Latest Moan From You and Me 2025

Just reading back. Yes, orange juice is acid and sugary, so will contribute to rotting your teeth, and dissolving the enamel. Once a day will do the least harm, but eating an orange instead will provide some fibre at the same time. The body can’t store Vitamin C, so once you’ve had your first glass of juice, you’d be better to pour all the subsequent ones straight down the loo and save your kidneys the effort!

Interesting to hear how industries other than the NHS deal with budgets. Every year, the first thing that happened to my bit of the NHS budget was that I had to forfeit a substantial percentage for the ‘vacancy factor’. This presumed that every year, I would make a saving in spending, because a number of staff would retire or leave, there would be a gap before new staff started work, and that the new staff would be at the bottom of the pay scale. Unfortunate for my department, as we had (thankfully) a very stable workforce, most of whom stayed for their entire career. Equally, as a very specialist department, any new clinicians recruited needed to already have considerable experience and would be near the top of the pay scale when they came. These regulations might have made sense in other and bigger departments, but it was certainly a case of one rule doesn’t fit all. I was fortunate to be able to complete an MBA part time, but was one of the very few clinicians with a business qualification. Came in very useful when the non clinical managers tried unsuccessfully to pull the wool over my eyes.

Have had to ration my reading of the news once again. Just one disaster after another. We could do with another emoji in the ratings column, maybe a tearing one’s hair out one?

 

I don’t want to give the impression my mother was rendered destitute. She only “gambled” a small amount, spare to her needs. My point really was governments have reasons for nudging savers towards stocks and shares that have very little to do with what is best for those savers and a lot to do with what is best for their stock market pals.

If the tax benefit of having cash ISAs gets removed, so be it. Doubtless the media will spin this as a great opportunity for the ordinary person, etc, etc. I will not be persuaded. I’d rather have a lower but certain return, even if taxable. TBF, I am not one of life’s risk-takers by nature, so the gov will have to do without my input should they decide to implement this little economy-growing wheeze.

 

I've got a cash ISA and a Stocks and Shares ISA, must admit the S&S ISA stood still for many years, mostly during covid and the initial charges when I took it out, but in the last couple of years it seems to have taken off a bit.

The Cash ISA is just rumbling on and is probably less of a gamble but if they stop the tax relief on it it wont be worth having bearing in mind the poor interest rates these days, so I'll probably move the majority of the money in it elsewhere.

Anyone know a reliable off shore investment.

 

Give it to the Gov they're make use of it if not they're take it from you anyway

 

@Sheal The way things appear to be going, we may as well term our land as the NAY

 

Not sure the other side of the tunnel counts as Off Shore.

 

It can be quite surprising when in the SMarket to see how long the queue is to buy Lottery tickets. I've never bought one but it's obviously a popular gamble.

 

There's a chap around my way does this, I often see him when I'm on my way to work. He does a good job.
David Sedaris (Radio4 listeners may be familiar ...) is also a litter picker.