Spend or save?

[Mikey]

I was reading an article today that recommended that we would be better off spending than saving at the moment. It suggested that because the rates of interest are so low, and that retail is so competitive for business, then the logical solution would be to spend rather than save.

Is it me?

[Alice]

If you've money to spend I think you'd be better off spending it. There's no interest on savings .

[janeyo]

We have just drawn down a rather large sum extra on our mortgage to do our extension. OH figures as the rates are so low it pays for the extra as they keep dropping the rates, but he pays the same ammount or more each month.

We could never save enough quick enough to do the job so this seems to be the only way.

My ' grocery shop' spending hasn't changed, in fact it's less now as I haven't got xmas pressies to buy! And I rarely buy frivolities anyway (shoes and handbags don't count, they are essentials lol) as OH would skin me!

janeyo

[Mikey]

If you've money to spend I think you'd be better off spending it. There's no interest on savings .

At what level though should spending start.

[SarzWix]

Well, we have nothing spare to do either with, so it's all irrelevant...

I was reading a very complicated article on the BBC the other day about how the current economic situation would be a great time to get round Inheritance Tax & Death Duties though, so maybe it will end up being useful to some people.

[Mikey]

Does anyone feel that they should be tightening their belts as we enter the recession then?

[di]

Our belts will tighten no further!...we're in the same boat as Sarah,nothing left at end of week/month to worry too much about whether we should spend it or save it.....maybe we should think ourselves lucky to not have to worry

[SlugLobber]

I have had to extend my belt, on account of all the choccies I keep eating. Never had much money to save anyway, which solves this little dilemma!!

[Marthaclematis]

I think that as interest on savings is so low it might be worthwhile using savings to pay off the mortgage at the moment, especially if you're on a fixed rate. There are people it seems who have mortgages which are set at half a percent LOWER than the bank of England rate... so if the rate goes down to zero, the banks will be obliged to pay THE MORTGAGEES money each month. How wierd is that.

[tootles]

All of our income is from our savings. At this rate we will have to spend it, then Gordon can pay for our housing, rest homes, heating, care and everything else, because we won't be able to - where is the sense in that!!!???

[OverWyreGrower]

Belt tightening here!

Does anyone feel that they should be tightening their belts as we enter the recession then?

We are in for some serious belt-tightening, but generally not due to the recession though...

I decided that sorting out our debts is my new years resolution, and it is going to be very hard, but I would rather get it sorted now....

Sky has been cancelled (sorry, Mr OWG), insurances etc are being re-done at cheaper rates, food spending has been drastically slashed etc...

We never had any money anyway at the end of the month (to spend or save) so in that respect it will be the same!!

[zazen999]

We have saved for a while to knock down a wall, build it back to it's 1880 condition and to get a garden room. This is costing half of our savings. The rest is our rainy day fund - the interest is a pittance but if the worst happens I still want to pay our mortgage.

I think it's swings and roundabouts - we need the extra room as I work from home and we could have put a hold on it...but life is for living and how long should we wait???

[jackie j]

We have never been able to save but we are in a better posistion now than we were a few years ago. We only have a low mortgage no outstanding debts, no credit cards. We own approx three quaters of our house. I can work part time and we could mamage on just the OH's wages. The food bill isnt too bad for three of us but we dont go mad. We only have camping holidays which depend on the weather. We would like to make improvements on the house, new doors and windows, new bathroom general decorating. Any spare money will go towards this. Daughter is able to have tap and clarinet lessons. We have two cars.
All in all I think we are better off than most people.

[nerobot]

Interest is next to nothing, but if you have a strong stomach, than it is a great time to buy shares. Might seem strange, but since they are at an all time low, and there are plenty of companies that are strong enough to weather the storm, their share prices will almost certainly go up after all of this.

Have to be in it for the long run though as it will probably take a year to make much from it (well at the low amounts I'm putting in anyway).

Steven

[MaureenHall]

I'd like to do both But there's usually too much month left at the end of the money