What can we all do to regain our independence?

it is not really a big thing here in belguim to be on the property ladder, if you can fine, if not then just find somewhere nice to rent and thats it, some people rent all their lives.
There is some Social Housing but mainly for non eu immigrants, we have a lot of those, I have been on the list for 15 years!!!!!
Council housing is only for those in full time employment and the rents are means tested. Most are kept for those in essential jobs, teachers, nurses etc.
Then again the rights of tenants are paramount, with obligatory 3 to 9 year leases which must be registered an the local Commune. When I mean 3 to 9 it means if the lease is not broken by the tenant after 3 years it automatically becomes 9 years.
A landlord can give a tenant 6 months notice if he intends to renovate the property or a family member is in need of accommodation.
I even have a secure rental contract with my SIL, if i did not I would be unable to get essential services.
Perhaps sometimes the UK could look east when they are trying to sort things out instead of assuming everything on the continent of Europe is bad.

So I have written to the Post Office to opt out of unaddressed mail, registered online for Mail Preference and printed out the Money Saving Expert sign and stuck it up.

I shall now sit back and see how much difference it makes.

i still get stuff through the door, they just don't ring the door bell.

Found a problem when I get around to putting a notice on the door. A charity bag just plopped through the letter box - I shan't get any them any more and will have to buy bin bags!!

durhamjen was just quoting the website and in my experience it just the threat that you could report that works.

Pittcity at your last paragraph!

Pittcity, my son's a trading standards officer. He's far too busy with real crooks.

I was looking for bogof offers in the supermarket today because, on the way in, a well-meaning lady leapt in front of me with a message on her apron informing me she was collecting for the local food bank. I felt pressurised into buying food to donate and could not find any bogofs - are they still being offered?

I've got a laminator too, so useful.

The Money Saving Expert signs durhamjen quote the "Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Regulations 2008" and Martin says "Guidance we've had from Trading Standards says ignoring a sticker may be a criminal offence under the Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. While it's not been tested in court, a QC agrees with this so we've added it to our sign. If they knock when they shouldn't, there can be no argument." Simply report offenders to Trading Standards.

The energy companies cannot ignore this sign and if they do you can report the employee to the company and get compensation.

All that said I have had no problem, except once when one of those "know it all" salesmen said he couldn't read when I politely pointed out the sign. I replied "Oh how sad" and closed the door.

Thank you Pittcity. Those are so much better than the council ones. And I've got a laminator machine now which I love!

I've got a similar sign on my door, from the local council.
Doesn't do any good. They knock and when I answer, then point out the sign to them, they say sorry, never saw it.
I never buy, though.

There are some signs on the Money Saving Expert site that you can print and display. I have one and it works!!

I think I'm repeating myself here but the S.O.has stopped listening to Radio 5 Live [he always had it on in the house and in the car] because he said so many of the articles in it were depressing. I never have listened to it except when I was with him but I'd thought it for a long time. I hope that if I ever have to go into a home my pension and rental that I could get for my house would go a long way towards paying the fees [now that is a depressing thought].

But if you rent you'll be paying out for the rest of your life )unless you're in social housing or on benefits).

Since the mortgage was paid off 10 years ago we are living rent free.

That sounds like a great way to maintain your independence, ruby.

p.s. Had one but sadly it ended.

I live in rented council and love my home. I don't think it wants to give us up as, because of bedroom tax, we have tried to move but it has always fallen through.

The problem is now though, due to bad health, it took me three days to decorate one wall in my living room and because of being on benefits due to health, I can't afford to pay anyone to do it. So either soldier on at a snail's pace or leave it. I'm not the type though as I've been used to doing my homes up myself since I married 30 years ago. On own now though. Need a toy boy to put the spring back in my step, lol.

I let adverts wash over me. I will hold my hand up to being influenced when I was younger, but not these days. The advertisers just want to manipulate us to buy into their dream, thought up by well-paid professional dream spinners. Sod them I say ...

I agree with Tegan and papaoscar regarding property owning and have long been of the opinion that it just isn't worth the hassle - if you can find good landlords. I once lived in a property owned by a very reputable housing association in a beautiful part of Birmingham - one of my biggest mistakes was ever leaving there to come here. Oooh, when I think of what I gave up and now have to deal with myself when I'm ill suited to the job needing attention ...

I have advised both of my children not to buy property.

Good for you! Have fun ....

No Tegan, even for couples routine property maintenance can become a real chore. We're hoping to spend our final years in rented property and spend some cash on ourselves at last - we've made the best provision we can for family. It's our turn now.

There seemed to be a reason for it when I was younger and nest building but now it's just tiring [and downsizing/moving will involve even more work]. I feel like saying to my kids 'don't devote so much time/money/energy to your house; just live and holiday'. Even the things I do enjoy such as decorating and gardening seem to involve finding the time and not doing it at leisure. But maybe it's due to the fact that I live alone and have to do all of the work myself.

That's a very good point, Tegan. Most of us devote a large part of our time and effort to paying-for and patching up our property and I certainly wonder if its all worth it. OK, we all have to live somewhere but I think that fair-renting or part ownership or open-ended mortgages would be better alternatives.

My house is my albatross; constantly needing attention and stopping me from doing things that I really want to do.

We usually record channels with ads. if there is something we want to watch - BBC is normally our station of choice and I love Radio 4 but not all day. Since I've been studying I've learned to work with no commercial noise and I just love the peace and quiet. I generally don't watch the news but read it on the internet.

I too really dislike the music that abounds in many shops - especially women's clothes shops. It's really intrusive. I've always gone shopping early if I'm looking for something specific as these days I find it just too noisy later in the day. The same goes for indoor shopping centres - lovely in the deep winter as they are warm, but very claustrophobic as the noise gets louder and there are more and more people.

I find it's amusing/irritating when ads. say buy this and save money! If you're buying something you're spending money. As for BOGOFS -
only when I really need to buy two and that's fairly rare these days