Dear Rachel, Here's the reality.... Last year I had 2 new tyres fitted to my van - £126. Today I had two new tyres fitted to the same van, same garage, same make of tyre - £165. 30% increase in one year. Diesel is up 35% since a couple of months ago. My van insurers want an extra £120 this year. I'm a Decorator and all the paint I use has had TWO price increases each year for the past few years. Some now costs approximately TWICE what it cost 6 years ago. Some trade paint is now over £100 for 5 litres. Yes it's better than cheap crap but that's a ridiculous price. But I'm just one bloke trying to earn a living. Millions are in the same boat as me. They can give you stories about the price of timber, plasterboard, electrical fittings, roof tiles and everything else they have to buy. Everything appears to be getting more difficult for everyone. In years gone by we didn't all have to worry about the cost of putting the heating on or how much we paid for the water that came out of our taps. We do now. We didn't have to search the shelves in the supermarkets for the cheapest (inferior) alternatives and we didn't get utterly ripped off when paying for parking in town centres. Our Council Tax bills, (or Rates as it used to be called), were equal to a small proportion of our income. And we got the bins emptied every week. We could actually buy rounds in the pub - Remember THAT? Many millions of people who frequented pubs can't afford to go there any more. Their village pub is probably shut now anyway. Our public services are overstretched. The NHS is ALWAYS on it's knees. Our roads are falling to bits. Parents can't get their kids into their local schools. Many people in villages, towns and cities are frightened to go out alone (or at all) due the numbers of undesirables roaming the streets and our parks. But it's OK. We're the Worlds 5th largest economy apparently and therefore a "rich" country compared to many. Perhaps that's why we can afford to give away ONE THOUSAND MILLION POUNDS every MONTH to countries who don't share our good fortune, or our wonderful public services or our national contentment in knowing we're nearly at the top of the tree. Is it any wonder that hundreds of thousands of people are just saying "bollocks to this" and either stopping work or buggering off to live somewhere else? My advice to any young person would be - Go! It might not work out for you but at least you've had a try, probably had some fun, learnt a lot about yourself and the World and maybe met someone you can share your life with. You can always come back again and help the local council empty the bins every 3 weeks.