Page 2 | What does the credit crunch mean to you?

chelsygirl · 2008-07-30T07:55:57+00:00

I#m watching what we spend as we are skint, having to really tighten up what about you all?

lizziemun · 30/07/2008 13:25

Not in any great way, but i refuse to spend more on shopping then i have to.

I am a SAHM and dh give me £300 a month for housekeeping ( i do have a creditcard which he pay if i need to use it but try hard not to) that for the 4 of us (DH,me, dd1 4.6yrs and dd2 10mths).

We are trying to keep shopping costs down. And with all other bills going up we are just keeping a eye on things. ALthough dh does earn a good salary but the down side is he has been working 6days a weeks for the 5mths and when he is not at work he is on call all the time. We are lucky that we don't have a lot of debt (morgage, car loan and a small credit card debt) we aim to have cc paid by christmas and then we can start saving.

staryeyed · 30/07/2008 13:41

Well I have to say we haven't really noticed it that much and we live in London; we are pretty careful anyway. We are feeling the deisel prices though and will probably feel the energy prices too.

expatinscotland · 30/07/2008 13:44

it's a recession, not a credit crunch.

jojosmaman · 30/07/2008 14:00

As far as I know its not yet technially a recession? Need two months of negative growth for this but we seem to be heading that way...

lovelysongbird · 30/07/2008 14:21

i thought it had been declared a recession already

Boco · 30/07/2008 14:25

MOrtgage gone up, gas gone up, electricity gone up, food prices gone up, petrol gone up, wages same, tax credits the same - now not breaking even every month.

Couldn't afford to go to bf's hen weekend this weekend in London as up to od limit.

lovelysongbird · 30/07/2008 14:26

awww boco
do you have any long term plans?
like a way to make a bit more money on the side?

Boco · 30/07/2008 14:30

Well, kind of, am self employed and do illustration but not got any work on atm and having a crisis about how to go about it and what to do next and whether to face facts and stop mucking about with something that won't pay off and just get a real job. But can't do that until I can drive and afford childcare - and I keep running out of driving lesson money. Is going round in circles.

Ambi · 30/07/2008 14:33

we have massively cut our spending from last year for me to survive on smp for most of this year. The rising prices of food/ petrol / utilities have not helped one bit.

The biggest difference we've noticed is that as our mortgage deal ran out this month, we've had to extend it for an extra 7 years to pay the same each month. I know it is a false economy as we'll pay more interest but since we are not entirely sure how safe our jobs are, we need minimum monthly expenditure for now.

twoluvlykids · 30/07/2008 14:36

hello I'm in same situation,as boco,everything goin up but tax credits probably goin down!This summer we have been hosting teenage foreign students,it pays quite well & can be earned as tax free income.So far,it's not been too bad...

Boco · 30/07/2008 14:37

I could do that, but only if you're allowed to keep the students in the shed. It is quite a big shed.

twoluvlykids · 30/07/2008 14:39

My dd offered to give up her bedroom & sleep in tiny boxroom,so we have had 2,in Sept we have 3 at same time!Queue here for the bathroom,chaps....

RubySlippers · 30/07/2008 14:45

petrol is a real worry for me

i have a 50 mile commute 3/4 days per week

DH and I have totally stopped impulse buying or treating ourselves (No starbucks, packed lunches for work, no trash mags, no take outs/meals out etc)

fixed rate mortgage coming to an end soon

everything is going up and up - food is v difficult

we are going shopping at night so there is more reduced stuff on offer

lovelysongbird · 30/07/2008 14:47

boco, how about selling things on ebay? like are you crafty?
yeah getting a job could actually cost you more

MrsFluffleHasAWuffle · 30/07/2008 14:49

It's starting to have an effect yes, fuel goes without saying, food ditto, plus I am self employed so am not getting so much work.

On the other hand, we aren't moving house for at least until we win the Lotto so that side of it doesn't affect us

expatinscotland · 30/07/2008 14:50

we're also in our o/d every month.

that didn't start happening until around March, right when energy companies all starting putting up their prices and diesel started to skyrocket.

we're on LPG so can't change gas supplier as there is only one who supplies this area.

i'm hoping to get some pub/bar work after this baby is born, around DH's schedule, in order to spin a bit more money as the energy costs will only get worse come winter.

we're in a rural location so not so many employment prospects, and you need a car here, but the rent is far lower than in city areas as is the council tax, even when you factor in cost of running a car (an old banger).

i'm also selling some stuff on gumtree.

we don't go out, buy alcohol, eat out (no restaurants), have takeaways (nearest one is about 13 miles away), have Sky (we have Freeview) or the like and broadband is business expensed with some freelance work i do.

not really sure what to do other than trying to pick up some work round DH's own shifts.

we don't own this house, it's rented from a pal so can't really remortgage or that.

expatinscotland · 30/07/2008 14:50

we're also in our o/d every month.

that didn't start happening until around March, right when energy companies all starting putting up their prices and diesel started to skyrocket.

we're on LPG so can't change gas supplier as there is only one who supplies this area.

i'm hoping to get some pub/bar work after this baby is born, around DH's schedule, in order to spin a bit more money as the energy costs will only get worse come winter.

we're in a rural location so not so many employment prospects, and you need a car here, but the rent is far lower than in city areas as is the council tax, even when you factor in cost of running a car (an old banger).

i'm also selling some stuff on gumtree.

we don't go out, buy alcohol, eat out (no restaurants), have takeaways (nearest one is about 13 miles away), have Sky (we have Freeview) or the like and broadband is business expensed with some freelance work i do.

not really sure what to do other than trying to pick up some work round DH's own shifts.

we don't own this house, it's rented from a pal so can't really remortgage or that.

twoluvlykids · 30/07/2008 14:58

do u think hand made crafty things sell on ebay?i've been selling handmade bears in a shop for ages,or rather not selling,& often look at ebay & wonder if it's worth a go. some people pay crazy money for them.lucky sellers

expatinscotland · 30/07/2008 15:00

Ebay seems to be going tits up right about now.

There've been umpteen threads on here from people getting ripped off.

Have you tried a bootsale or fleamarket?

Or gumtree?

lovelysongbird · 30/07/2008 15:01

how long is this going to last? this creditcrunch or resession?

lovelysongbird · 30/07/2008 15:02

will the food petrol prices come down eventally ?

expatinscotland · 30/07/2008 15:03

no one can know the answer to either of those questions, lovely, anymore than some economic factors can be controlled at all.

lovelysongbird · 30/07/2008 15:05

this sucks

expat if you ran the country what would you do to improve thing for usall?
money wise?

twoluvlykids · 30/07/2008 15:07

last time,in the early 90s,i just handed back keys to tiny flat and walked.not now possible with family responsibilities. we have thought amout emigrating,but i read this morning that australia & n.z also in credit crises, possibly worse than u.k

expatinscotland · 30/07/2008 15:07

i don't run it so it's a moot point.

recessions are a normal part of any economic cycle, and they are impossible to head off indefinitely. they will always occur at one point or another.

governments can act to try to control inflation, but ultimately some factors that contribute to increased inflation are outwith anyone's control - for example, food and grain prices are affected by weather patterns.