Ok so how are people mainly affected by this "credit crunch" thing

[stoppinattwo]

And what do you propose to do about it as a family???

yes people have been too quick to remortgage remortage to get what they want and to keep up with the jones'. My dad said this aout 2 years ago watch it all go down the pan, wht use is a 30ft yacht you cant sell, or a holiday worth £5000 when you need to pay your morttageg a feew years later

We need to go back to saving and waiting for big and luxury items.The days of your house funding a lavish lifestyle are gone adn it seems banks are tightening up lending and will be going back to rigid checks when a mortgage is applied for and no more high loan to value.This in turn will force house prices down.Eventually whether this year or next taxes and interest rates will have to rise

i'm a lifelong renter so i'm oblivious to all this credit crunch thing.

we have about £3000 worth of debt.

way i see it, it makes little or no difference to us. we'll have to keep dodging along.

we save what we can for the express purpose of car repairs or deposits on our next rental property and moving costs.

taht's about it.

it's not a bad world to live in, because very little upsets it and, not being tied to any one place, you can move along as you need.

i do think people very foolishly borrowed against their house to buy stuff they could have probably lived without.

but that's neither here nor there as far as i'm concerned.

we have other problems, as all folks have.

expat renters are pretty ok in this situation, though you may find rent proces rise as interest payments on lanlords mortgages rise.

People remortgaging are crazy tbh, if you cant aford somethin you cant fford it!

We will have cleared all debts by August (except a small amount on 0%) and will start saving as much cash as pos. We would have carried on moving it about (as is all on 0%) but we're clearing as we think 0% deals will disappear soon.

We don't have a mortgage so that's ok and we will be able to live on one salary once dd is at school in Sept and above debts are clear. We could cut back a lot if we had to too. (i.e. 2 cars, buy organic, have cleaner, am spendthrift)

I have worked hard to improve our credit rating as our house wasn't on the post office address file and Experian didn't have us as matched on the electoral roll although we're on it.

We won't buy unless we have substantial deposit and I am sure we could pay even if rates go up.

Our childcare costs go down in Sept too.

that still makes no difference to the working poor, though, Penelope, because when the rents rise as such, such low income people almost always qualify for partial housing benefit.

WE rent too.I am very relieved.Last year we investigated a mortgage but it would have ben 1300 euros a month.Unless we can get something for no more than 700 euros a month I am more than happy to stay renting.

DH has a friend who keeps remortgaging - not to get a new fixed rate as we just have, but to borrow more.

They have a 35 year mortgage and I think they have borrowed nearly as much as their house is worth, despite putting a reasonable deposit down at the time of purchase.

Crazy, crazy people!

it does have some advantages, Dooby.

as i wrote in my daughter's journal, 'That which travels light travels well.'

i agree penelope and if you can only manage interest only and a 30 yr mortgage you can't afford it either.Some of the mothers at ds school drive what look like bungalows on wheels and are dripping in jewellery and I'm sure it is from all the remortgaging because I know they don't work.They will all be in for a shock soon when 'computer says no'

Our landlord asked to increase rent a month ago and I haggled and got a 50% reduction

I've also challenged our council tax rating and am hoping for a rebate and have asked that our water bills are checked at recent thread made me realise £69 a month sounds wrong

Already shopped around for car insurance and contents (Barclays, £5 a month) and will do again when renewals are due

I like that Expat

DH is going back part-time to work in Co-op in addition to his job. That saves on food bills a bit because of the discount for employees .

And, living out in the country, you spend next to nothing - just basics, really, and petrol for going to work and getting wee ones places.

Oh, I don't keep books, Dooby, because they are heavy to move. It has to be a book which affects me much for me to hang onto it.

So instead I write all the relevant quotations, those I found significant, into a notebook.

And I started, 'The lesson of this life is the lesson of the nomad. To have no fixed abode is to learn to let go - of dreams, of things, of plans, of people - so that you may one day, if you have taken tuition well, know freedom. For that which travels light travels well and far.'

expat true about the orking poor, i dont know nayhting about housing benifit, is it linked to inflation or housing costs?

I think the credit crunch is going to hit middle england very hard, like noddy says those remortgaging on 30 yr old mortgages will be in serious touble, especially if they havent added any value to the house

We live in the country too.And I was seriously[honest]thinking of getting a donkey and cart to go into[very rural]town.We are also starting to grow thingsStill I am off the OP now.I think people are going to have a very tough time.Over in Ireland the construction industry is in melt down and quite a few pharmaceutical companies have closed[american and too expensive for them over here].I really worry for people.People that have bought a house on 2 incomes and released equity etc.All it needs is for one of them to lose their job

That is it in a nutshell Expat.That is what we want to teach ourselves and our 2 ds's

I received our Buildings and contents renewal notice today £1200 (aarrghh) it had really gone up so I thought i would shop around. Went onto the internet and found the same policy with the same company for £907!!!!. Phoned them to tell them and they had absolutely no justification for thrashing loyal customers like that. I asked them to just change my policy to the internet one - and they said they couldn't, that I had to cancel the existing and take the new one out over the net. Madness - they are about to lose a customer becasue when shopping around I found even cheaper deals for the same cover.

Housing benefit is linked to the cost of your particular rent in relation to your means-tested income - bank statements, wage slips, P60s and the like, and any savings you have or assets.

The size of the property you rent in relation to the size of the family you need to house is also taken into consideration.

In other words, if you are a family of 4 or 5, you would be expected to be in a 2 bed property.

We grow stuff, too, Dooby . It's good fun as well as teaching kids some good lessons.

Thats interesting expat, i did wonder how they managed to fit it to so many different situations, but that seems a pretty fair way.

egg and barclays, i think, stopped people having credit cards who were paying them off in full every month, so not making egg/barclays any ££.

it is slightly worrying - i hope to move later this year but i have a mortgage of about 60% of my propertys value. I'd like to move to a more expensive flat - and probably will by increasing my mortgage and putting the equity in my current house back into the new flat - i just bought a wreck at the right time and should hopefully be ok. banks still need to get new business, i have repaired my previously pretty awful credit history. am hopeful despite the general speculation.

It's very means-tested, PP! Some find the form invasive, but it has to be to minimise fraud, and if you really need it, well, needs must!

If you take it in person to a council office, they will make photocopies of all your financial documents whilst you wait so you don't run the risk of losing them.

And periodically, you're asked to resubmit information.

Also, of course, you have to bring a copy of your tenancy agreement.

expat it does sound a lot, but like you say to minimise fraud it has to be like that.

do they just give you less if you are say 4 people in a 4 bed house which is twice the rent of a 2 bed hosue?