finalzero

Hello folks, not been on SN for a while, busy with the new baby an all.

Sat down with the Mrs to workout some figures in light of all the ever increasing taxes and bills and well.. I shocked.

I consider myself a middle class person, I earn a high salary and both myself and the wife have a healthy bank status but I don't think this will last.

Watching the news today it seems gas, electric will go up as well as even more tax hikes - I can't see this slowing down. Did a quick worst-case-scenario picture in my head and strangely it seems we would be better off selling of the house and renting as I can't see an end in sight.

What worries me though is when all this crap hits home next year how the average family will cope, if so called well off people are having a hard time then the middle/working class families will just be getting shafted by the goverment daily :s

/ rant over

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

Strangely I think the people in the strongest position at the moment are gonna be the people with large LTV mortgages outstanding or the people in negative equity due to the housing market being very very slow (quite a few new builds round mine that arent selling or even getting interest)
Obviously fuel increases will affect people and food cost increases as well,

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Daft question but what's "LTV" ?

I see it banded about a lot on SN but not sure what it means ! anybody enlighten me please

Shaun

AnnieN

Loan to Value

Coffin Dodger

If your employer is any good then you'll be getting inflationary pay rises year on year so they should offset the increase in the cost of living. I got 6% this year

During the last dip I got two pay rises in one year, both double figure though I was working my way up from graduate level so some of it was promotion based as well.

Problem is if inflation continues to rise interest rates will also go up to try to reign it in and we'll end up in a recession. This tends to lead to job losses / high unemployment so you'd better hope that your employers line of business can weather the storm.

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Thanks AnnieN

AnnieN

No worries midlife

Julio Jordio

I'm an Estate Agent based just outside Blackpool. We have 3 offices across the Fylde dedicated to sales, and another 3 to rental.

We are seeing a big downturn in business. Prices are falling, and rather dramitically too. 3 Bed Semi's which were easily fetching £160-65k last year are now changing hands for less that £125k. These are properties in great condition which need no work whatsoever. Good size 3 bed semi's needing modernising are now sub 100k which is shocking.

The people I see in strong positions are those looking to upgrade, and bought 5-6 years back. Those who have purchased in the last 12 months are in for a shock. Prices are falling around 2% per month give a couple of points.

I am an Agent, yet wouldnt consider purchasing anything at the moment. We feel there is still a good 12 months of consecutive falls before the market begins to recover. Of course if banks are still restricting mortgage deals, wanting higher deposits etc, then it will still remain damn nigh impossible for first time buyers to get on the ladder. Prices may drop but if the current credit crunch isnt resolved, it may take considerably longer for the market to recover, as FTB lubricate the entire market, they lubricate the cogs all the way up the market.

Things are that slow, we are now starting to match up exhisting Vendors to other exhisting Vendors with a view to introduce part exchanges.

My advice? Only buy if your convinced its a steal.

Deep Singh

You ain't seen nothing yet. Wait until the job losses start mounting, remember these always lag behind somewhat. Some estimates are saying approx 1 million being sacked over the next 18 months

GC8

Be careful: Ive seen people badly negged for disclosing that they werent working class.....

Julio Jordio

2 people binned from our place today.....

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

im being made redundant at the end if jan (our customer is moving production to france as it is cheaper )

mrs last week had to go in work (currently on maternity leave, baby is 3 wks old today) to be told she is on redundancy watch with a high probability she will be made redundant. She is a vehicle buyer, and because corporate companies are reducing the amount of company cars they are getting it has the knock on effect. Funnily enough, her company is actually turning down smaller business now as well as it isnt cost effective.

jonny_693

iTrader: (5)

Its poor at the moment thats for sure, My young un is 9 months old today it's a struggle. Just realised my child tax credit goes from £20 a week to £10 a week when she turns one aswell, because obviously it costs £10 a week less when a child is over the age of one Its only going to get worse the country is allready in recession

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I am noticing it and bracing myself for worse, I am also trying to adapt and think of ways to offset this situation.

We are fairly well off at the moment, I am on a very good salary with a company doing well, we have a 4 bed detached house in a nice area, 3 kids at private school, no debts and some put by but I suspect this may be called upon to weather this particular storm.

We have just got to dig in, realise that things have changed and get on with it, forget trying to live like a couple of years back when everyone was buying on credit, its gone, if you cant afford it, you cant have it.

For now it will be difficult to pay for the basics and the governments tax burden, so we need to look to living more efficiently and frugally, we have got complacement and greedy, everyone seeems to think they are in some way special because they have a premium car or a conservatory, we have got used to designer brands and nice wine, ok if you can still afford it but if you cant, just do without, dont go further into debt to sustain how it has been.

I really hope that all the individuals that profit on the back of the hardship people will be going through appreciate the massive wealth they are getting, I dont mean me but I mean the pensioners, single parent families and those on deserved benefits for example carers and those who cant earn to pay extra for gas, electric and the knock on of the fuel prices on every other day to day expense.

I suspect that if this year is a bad winter (and sods law saw it will be), people will die, old people and kids at risk as heating will go from being a necessity to a luxury.

I do think though, for the rest of us, that we have got a bit soft, people went for thousands of years without central heating, just wear a jumper.

zs_phil

iTrader: (1)

100 made reduntant at my place just over a month ago and another 100 going next week and we are on a 4 day week now 32 hours and in september we are having 2 weeks off work without pay with more redundancies planned for later on in the year

at the start of the year we was busy as hell

Spoon

I agree for those that will genuinely find it hard through no fault of their own it is a raw deal and one that could get awful for so many, but then if somebody that hasn't overspent, been showing off the big house, car etc to his friends and neighbours over the last few years, and has been waiting for this time to buy up several 'cheap' homes from greedy individuals then that's foresight that deserves rewards. It was going to happen but most didn't want to listen.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Spoon, I know what you are saying, I wasn't really thinking about that kind of profit of the back of this, i.e the smarter/more careful ones making a few quid, I was thinking more of the Oil and Gas suppliers, speculators and the like, people are getting massively rich (some already were) but are now making trillions, its funny that however the game goes it ends up costing the individual massively more, like when the Gulf war happened, the oil price went up, it never seems to go down in response to anything.

I think its going to end up like playing Monopoly, the game ends for everyone when one person has all the money, except this is actual money and real people. Sometimes economies need a shake up to redistribute some wealth but at the moment its too focused on oil.

I am no communist but no one individual should have some of the sums that the oil Sheikh's and Russians are seeing.

hrness

my firm has just given everyone a redundancy watch letter today, as well as two going from next week.