Are British people stingy or more realistic?

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater · 30-04-2012 03:56PM

Cedrus wrote: »

A friend of mine has 2 teenage and one adult daughters who refuse to eat anything from aldi/lidl and insist on branded stuff, if they weren't so lazy and got up on a saturday morning they'd realise that she hasn't shopped anywhere but aldi for the last year and transfers it all into the tesco boxes before they get up. The kelloggs boxes are getting seriously tatty by now and they still can't tell the difference.

Seriously......could you be arsed

Born to Die · 30-04-2012 04:24PM

Cedrus wrote: »

Realistic. Irish people seem to feel that the higher the price paid the more value they're getting regardless of the quality.

Aldi & Lidl were vastly cheaper when they first arrived and they were empty, it was only when they started raising their prices that people went to them.

A friend of mine has 2 teenage and one adult daughters who refuse to eat anything from aldi/lidl and insist on branded stuff, if they weren't so lazy and got up on a saturday morning they'd realise that she hasn't shopped anywhere but aldi for the last year and transfers it all into the tesco boxes before they get up. The kelloggs boxes are getting seriously tatty by now and they still can't tell the difference.

Channel 4 needs these people for a series.

LizT · 30-04-2012 04:32PM

The wages and cost of living is general are lower in the UK though. For a basic grade job in the sector I'm qualified in the starting wage is 36k here compared to 21k in the UK.

pickarooney · 30-04-2012 04:32PM

Are UK weddings not generally much smaller, often confined to people the bride and groom have actually met?

tayto lover · 30-04-2012 04:41PM

smirker wrote: »

Irish people are more generous. Hosting a wedding is expensive and most people see the present as a way of making a contribution. It is a hige burden on a couple to have to pay the lot themselves.

English wedding are a load of Shyte too, a bloody buffet usually. Here you get a good feed, a toast and wine at the table. A far better affair.
If I was going to attend a wedding I would give 150e, if not 100e or a present of lesser value.

Mr Benevolent · 30-04-2012 04:44PM

lizt wrote: »

The wages and cost of living is general are lower in the UK though. For a basic grade job in the sector I'm qualified in the starting wage is 36k here compared to 21k in the UK.

And the job I'm in is €21k here and €45k in the UK.

ballsymchugh · 30-04-2012 04:48PM

pickarooney wrote: »

Are UK weddings not generally much smaller, often confined to people the bride and groom have actually met?

receptions being held in the local pub, asda or basketball court helps keep costs down too.

pawrick · 30-04-2012 04:49PM

They just spend their money on themselves rather then other people but honestly I haven't noticed much difference.

fasttalkerchat · 30-04-2012 04:54PM

lizt wrote: »

The wages and cost of living is general are lower in the UK though. For a basic grade job in the sector I'm qualified in the starting wage is 36k here compared to 21k in the UK.

The exchange rate was lower for years and the cost of living in the 26 counties was higher so that would be fair enough wage. My Da worked on a building site in Dublin years ago. Because of the travelling you only worked 7-8 hours per day and a half day on a Friday but the money was still way better than 10+ hours a day in Belfast.

bamboozle · 30-04-2012 05:03PM

ballsymchugh wrote: »

receptions being held in the local pub, asda or basketball court helps keep costs down too.

reminds me of a wedding attended over there at a local soccer clubhouse, soup served in a styrofoam cup, mains served on paper plate with plastic knife and fork.

JupiterKid · 30-04-2012 05:06PM

Yes, I do think the English are more prudent with money. It's not that they're particularly tight, it's just that us Irish are ridiculous with spending money like it's water.

The ease at which people paid ridiculous amounts during the bubble era really showed that we can be taken for fools by retailers and publicans - and combine that with our collective low self-esteem where we worry about having to give ever more lavish gifts for weddings etc - so it all got out of hand.

Perhaps this recession will teach people some needed lessons in frugality or just general common sense.

You know the old saying: A fool and his money are easily parted.

luckyfrank · 30-04-2012 05:11PM

THE BRITS ARE THE SAME AS US NO DIFFERENCE

Solair · 30-04-2012 05:14PM

I gave a cousin of mine a €50 gift voucher for her confirmation she actually got ratty about it!

(I was a broke student at the time!)

So, I just no longer bother getting anyone any presents for that kind of thing anymore. Ungrateful, money grabbing (insert swear word)s !!

I will be sending her a Tesco Value Xmas card with no stamp!

jester77 · 30-04-2012 05:14PM

summerskin wrote: »

Following on from the "€250 wedding gift" thread I thought I'd ask your opinions.

In the UK it's normal for a family to give £30-50 as a wedding gift, depending on how close you are to the folks getting married.

Equally, for birthdays £10 or £20 is normal or maybe £50 for a 21st for your kids or close family or something, and communions/confirmations are £20 too, at most usually.

When I moved over here I couldn't believe it. The tiger was just ending(2007) and people were giving crazy amounts. My daughter got hundreds for her first communion and we felt guilty as fcuk! Why would an aunt or uncle who sees her once a year give €100 to an 8 year old???

Me and the family travelled to the UK for a friend's wedding recently and gave £50 as a gift, as did almost everyone we knew, some gave less.

So are we British more realistic or just stingy in your eyes?

On phone so can't add poll, sorry.

weddings, meh... you should have seen what they were giving for houses and apartments a few years back. Irish people don't really get the concept of money or its value.

fasttalkerchat · 30-04-2012 05:20PM

luckyfrank wrote: »

THE BRITS ARE THE SAME AS US NO DIFFERENCE

ssh...

luckyfrank · 30-04-2012 05:23PM

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

ssh...

french are different, germans are different, muslims are different, no difference closer to the brits than anyone else, time to let go of the baggage

fasttalkerchat · 30-04-2012 05:24PM

luckyfrank wrote: »

THE BRITS ARE THE SAME AS US NO DIFFERENCE

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

ssh...

luckyfrank wrote: »

french are different, germans are different, muslims are different, no difference closer to the brits than anyone else, time to let go of the baggage

That's fine but... NO NEED TO SHOUT ABOUT ITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT...

:D:D

Pottler · 30-04-2012 05:29PM

smish wrote: »

English are alot tighter. I know from personal experience.

That's all them pelvic floor excercises they do. English are also a lot blunter and less out to impress - when I worked in London in a butchers shop as a kid the English would come in and buy the cheap cuts, Paddy would walk in(I'm also a Paddy) and buy sirloin steak, even if they didn't have an ar5e in their trousers. I think we are a bit insecure with our money, we never had much and were historically poor whereas the Brits were strutting around eating swan back when we still lived in wicker baskets in the bog. Even when we're broke, we'd die if people thought we were poor so we act all splashy.

Duggy747 · 30-04-2012 05:30PM

smish wrote: »

English are alot tighter. I know from personal experience.

Oooh, matron!!

brummytom · 30-04-2012 05:32PM

Tight English bastards

Tipp Man · 30-04-2012 06:11PM

There is no doubt in my mind that the majority of English people are way tighter with their cash than the majority of Irish people

Irish will spend money till its gone and then some - English will save money and look for cheaper options

thats my experience anyway and i lived over there for a few years

JupiterKid · 30-04-2012 07:09PM

A very telling difference between the Irish and the English is in their car buying behaviour. The English will tend to buy a model of car within their means but will have all the optional extras with that model.

The Irish will instead tend to opt for a car that is a model above their means but will come as a basic with no optional extras whatsoever.

fasttalkerchat · 30-04-2012 07:30PM

JupiterKid wrote: »

A very telling difference between the Irish and the English is in their car buying behaviour. The English will tend to buy a model of car within their means but will have all the optional extras with that model.

The Irish will instead tend to opt for a car that is a model above their means but will come as a basic with no optional extras whatsoever.

I've noticed higher prices from Irish dealers for the optional extras. Maybe that's part of the reason.

woodoo · 30-04-2012 07:32PM

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

I've noticed higher prices from Irish dealers for the optional extras. Maybe that's part of the reason.

Like everything here, they have learned that we pay.

fasttalkerchat · 30-04-2012 07:34PM

woodoo wrote: »

Like everything here, they have learned that we pay.

True. And now they claim that people are unpatriotic by shopping online.

donegal_road · 30-04-2012 07:35PM

in my experience it is not just people from England that are careful with money, but the whole Commonwealth. Scottish are notoriously thrifty, so are Canadians and New Zealanders (very big Scottish influence in both those countries). You will even see quite a difference in what people will spend in NI compared to the south.

*The other big difference I find is that debit and credit cards are used in Canada way more than cash.*

Agricola · 30-04-2012 07:35PM

Mixture of things. The British are generally more prudent with money and think big expenditures out more. The culture is also more about being comfortable with what YOU can afford, not worrying about what Mick Prick down the road thinks of you.

The Irish on the other hand are naturally more reckless. We only got control of the country 90 years ago and we WANT to do what the fúck we like WHEN we like! Theres tonnes of catholic guilt (despite the fact none of us are really catholics in any real sense) and we have to be seen to be going overboard at every opportunity, i.e. this years reg on the car, a much bigger house than we need, trips to the furthest possible point of the map every year etc etc

woodoo · 30-04-2012 07:38PM

donegal_road wrote: »

Scottish are notoriously thrifty,

Did you hear about the Scotsman who dropped a penny..... it landed on the back of his neck he was down so fast to pick it up.

Chuck Stone · 30-04-2012 07:43PM

Using weddings as the barometer for stinginess/thrift and trying to extrapolate that to the entire population of England versus Ireland is not going to return reliable data.

summerskin · 30-04-2012 07:48PM

Chuck Stone wrote: »

Using weddings as the barometer for stinginess/thrift and trying to extrapolate that to the entire population of England versus Ireland is not going to return reliable data.

I never said England, I said the UK. Also I just used weddings etc at examples.

And for fook's sake, do you think I'm asking AH for "reliable data"????

Just for opinions.

Are British people stingy or more realistic?

Comments