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  1. L

    Will we see any incentives to spend again?

    Chris couldn't have put it any better. Just look at the student situation: young people are encouraged to take loans, for degrees which are probably often not worth that money. After 3 or 4 years of uni, all they can find is a call centre job, with an annual net salary which is often less than...
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    Should we stay... or should we move?

    Regarding your % question, in my family/social background, we have the following golden rules: * never spend more than 1/3 of your net income on rent/mortgage repayment * save and/or invest at least 1/3 of your net income every month * don't borrow money except when buying a house. i.e. you...
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    32 year old, hopes to semi retire by 40

    Hi Peterpanics, Well done for saving so much! I think your plan is do-able. If you can earn 20KE working p/t you'll still be earning more than many people who work f/t! On a farm, you will regularly face big expenses such as mending the fences; pruning the trees (if you have any trees)...
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    22 and a 2nd year college student in dire financial straights!!!

    That's an old post. I wonder how it all ended up. I had to give up uni when I was 20. My parents did not help me financially, I was not eligible to a grant (not even to housing benefits, because the room I was renting had an area of less than 7 square meters), and my various p/t jobs...
  5. L

    Budgeting and Making Ends Meet

    Like others, I've been keeping spending diaries all my life: I started when I was 8 and first got some pocket money (which I had to save all year long to buy Xmas presents for my relatives, I was hardly ever allowed to buy myself books or even postcards!). Besides helping you to budget (e.g. if...
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    Saving hard for a first time home - any advice

    Hi Bud, I don't think the fact that your savings are not held with an Irish bank has much relevance, as long as you succeed in proving that the money is yours, and that you are not money laundering. In France, we shop around for a mortgage, and where your deposit is held is quite irrelevant...
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    How safe are my deposit savings in Bank of Ireland?

    Hi, I've worked at Bank of Ireland and I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole. Most of the managers did not know what they were doing. They prepared nice spreadsheets and presentations so that their department would look good on paper, but in the reality it was a big mess. Lost paperwork (deeds...
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    Lodging/cashing cheque in maiden name

    If the bank refuses to cash it, can you ask the issuer to reissue the cheque? There can be a fee, but at work, if clients ask really nicely, and they have a really good reason, like 'my mother has Alzheimer and I've just found that cheque' or 'I advised you of my change of name in 2003 and I...
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    Giving Bank Account details to renters of holiday home

    Hi, I used to have the same concerns. I had mail which was opened or stolen (at least 1 item) in my last houseshare, and at least 28 items of mail (that I know of) which were stolen in the studio flat I rented afterwards. Apparently, if fraudsters only know your sort code and account number...
  10. L

    Opening a Foreign Bank Account

    Rather than deposit monies into an account, you could also invest into 'cash' securities from a foreign country: for example corporate bonds or foreign government debt. Some British government stocks are even index-linked (i.e. they follow the Retail Price Index), which offers you protection...
  11. L

    13 Reasons Japan Still Has a Bright Future

    Thanks for the link. I'd add that Japanese youth (from the individuals I've met in France and in the UK) seem to be a decent, hard-working, imaginative lot. They don't spend several evenings a week binge drinking, but take their studies seriously.
  12. L

    buying property in uk

    1 week turnaround, wow! I guess it depends on how desirable the property is though.
  13. L

    Property prices in Nice (France)

    Hi Slim, I can't recommend a real estate agency in the area, but if I were looking to buy there, my first port of call would be the 'chambre des notaires': they usually have lists of properties for sale, and can recommend agencies if none of their properties meet your criteria. 'Notaires' also...
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    Non-graduate unemployable at 47

    Hi Billybobmac, I've been jobhunting in London for a while and the jobmarket definitely seems to have more to offer than in the small English town where I'm based now. They hire foreigners more readily too, including for office work. You have plenty of work experience, and in the UK the 'no...
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    Choosing between Dublin & London

    I'd second that. I worked my £$%^ off during my 1st year in my current company (also a big global company) and I did not get a bonus. I was supposed to get a payrise of 30% to 60% (to bring my salary to the same level as that of my British colleagues): that did not happen either. I had to drop...
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    Jobs situation in Dubai

    Hello, I regularly receive offers to work as a real estate agent in Dubai (through Monster - I've worked in a real estate agency, negotiating sales, so that's probably why they keep 'harvesting' my CV). The last one I had, they were offering £20K pa + a commission on 20% on sales or 50%...
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    Assumed role of manager

    Hi Narky, I'm glad it's sorted out now. You could have become burnt out without being a parent, just from working + commuting long hours, bringing complaint cases back home to work on in the evenings and at the weekend, and not sleeping enough. It's happened to me in the past, and I had the...
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    Renting my house while in uk

    Hello, I rent in the UK and initially I tried houseshares with live-in landlords/landladies. One landlady (on sickness benefits for depression, but when I did the viewing she told me she was often 'working' from home) thought I would be out of the house every weekend, because I am not British. I...
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    Wrong forum tips wanted rental accommodation London

    Hello, I am looking for a job in London (could be Canary Wharf, City, or Paddington) and if I do find one, I’d like some tips about areas where to rent a studio (max £800pm). I know Paris (well, parts of it, there are other parts where I haven’t set foot since the 90’s) quite well, as I lived...
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    Moving abroad later in life

    Hi Lingua and Lou34, You should create a thread about relocating to the Netherlands, you both seem very knowledgeable! Did you have to take the Inburgeringsexamen, or a language exam? Can you recommend a Dutch language method which is geared towards such exams, and includes relevant...
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