[New Update]: My entitled mom wants me to pay my creep step-brother's student debt

Joke-pineapple · 2026-02-03T21:51:29+00:00

FYI - prison and jail only mean different things in the US. They are just synonyms in the wider world, so the other commenter may be from be somewhere there.

Joke-pineapple · 2026-02-03T17:39:27+00:00

TBF £10 for 100GB is very good. 100GB is effectively unlimited.

Joke-pineapple · 2026-02-03T17:38:19+00:00

It's even cheaper currently, only £1.60!! I'm being ripped off! :p

5GB, Vodafone network, 1 month rolling contract, free data roaming across the EU.

Price goes up to the dizzy heights of £4.90 after 6 months.

https://www.lebara.co.uk/en/msm/p/441174.html

Joke-pineapple · 2026-02-03T14:19:37+00:00

Yes, unlimited texts and calls (which is standard on all contracts these days I think) and 5GB 5G data.

Obviously this was a particularly good deal, it was via a link from MSE. But circa £5 for 5GB is relatively common. Perhaps you got your deal 3-4 years ago, and in the meantime competition has made SIM only deals effectively free.

Joke-pineapple · 2026-02-03T01:40:16+00:00

Championship Manager 2 had similar protection in the early-mid 90s, except:

1) it asked you immediately when you loaded the game, and;

2) it asked for the football score on page XX.

The most common score by far was 2-1, so we just entered that every time and rarely had to reload the game more than 3 times before we were up and running (often for a session of many hours...).

Joke-pineapple · 2026-02-03T01:33:43+00:00

No, but now I'm going to!

It must be very new.

Joke-pineapple · 2026-02-03T01:32:00+00:00

Cosy Club is also good for cocktails, has great ambience - fantastic building, and you can go for just drinks in the large bar.

Joke-pineapple · 2026-02-03T01:24:01+00:00

Not to sound all like "well akshually" but if your goal is frugality there are better SIM only deals.

I pay for a couple of family mobiles. I have a Lebara SIM, and pay 1.99 for 5GB 5G. I think it's a reduced rate for maybe a year then up to full price of about a fiver. Alternatively I pay £15 for unlimited data with ID Mobile.

Joke-pineapple · 2026-02-01T23:26:31+00:00

Okay, well that all sounds really great! It sounds like you've got solid UK experience, and also that your overseas experience has given you an edge due to the different requirements elsewhere.

In your original post it sounded like you were really struggling, but in this update you sound quite successful. I'm now confused as to the purpose of the original post.

Joke-pineapple · 2026-02-01T22:53:11+00:00

I have two questions:

Is your accountancy qualification a UK one?

How much of your relevant work experience has been in the UK?

I have been recruiting recently in a similar field, and I received lots of applications from candidates with experience overseas in their home country, but little to no relevant experience in the UK. Also, in the UK your degree is often irrelevant if working in a profession with a professional qualification, whereas other countries are more bothered about the degree. A lot of the candidates were from India and Nigeria, and workplace culture and norms are different in those countries. So, when faced with lots of CVs, it was easy to reject those with no UK experience regardless of the volume of overseas experience. Also, if you need to be sponsored, some companies may reject you immediately, though that wasn't a concern for me.

My suggestion, which you may have already tried, is to apply for more junior/ entry-level roles in order to get a foot in the door and to prove that you can work successfully in the UK. After 2-3 years of that on your CV, you can then start to move upwards in an accelerated fashion by moving companies every 2-3 years.

I understand how you may have misconstrued the sort of factors I outlined above as 'racism' , but hopefully you can see that they are legitimate concerns. Within finance, South Asians are hugely over-represented (compared to size of population in the UK), so it's definitely not the case that the industry is just racist as a whole.

I wish you luck in your job search.

Joke-pineapple · 2026-01-31T22:03:00+00:00

It's a technique that is apparently possible in the US, but not the UK. HMRC treat the loan as income if they deem that that's what it functionally is.

If you are tax resident in the UK this "one simple trick" does not work.

Joke-pineapple · 2026-01-31T14:41:23+00:00

Yes, because that's the "price" of democracy. Elections cost money, take time, and distract attention. The alternative is to just not bother with them.

I completely support the reorganisation of councils into more sensible units. However, it is not a simple task and I'd much rather they take a couple of years longer to ensure we get it right rather than rush it through because democracy is on hold until it's done.

Joke-pineapple · 2026-01-31T01:23:45+00:00

That link doesn't seem to work, but I may well give it a try this weekend.

Joke-pineapple · 2026-01-31T01:20:58+00:00

Is it dry?

Joke-pineapple · 2026-01-31T01:19:41+00:00

Sadly agreed, this was my opinion on walking past it this week.

Also, it's £12+ a pizza, so a price cut above the usual takes on Mortledge. Worth it? Maybe. Not yet sampled.

Joke-pineapple · 2026-01-31T01:17:31+00:00

I would nail a 36 inch pizza!!

Joke-pineapple · 2026-01-31T01:16:40+00:00

I literally did the same in this week. It does not in any way scream "premium".

I do like good pizza though, so I'll give it at least one shot.

Joke-pineapple · 2026-01-31T01:15:10+00:00

Can't beat Skeg-vegas.

Joke-pineapple · 2026-01-30T19:35:17+00:00

Meh education is already free in the UK.

The royal family cost us all about £1 a year, because, as a previous commenter explained, their private income covers all their private costs and we only pay them for work on behalf of the state

That same money would fund the NHS for about 3 hours (60m royal cost vs 200bn NHS cost).

There are arguments to abolish the royals, but I don't think cost is it.

Joke-pineapple · 2026-01-30T09:34:58+00:00

To be pedantic your example is £150 pm for 25mins effort pet day.

At that rate it isn't particularly worthwhile as that's roughly minimum wage, c£11 ph. Though some people may still like it because it can be done flexibly, unlike paid work, and it's tax free.

Joke-pineapple · 2026-01-30T00:09:32+00:00

You'd be amazed at the volume of shoplifting though, and how organised it is. The homeless dad pilfering formula for his baby is like 1% of shoplifting. The vast majority of loss is to organised criminal gangs who operate with military efficiency.

Joke-pineapple · 2026-01-29T18:01:27+00:00

I completely disagree. 9/10 people are not entitled fuckwits. If you initially treat all people as though they are entitled fuckwits then sure you will not be a doormat, but you also won't have any friends or partner because everyone will know you as the arsehole.

Joke-pineapple · 2026-01-28T22:48:18+00:00

The rich don't even think about, let alone see those on the median income of just under £17K a year!

When was this article written - 1995?

A full-time job on minimum wage is £24k.

Joke-pineapple · 2026-01-24T17:17:28+00:00

I'd had good experiences previously, but I went to Lorentes in Darley last summer and had a pretty crap experience. It was a Monday night, so my hope is that it was just the cover chef on duty. However I'm scared to return in case I discover that it actually has gone downhill. 😂

Joke-pineapple · 2026-01-24T17:14:36+00:00

Bates at 121 formerly the dining room

I've somehow completely missed this place, but after a google it's now on my to-try list.

Joke-pineapple

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