Finance Unpacked: Closing the Advice Gap with Gareth Shears & Shane Hyland
Join your hosts, Shane Hyland and Gareth Shears, on "Finance Unpacked: Closing the Advice Gap", a podcast dedicated to demystifying the complex world of personal finance. Each week, Shane and Gareth delve into critical topics ranging from budgeting basics and saving strategies to smart investments and retirement planning.
Whether you're a financial novice looking to build a solid foundation or a seasoned saver searching for advanced tips, this show brings you practical, actionable advice, and the latest insights from the world of finance. Our mission is to bridge the growing advice gap, ensuring that everyone—regardless of their financial background—has access to the knowledge they need to achieve financial independence.
Tune in to "Finance Unpacked" as we explore the ins and outs of managing your money effectively, answer listener questions, and bring in expert guests to share their secrets on thriving in today's economic environment. Don't let the advice gap hold you back—start mastering your financial destiny today with Shane and Gareth.
Finance Unpacked: Closing the Advice Gap with Gareth Shears & Shane Hyland
Rethinking Everyday Expenses: From Pizzas to Par 3's
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Have you ever considered how much you spend on convenience food? Or how the design of a golf course could impact your game? Join us for a spirited chat as we examine the half-year numbers from Domino's and Greggs and the financial implications of our lifestyle choices. We'll also give you an insider's look into the architecture of golf courses and share a delectable banana loaf recipe.
In the latter part of the discussion, we dive deep into the sobering reality of housing market dynamics, exploring how they relate to income levels. We question the government's role in providing housing assistance and ponder over the effectiveness of speed limits in reducing carbon emissions. Tune in for some thoughtful debate on how we could navigate the financial tightrope by cutting back on non-essentials. You won't want to miss our money-saving tips that could reshape your financial perspective. Join us in this enlightening conversation that seamlessly blends finance, golf, and baking.
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Fast Food, Sunday Roasts, and Golf
Speaker 1Hi. On today's podcast we're going to chat about fast food, sunday roasts, the houses of parliament, affordability of home purchase and at the end we may have a little financial tip, so enjoy.
Speaker 2Cool, cool. Are you today Any golf this week?
Speaker 1Yeah, played golf last week. Played golf this week. Played two rounds last week, thursday and Sunday.
Speaker 2Oh, you played Sunday as well. Played Sunday. Let's see how you sneak out for that one.
Speaker 1Everyone else was asleep. My brother-in-law was down, Hello.
Speaker 2James, what time do you play? Six o'clock.
Speaker 1We teed off at 6.45. Yeah.
Speaker 2You shouldn't be playing golf that early.
Speaker 1It was like a morning in Mallorca, where'd you play Coddle Park in Cardiff, we overlooked the valleys.
Speaker 2That's not even close is it?
Speaker 1It's about 20 miles away. It was nice and sunny.
Speaker 2You didn't go one right in your doorstep, did you?
Speaker 1Three.
Speaker 2Oh, you had actually three, so you thought you could have won 20 miles Every course that you passed on the way to your 12, 20 miles away At least eight.
Speaker 1It was superb. The sun was coming up, the dew was on the grass, the birds were singing and we roamed a good walk with the golf. My brother part of the first one. He thought, yes, superb.
Speaker 2Oh, he could have shot yeah.
Speaker 1And he lost and James, I know you probably were listening, I'm not taking the mic out of you, but how he's lost to me on Sunday was unbelievable. There's more bunkers in Cotter Park on the button course now after me on Sunday than there was at the start. But it was horrible. Near the end about the 14th hole it just started to rain and that's my excuse for everything going off left, right and yeah. But we were lucky. We got out early, finished early, david, the kids then 24,000 steps done, shattered on Sunday early to bed. But it was really really enjoyable playing and I've realized that I can. The more I play, the worse I am getting at golf. You know people. You know. The more you do things and the more practice you get, the better you get. I'm getting worse.
Speaker 2That's probably more so because you're playing more, so you're noticing more, you're playing with. The first couple of times there's a bit of fun, a bit of a laugh. Now you're going to be more serious and you're like well, I'm not playing well enough now.
Speaker 1No, no, no, the few times before that, I noticed the golf ball going into the water and I still noticed it going into the water.
Speaker 2Again, what was it yeah?
Speaker 1And the funny thing is these, these architects of golf courses, are super in my eyes now, because there is a pond, a puddle, and your eyes get drawn to it on the left. But to the right, 150 yards from the edge of that pond going right, there's fairway grass, rough. The golf ball always ends up in the water, just curls in.
Speaker 2The joy golf that is.
Speaker 1I know it's a boring subject. We're talking about this cost of living, cost of lifestyle crisis. Two half year numbers came out the other day. Last week, domino's and Greg's, so basically fast food.
Speaker 2Two ends of the spectrum of cost.
Speaker 1Domino's half year numbers Revenue increase 19.6% and Greg's 21.5% increase in sales from last year. What's the pre-tax profits? 63.7 million. So numbers people are complaining about.
Speaker 2Do they give a reason why they think their numbers are gonna happen?
Speaker 1People are spending more money.
Speaker 2Yeah, it's how many people are not like taking their own food to work and things Cause we've got a Greg's on me across the road and if you don't get in there before one o'clock you just get the dregs that was left on you. Not that I kind of go over there very often, but we might go over there being an athlete.
Speaker 1Maybe once every three weeks for a quick bite or something. It's not often but if people are complaining about not having money, you know these meal deals and you go and a bottle of pop, whatever sandwich, you have a packet of crisps and then the enticement of all the cookies or the sausage rolls it's seven quid gone. Seven quid times five days a week is 35 quid. That's 70 quid every two weeks. That's 140 quid a month.
Speaker 2It's like we got a freezer in the office and we were like I keep my meals, which I make myself at home, and they cost me less than two pound a meal to make.
Speaker 1Convenience time.
Speaker 2It doesn't take me long though.
Speaker 1But that's the whole. Thing.
Speaker 2I get it though convenience, when people can't cook. Two people are lazy, three people are just very lazy.
Speaker 1Do you know what I cooked yesterday. I should have brought it into you. I know you wouldn't be able to eat it. My sister-in-law came down the weekend, hello Kat, so I'm not gonna rip you like I rip James, and she brought down banana cake, banana loaf.
Speaker 2Oh, I like banana loaf.
Speaker 1I made it yesterday First time ever.
Speaker 2They gave me the recipe today, yeah. How did you Google?
Speaker 1it. No, she gave it to me and it was from a baby lead weaning recipe.
Speaker 2It's really soft then.
Speaker 1Really soft.
Speaker 2Well, I suppose it should be soft, but I suppose, oh, you overcooked it a bit, of course I did.
Speaker 1It wasn't the worst. In fairness to my wife, she's turning into me a bit. She went, had a bit and went. That's not the worst. Years ago she would have.
Speaker 1She would have thought the worst yeah, but that's exactly what I'd say. I like she's turning into me. She went no, for a first effort, right, that wasn't bad. I missed putting some spice or something into it, but it wasn't bad. The only bad downside of it is when my sister-in-law was down, I went what's the calories? And she went oh, a slice is 203 calories. I went Jesus, that's, like you know, less than more than a bar of chocolate.
Speaker 2It's closer to heaven though.
Speaker 1Oh yeah, but it's supposed to be healthy. A banana loaf Nothing healthy.
Speaker 2A banana is a healthy, apart from if you read the government guidelines. People still think they're actually eating grains and yeah, all that type of stuff Cereals is actually good for you, but it's not. It's all I've dated here's one for you.
Speaker 1Food. I'll finish up Inflation. They said they'll ask the food price inflation 13.4%. Is there a new inflation now? But pub and Kent right.
Speaker 2Just go back to those. So, people, domino's is really expensive and actually not particularly great pizza and they've seen that much uplift in do you know? What I reckon a big part of that will be as well is that there's more delivery Uber Eats drivers as well, because we've got one over on our estate at Domino's and there is so many delivery drivers going back and forth the same with the chip shops, same with the Indian, same with the Chinese but no one really ever goes to the subway. That never seems busy. That's just mad Like, because they're expensive.
Speaker 2We go into McDonald's, you can buy by 10 of those type pizzas in all the old little.
Speaker 1Yeah, we go into McDonald's, maybe on a Saturday or Sunday, maybe the little man and he'll have a flatbread in the morning £1.49,. All of a double espresso 129. We'll sit down, he'll play on the games there. And there is a single segment for delivery Uber drivers, whatever they just come in Constantly. They've just got their helmets still on. They just look for the numbers. They've got beep and they're gone.
Speaker 2Part of the disabled base.
Speaker 1Anyways, pobbing Kent, right Called the Queen's Head, it's offered. Last a week, a week and a half ago, two weeks ago, it said it offered diners the chance to enjoy a Sunday roast without the worry of cost. So they hosted the first pay what you can afford roast. I'd love to know how that turned out, because we talked about this right. Some people would go in and they'd go. Oh, I feel a bit guilty now I'm going to give them £12. How much would you pay for that Sunday roast? If they said to you here's the bill, wipe it, just pay what you can afford. What would you give them?
Speaker 2Well, pay what you can afford. I didn't hear that bit of it before. Well, like that's different, isn't it? But if I had to pay what ever for it, how many of us are eating?
Speaker 1That says four of you.
Speaker 2Four pence Is that awful If you, if you just say pay what you want, I literally I'm gonna pay four pence.
Speaker 1But pay what you can afford to most people working that out now.
Speaker 2Like in reality I probably, if you can afford 60 quid.
Speaker 1you know, because that's what a Sunday roast is. You could afford 40 quid 40 quid.
Speaker 2So I would in reality, if I kind of took my my normal hat off, whichever isn't actually put on sensible hat, I'd said, I'd probably say very minimum tenner each. I think you have to.
Speaker 1Do you think some of them are going, some people will pay? 30 quid and someone will pay a fiver.
Speaker 2I don't know. I think it all comes down to the type of person you are anyway, because some people be too embarrassed to pay too little.
Speaker 1Yeah, they would. I think they actually would.
Speaker 2Interesting concept. I'd be interested to know how, what the kind of average spend per head.
Speaker 1They said it was a one-off trial.
Speaker 2They didn't release what their average spend per head was. No, that'd be interesting.
Speaker 1I try and reach out to them Right. What's the best roast in?
Speaker 2One meat.
Speaker 1Oh, yeah, yeah, because all the other stuff is.
Speaker 2Slow cook lamb Lamb shoulder.
Speaker 1Okay, okay.
Speaker 2On, then beef.
Speaker 1Beef yeah.
Speaker 2Pork. Don't really like anymore Chicken.
Speaker 1You can have it on anything, everything.
Speaker 2Yeah, lamb, but it's got to be like a, you know, a six to eight hour slow cook shoulder lamb with a bit of rosemary and garlic and olive oil, and we just been talking about people that can't afford to spend ten minutes making a sandwich.
Speaker 1That's expensive, yeah, trimmings. Then what do you put on?
Speaker 2You can have a Yorkshire.
Speaker 1Standard yeah.
Speaker 2Whether it's beef or not.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2Roast potatoes. Do you like his pigs in blanket? No, like a bit of stuffing.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2Cauliflower cheese.
Speaker 1I was gonna say cauliflower cheese, no. Carrots peas, yeah, a medium to veg man yeah.
Speaker 2Broccoli, gotta have a good gravy. Can't be a bistro, though.
Speaker 1True.
Speaker 2Like a nice homemade gravy.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2If it's a bistro, I won't have it at all. My wife's testament to that She'll tell you. She makes really good gravy with the roast.
Speaker 1Do you have a freeze leftover gravy? No, because of the leftover.
Speaker 2No, they usually is loads. Actually Never freeze it, though, but I can't stand bistro. I can't stand instant gravy. Everyone has said before it's disgusting you know Christmas time you have the.
Speaker 1Sometimes there's a bit of a different taste on gravy. You know you've got to save it. Put it into little ice cubes, save in the fridge and then the stock and then dip that in to normal gravy that you make over the course of your Christmas.
Speaker 2We've always got proper stock though knocking around.
Speaker 1I wonder how many calories are in a roast? Can't be healthy for you.
Speaker 2But it'll be 1200, 1400, I thought.
Speaker 1She's the roast potatoes, isn't it?
Speaker 2And you go to the ones Toby Carvey's on that You're on the two large plates, the extra large plate, but you can get out of it. There's a trick to Toby Carvey's course there is.
Speaker 2You go up and they're like oh, which meter? Like all of the hand, please, no-transcript. Oh, actually I'll have some turkey as well. By then they're going to massive slice of the one meaty and then they're a bit like oh, I don't know what to do now. So if you get it right, you can actually get some good portions of meat in there.
Speaker 1That's not the tip we're going to set the end that's the thing that won't give you lots off, is it. And you can't over stuff the plate initially with loads of veg, is it Because everyone just goes up and down and up and down?
Speaker 2I use loads of roasts. It's normally roast potato. I like a roast potato 27 is my record.
Speaker 1years ago in the Tobi Carvery, 27 roast potatoes.
Speaker 2I don't really like a Tobi Carvery. It's a little bit of a car crash. The whole meat thing it's all a bit dry. Sorry, the veg is all a bit dry. The cauliflower cheese doesn't really have any cheese left on it and gem real a little bit tasteless. If I'm honest, I don't really like Tobi Carvery.
Speaker 1I don't even know how much it is anymore.
Speaker 2If I had a Tobi Carvery I would probably have said off the main menu, your burger or something. I went to one recently where they actually had a pizza oven. They had pizza instead. Fancy on the roast.
Speaker 1Did you hear lately? This is flowing so well today.
Speaker 2If it's in the news, probably not.
Speaker 1Fair enough. It isn't news when you're talking about restaurants. The restaurants not restaurant restaurants in the House of Parliament are reducing their hours of work in there Because they're down or they're short 38 chefs 38 chefs, Not waiting staffers. They're short 38 chefs, which accounts for the 650 MPs and they've got some like 14,500 pass holders. I presume that's X people. They can come in and out and they said visitors.
Speaker 2The people pay for that food, or is that such? Oh bloody nose? Probably, if they do pay, it's probably subsidised. But 38 chefs, how many restaurants are in there? Politicians pay for anything.
Speaker 1The Monday club, the Tuesday club, the way Wow, it's just like how many of them actually go in there. You see, there's nobody. I'm presuming it is subsidised by somebody.
Speaker 2I can't imagine the politicians pay for it. They don't pay for a lot, do they?
Speaker 1No, they don't pay for a hell of a lot, in fairness.
Speaker 2They don't give a lot back either, do they?
Speaker 1Well.
Speaker 2It's not getting into that.
Speaker 1Yeah, they give them. They do clinics when they're running for re-election, so they do give a bit back. What would you like me to pretend I'm interested in, to listen to you, to get your vote? Oh yeah, they're probably very good at acting that aren't they but they're not short of a pound or two, are they? And I could be wrong. Though they can vote on their own pay rises. Was that true, or I don't know.
Speaker 2Probably it's corrupt as you can ever make it, isn't it? Parliament, government? Don't start me on the government.
Speaker 1Don't think I ever be ever be a politician. Well, I couldn't. I don't have the right, the relevant paperwork, but otherwise.
Speaker 2Well, you'd have to be open to commit fraud, wouldn't you? If you're a politician, that seems to be the general rule of thumb, doesn't it?
Speaker 1No just lying Game mates in, just lying, gonna, you know, just deny it all in. Later I got on to pay right House prices. Well, you know more about this than me. I don't know a lot about this stuff, but there was something on some thing that came through on an email the other day that the affordability ratio of average house prices and it showed it 1999, it was, I presume, four. It was a four to one in terms of the value of the house, the cost of the house versus the person's salary.
Speaker 2Oh okay, four times yeah.
Speaker 1Now it's 8.4 in England and 6.4 in Wales. So you know, is that making it less affordable?
Speaker 2for people? Yeah, because prior to the interest rates going up, you probably really you probably get anywhere in the region of four and a half to five and a half times, depending on income, outgoings etc. Some lenders obviously stretch to the five and a half times Depends on your income. But now you're probably lucky if you get four times really you know income. So even based on those stats you're given there's six and eight you will never really reach those anyway. Be a hell of a stretch. Do you know what I mean yeah.
Speaker 2So, but it's getting worse. Do you know what I mean? Because and I think you showed this on a presentation you did a couple of years ago, wasn't it that actually, the speed of house prices have risen compared to income does not correlate whatsoever.
Speaker 1Yeah, there's a I can't remember the exact figures you probably got them somewhere.
Speaker 2But for argument's sake, it was like back in the 90s, 70s or whatever. Average income was like 15 grand or something and it's now 28, but the house prices are probably 10 times what they were then. So it doesn't kind of correlate.
Speaker 1I think that 10 million. It was something silly though, yeah. Something like 32 grand for the house and 16 grand salary makes sense, and then 28 grand against 320.
Speaker 2Yeah, exactly, it was something. We'll do another one on that, but it was something.
Speaker 1I read some. Print this out. Here you're on almost eight million people on financial knife edge, which says almost eight million people have been overlooked during the cost of living crisis and now in the brink of serious hardship. Well, they only surveyed 4000 people. They are how, ask them, how are they coping financially, physically and mentally? Of those seven point nine million adults of the uk population said they tend to borrow money to maintain their basic standards of living rather than cutting back on essential essentials like food and electricity.
Speaker 2It's getting worse and worse but that's a weird one to say that instead of cutting back on food and we can't really cut back on those things we can cut back on is going to the pub, or Greg knows. Greg, so that's kind of really badly written. By which is it was it was about?
Speaker 1yeah, it is which.
Speaker 2That's really badly written because they say people should consider cutting back on the gas. You can't just cut back on the gas and it doesn't work.
Speaker 1No, they may have borrowed money to maintain the basic standards standards rather than cutting back on essentials like food and electricity. So the borrowing?
Speaker 2more to keep going. Yeah, we are true yeah, that's really bad word about that. I think it's kind of like you need to be cut back on your non essentials, you know, like your eating dominoes and Greg's and all those things you can see Load somebody.
Speaker 1I can't pronounce the guy's name. Director of pop policy. Now advocacy said the government must help those in need by tightening regulation On by now, pay later to stop on affordability. I think I'm the government more concerned about getting 38 chefs in.
Speaker 2I mean they're concerned about making every 20 mile an hour speed limit. That's not gonna be sure that's meant that's helping anything apart from costing the government even more.
Speaker 1It's. It's gonna. It's going to increase sustainability of the world by lesson, using less fuel or pollution, but it's not gonna increase your journey time, even though you're reducing a speed by a third.
Speaker 2I would love to know, right, how much going slower reduces the carbon emissions and all that stuff they talk about. Because I'm not convinced. Right, because he's a good example the M4 in Cardiff in from Cardiff through to Newport up towards London the Welsh capitals car park.
Speaker 2Yeah, the car park right, so that 50 mile an hour limit thing causes people to drive slower, therefore causes more congestion. If you're going to be quicker, we went through it. If you widen the motorway as well, surely being stood still is far more polluting than actually getting ever moving.
Speaker 1I think that maybe there's some widening the room but then then my car is this stop start. You know when it stops it automatically cuts out. And I don't know. I've always had the impression that it takes more energy to kick, start to go. I have no idea, no idea anymore.
Speaker 2I've given up even worry about and have you seen this I don't wear red somewhere about the electric car drivers. Now we're looking at taking the government to court over the fact that why should they have to drive 20 mile an hour or 50 mile an hour on motorways? And so because, then all the ones polluting the earth Good shout, that's a great why can't they drive faster?
Speaker 1that's a great shout.
Speaker 2Just blinking good, does I mean so soon we all go electric is 30 the speed limit is going to increase now, they're not. They.
Speaker 1Wow, yeah, that's a great show that's it.
Speaker 2There is a, there is some sort of case being taken. The courts somewhere in the UK believe.
Speaker 1Well, that would be the fact that there.
Speaker 2why should we be penalized for having to drive slower if we got electric car?
Speaker 1Well, that would be an incentive for me to, instead of getting a 40,000 pounds a for getting a 70,000 pounds electric a for Price number just.
Speaker 2I mean listen to a lot actually about on some podcasts about business owners who own kind of like car garage things. They are they're all very much convinced that will either find a new fuel before 2030. But they don't think that we'll go fully electric by 2030. We will never go fully electric.
Speaker 1You haven't watched it yet, but the them. There's a Disney character called like McQueen Is a car and in one of them. Interesting with this car is to this guy is A Land Rover and he's he's gone trying to cruise around the world and it ends up that he gets lost in some jungle. He comes back and said I've lived on fossil fuel Sorry, not fossil fuel, but some new energy fuel. So he says fossil fuels, thing of the past. We're going to use this thing called all in oil now and it's a kids program. And it ends up that he's promoting this.
Speaker 1All in oil, all in all, all in oil. And and the racing that's going on around the world, he's got guys that are shooting the cars, blowing them up. So it basically means people are going oh no, so the price of fuel, fossil fuel, goes down. He buys loads of it. They promote this all in all, all in oil, and it doesn't work. He's got all the fossil fuel and he tries to make a fortune. He gets caught out. I wonder the grand scheme of things. Are the governments of the world pushing you to do electric things, buying up All this fossil fuel? Oils start all of a sudden to get more money.
Speaker 2You never know. You think the billions are going to cost to kind of turn to that and like I'd be interested to know, like how much Difference that is going to make the damage we've done to the climate. I'm old, but what are you going to do about thing? Some of the biggest polluters out there, like your lorries, your Ferries, your aeroplanes, they are going to go electric of a, because I'm not flying to America in an electric airplane. I can tell you that now.
Speaker 1Well, let's not go down there, because the aeronautical Sector is all Environmental, because Heathrow Airport is in an environmental fund, so it's, that's all okay. Oh, wait a minute, they don't they don't include the planes.
Speaker 2It's very good. Everything lands on there. I actually calls it. That's a farce in its own, isn't it? It's in a, in a ESG fund Heathrow Airport, because it has solar, it has wind, it has all sort of energy producing, but that doesn't take into account the, the large vehicles landing landing.
Speaker 1Yeah, it's not part of us.
Speaker 2But hey, it's all about how you write the contract absolutely so.
Speaker 1We know from the guy that swindled the councils there recently. Oh, yeah, that's an interesting article my touch base, not again in a later date right here.
Speaker 1Here's a tip for those people. I just thought of it now, about the money and Greg's and all that. Everything we do anymore is either Apple, google on your watch, on your phone, bing, bing, bing, nick. Sunday night, go to the cash machine, take 30 quid out. That's your spending money for the week, but that's that's it. You can buy whatever you want. You can buy all your food to cook. You can buy Greg's Probably only about three times a day a week. But log out of Amazon as well. Log out of eBay, log out of Vintage, whatever other apps. Close all notifications down on the phone, like you do, and spend a week Sunday or Monday to Sunday living on that 30 quid if you can and buying no Nothing on impulse buying when Amazon or someone sends you notifications.
Speaker 2So she means as well as impulse from where you see and see you.
Speaker 1See that you don't actually need to buy any of that crap. And all of a sudden the crisis of the cost of living evaporates because you're not wasting digital money that you don't have a physical interaction with, and it's you're saying you're not spending as much. Where's the, the physical money? You are conscious when you give in Greg's or where it may be a tenner, and you get 2 pound 20 back, you go, wow, that cost me 750 or whatever it may be. It's, it's just a different mindset, it's, it's basic common sense. Try that for a month. Guarantee you, you, you will become more or develop a better understanding and relationship and money habits with yourself.
Speaker 2Yeah, I'm saying.
Speaker 1See you next week.