Better off here than in UK - Cannan.

[Non-Believer]

19 minutes ago, finlo said:

Who supplies their grub since Jack Frost went tit's up?

Douglas harbour...? 

[Frances]

I do a regular commute to SE England (supposedly in high cost stockbroker belt country) - across the road is a Waitrose where on my regular shops compare Muesli £2.50 with same in Shoprite £3.50 (ie 40% markup), bottle of tonic water 57p but 70p (ie 35% markup) in Shoprite - other Waitrose stuff seems have have a similar markup. M&S seems to have the same price structure on Island as across (and now regularly undercuts the now rather diminished street market tho for how long their lower prices will last I'm not sure) - there is an Aldi but some distance away but their prices seem to be less competitive as compared with M&S + Sainsbury than when they opened a few years ago but it's not on my shopping route except when I transit via Liverpool - I suspect the makeover of that + other Aldi stores has needed a markup in prices, Lidl may be cheaper. Since I'm now shopping for 1 (and a non drinker + non meat eater) my shopping will be somewhat different and less price sensitive than a family shop but my estimate is that shopping around in UK is about 20-25% cheaper for similar lines of food. I no longer eat out enough to compare UK + Island prices - some years ago I reckoned the UK (away from London) was about 75% of Island prices.

[finlo]

32 minutes ago, Frances said:

I do a regular commute to SE England (supposedly in high cost stockbroker belt country) - across the road is a Waitrose where on my regular shops compare Muesli £2.50 with same in Shoprite £3.50 (ie 40% markup), bottle of tonic water 57p but 70p (ie 35% markup) in Shoprite - other Waitrose stuff seems have have a similar markup. M&S seems to have the same price structure on Island as across (and now regularly undercuts the now rather diminished street market tho for how long their lower prices will last I'm not sure) - there is an Aldi but some distance away but their prices seem to be less competitive as compared with M&S + Sainsbury than when they opened a few years ago but it's not on my shopping route except when I transit via Liverpool - I suspect the makeover of that + other Aldi stores has needed a markup in prices, Lidl may be cheaper. Since I'm now shopping for 1 (and a non drinker + non meat eater) my shopping will be somewhat different and less price sensitive than a family shop but my estimate is that shopping around in UK is about 20-25% cheaper for similar lines of food. I no longer eat out enough to compare UK + Island prices - some years ago I reckoned the UK (away from London) was about 75% of Island prices.

I've had cheaper pub meals and drinks in London than I have here, and yes I know you can pay through the nose for stuff in London if your not careful.

[Numbnuts]

1 hour ago, kevster said:

Portion sizes are set by the brewery

I know . But was told by the manager that the chef was going o ignore the brewery when it all settles down. Never thought that would happen and in fact it's worse now 

[the stinking enigma]

1 hour ago, joebean said:

Alf is merely peddling the “it’s all good and no need to worry” message that has been at the core of all Government policy and propaganda in the Quayle administration. The fact is that, on my income, I would be much better off, financially, living in the UK right now, taking my total outgoings into account.  There are other reasons that keep me here. One of them used to be Hope, but that is gone now.

Chastity?

[Non-Believer]

17 minutes ago, the stinking enigma said:

Chastity?

Never been any in Ramsey....

[Rog]

33 minutes ago, The Orgozoid said:

I’ve seriously looked at leaving for the first time ever. Having had to spend a lot of time in the U.K for family reasons recently it’s brought it home to me how cheap it is to live in the U.K compared to here and how much better the infrastructure is. The tax is just a red herring unless you’re a really high earner. The only decision really is if we could sell the house for what it’s been valued at. If we could do that we could find a really nice enclave in Yorkshire, Cheshire or Lancashire and even pay about £100k less for a similar property. The IOM simply isn’t attractive to many anymore.   

It's not only less expensive over here, it's not riddled with crime in the way people from the island seem to think it is.  Admittedly there are some truly awful places such as obviously London but even there there are still some safe places though not many any more, Luton, most of Birmingham, South Wales and other places with the same demographics or historic crap holes such as Liverpool but where we live on the outskirts of a little village about five miles from Cromer (North Norfolk) we have all the benefits of living on the mainland only a few minutes drive away and none of the disadvantages of living on the island..

OK it was strange at first moving here from where we had been living before (just outside of Colchester) because Norfolk is notoriously flat - but very soon that strangeness turned into a real familiarity with the "big" sky, countryside like The Ayres but very much bigger with farms scattered around, wonderful wild life, and so much more.

Obviously to each their own, but I wouldn't swap the freedom of life on the mainland with the claustrophobic life on the island for a gold clock.

[Albert Tatlock]

Methinks Cannan is talking complete propaganda bullshit to save a few shillings. Tens of £millions more will need to be taken out of the system each and every year soon to pay his and other government funded private pensions and still maintain the bloat and waste in government.

[Non-Believer]

Just looking on iomtoday, he's now making excuses for the Govt's KPMG audited accounts being late, in response to a question from Hooper. Now due in January rather than last November.

[yootalkin2me]

1 hour ago, Rog said:

It's not only less expensive over here, it's not riddled with crime in the way people from the island seem to think it is.  Admittedly there are some truly awful places such as obviously London but even there there are still some safe places though not many any more, Luton, most of Birmingham, South Wales and other places with the same demographics or historic crap holes such as Liverpool but where we live on the outskirts of a little village about five miles from Cromer (North Norfolk) we have all the benefits of living on the mainland only a few minutes drive away and none of the disadvantages of living on the island..

OK it was strange at first moving here from where we had been living before (just outside of Colchester) because Norfolk is notoriously flat - but very soon that strangeness turned into a real familiarity with the "big" sky, countryside like The Ayres but very much bigger with farms scattered around, wonderful wild life, and so much more.

Obviously to each their own, but I wouldn't swap the freedom of life on the mainland with the claustrophobic life on the island for a gold clock.

That's everyone happy then

[yootalkin2me]

1 hour ago, Albert Tatlock said:

Methinks Cannan is talking complete propaganda bullshit to save a few shillings. Tens of £millions more will need to be taken out of the system each and every year soon to pay his and other government funded private pensions and still maintain the bloat and waste in government.

Yawn

[Rog]

40 minutes ago, yootalkin2me said:

That's everyone happy then

Yes, other than those trying to decide if to move to the mainland or not.  I just hope my perspective helps them to decide.

[woolley]

2 hours ago, Rog said:

Obviously to each their own, but I wouldn't swap the freedom of life on the mainland with the claustrophobic life on the island for a gold clock.

I've never found the Island claustrophobic. I love its wide open spaces and relatively low population density. You can walk the hills for hours on a bank holiday and see hardly a soul. I've often thought that the Channel Islands would be as you say if there for a long period. Too many people, vehicles and not enough space, but not here.

I do acknowledge that I travel frequently and widely so that might colour my view, but I love to come home. I have always thought that the Isle of Man could be a pretty miserable place to be skint and without the means of travel away, although that isn't a picnic anywhere.

[woolley]

15 hours ago, Frances said:

I do a regular commute to SE England (supposedly in high cost stockbroker belt country) - across the road is a Waitrose where on my regular shops compare Muesli £2.50 with same in Shoprite £3.50 (ie 40% markup), bottle of tonic water 57p but 70p (ie 35% markup) in Shoprite - other Waitrose stuff seems have have a similar markup. M&S seems to have the same price structure on Island as across (and now regularly undercuts the now rather diminished street market tho for how long their lower prices will last I'm not sure) - there is an Aldi but some distance away but their prices seem to be less competitive as compared with M&S + Sainsbury than when they opened a few years ago but it's not on my shopping route except when I transit via Liverpool - I suspect the makeover of that + other Aldi stores has needed a markup in prices, Lidl may be cheaper. Since I'm now shopping for 1 (and a non drinker + non meat eater) my shopping will be somewhat different and less price sensitive than a family shop but my estimate is that shopping around in UK is about 20-25% cheaper for similar lines of food. I no longer eat out enough to compare UK + Island prices - some years ago I reckoned the UK (away from London) was about 75% of Island prices.

From what I can see, Tesco seems to be the same price on most things both here and in the UK. I've mentioned this before here, and other posters have concurred.

We used to support Shoprite a lot but less and less now. Mrs W has even seen Shoprite staff shopping in Tesco, so that must say something. I think the move to Sainsbury brand will be underwhelming to customers and a mistake for their business. Mrs W and I were in a Sainsburys in Southern England during the week, and they are not cheap. The stuff is OK, but pretty much everything was the same or dearer than Tesco in Douglas. What will that translate to in Shoprite? You can get away with it to some extent with Waitrose as the brand still has a certain cachet. Although Sainsbury also had that pull once upon a time, it is now just another supermarket.

 

 

[Rog]

46 minutes ago, woolley said:

I've never found the Island claustrophobic. I love its wide open spaces and relatively low population density. You can walk the hills for hours on a bank holiday and see hardly a soul. I've often thought that the Channel Islands would be as you say if there for a long period. Too many people, vehicles and not enough space, but not here.

I do acknowledge that I travel frequently and widely so that might colour my view, but I love to come home. I have always thought that the Isle of Man could be a pretty miserable place to be skint and without the means of travel away, although that isn't a picnic anywhere.

I understand, but it's not just physical claustrophobic - though the cold horror of coming round Kate's Cottage and seeing no boat at the pier never ended - it's also the closed society where so many people are so tied up in each other affairs.  Sometimes literally!