Has the recession effected you yet?

[ButSeriously]

Paul.

I am still in work, although my wife does not work, and cannot work due to the cost of child care... Long Story..

My predicament has been caused simply by struggling too long treading water, and coming to a point last summer when the cost of fuel rising dramatically caused us to sink..

Was not insinuating that you were specifically calling me a loser, it is just hard at the moment, and you are right there are winners and losers, and although I am not on the winning side at the moment my aspirations are to get back on that team as quickly as possible...

I guess you also fall into the category where you earn just too much for family tax credit and not enough to live comfortably on

 

[Rich]

gordon brown is my shepherd, i shall not work.

He leadeth me beside the still factories.

He restoreth my faith in the conservative party.

He guideth me in the path of unemployment.

(yea, though i wait for my dole,

i own the bank that refuses me).

He has annointed my income with taxes,

my expenses runneth over my income,

surely, poverty and hard living will follow me all the days of his term.

From hence forth we will live all the days

 

[scott-atkinson]

I guess you also fall into the category where you earn just too much for family tax credit and not enough to live comfortably on

Spot on...

In fact if I did'nt work and lived of the state I would probably have a better standard of living

 

[scott-atkinson]

gordon brown is my shepherd, i shall not work.

He leadeth me beside the still factories.

He restoreth my faith in the conservative party.

He guideth me in the path of unemployment.

(yea, though i wait for my dole,

i own the bank that refuses me).

He has annointed my income with taxes,

my expenses runneth over my income,

surely, poverty and hard living will follow me all the days of his term.

From hence forth we will live all the days

That is so piognant...

New Labour....Pah!....New Misery....

 

[Pauldohert]

Paul.

I am still in work, although my wife does not work, and cannot work due to the cost of child care... Long Story..

My predicament has been caused simply by struggling too long treading water, and coming to a point last summer when the cost of fuel rising dramatically caused us to sink..

Was not insinuating that you were specifically calling me a loser, it is just hard at the moment, and you are right there are winners and losers, and although I am not on the winning side at the moment my aspirations are to get back on that team as quickly as possible...

Good on you and good luck to you!

Just remember the new labour theme tune - things can only get better - who says you can't trust politician to tell you the truth!

 

[Len Boorman]

Just remember the new labour theme tune - things can only get better - who says you can't trust politician to tell you the truth!

Wrong.
1) Things will get worse yet
2) Politician tell the truth, Which planet are you from.


Prediction

By the end of 2009 3.5 million unemployed in UK
Worst performing recovery in developed world
Gordon Brown retired on fat penson (That is a bit of wishful thinking more than a prediction.)

L

 

[oumahexi]

Gordon Brown retired on fat penson (That is a bit of wishful thinking more than a prediction.)

L

Why let him have a big fat pension? Set him loose and see if he can get family tax credit like Scott and But.

 

[scott-atkinson]

Gordon Brown retired on fat penson (That is a bit of wishful thinking more than a prediction.)

L

Better still let him go cap in hand to Sir Fred Goodwin's door...

 

[scott-atkinson]

The most sickening thing is;

My mortgage company contacted me by letter yesterday saying that my fixed period is coming to an end, and with the Base rate being so low, my monthly payments would have fallen by over 500 pounds a month and I would have been able to stay in the house...

How anoying is that...

 

[oumahexi]

Oh Scott, that's worse than cr4p!! I truly feel for you.

 

[BeerSnob]

Let me start by saying that I'm truly sorry for the hardship that some people, like Scott, are going through; and this post is not intended to thumb my nose at the hardship of others.

With that being said, I'm going to give a different perspective on all this - and will probably get flamed for it.

1) A national radio personality that I listen to (NOT Rush Limbaugh), had been saying that the stock market was going to crash, and I changed my retirement account over early enough to save it. I recently bought back in, and now own twice as many shares as I had before.

2) I live and work in the heart of the area dominated by the automotive industry in the US. My company is not dependant on them, though, and
we are doing well. Our industry is going through a much needed consolidation, so some of our competitors have gone out of business, and we are grabbing up their customers. So the future is looking pretty decent - at least on that front.

3) I've recently finished paying off a few debts, and my family is living better than we EVER have. I have friends who say the same thing. I do home repair and improvement work in the evenings and weekends, and I'm actually turning work away because I'm getting too much.

I'll say that it is my opinion that things aren't as bad as the media would have us believe - at least in the US.

Now, the media isn't forward thinking enough to realize that things are soon to get MUCH worse. We are in a bear-market rally. The next stock market collapse will be catastrophic (I'll get out in time *wink*). The US governmet is working on destroying our economy, and we'll drag the rest of the world down with us. They're doing it more quickly than anyone could imagine prior to the last election. I fear (and I do hope I'm wrong), that the world will look like it did in the 1850's within 2 years. At least my
apparent "prosperity" has allowed me to prepare for that eventuality.

 

[Alc]

I live and work in the heart of the area dominated by the automotive industry in the US. My company is not dependant on them, though, and
we are doing well. Our industry is going through a much needed consolidation, so some of our competitors have gone out of business, and we are grabbing up their customers. So the future is looking pretty decent - at least on that front.

Without naming the company, obviously, which industry are you in?

 

[oumahexi]

Good for you BeerSnob! It's uplifting to hear some good news for a change! Just as it was seeming to me that the world was full of bad news, not just on the world economy front but from friends' personal lives too! I don't care that I don't know you, the fact that I read your blog there, coupled with an overdose of MSG at lunch time, has lifted my spirits. Thanks for sharing.

 

[BeerSnob]

Alc,
My company is mainly an agricultural firm. We're very diverse, though,
and I work in a division that manufactures fertilizer for sports fields, golf courses, etc.

 

[scott-atkinson]

Let me start by saying that I'm truly sorry for the hardship that some people, like Scott, are going through; and this post is not intended to thumb my nose at the hardship of others.

With that being said, I'm going to give a different perspective on all this - and will probably get flamed for it.

.

Beersnob,

I certainly will not flame you, it is great that you are doing so well, as another poster mentioned earlier in this thread, every economy shift has it's share of winners and losers, and you for the time being are on the winning side, good luck to you..

Although I have difficulties at the moment with regards to housing and finances in general, it could be a lot lot worse...

My job, I am a senior manager with a large UK Value retailer, and business due to the economy is booming and I am well respected in the company having ownership of many of their major retail projects, so touch wood my job is well paid and secure.

I have a roof over my head, albeit a rented roof, it is still a roof.

I have a loving wife and two beautiful little boys, and our family unit, although tight for money are very happy.

So I guess in one way I am a winner, when considering that so many people have so much less than me.

 

[Alc]

Alc,
My company is mainly an agricultural firm. We're very diverse, though,
and I work in a division that manufactures fertilizer for sports fields, golf courses, etc.

Good luck to you. I think that's one of the places that'll take longer to get harmed. If everyone's feeling depressed, playing golf and watching sports are going to be a popular diversion.

I live in an area that relies on the auto industry for an awful lot of it's work and it's being hit big time. To the East of our house are large farming areas and more than a few golf courses. I haven't heard of that being anywhere near as badly affected.

 

[Alane]

And now the RBS have announced another 9500 redundancies, many in IT. Those of us who were out of the country had to find out on the BBC

 

[scott-atkinson]

To keep you all updated on my situation...

My house in Corby is now up for sale, the Mortgage company that I surrendered the house to after a month of waiting for them to act have finally put the house on the market... Without even the curtesy to inform me of what they were doing, I had to trawl Estate Agent websites to find it

The house is up for £164950, which is 70k less than I paid for it

Assuming it will sell for around 150k this would leave me a 90k short fall from the mortgages alone, not to mention credit card debt, in total looking at 120k deficit

I have been told by a National Debt Charity that once the house is sold I can appeal against the purchase price as being unreasonable it will not cost me anything even if my appeal fails, but if my appeal is upheld I would be able to write the mortgage deficit off.

On the same Estate Agent website another house exactly the same style and size as my house is also for sale for 200k, I bet they are pissed that mine is up for effectly 40k less than theirs

I will keep you informed once it is sold and what my next steps will be...

 

[scott-atkinson]

I have written to the Mortgage company and have sent the letter recorded delivery to ask them to increase the purchase price of the property, informing them that they still have a duty of care to me to sell the property for the most reasonable price given market conditions.

A national debt charity advised me to do this, as after the property has been sold if the price is too low it will give me more clout in my appeal for deficit write off if I asked them before the property was sold to increase the price.

I will keep you all informed as to any progress.

Think of it as my Recession Diary

 

[Rich]

Best of luck if you think you'll get anywhere taking on a bank