Cost of living crisis

RE: Cost of living crisis

cairncross — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 06:21:12 GMT

Business is fine in that demand way up now due to those unable to afford elsewhere but I could look after it so much better if recruitment was possible and or predictable

RE: Cost of living crisis

Bob Russell — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 12:04:16 GMT

You cannot change the world. Provide the best service you can, offer options to assist with budgeting and take care of your business.

RE: Cost of living crisis

cairncross — Sat, 02 Jul 2022 04:55:31 GMT

We had our busiest day ever yesterday for "over the counter sales" or ongoing medications purchases . It was noticible that many cases had obviously being going without for days until the end of the month arrived .

Routine op cancellations at end of month were significant , cases managed well on long term expensive meds have been triggering the " it's not really working any more , is there an alternative option consult every few hours.

Clients were already maxed out easy borrowing meant nearly everyone has the best car,holiday house they could afford . Interest rates are just about to take off , energy costs previously publicised hikes are only really coming into affect and will get worse with winter. Food inflation is only starting once we begin to eat this year's harvest.

People might emotionally want to prioritise their pets but that doesn't mean they can. The industry is bound to take a hit as will associated pet food, grooming and insurance markets. We have been riding an incredible boom I suppose there had to be a bust

RE: Cost of living crisis

Alastair Welch — Mon, 27 Jun 2022 07:06:48 GMT

Sri Lanka sounds amazing and clearly has lots going for it. It lacks a competent and non-corrupt administration and without this it’s people will remain condemned to poverty.

RE: Cost of living crisis

Neil Wheadon — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 22:47:05 GMT

Thankyou, I'll have a look and take your point about a decreasing value of the Rupee. Many countries I deal with asl for payment in dollars which is the true international currency. In one (I can't recall, Cambodia, I think) it was accepted as legal tender everywhere. Slightly blows a hole in my theory that money doesn't disappear, but who really benefits here....very very few I expect

It's tragic really, Sri Lanka has everything, a good climate, lovely people and remarkable diversity in regards the tourist market from historical artifacts to glorious beaches to wildlife parks. Add in a people who are both friendly and helpful. Should be on everyones list.

Typing this, just having enjoyed the Pet Shop Boys at Glastonbury in stereo, on the TV and through our windows from over the hill

Neil

RE: Cost of living crisis

Alastair Welch — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 22:35:30 GMT

Neil,

Undoubtedly if tourists don't show up then countries have 'lost' income, but this money has not disappeared. What I was trying to illustrate was that the current economic crisis has resulted in the vanishing of a vast quantity of 'money' if you consider money as a 'medium of exchange and a store of value'

Have a look at a graph of the USD vs the Sri Lankan Rupee. In the space of a a couple of months the LKR has almost halved in value, the money (by which I mean the ability to buy things (like oil) with it or its use as a method of 'saving' to buy things (like oil) in the future) has just disappeared.

RE: Cost of living crisis

Neil Wheadon — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 21:48:16 GMT

Not sure it does

Here's the analogy

The groups I take pumps £30.000 into the local economy. We didn't go, each of us keep the monies we would have spent. Multiply this by a couple of million visitors until you get to 12% GDP

Now look at your practice. Overnight 12% of your clients shoot their horses. (assuming they all spend the same, but we're generalizing here) They gain because they are no longer having to pay you (or feed the horse) Could your practice survive that? Bear in mind Sri Lanka can't lay off 12% of its population and many are already 'on the breadline'

Yes corruption by the elite plays a part but this is nothing new, they survived a civil wall after all.

Neil

PS We were the ONLY source of income in 2 years for the family firm that we used, they were so grateful that we came and on my part it took a lot of nerve to hold it together taking 12 people there in April, it would have been incredibly easy to cancel. We stayed in hotels that had only just opened up, many had had no business at all in the past 2 years. The tour I'm doing in Mongolia in September will be one of the first they have had in over 2 years. We need 2 internal flights, due to underbooking and lack of tourism it was close that these will even fly. Places reliant on tourism have had a very very bad time of it in the past 2 years. If anyone out there is left reading this thread these places need our support.

RE: Cost of living crisis

Alastair Welch — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 21:31:02 GMT

Neil,

I think our understanding of money differs. The money that Sri Lanka has lost has not popped up into the wallets of tourists.

The mishandling of their economy by corrupt elites will drive the country into bankruptcy. Debt restructuring might save them but it looks pretty grim.

RE: Cost of living crisis

Neil Wheadon — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 13:59:20 GMT

[quote userid="12375" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/off-duty-discussions/30328/cost-of-living-crisis/237808#237808"]Money does disappear, just look at what is happening in Sri Lanka. [/quote]

Ah yes but where?

We were in Sri Lanka just as this was blowing up. Sri Lanka is primarily a country reliant on tourism, contributing about 12% to GDP, COVID has had a dreadful effect on this country. We witnessed the mammoth fuel queue's (our back up bus was stuck for 3 days and on the last day I had various meetings with local police to try to get fuel) The government was also widely accepted as being a little corrupt something now corrected. India started to bail them out with fuel and corn fearing an unstable country on their doorstep (The Tamils are also India related) but the recent announcement that India will no longer export grain in lieu of Ukraine is of concern to Sri Lanka I would have thought.

So Sri Lanka has lost money, but tourists have gained it as they haven't spent it and can you imagine what a 12% reduction in GDP would do to this country?

Neil

RE: Cost of living crisis

Alastair Welch — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 13:49:51 GMT

Neil,

Money does disappear, just look at what is happening in Sri Lanka.

Bitcoin is undoubtedly environmentally catastrophic and the hiding place of all sorts of criminality. What I can't quite believe is how many people consider it to be akin to currency backed by government.

RE: Cost of living crisis

Neil Wheadon — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 13:30:46 GMT

[quote userid="12375" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/off-duty-discussions/30328/cost-of-living-crisis/237803#237803"]What do you mean by 'money'? [/quote]

Well...money. It doesn't disappear, just gets redistributed, if anything with quantitative easing the amount has increased (I'm not talking value here) So for everyone who writes that my investments have gone up due to dividend payments then soneone else has paid for that service and so has 'lost money' I asked my brother who worked for HSBC for over 30 years how they make money. 'Simple' was the reply 'they just take a tiny fraction from everything and it soon mounts up'

[quote userid="12375" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/off-duty-discussions/30328/cost-of-living-crisis/237803#237803"]I don't think Bitcoin is a ponzi scheme [/quote]

The Sunday Times described it thus today, something I have thought for some time. The untold factor is the sheer amount of wasted energy needed to maintain it.

Cryptocurrency will always (in my opinion) have an issue with governments and central banks because it can't really be traced or taxed easily, so the establishment wouldn't want it to survive anyway.

Ha ho, I don't have a single bitcoin so what do I know, aside avoid something you don't understand

Neil

RE: Cost of living crisis

George Cooper — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 13:16:41 GMT

[quote userid="6897" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/off-duty-discussions/30328/cost-of-living-crisis/237795#237795"]I struggle to understand why my house and car insurance have suddenly jumped by 22%....?[/quote]

I don't understand yours. I'm 73 and my Skoda Kodiaq L&K is now under £200 to insure - with random quotes as high as £800+. And a Dacia Sandero 1.5 was only £150. Post code changed from mid-Wales to Hereford City which brought it down a tad more.

RE: Cost of living crisis

Alastair Welch — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 12:33:06 GMT

The causes of inflation are complex and contested.

Wage inflation (depending if you are Mick Lynch or Nigel Lawson) plays a lesser or greater part but (with my very basic understanding of economic theory) if you accept that the costs of goods or services have some significant contribution from wages (vet practices seem to run at about 42-46% ish of turnover for example) then a rise in wages is liable to make goods or services more expensive.

The public sector (and the ex nationalised industries) are such large employers that wage increases in these sectors have the potential to have a noticeable impact on inflation, and if wage rises fuel further inflation fuelling further wage rises you can see how it could get out of hand.

I suspect double digit inflation will be short lived but we are al long way from years of 2%.

What do you mean by 'money'? I don't think Bitcoin is a ponzi scheme but without the backing of a central bank I don't really recognise it as 'money' in the traditional sense.

RE: Cost of living crisis

Neil Wheadon — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 11:02:45 GMT

So theoretically if inflationary pressure such as large scale wage demands can be kept under control, it should blip for 12 months then subside?

Money seems to be like energy, it doesn't actually disappear, it redistributes as the ponzi scheme that is Bitcoin, seems to be showing

Neil

RE: Cost of living crisis

Alastair Welch — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 10:23:52 GMT

Almost,

The figure in calculated by comparison with the same month the previous year. Loads of different types of inflation but take CHPI for example . April figure is 7.8%, May 7.9%.

£100 worth of measured goods in April 21 cost £107.80 in April 22

£100 worth of measured goods in May 21 cost £107.90 in May 22.

£107.90-£107.80 = £0.10. The difference in % terms between April 21 and May 21 is thus.

£0.10 out of £107.80 = 0.093%. Not quite 0.1%.

RE: Cost of living crisis

Neil Wheadon — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 09:53:59 GMT

[quote userid="8991" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/off-duty-discussions/30328/cost-of-living-crisis/237797#237797"]Most European countries (France, Germany, Spain, Italy from a quick Google) are running at comparable rates 7-10% but you probably don’t want facts to get in the way of a Brexit moan. It’s done mate - just accept it. It isn’t the source of all woe.[/quote]

OK can some of my more learned friends explain inflation.

Here goes. It's a comparison from year to year. So April's was 7% because that was the price increase for 100 goods over that period.

May's inflation figure was 7.1%, so for these 100 products that 7% was baked in already (assuming nothing fell in value from April to May 2021)

Therefore the actual increase in prices between April 2022 and May 2022 was 0.1% or is my maths deluded? Serious question

Neil

RE: Cost of living crisis

David Mills — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 09:45:41 GMT

Age. Mine went down by 25%.

RE: Cost of living crisis

David Mills — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 09:44:50 GMT

[quote userid="11493" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/off-duty-discussions/30328/cost-of-living-crisis/237762#237762"]We do have a war going on, but other countries are feeling a lower inflation than us. Why?[/quote]

Most European countries (France, Germany, Spain, Italy from a quick Google) are running at comparable rates 7-10% but you probably don’t want facts to get in the way of a Brexit moan. It’s done mate - just accept it. It isn’t the source of all woe.

RE: Cost of living crisis

Neil Wheadon — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 09:44:28 GMT

Not sure about that Bob. Ours autorenews with AVIVA every year (yes I know, the mearcats and all that). This year our house insurance went down by 33%. I think because there was a ruling that bonded clients shouldn't be offered worse deals than new.

Neil

RE: Cost of living crisis

bob lehner — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 09:36:35 GMT

[quote userid="6550" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/off-duty-discussions/30328/cost-of-living-crisis/237672#237672"]Many of the increases in prices can be linked to covid issues (China lockdowns etc), energy prices linked to the Ukraine war[/quote]

I struggle to understand why my house and car insurance have suddenly jumped by 22%....?

RE: Cost of living crisis

Stephen Courtney — Sat, 25 Jun 2022 17:40:17 GMT

discussing fees is fine and choosing levels of care is fine too - it’s about informed consent. It’s not my job to mentally X-ray your wallet and decide what you can afford and then decide what’s right for your pet. What you can pay and what you will pay are not the same thing and I doubt you would thank me for cutting corners unasked if there were adverse consequences

I’m an employee. I can’t offer a discount when asked but I can find another, cheaper route for you

i don’t have targets but if I don’t make enough for the practice I’m unlikely to get a pay rise when salary review comes about

I also need to sleep at night - so like most vets am an easy target when clients put the pressure on

RE: Cost of living crisis

Andreas Ege — Sat, 25 Jun 2022 16:53:55 GMT

[quote userid="6550" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/off-duty-discussions/30328/cost-of-living-crisis/237778#237778"]Things can be done to a budget and we often do but it compromises treatment in some way[/quote]

Usually my approach to this is that I tell the client what we would do in an ideal world (either in my opinion or by expert opinion/ accepted ideal/ evidence). Then I see what the owner can/ wants to spent and what the reasonable lowest level is. Usually works reasonably well and some animals get a chance. Sometimes it even gives the owner time to source/ free some funds, or they just change their mind and come back for more comprehensive diagnostics or treatments.

[quote userid="19228" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/off-duty-discussions/30328/cost-of-living-crisis/237780#237780"]we should have to display signs informing clients of the financial targets our vets have. [/quote]

I don't think we have a set target per vet (Linnaeus practice). I only get nagged that I'm running the cheapest consults in the practice. :-))

RE: Cost of living crisis

cairncross — Sat, 25 Jun 2022 12:04:53 GMT

On your last line , like the old compulsory prescriptions are availible sign we had to display, i think we should have to display signs informing clients of the financial targets our vets have.

RE: Cost of living crisis

Bob Russell — Sat, 25 Jun 2022 09:37:23 GMT

If you can halve your bill by removing optional extras then something is wrong.

Things can be done to a budget and we often do but it compromises treatment in some way. We can use educated guesswork instead of x-rays and be right much of the time. Similarly other diagnostic tests.

These are not really optional extras and the potential impact should be explained.

We do our best to be efficient in spending clients/insurance companies money and 'loading' a bill with unnecessary extras would make me deeply uncomfortable.

RE: Cost of living crisis

Arlo Guthrie — Sat, 25 Jun 2022 09:01:42 GMT

[quote userid="3169" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/off-duty-discussions/30328/cost-of-living-crisis/237770#237770"]

Arlo Guthrie said:
well I asked for and got 5%. Feel like I should have asked for more.

I wonder how a thread would have gone if this was your dog and you had been quoted 27% more to have the other cruciate done, ear flush, scale and polish as you had paid about a year ago.

[/quote]

Erm, well most things in life are negotiable. Well, high ticket price items anyway ... I don't remember ever going into Sainsbury's and saying ... "I'll offer you 40p for the butter."

[quote userid="3169" url="~/001/nonclinical/f/off-duty-discussions/30328/cost-of-living-crisis/237773#237773"]

Stephen Courtney said:
Fee resistance is more about the choices of the clients than anything else, and I'd rather wrk for the grateful, appreciative people than those who argue and blackmail over price.

So, you don't want the likes of Arlo Guthrie as a client?

[/quote]

I was going to say I was grateful and appreciative, but actually I am not really. I'm quite angry at what I have to pay for a set of french windows even with the discount.

Stephen Courtney You seem to be saying there's something wrong with haggling, or negotiating a better price. Really? I negotiated with my vet some years ago now, and very glad I did. As I remember, I saved nearly half of a £1000 bill, a surprise £1000 bill, by removing some of the optional extras that I didn't even realise were optional till I opened the negotiations.