Me, me, me, me, me, me, me..... People expect to live a lifestyle that they cant actually afford.

 

Good to see there is one adult in the playground at least

 

i cant afford **** all at the moment

i even had to downgrade my beer supply from bottles to cans
but that is for another snaz-o-brian type thread

 

Big Estate Agency falls by the wayside ..... if the future was bright on sales and prices, I'm sure they could have got a stay of execution?

Evening News 24 - Estate agents' future in doubt

Maybe it's just as bad as it has been for months ..... even getting worse?

 

Had you considered SmartPrice cans of lager Mick?

 

There was a thread a few days ago started by someone who works at Waitrose on their checkout. The behaviour described beggared belief as it was something youd expect in a povvo supermarket and people were at a loss to explain. I think that it is a reflection on peoples attitudes towards others and their view of themselves. People seem to have a massively inflated value of their own worth and importance now: theres little humility to be found. "Everything is about me, revolves about and should benefit me: the rest of you can f*ck off": sad, isnt it? I dont know whether this is a result of credit funded consumerism or whether credit funded consumerism was the result of this prevailing attitude. No one seems to want to work for anything and then live within their means. It used to be that only poor people made good valued their worth by how much credit they could get: now everyone, for the most part, seems to share this outlook...... If you earn £14,000 and work in a call centre, then you cant afford to buy a new car, holiday twice a year and buy expensive clothes.....

Simon

 

Yes GC8 but I think this will change over the next few years as people realise having everything on the never never is not the be all and end all.

Despite your earlier posts, I think we might actually agree.

When me and Mrs Matt were utterly skint, we lived in a little house in a not too nice area and ran a cheap car. I was in debt (thanks to Uni loans) and was determined to pay off loans, even with a tiny income. I never thought about getting a bigger loan to buy stuff I couldn't afford because to me and Mrs Matt, that seemed (and was) plain wrong.

I just can't understand why so many people don't see it the same way?

However many people have geuninely got into trouble through sheer bad luck and for them I feel very sorry.

 

Thats the attitude that caused a lot of these problems in the first place - a lot of people now seem to think that they are in some way 'entitled' to all the extras and perks in life, even if they dont do the work to earn the money to afford them.

You see a lot of these people on the TV when they ask them about debts, and some have £20K or more in debts, on wages of £16K - all the money was spent on luxuries they didnt really need, and how to they ever think they will get out of debt when they spend loads more than they earn every year ?

I really think the older generation had it right with the idea of saving for things, and if you couldnt afford it you go without.

Dont know if its thick people who watch the TV too much and believe that they HAVE to have a big TV and new car otherwise they are inferior to their friends and neighbours, of if the country is just developing into an 'I'm alright, F you' society, but theres going to be a whole generation of people who are just going to end up working to pay off their huge debts for 30 or 40 years, and not being able to borrow more to fund a lifestyle that is beyone their means.

Personally I tend to err too much on the side of caution, having been in positions before where I had no money, and no roof over my head, now I am a bit older and earning enough to afford what I want ( yes, could go out tomorrow and pay cash for a new car, massive TV and a couple of holidays and still have change ) I tend to think a lot more about not spending money, and if I really need things before I buy them.

 

Matteboy - I think the percentage of people who have genuinely got into trouble through absolutely no fault of their own is pretty small compared to the percentage who were just greedy and fell for the spin from the banks, loan and credit card companies !

 

Quite true and now the government is hopefull by 'injecting' huge amounts of cash we dont have that well all go out and do it all over again - in a bid to stave off recession

 

...and are still doing so despite the obvious dangers!

Since my last post, a load more business has just come in. I'm sure this can't last but we are inundated with work at the moment! Better get on with some of it I guess.

I've fallen for the debt trap twice before - got a new car (was earning quite well + young + naive) with a silly (13% APR!!!) loan and a very small deposit. It lost me a rather embarrassing amount of money for a very modest little "warm" hatch! Also took out a graduate loan - again it was a killer to pay off at the time. Lessons learned, luckily without total financial disaster.

So easy to look only at monthly payment amounts and think "I can afford that no problem" conveniently forgetting the huge amount of dead money you pay in interest and depreciation. I reckon that car I got (cost me £11.5k new) cost me about £7k to own for 18 months (and 24k miles) without fuel or insurance costs!!

 

Why did you not just get Daddio to bail you out ???

 

Who me? My Daddio is not in the slightest bit loaded. And anyone that relies on their parents for money is a t1t.

 

I know because my Dad lost well over a million quid in the last major recession and struggled for years, having been well off. The main reason? Big mortgage and very little savings despite earning plenty.


So Daddio is a peasant like the rest of us now then .??
Was that his boat you were showing us all in a previous post .???

I bet most wouldnt mind being not well off !!!!!

 

No, that was FIL's boat - he is well off.
Dad is fine now but not what anyone would call well off. Just comfortable (unless his back is playing up...) and happy.

I'm rather alarmed at how much info you can recall.
STALKER?!

 

Its more down to the repetitive posts about YOU that you keep posting .
All posts end up revolving around you ,by your choice .lol .
Me this, me that ,my dad ,my relative this .
Rather boring and tends to show a lack of confidence in yourself .
Either that or you really are a Walter Mitty .
Who knows .

Now back on Topic .

Barratt shares are rising ,are house builders seeing signs of more interest in their properties ???

 

Still not managed to bring myself to buy one, yet

 

It's about time they got a new helicopter

 

I think part of the problem was selling off the Council Housing ..... these were for people who couldn't afford a house of their own - nothing wrong with that solution either.

Then these people all of a sudden have a £100k house for £40k ... whilst those who bought private struggled and strived to pay to own.

The Council House residents were now moving up the housing ladder from the same point as the original private buyers ........ and, without being rude, these people had all the economic intelligence of an ant - on the whole. These are probably the people in heavy debt, they actually think they can have a big house, new BMW and 50" Plasma when commanding the earning power of a midget high jump professional ....

 

So anyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyway .................


Can/has Pete and/or indeed anyone got proof / pictures of a particular property being sold for the same price now as 2004

 

The rapid downturn and consequent fast-paced house price falls continue this month, with a further fall of 1.9% in average asking prices and now within 8% of the bottom of the market according to Rightmove’s 2009 forecast.

Rightmove saw 43,416 properties coming to the market in the last month, less than half of the 89,110 properties measured in January 2008.

The total number of resale properties advertised on the website has decreased by over 20% since the peak in May 2008, giving potential buyers a far more restricted choice. Some unsuccessful sellers have withdrawn until activity improves, and the additional cost of mandatory Home Information Packs (HIPs) may persuade further homeowners not to market their property. The number of new sellers may face a further decline when new regulations are introduced on April 6th. The new rules mean that estate agents will need to have received the HIP in their office before identifying the property, instead of just ordering one, delaying viewings by several days.

The dwindling level of choice for prospective purchasers is exacerbated by the crisis in the new build industry, with 1,000 fewer developments being marketed today compared to this time last year. The question is whether this is a temporary blip in supply levels or a longer-term.

Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove comments: “The speed with which prices have declined has been worrying, but it does mean we are potentially reaching the bottom sooner. One of the factors that will help to arrest price falls is a lack of property coming onto the market, resulting in lower inventory levels that align supply more closely with today’s restricted demand. The reticence of discretionary sellers to come to market and the
relatively low number of forced sellers have seen new listing numbers plummet. Add to this the collapse in the supply of new homes from developers and a massive shift of unsold stock to the lettings market, and the result is a dramatic reduction in the over-supply that has been present since early 2008.”

Source:- Housefund.co.uk

 

This covers most things pretty well...

House price news, information and discussion - HousePriceCrash.co.uk

 

Leaving the insults and mud slinging aside - I would broadly agree with Matteeboy. The problem we all have is that we still don't know how much rubbish is actually on the balance sheets of the banks (not just in the UK). Until the gvt forces the banks to put a realistic value on the toxic debts there will be no hope of there being a meaningful recovery. What does this mean? Well i reckon we will see at least one major bank nationalised (almost certainly RBS) and possibly others to follow.

Leaving aside the issue of whether we as a country, can actually afford to bail out our banks, they certainly won't start lending meaningful amounts until this is done. The simple fact is that the banks don't have the money to lend at the moment (when your market cap drops from £78b to £4.5b in 18 months (RBS) - you know there are serious problems!).

All of this has a direct effect on house prices. As has been mentioned before, gone are the days of 5 or 6 times salary mortgages (possibly forever) - and if we have to go back to 2 or 3 times salary then what does that mean for current house prices? There is still a way to go before house prices stabilise.

I shall be watching closely over the next 6 to 12 months before I decide to buy again.

 

Print more money devalue the pound, start manufacturing again and inflate the currency so much that a 200k debt is a years avaerage salary. Pretty soon things will sort themselves out.

 

Yeah it does, but you do have to weed out the wheat from the chaff.
Go back 2 years or so in there, and you can see how some knew what was coming, and took action to profit and/or insulate themselves from the affects.


However, 90% of the posters there think we're heading for armageddon, rioting, civil break down. Half of them have cupboards full of baked beans, the rest have brough Scottish crofts and 2 or 3 shotguns.

 

Matteboy, why are allowing njkmrs and others to wind you up? You know as well as I do that all the people on here with any intelligence agree with your stance. These are the same people who (like it or not) have actually saved a few quid and not taken out huge mortgages which they couldn't afford. Or have invested previously and then liquidated at the right time.

Endless posts by njkmrs like ' are we about to see a recovery because..''insert ridiculous reason here'' just shows he is deluded (sorry njkmrs but thats what I think)

Sunnysideup does something a little similar, but he does it for a laugh, just for the reaction, he knows much better than that

Sit back mate and enjoy the feeling that you have kept your head in a world intoxicated by debt and will know reap the rewards

 

Deep - I sometimes get a bit too "involved" especially when being battered from several SNers like I was last night.

Must learn to hold back...!

Stunning weather here - whatever is happening financially, looking at the river out of the window is deeeeeply relaxing and just had a rather lovely run/mudslide/wallow out in it. Life is good.

 

Deep ,it is all harmless banter around some serious and some not so serious topics .
Some want to think the worst whilst others want to make the best of it .
Take whichever side suits you best .
It would be pretty boring on here without the banter /sarcasm .

There is no harm done to anyone and everyone gets their chance to have their opinion .Its what it is all about .

Matty likes the banter himself and he is well able to look after himself and has his own mind ,clearly .You have probably embarrassed him trying to defend him .

Matty ,take non of this personal ,as im sure you dont .
We dont have to agree .

Any other little "Lambs "out there need looking after by Deep ??

 

Ridiculous.




I've stocked up on spam (just hope the gas doesn't go off because I can't bear it if its eaten cold .mmmm grilled spam )