trigger_andy

''Everyone pays a monthly rent to the co-op. Rents are kept low because members put in two days per week work.'' Is this still the case? 'Low rent' and slave labour? Two days a week? Both you and the missus? That sounds like extremely high rent to me. At a tenner an hour your missus pays the equivalent of £640 a month rent and I'll guess you'd earn far more than that an hour. But jut say you're both worth just a tenner an hour each you're paying 'low rent' and at least £1200 a month (equivalent) for what I can only guess is a couple of rooms in an old mansion. Its certainly an interesting life style, but I do feel you're somewhat in denial.

So as Im interested I asked. Im not entirely new to hippy communes my old man moved in those kinds of circles and had friends up in Findhorn but my mum banned me from ever going up to visit. That really peeved me off when Mike Scott from the Waterboys lived there and some of my old mans hippy buddys invited us up. Was still a no from my Mum.

It was a question not a statement.

Redfield REDFIELDCOMMUNITY.ORG.UK Redfield Community Certainly not for me but if it works for you it works for you. I bet you're lying about the group sex. Could you explain how you become a part 'owner' for a quid?

Interesting. So you're just squatters then? Do you even have electricity there? Running water?

Shame about the group sex. Fully mutual but you pay a quid to join? What am I missing here? I assume you cant just build a house there? So its huts, tents or caravans or something else? Is it a commune?

Only because you claim to be a good little socialist and seem to support the parties that would increase tax for the average working man yet then mouth off with glee that you're a dirty little tax dodger. That in my opinion is the lowest of the low.

Is that like a commune? Someone clearly owns the 18 acres, right? There must be something in it for him/her? Group sex I assume.

Some interesting points there but I feel you’d not get away with what you suggested for long in the U.K. I can’t say I agree with you comment that taking out a mortgage is the path of least resistance. As a home owner you’re fully responsible of everything that goes wrong with your property as really it’s still the banks til you pay off the mortgage. Need new windows? Kitchen? Leaks? All on you. Rent? You’ve got got your hand held for you your whole adult life and spoon fed.

Sounds exhausting. I’d personally hate that lifestyle but then I know many would hate mine. Swings and roundabouts.

I don't have a landlord so I'm certainly not paying his mortgage. Ok. Sounds like a very unusual lifestyle. No mortgage, not a home owner and no landlord. If it works for you it works for you and that’s great, it’s certainly not for everyone. So what is your living arrangements? I’m certainly curious now.

Good man! Im feeling the rise in the price of timber now. Had to pay £45 a ton for 6m lengths of Spruce! 🤣 The amount of hoops I had to jump through to get my mortgage this time was insane, all stemming from being paid in Kroner. Only one bank would offer a mortgage based on the Kroner and that was stress tested to death. It was an 24 month roller coaster ride that eventually paid off. We rented the house we bought for over 4 years before we where in a position to buy it. But we had the offer from the landlord accepted after 1 year of renting. To know we could buy the place, but not knowing if the bank would accept us was very stressful as was trying to sell a house in Stavanger for 3 years during the peak of the oil crash. I ended up selling at the same price I bought the house for but lost the £30,000 deposit and the £100,000 I pumped into renovations. Instead of waking away with a £100,000 profit that the estate agent expected the house to sell for we walked away with a few suitcases each. So then I had to work my Arse off again to get the cash together not just to get the deposit in Scotland but fully furnish the house we where renting (bought) here. All worked out in the end though.

I was not referring to you personally since you’ve already made it clear you prefer paying off your landlords mortgage. I was referring to someone who did actually wish to get on the ladder in an area they are priced out of. If you think by renting you’re not falling in line then more power ya. We all fall in line, some by getting a mortgage, so by paying off their landlords mortgage. Either way you’re not sticking it to “the man”. Let’s see you not pay tax since you don’t wanna fall in line and see how long that lasts. You’re as much in line as anyone else.

I find this a bit insulting Saul. You’re 3 years older than me and I was offered a 30 year mortgage, so your age is not an issue. I picked Berries, Daffies, Bulbs and Tatties as a kid because we where flat broke. I’ve never had a penny given to me. I stared out on £40 a week and I had to pay £20 of that in rent to my mum. After my first apprenticeship I had to start a second as there was no jobs as a mechanic. I’ve worked my arse off my whole life to afford anything and have had zero help. To be able to afford a house again after losing everything in the last crash I’ve had to make a lot of personal sacrifices.

Define “here”. I assume you mean around your way and not the U.K. as a whole?

Don’t live round your way if you want to get a foot hold on the ladder then? 🤷‍♂️ If someone in your neck of the woods wants to get in then they need to move away, buy a £100,000 fixer-upper, do it up and flip it. Rinse and repeat. If they’re still desperate to move back they’ll be in a position to eventually.

I see them in the woodland I walk through each year but finally plucked up the courage to pick them and eat them. Mainly because if I’ve picked some false ones I’ll not die. 🤣 No one else picks them and there must be 10-20kg there a year. Gonna be nice knowing they are there each year.

I’be looked into these before but never seen them this cheap! If that price is genuine I really don’t think you have much to lose and might get one myself! I think they Rock Machinery and Woodland Mills just rebadge these exact machines.

We are being taxed to death, and it’s only going to get significantly worse. Yet whatever you’re taxed in England we’re taxed more here in Scotland. So really it should read the SNP are taxing us the most since the ‘70’s. The reality for me is I’m significantly taxed higher here in the U.K. than I am in Norway. We’re taxed so much in the U.K. and are given very little back in return other than told to brace our knee’s since we have such broad shoulders. I shudder to think what Labour or the Lib Dumbs would having us paying now. Sometimes it’s better the Devil you know as Labour are already talking of significantly raising taxes. Like you I might up sticks if it gets much worse. Or maybe just keep my days in Scotland under 90 days to avoid paying any tax here (other than Council tax and voluntary NI)

Picked a nice wee haul of Chanterelles the other day.

Exactly! We already pay more tax in Scotland than England its not another what-about-isim. The reality is under a socialist government you’d be paying more tax. In Scotland ever gets independence it’s gonna get a lot worse. Welcome to the term “broad shoulders” we’ve had to put up with this nonsense for years.

Well, you’re very wrong.

I think Kev mentioned it before. Can’t mind it myself, all that comes to mind is conditioning.

Yes and no. To clarify, if you wish to save up for a Mortgage and you’re on a lower wage or the house prices put the area or type of house you want out of your reach and you really want that then you’re gonna have to work hard to achieve that goal. Once you have your eye watering deposit, and once you’ve satisfied the bank you can maintain that level of income then you’ll get your house/flat. After that you can relax and settle into just making your mortgage payments each month, that’s quite often lower than what they where paying in rent before. If nothing else you’re breaking the shackles of being a rent slave for the rest of your life.

Which part do you think is BS?