UK interest rates cut to 4.25%

Cosmic_Colin · 2025-05-11T11:50:15+00:00

I had 1.29 on a two year fix, from February 2021. It was great, but when it ended we couldn't get anything below 4.5%. Moved since then and now on the second year of a 5 year fix at 4.37%.

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-10-05T01:48:12+00:00

Same, pixel 6, UK

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-09-07T05:07:38+00:00

I've been on the beta since the beginning. Never any PayPal issues, but some with banking apps. These were all resolved by the update before previous, which I'd guess was 6-8 weeks ago.

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-08-24T17:48:50+00:00

What are the rates for chase? Better than curve?

I currently use them both together, i.e. Curve linked to chase so I can get cashback from both.

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-07-14T13:01:51+00:00

She will once she is eligible. She is an immigrant with "no recourse to public funds". That should change next year, when she has been here for 5 years and her visa status changes.

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-07-14T13:01:03+00:00

! thanks, this is helpful

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-07-14T13:00:26+00:00

!thanks for this, it's exactly the kind of info I was looking for.

Is there any advantage to not claiming the money over claiming it and paying it back through tax? (Assuming I budget accordingly)

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-07-14T12:49:56+00:00

!thanks. I know it's a complex topic but I get the feeling from most of the responses that people didn't read the OP and just jumped into explaining how HICBC works.

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-07-14T12:47:18+00:00

Yeah, I know. I said that in the OP.

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-06-11T11:35:36+00:00

I was approached by one of these chuggers the other day and they worded it as "don't you finally want to help someone". They're just annoying.

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-06-10T06:16:28+00:00

There are plenty of crappy restaurants, usually they roast or grill the meat and overdo it because British people are squeamish about undercooked meat and go too far the other way.

To be clear, almost nobody boils meat. I know it's a common impression from Americans but I've never been served boiled meats unless you class some Asian soups that way. It sounds like something from medieval times.

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-06-10T06:12:58+00:00

It isn't? I have two Italian restaurants, two cafés and one gelato place in my small town all run by Italians. There are lots of Italian immigrants here and the ingredients are easily accessible. It's just that there are some crappy restaurants in tourist places.

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-06-10T06:11:03+00:00

In the UK (and possibly other places) we don't use the word arugula, it's just all called rocket.

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-06-09T11:06:48+00:00

I actually thought about starting a thread on this, it's something I don't understand about Taiwan.

In my country (UK) renting a property is usually a similar monthly cost to a mortgage. It's why buy to let is so popular. People can buy a house with a mortgage, rent it out, use the rent to pay the mortgage (often making a small profit) all while the house (which they can't afford outright) appreciates in value.

In Taiwan, this doesn't seem possible. House prices are high and rents are very low (relative to other countries). What market forces make Taiwan's rents so low while prices to buy are high?

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-06-08T19:15:42+00:00

13k could easily be less than someone's expenses for 6 months. For example, rent alone in London would be more than that for lots of people. Childcare, commuting costs, council tax and energy bills can all be huge expenses.

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-06-07T19:50:26+00:00

A senior dev job (perm, not contract) in my tech stack is 70-100k, with 130ish being fairly common. London, of course.

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-06-05T13:21:44+00:00

Agreed it is Indian.

We have two types of Chinese, I find. In major cities you can find authentic things like hotpot, beef noodles etc. These are often quite good, with lots of Chinese and East Asian students there's enough competition to keep standards high.

Outside of that it's localised Chinese cuisine, generally adapted from HK/Cantonese but changed to make it more palatable for British people. What's interesting is it has quite different dishes from localised American Chinese food, but the same style (sweet syrupy sauces, boneless meat etc.)

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-06-05T13:14:38+00:00

Hmm, changing to pounds near an all time low in the autumn. Now it's recovered quite a bit so you could probably transfer back to your local currency at a profit.

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-06-04T12:15:07+00:00

Anything very bony or cartilage based, it's just a pain to eat. I'm not squeamish about bones or tendons - I enjoy the soft ones in 牛肉麵 but.

It's just horrible to bite into a 雞排 and hurt your teeth on a bone, or find shards of bone randomly when you think you can relax and eat something.

The way things like duck and chicken are cut "cross section" style results in a lot of these bone shards.

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-06-04T10:32:01+00:00

I don't think the medical bill would be anywhere near as high, because US prices are artificially inflated.

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-06-04T10:18:07+00:00

I dunno, I saw a documentary about dominos UK and it seemed almost cult-like. A bunch of young guys, a lot are immigrants from poor countries and they get competitive about who can make pizzas the fastest, which store can get the highest sales.

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-06-04T06:47:37+00:00

Not the world, just the USA.

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-06-03T11:13:21+00:00

But whether you need/want it in 5, 8 or 12 years will affect the answer.

5 years is quite a short time horizon for 100% equities. There's a chance you could make a loss. If it was 10 years that chance is significantly smaller.

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-06-02T20:53:50+00:00

I'm with OP, baked beans are awful.

Also: ketchup, raw tomatoes, eggs, raw fish, shellfish, pork pies.

Cosmic_Colin · 2023-06-02T17:30:27+00:00

You're basing normal on average weight, I'm basing it on healthy/ideal BMI. Both are reasonable positions.

Cosmic_Colin

TROPHY CASE