Goodness, gracious me! Neil, you have violated one of the most salient pillars and the most sacred golden rule of unwritten laws of this forum:
"NEVER mention money, finances, salaries, cash, dough, nuts, beans, prices, expenses or anything of that sort on this forum where WOMEN (females, certainly not ladies) can read it. There is an invisible mechanism that defuncts their brains, their logical thinking capacities and their wits (even when you joke about money!) forever. PLUS you become an outcast and will be blacklisted for any future topic, theme or comment that you may post. As of right now, these creatures will hate you by default and neg anything you might say or (even worse!) reply.
Trying to talk sense in economic aspects here is as futile as trying to ask the Americans to stop bombing the Middle East…
Good luck anyway!
PS: if you want empirical evidence, just look at how many downvotes this very comment garnishes 😀