? about the economy

[*Nick*]

Now, i fully admit that I know nothing about economics…having said that, what’s the big deal?

Here in Canada we get bombarded every day about how bad the economy is and we all have to tighten our belts etc etc
My question is, unless you’ve lost your job aren’t you making the same amount of money? Aren’t your bills the same as before this “crisis”?  Inflation here is running about 2% which is negligible isn’t it?

Cars here have never been cheaper, everyone in every sector are offering incentives and great deals

I don’t get it  :confused:

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Bills –

energy bills – have rocketed at a rough guess well over 100% of only a couple of years ago

mortgage bills – anyone coming off a fixed rate deal onto the variable rate will very likely see an increase of between 3 – 5% on their mortgage repayments, this is 100’s of pounds a month.  tho interest rates are low – lenders are not releasing products at this rate … they are about 6% still.

petrol – costs a bit less than mad recent times but still very expensive and diesel cars no longer give the good savings they once did.

yes nick – lots of things are cheaper … peple dont pay as much … if they use finance the finance companies dont make as much, the car dealers dont make as much profit, that means they cannot afford to increase wages in line with inflation etc …..

We have a situation where people are accepting PAY CUTS just to keep their jobs AND still having compulsary redundancies …….

The housing market has all but halted – estate agents are going under left right and centre, some independent mortgage brokers and conveyencers are following fast …

In my partners sector one of the big manufacturers have just stopped participating at a loss of approx. 6-700 jobs in the blink of an eye.  If his team went he is our only wage earner in this family and we’d have £1500 a month of bills to pay plus extra costs like uni fees ….

We’re relatively OK though – when you consider some people have borrowed 7 – 8X their salary and many people didnt bother with insurance as it was a boom time – if they were earning a “good” uk wage say £40,000 – thats a 320,000 home say they put in £30,000 to make it a round £350,000 and 2-3 years later (ie now) its only worth 299,995 and thats *IF* they can even sell it !!  If its repo’d and sold at auction for say £250K they’d still owe £100,000 for a house they didnt have and with no job ………. see what i mean ?

Claire.

[Anonymous]

ok ok – they’d owe £70,000 (i cant add)

claire x

[Foxisle_crazy]

Its always on the news etc about how bad things are but TBH i don’t know anyone who is affected as bad as the media are making out.  I know there will be some people struggling but not as many as they’re trying to tell us  ::)

I think the only people having sleepless nights are the divs who borrowed 5,6,7 times their salary to have a huge house which now isn’t even near worth what they payed for it  ???

[Anonymous]

The mood is very bleak here in Somerset.  Most people that I know have had their overtime cut back to zero.  Local manufacturing companies are making people redundant, hundreds at a time.  Retired people living on their savings have had their incomes halved in the last 6 months due to the drop in interest rates!  Food prices are cheaper but if they do all their shopping in one supermarket, then people find that their total bill is no less as stores reduce some things and put others up to compensate.  I don’t know anyone who isn’t concerned about their winter fuel bills as gas and electricity have gone up so much in the past 12 months. 
And with the price of car fuel, most people are considering if they really need to go anywhere.  I used to go to music clubs 5 nights a week.  I now go once a week and each of the clubs is experiencing a drop in membership of about 50%.  We’ve had 2 pubs close this week in this not very big town.  Shops are folding at about one each month. 
I was talking to a local estate agent today and he’s laid off 6 staff and the remainder are working a 4 day week. 
I think things are very grim and unless Gordon starts seeing things as they really are and stops giving our money to bail out companies, getting us and our country even further into debt, then it’s likely to get worse before they get better.  I can’t believe that his answer to the country’s difficulties is to borrow more money! 🙁

[Sweetypye]

I think to say that the only people suffering during this recession are the divs who have over borrowed is a little simplistic to say the least.

If the company you work for has gone bust eg Wooworths, MFI or, in the case of Honda, BMW, Vauxhall they are contemplating closing for a couple of months or putting workers out on 30% of their original salary then no matter how careful you are, it is difficult to make ends meet especially if you have a mortgage to pay.

If you are a contractor such as a plumber, brickie etc and no one is building houses you are self employed and broke.

I know several people at the moment who could be made homeless through no fault of their own. :boooo:

[wags]

i am about to loose my house i simply cant make the morgage payments on my own

– morgage is -£460
– ground rent is – £130 – yes a month and it 6 years its gone up by 120%

im a single mum on not much above minimum wage and we simply cant afford to live

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I know a load more companies who are planning 1-2 month shutdowns every year – some unpaid in a bid to reduce redundancies.  

I think what is frightening is how quickly you can teeter on the edge of losing everything.  

Claire.

p.s. One thing I have learned recently is for goodness sake ASK your friends what their partners do lol!!  Found a builder, decorator and plumber recently all lovely and if you’re gonna pay you may as well give the money to friends yeah?

[Anonymous]

and the terrifying thing is that i bet once you’re homeless you’ll be put on the council list and end up going into a house where the rent is more than your original mortgage payment 🙁  this happened to a friend of mine and it increased her payments by £200 a month !!!!!!!

how totally mad is that ??????

*hugs* Helen x x x

[wags]

or i could put it another way

i earn roughly £500 a month, i get roughly another £500 via tax credits and i have a whacking £900 in bills to come out inc morgage etc

out of whats left i have to get a bus pass because i dont drive and thats £32 a month

which doesnt leave us with a reyt lot really

take tonight for example – we have been to the cinema to see madagascar 2 a special treat for breaking up from school – not really much to ask for really and thats set us about approx £20

see what i mean its not just people that are borrowing its people who just cant afford to get by

[wags]

actually Claire im moving into my mums

omg nearlly 30 and moving into my parents – i moved out when i was 16

[Anonymous]

blimey – culture shock !! 🙂

you’ll get through it – you’re a tough’un you are girl 😀

claire x

[wags]

a couple of things about my job that makes it a “good” job

it works round school hours – no matter what i.e. i say its Joes play next tuesday – i get next tuesday off or if im due to start at 9 everything will be done for when i come through the door at quarter past because ive been at school

school holidays etc – no issue Joe just comes with me its not a problem

which in turn saves a fortune in other childcare issues etc

[Anonymous]

hi,

that does sound a “good” job 🙂  you’ve reminded me – i know 2 people recently who have sold theirs and their parents house and bought just the one house for all of them to manage better.  one of them is working ok … the other is a bit more erm… fragile ?

claire x

p.s. CSA that man of yours girl …. u need the dosh – now is not the time to be civil !! 😀

[kerrie and stan]

i live off £70 a week, £150 goes on bills, £50 goes on my key meter electric and the rest goes on stan. if it wasnt for my flat mate buying in the food i wouldnt be able to afford to feed myself anything more than bread and butter

huggs wags i hope you get through this time ok :-*

[Author]

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