Page 1 of 5
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 7:04 pm
by Dave_L
When is it all going to end?
Middle income families are going to see an income drop of some £2000 over the next 2 years or so.
Fuel is increasing, household energy costs are spiralling out of control.......where are we going to turn?
Pains me to say it but I think we are going to have to watch the thermostat over this coming winter.....
What effect is the recession having on you guys?
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 7:29 pm
by Carberry
Not really affected me, I've always been a cheapskate though and I have my finger in a lot of pies :laugh:
My Dad keeps on saying this is the end of capitalism.
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 7:48 pm
by rab1
I`m down about £15k per year but at least i`m working.
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 7:57 pm
by DNgroundworks
Im always skint anyway, times have been shite since i started trading so i wouldnt know any different
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:08 pm
by Mikey_C
Carberry wrote:Not really affected me, I've always been a cheapskate though and I have my finger in a lot of pies :laugh:
not effected me either, and I eat alot pies!
a layer of fat helps in cold weather!!
I hear dewhurst shares dropped, after the market got wind that haggi and cookie were going veggie!!
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:28 pm
by lutonlagerlout
hideously worse off than 4 years ago but no point dwelling on it
As long as you have your health and an optimistic outlook you are in with a shout
LLL 
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:36 pm
by Dave_L
Tony.......so so true.
Lots of people around me suffering with cancer, Inc a 28 yr old mate.
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:37 pm
by DNgroundworks
May i ask Tony, is it that your earning less or you have lost it in the "crunch"?
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 9:50 pm
by lutonlagerlout
portfolio is down 30% in 3 months
mrs business which was earning her 35-40k PA is no more
cheap holidays dont exist anymore ,we flew to milan with ryanair in 2002 for £20 each all in
struggle to do it for under £150 now with all their shyster charges
time you add accommodation and spends its a grand for a weekend
food and fuel have gone up 30 % in the last 2 years
and the pressure is downwards on wages although my earnings have been static for 5 years
but,big BUT
we have our health and my daughter makes me smile every day
what more could you want?
LLL
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:03 pm
by seanandruby
just learned my subsistence is going to start being taxed because once you are on the same job for 20 months your classed as permanent address. So i?ll be down about £70 a week. That on top of no cost of living rise for the padt 3 years and 3 wage cuts amounting to £15 a day. Have to get cheapest digs and eat the cocroaches to survive. Bet the fecking MPs don't put up with it. Times are getting hard.
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 10:40 am
by countrywoman
As is to be expected, it is those in the middle who are squeezed. I am not a builder but have taken an interest in buildings for the past 30 years and those who abide by the rules lose out. I'm sure you have all seen 'builders' repairing roofs without scaffolding and undercutting the professionals.
We were a farming family and some years my father's income was £20 p.a., and we are only talking 30 years' ago. Thankfully we had a large vegetable garden, we ate the tops from the crops of turnips and kale and had fresh eggs and our own milk (and made butter). Sometimes we ate stinging nettles for greens. (I have done this recently when my husband was made redundant.) My mother was a renowned cook and was able to feed us economically but well. (My budget used to be £1.00 per meal but has had to rise to £1.50, and if feeling extravagant, £2.00!) There is no doubt that the cost of essentials has risen dramatically. There is not much one can do with regard to utilities but I can function in a room at 48 degs. if I keep busy. As my husband is now working we can turn the heating on but have yet to do so.
As has been said, if you have good health that is a real bonus and the rest pales into insignificance. (Lost best friend recently to cancer.) Also, if you have work you are better off than those without. (My cousin said that when his dad was working during the depression men would be lined up outside the site gates from the early hours, on their hands and knees begging for work. Some of them in tears. My mother's father lost his job and he used to cycle to the docks to try and find work and then cycle to the next dockyard; she had to go begging for food as they were starving and there was no welfare state. (After 4 years in the trenches in WW1 too - her dad, not my mum.)
There is only one thing to do, that is try and savour the good things we all have, like health and friends and family. The leaves turning gold, the birds in the garden, mists and rain, sunshine, early frosts decorating the foliage, chestnuts...there is a lot to be grateful for. If you are not homeless, cold or hungry then everything else is a bonus.
(Sorry about the length, but I'm a fast typist.)
:O
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 12:45 pm
by seanandruby
your not related to john steinbeck by any chance, re the grapes of wrath lol. Know what your saying and i've been thee more than once. I come from a big family so know what it's like to be poor, i never forget that, ever. Physical is a must but then there is mental health and that's were the government put us all at risk of losing our sanity trying to make ends meet. Yes it's nice to be in work and put the bread and butter on the table but now and again it would be nice for some people to have some jam to go with it.
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 5:41 pm
by lutonlagerlout
nice post CW, i am with sean,i grew up poor but happy so anything is a bonus
if push came to shove i would work for 70 quid a day
rather be in crap work than sign on
however push hasnt come to shove yet so dont bother asking :;):
who knows luton might get promoted this year!!
LLL
Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 7:12 am
by flowjoe
I think the only boom industry around here at the moment is installing wood burning stoves, every second person i meet has just had one or is having one installed, signs all over the shop advertising them and seem to see a lot of small trailors loaded up with logs.
A sign of the times when people will go to the trouble of installing and maintaining something like this, not to mention the man hours spent sourcing and cutting logs.
Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 10:38 am
by London Stone Paving
I think we are seeing a natural adjustement of the economy. People have been living in hock for the past 10-15 years and its not sustainable. All of a sudden there is no credit available, which mean there is no money to spend. Populations are rising, resources dwindling which is whats causing the price of all these commodoties to rise. Unfortunately they will keep rising and people will be forced to live within there means. i dont think we will ever see a situation again where there is a glut of credit available.
The current situation is almost unprecedented and none of the politicians either labour or conservative really know how to deal with it.
I dont like the way that the labour party are saying that all these cuts are being done for conservative idealogical reasons. The cons are not stupid and after having waited so long to get into government I dont see why they would make all these unpopular cuts (which will probarbly see them removed at the next general election) unless the cuts were necessary.
I think that anyone with any common sense can see that we need to make these cuts if we dont want to go down the swanny with the PIGS.
My Uncle & Aunty were both made reduntant from Stoke on Trent council in the last 12 months, so I can see the sides from both points of view. Bottom line is the whole world is skint and its about survival. You hear so mnay different opinions and points of view and generally people are divided on these points of view along party lines.
Gordon Brown was the man who said he was the chancelor who ended boom and bust, that phrase must haunt him. This is the by product of capitalism, which has served us all well over the years and i think that whoever was in power this crisis would have been unavoidable. However I think Gordon Brown is culpable, not for the global recession but because throughout the whole time he was chancellor the country went through an economic boom and the reason i think he is culpable is because t the end of that economic boom, Britain had nothing to show for it apart from record levels of debt.