10p tax rate

Okay, hands up if you're peeved at Gordon Brown for doubling your income tax? ME, ME, ME!!

It possibly wouldn't be so bad if the price of everything wasn't going up at a rate of knots, but it is and so it is.

I do think that this is actually a fairly good thing for the moral structure of this country. Well, no, not quite so much that, but almost. Only in the sense that its slowed down the rampant consumption by the majority of the population. I'm afraid for people who don't put the brakes on under these circumstances as these are the people who will end up homeless as a result of being overstretched beyond their limits.

People need to spend less, period. Anybody interested in spending less money to live day-to-day should check this site out: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/Budget-planning#bplanner this link will take you to a budget planner which is the best way of finding out whether you're living within your means or not. Then you need to browse the rest of that site to find your tips on saving money in all areas of your life. There are other things you can do, and I'll get to these things at some point, but seek out blogs that discuss frugal living and stick two fingers up to Gordon Brown, sat there panicking because the economy is slowing down. Well Gordy, if you bleed us all dry we have nothing left to give! Maybe you could leave last year's plush pile carpets down for another year, or buy your furniture from MFI instead. Maybe you should try living on £15,000 a year and see if you can support your whole family on that. Maybe then you'll have some idea how the rest of us struggle.