The Stresses of Modern Life.
In these days of uncertainty it seems that almost every one of us, both young and old, suffer from some kind of stress. Care must be taken not to confuse it with the normal worries that are all part of life and without which there would be no incentive to do our best for those near and dear to us. We should worry if our children hurt themselves or are late home or we forgot to get a loaf of bread or something when we do the shopping.
The stress now being referred to is quite different. It is a concern that takes precedence in your mind and affects everything else. It was reported recently ‘not having enough money’, having overtaken ‘weight loss’, was now people’s top worry. In some cases both of these afflictions could be self perpetrated but the stress of modern day living for all ages certainly is not.
For ordinary people, the tragedy is that they can do nothing about it. They go to work and earn the money to support their family but how much of what they receive is theirs. A great deal of it, tax, insurance, pension etc. is deducted before they have access to the balance but then there is still the mortgage or rent, services and other committed payments.
What is left is yours! – Except for things like the VAT you have to pay on most goods and services.
Would it be much better for everyone if all the deductions were made at the same time before wages and salaries were paid? They all finish up in the same big purse anyway for distribution as our elected government thinks fit.
Did You Know?
Years ago it was never as complicated and worrying as it is today. Very few people were overweight because the food they had was fresh and natural and they couldn’t afford too much of it. Also, just as important, they ate little and often, at least three times a day sitting around a table.
As they had barely enough money for necessities they didn’t have the same worries over cash folk have today. They only bought what they had the money to pay for and often had to decide what was most essential. Things that were out of their price range were not considered and therefore they never had expectation of anything outside their budget.
National Insurance and Employment stamps were paid for and stuck onto every employee’s card before they were given their wages. Then they only had their rent to pay to a private landlord. Unless of course, they lived in a tithe cottage.
Compared to today life was very simple and looking back we often think how boring and tedious it must have been. With no modern aids in the house and everything having to be done manually.
Stoves and fireplaces cleaned and blacked, mats taken up, hung over the linen line outside and given a good beating with a carpet beater. For the weekly wash, water was boiled in the copper and everything washed by hand in a tin bath before being mangled and then hung outside.
There were no cars to carry the shopping home. All they had was a shopping basket. If there were a lot of things they might ask for the errand boy to deliver them. Every kind of shop had an errand boy which was a job usually done by schoolboys as a way of earning their pocket money.
Not many got a regular hand out from their parents and this quickly taught them how to handle their assets and appreciate the things they had to work for.
Suppose the whole population decided to become thrifty and followed the example of our great and great-great grandparents, buying only what we had the cash for. A mortgage would be the only loan to repay and the most you could expect to borrow would be about 12.5% of the annual income of one of the couple applying.
Unfortunately, even the poorest would still have to pay the multitude of taxes, some of which many of us are not aware of and even if we were we wouldn’t understand how they worked and the services like HJS are here to help. How many of us know what goods and services are subject to VAT and think about it when we buy something?
It is quite obvious reverting back to the old ways wouldn’t work. If we did so, we would probably be worse off than we are now: — However, the present practice of getting deeper and deeper in the red and eventually having nothing but debts to pass on to our children doesn’t work either. – At least this way, in future years there will be no worries about inheritance tax!!??
valley lad – [EIGHTY-TWO]
