Credit Crunch

[jackie j]

How is the credit crunch affecting you and have you given anything up because of it. We havent really been affected much as we dont have credit cards and only a small mortgage no loans eiither, luckily my OH earns a good wage allowing me to work part time ( claming carers allowance for 18 months whilst looking after my sister until she died a year ago ) but we have just been on holiday to wet and windy cornwall the Lizzard to be exact and we didnt have any money to spend, it was booked back in the summer and was a sun newspaer holiday and can recomend the site. I am going to have to up my hours or find more work not something I am looking forward to. We were just begining to reap the rewards of years of hard work for not much money and really stuggling to pay our way. We dont smoke, drink or gamble, we havent had any exotic holidays and usually go camping in the summer but even gave this up due to the weather and stayed home. We dont live an extravagant lifestyle only buy whats needed when needed, clothes bought cheaply no designer wear. We live a boring life really only the occasional take away, most of my money is spent on my lottie or on our daughter. How we have ended up like this I have no idea. There doesnt seem to be anything we can give up.

[maytreefrannie]

I know how you feel Jackie - life is good for me in many ways and I'm not complaining, but - disposable cash? None. I'm budgeting, stretching money to pay bills - when I was younger I thought that when we came to this stage (late fifties), with all the 'big' stuff paid, there would be more money to go round. I don't know how young people starting out manage.

Like you, I feel there isn't much we can do cheaper. One thing, I love to eat and always try to buy good quality food (with the odd bottle of wine). Growiing even a small amount of veg is good for morale and also gives us really good, tasty ingredients.

Sorry I've rambled on - your words just seemed to describe my life as well as yours.

[sallym]

I'm with the two of you. Both me and OH work full time. Have to rob Peter to pay Paul every month. Have £7 left to last me until i get paid on the 1st and I have to save £5 of that for fruit cane offer on Thurs at Lidl. S'challange innit?

[jackie j]

I know life seemed to be easy for us too, I was brought up by my mum with two sisters dad died when I was six, on a council estate, I married for the first time at 19 yrs old and lived in rented accomadation for two years then lived with inlaws so we could buy our first house cheap as it was by todays standards was hard to pay for £9,500 for brand new two bed terrace 1978, sold for £19,250 after two years 1980, bought three bed semi for £21,500 sold for £51,500 10 years later bought present house 4 bed terrace for £51,950 20 years ago 1988. My sons canot get a mortgage so live in rented at a cost upwards of £650 a month plus bills. I have been a single parent to four boys and know what its like to struggle, I remarried in 1995 and had our daughter in 1996 and until recently we were still struggling we were just getting to the stage of thinking we could afford to take it easy and enjoy ouselves when bam along comes something else.
Recently someone asked what store cupboard do you keep and how long will it last well ours has run out and apart from broadbeans and runner beans in the freezer there is nothing left and this week we are living on anything we can make up with whatever I can find. I have three small swedes a couple of butternut squash that may be ripe a few spuds, onions and not a lot else. I went to asda yesterday for bread and had to use five pence pieces as thats all I had. Roll on thursday when oh gets paid and friday when I get paid.

[Marthaclematis]

I'm glad I'm not poor anymore, we used to be. When we first got married - we had nothing. I remember everything was second hand, from shoes to curtains to furniture. I remember making soup from two carrots and an onion once because that is ALL we had in the cupboards. Over the years things got better, through luck, hard work and being brave and relocating to a new city for better prospects. I can say though, that back in those days we were very happy (despite the constant living hand to mouth) and we are still very happy; I cannot say that I'm actually happier now than I was then. As long as we have our health and a roof over our heads and food in the cupboard but mainly that we love each other I know that there is nothing else I need. Its nice to be able to afford good olive oil and have holidays but I never forget those days and I know that if I had to go back, then as long as we were together it would be alright. We have suffered in the credit crunch and have had lots of money wiped off our investment portfolio - dh is quite worried, but there's a long way to go before we're homeless. I worry far more about one of us getting ill, and I worry about getting old as we have no children to help us (not that I think children should HAVE to look after parents, but I like to think they would). I worry about one of us being left alone without the other and really pray that we 'both go together'.... We really do 'come as a pair'.... OOoooohh I'm getting morbid now! Sorry! I didn't mean to bring us all down.

[HeyWayne]

This is my first first-hand experience of a recession, when the last one hit I was a blissfully ignorant art student, and the time before that I was just about in high school.

Working in the construction industry I am very worried about my job prospects, and with having a baby in the new year, know that things are going to get tougher before they get better. LadyWayne is optimistic about our outlook - we'll cope, whatever it takes.

When we first got together we lived off a hell of a lot less than we do now.

We've made cutbacks, but we still live a comfortable lifestyle - we are lucky that we can afford to cutback still should the need arise, and we've made provisions for tough times.

[Marthaclematis]

Your baby will have a mum and dad who adore each other and it too (he/she), that is the best start a child can have. The future is bright for the Wayne's don't you worry about that !!

[jackie j]

Dont worry just yet wayne we all get by somehow, I dont consider myself poor just hard up at the mo, and at least I wont be loosing my house as the mortgage is paid for even if oh looses his job. I have been a lot worse off than this and I do remeber the last time, at least with buying my house 20 years ago at a low price even if we did have to sell we have a lot of equity in it so would be able to buy someting else smaller. My OH tends to buy stuff when he see's it and pays in cash all too often wether we need it or not. I will be stocking up my freezer over the next few weeks putting it in the other freezer if we dont use it where OH doesnt venture very often that way he wont know its there till we get desperate lol.
Wayne at the moment you are in a better situation than I was at that age. Getting a divorce in the early nineties with four boys and an ex that didnt pay for them has helped to put me in the situation I find myself in also my oh now had to sell his house in negative equity last time round, sometimes we wish we had kept it on and rented it out which we did for a while but a bad tennant put us off.

[kirsty b]

My OH and I get paid monthly and the last week in the run up to pay day is always a struggle! I have now got into the habit of a monthly online shop. I get it ready and then order and pay on payday. Almost everything is the discount/value/basic brands. I go through the cupboards and see what I need rather than a standard order every month.
We have financial committments that we took out sometime ago, but thankfully, from spring onwards they will start to finish. We have changed the dogs and cats food, so some money can be shaved off there. I know I work part time and we would benefit financially if I increase my hours, but Lauren would then lose out, especially in the school holidays, as I would be constantly having to farm her out to be looked after.
I do have an evening cleaning job too, and get paid from that on the 10th of each month, so at least we have that to tide us over mid-month. Without it, things would be a lot tighter.

[HayleyB]

We've been hit hard, our business is bringing in very little and we are delving in to our property equity to pay two employees, business outgoings and to keep ticking over until it's all over, (at least end of 2009) it will be costing us big time. We have no income between the two of us and expect to be down by about £75k by the end. However when the recovery begins we will recoup our losses but it will take a long while. Has put our semi retirement plans back by at least 5 years. No holidays and cut back on luxuries, no dinners out. Luckily I have freezer full of beans to keep us going

[percy charlie]

the lottie will be utalised within an inch of its life this coming year, i have purchased birth to pottie reusable nappies for the baby due in april cost me £175 for 28 mappies 30 wraps variable sizes fleese liners and boosters, birth to pottie using disposibles on my daughter cost me £1700 and my friend £2000 for her son so i think this will be an excellent saving for me as well as the enviroment and these are shaped not standard terry and dont require soaking. i steam veg as much as possible except sundays as you get 3 pans and use only one gas ring or small amount of lecky if its a electric one, i do steamed sponges in the microwave 3-4 minutes saves using the oven. i check reduced vegs in the supermarket usually about 8 at night to bring home if cant use the next day cut up and freeze it for soups ect got spring onions mushrooms broccoli carrots, and a stew pack with swede parsnip leek ect in from tesco other day it all cost me 75 pence for it all and diced up in freeze will make 2-3 cassaroles or soups or roasted veg on sundays when do the joint and all was in good condition. i have the heating on a temperature gadge so only comes on when required. we dont smoke, dont go out regualarly a meal on special occasions hubby has a 4 pack once a fortnight i dont usually drink except if out for a meal but as pregnant im tee total at mo and an a takeaway as a treat occasionally. i only use the tumble dryer as an emergency for hubby work clothes if the weather is not cooperating. i was made redundant so we have one wage for me hubby our daughter and the one on the way plus hubby has to pay £50 a week in maintaince for 2 children in a previous marriage, we have a really old car that really needs changing but we cant afford too, we need a car as we live in a village 11 miles from the nearest town and its cheaper to run a car that go by bus, and hubby works 25 miles away. im lucky i saved most of the baby stuff from my daughter whites cot ect we are struggling too and its 8 weeks till christmas, will be a very careful year for me and most of the country i expect. lottie will be a very dear friend too me glad i was lucky to get mine so quick.

[ailsasyl]

I was made redundant oct 06, got another job in the nov till end feb 07 to cover maternity leave, then in hospital for an op on the ligaments on my ankle to try and stop it dislocating all the time op took less than hour, in hospital less than a week on crutches and unable to work for 6 months!!
Morgage insurance refused to pay out saying it was an existing condition, Had to survive on about £110 a week, morgage payments are£400 a month so had to survive on credit card, morgage in arrears.
Got a job Oct 07 but earning a lot less than before so cancelled morg ins saving £50 a month, ins on credit card again saving £50 a month changed utilities, phone etc live hand to mouth most months paying extra £100 on morg each month will be finished in Feb then have to start paying mum back who helped out. Applying for other jobs outwith Care sector as fed up of the way workers are treated, but no joy so far, its difficult but we still have a roof over our head all be it one that need fixing, big prob will be if I dont manage to get a better paid job over next few years as tax credits will stop when Happybunny leaves school and that will mean going back to working 70 hour weeks to make ends meet

[BarleySugar]

I'm lucky that my job (teacher) isn't likely to go, but we did have a 'talk' by the headmaster, where we were told that because the school had employed the admin staff required to cover the tasks teachers are no longer required to do (routine photocopying, collecting money, displays etc,) the wage bill was a serious issue. Therefore although there would be no redundancies, the teaching staff would reduce through natural wastage. Great, we get let off admin, but get larger classes and therefore an increased work load anyway! I think I would prefer filling out a few forms!

He also said that if we continued using electicity at the same rate, the bill would be £20000 more this year. I have already emailed the bursar pointing out that when I get in at 7.30 all the lights are on in all the classrooms. I can't see why they need to be on until the room is occupied, but I haven't had an answer yet, and the lights have still been turned on. I turn off any I pass, but I'm not going round the whole school!

Our mortgage is an interest and capital repayment one, so we have benefitted by the drops in interest rates this year, and with DD moving to my school the petrol bill has gone down from £250 a month to less than £100 as we now travel together. OH has retired, and has poor health, so the heating has to be on somewhat during the day. I just count myself lucky that with a bit of belt tightening we should be able to cope. My brother is a self employed contractor, qualified electrician, but can turn his hand to virtually anything. Since returning from his honeymoon in Australia 2 weeks ago he has only had 2 days work. They live with my Mum, so there's no mortgage, but even with his wife's job, life will be very tough.

[jackie j]

Luckily our gas bill will be ok this winter the water, the cooking and heating is by gas and have been paying £55 a month and have got £85 in credit and I have checked that the figuires are correct by taking another reading when the bill came so we should have £250 towards the next bill. The electric has gone up to £70 a month an increase of £23 a month yet the electric stays the same all year round.

[maytreefrannie]

I suppose there may be loads of these threads in various parts of the site, but reading down through the posts here, there are some money saving ideas - I feel it would be great for people to post some pieces on the ways they save money, whether through managing utilities etc. or in food (recipes).

One thing about this thread, it makes me feel we're not alone in this credit crunch, we're all in it together.