small building firm and posts about respecting are troops every half hour. I'm pretty sure the only he's not anti-mask is because his wife has COPD and needs oxygen, so he's probably been sat down by actual doctors and had it all explained to him. Conversations with him are a constant series of flashbangs though, and I'm thankful we don't have to meet him too often. Used to be we'd go out for a meal around someone's birthday and I'd sit and smile and nod, and silently pray someone would change the subject if it started straying too close to any problem areas. E: Unfollow also incredibly useful when you need to support a friend's new project but also don't want to get spammed with MLM motivational images. Bobby Deluxe fucked around with this message at 18:55 on Oct 27, 2020 |
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Oct 27, 2020 18:49
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Gyro Zeppeli posted:Negative equity mortgages are one of those things you hear and immediately understand why the entire housing market is in the shape it is. Oh I was referring to cars. Like you could have a car on finance and you want to get a new vehicle but are upside down on equity. So the dealer gives you a loan to cover the negative equity value and rolls this into the monthly payment for the new one.
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Oct 27, 2020 18:57
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https://twitter.com/TanyaGold1/status/1321115989392662528?s=20 this lady doesn't seem too bright
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Oct 27, 2020 19:32
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The replies are  .
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Oct 27, 2020 19:41
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Guavanaut posted:The replies are Especially the people wailing about guilt by association, don't even need to search to know their opinions about wreaths and attending marches.
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Oct 27, 2020 19:51
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Lord of the Llamas posted:So the EHRC report is coming out this week. I'm guessing that we would've had a lot of leaks all over the hostile press already if it was as damning as Corbyn's critics would like. I think I read Labour have had a draft copy since July? Yeah they had the report a loooong time ago so expect some incredibly tightly written response when it shows gently caress all of note towards Corbyn.
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Oct 27, 2020 20:13
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WhatEvil posted:Yeah I just looked it up and 32% of new cars are on leases, and 91% of new cars bought are on finance. I'm surprised the Tories haven't publically attacked the Motability scheme, which accounts for 10% of all new cars, while they were busy cutting much smaller parts of DLA. To summarise, if you are eligible for the upper tranches of mobility allowance (£62 a week), you can have the government pay that direct to the Motability charity and in exchange get a car with everything but the fuel paid for (inc. maintenance, services, and insurance). It's got all the bits of brand new BMW* that they've not worked for while you're in a used Fiesta, what may not technically be but definitely looks like fraud with named drivers, overpaid executives, and charity reliant on public money. It's actually quite difficult to work out the financials behind it - even with £260ish PIP payment a month against cheaper than they look cars, they must be getting a substantial bulk discount to allow that to cover everything and, per the NAO, be overcharging for it somehow. *While BMW's are offered, Vauxhall seem to do the best out of it. Anywhere with a larger proportion of disabled people is like a sea of 19 plate Vauxhall Mokka's, and from the Motability website you can get a couple of different specs for your PIP in their models rather than just base model like Toyota.
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Oct 27, 2020 20:13
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sebzilla posted:Yup. Great moment. Fat Apollo was funny. It reminded me a lot of 
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Oct 27, 2020 20:22
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WhatEvil posted:https://twitter.com/premnsikka/status/1320852918195683330?s=20 *tugs collar* ruh roh.
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Oct 27, 2020 21:02
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Exclusive Brethren is a very tory name for a religious sect. This isn't just a weird cult, it's a marks and spencer weird cult.
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Oct 27, 2020 21:06
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They cant vote, but that doesnt stop them suggesting it to their employees heavily. Because Corbyn voted against their charity status.
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Oct 27, 2020 21:09
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I don't think this has been posted, but it is both hilarious and anger inducing at the same time. https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2020/oct/27/david-squires-on-marcus-rashford-boris-johnson-school-meals
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Oct 27, 2020 21:37
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What are some good UK (online ideally, but I'm open to supporting print) leftist publications that people like to read? I don't really like Novara much apart from James Butler, and he doesn't tend to do much writing directly for them. I used to like reading New Socialist sometimes, but a lot of their content seems to revolve around cliquey Twitter beef these days as far as I can tell, which doesn't mean anything to me.
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Oct 27, 2020 21:46
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