Does all this financial bad news affect your mood?

tyllwyd

I'm finding it difficult to cope at the moment with all the bad news in the papers - every time you look it's another bank with problems, the stock market (and therefore my pension) going through the floor, businesses closing, groceries and utility bills going sky high. Are you managing to stay cheerful, or does it affect you?

Miss_Piggy_2

Yes it affects me (in my pocket) but I try not to let it get me down. I worry more for people like my Dad who's pension is directly linked to stock market. All this thing with America has knocked 35% of the value of his pension. I'm just praying the shares go back up soon as he's 59 this year and starting to worry about it!

Rummer

When I think or read about the situation it does however I am focussing on doing everything I can to prepare my family and friends by cutting back and getting organised. It is at time like this that we all need to pull together and support each other.

Dex

Hi

it worries me but I think it has also spurred me on to do something positive, my mortgage is up in march next year and I am worried about being able to get another one with everything that is happening.

With this in mind I have finally stopped ignoring my debts and instead of telling myself 'another £30 wont hurt', I ask myself 'do i really need it'.

For the first time last month in a really long time I managed to not spend on my credit cards!!! and actually through selling unwanted stuff and joining the £10 a day sept challenge have been able to pay off £400 more on a credit card that I could have managed just relying on my income!

I am aiming to clear 1 of my two credit cards before going in for my new mortgage so hopefully that will help! (certainly better than if i had kept spending on them anyway!)

It also made me look at my utilities and i changed to a capped rate until dec 2009 which should help protect me a little from rising costs!

But yes it does worry me and does leave me with sleepless nights!:rolleyes: (which is probably silly as I can't change anything!)

Dex

Seaxwyn

Maybe I'm in denial, but it doesn't bother me at all.

I have next to no pension and no savings, and my OH has already lost his pension - it was with Equitable Life - so I don't feel that we have anything to lose.

Our grocery and fuel bills are not going up. I have kept a spending diary since Jan '07 and we're spending no more now than we are then - in fact less, as we've got more savvy.

We're used to living in difficult circumstances, so I find it hard to get worked up by the latest developments.

MrOrchard

It doesn't affect me personally, I have no assets of any value, no unsecure investments, no mortgage and I work in an industry that will weather this storm.

My SO and I are actually going to benefit hugely from this as we've decided to look at buying a house from 2010 onwards, by which time smart money says we'll be at the bottom of the current drop or at the beginning of an upturn in house prices, and mortgage lenders will *need* to sell some mortgages to earm themselves debit interest.

SarahNeedle1872

I have to be honest to say that it doesn't worry me too much, although the price rises are starting to get on my nerves! OH and I both have pensions, but are a long way off from crawing them, so I am not too concerned about that, and certainly will not stop paying into them yet. We are also planning to buy in two/three years time once we are DF and have a deposit saved, so for me, the housing market 'crash' is not such a bad thing - but I do feel for those that it does affect!

Lucy1982_2

Day to day it wasn't affecting me.

But I lost my job through redundnacy on Friday so it has effected me. But once I am back in a job, I doubt it will. I have cut back my spending and hopefully will have enough money left to pay off my cc when I get my new job.

I think the media hit you with all the doom and gloom, and it makes everything seem terrible.

Energiser_Bunny

For me all this financial bad news makes living within my means somehow a little bit easier. Most people I know are tightening their belts one way or another, they are starting to socialise less and that is easier on my wallet without needing to feel that I am missing out. I never used to feel I "had to keep up with the Jones" but now I am not the only one getting used to the fact that thrift is good.

Quasar

The media tend to make things worse than they really are because they arouse more interest - therefore they get more viewers, readers etc etc. In fact if they had toned their doom and gloom down a bit when Northern Rock was in difficulties, there wouldn't have been that rush on their money by savers, which only made the problem worse.

I think that a major effort will be made by the US and Europe to maintain a viable economic system. It might mean that our pampered societies will not be able to spend spend spend like they've been doing, but then again anyone posting on this forum has already developed, or is on the way to, the skills and knowledge to live on less money.

Energiser Bunny, you have got it right.

daphne_descends

The thing I am scared of, is my landlord needing to sell the house I live in. That really worries me. Our rent covers the mortgage, but it is interest-only. I don't think he is making much profit off us, so I am worried about his situation changing.