If things get tougher?

grex9101

Fair enough,

BUT ( )

Oil is something which will run out. In our lifetime? Maybe. There is an awful lot of the world which hasn't been tapped for oil (Antarctica etc). Not that I advocate the use of oil, but it is necessary for making plastics etc.
Still, there are alternatives (just read other parts of this very website for running vehicles on veg oil etc) . As always, necessity will drive discovery, and i would be very surprised if most forms of energy do not come from renewables in the next 50 years-the mass uptake of these will drive prices down VERY quickly.

As for exploitation (and i realise I will get flamed for this), I don't believe that by buying cheap goods, I am necessarily condoning "poorness" in other countries. It is a simple economic fact that people will always strive to buy the goods which represent the best value to them. I choose to buy designer brands, as I feel good in them, and yes, I know that they are probably made in the same country as tesco value jeans or whatever-the point is, that no matter how much i pay, someone, somewhere has to make them. If that happens to be someone "poor" in China, then so be it. If it wasn't for consumers (and everyone in the world is), then these people would still be "poor", but doing something else to survive (subsistence farming or whatever).

It would be no better for anyone if all the goods we consumed were made in this country, in all probability, everyone would be poorer.

That's life

Chipps

selected quote:

grex9101 wrote:

-The general cost of most things is going DOWN: When before could be get new cds for seven quid?
-Supermarkets are popping up everywhere-if you want something, check a few before buying, one of them will have a BOGOF on it
-Shops like Matalan and TK Maxx are everywhere also, when in the past could you get new diesel jeans for £30-£40?!
-New sources of new energy are just around the corner, and we all know the likes of BP etc have solutions for transport when the oil runs out...
-And for everything else, there are forums like this, coupons and deals. Price comparison engines and cashback sites!
I just want to point out that yes, prices of certain things will always go up, but so do wages, and the effects of competition ensure that we will always be OK in the long run.

Hi grex9101

I certainly have no intentions of flaming you, and your priorities are undoubtedly different to mine, but from my point of view I can't agree with all of your points.
New CDs are not an essential for living for us. I love music, but usually wait for my birthday or Christmas if there's anything I particularly would like.
New designer jeans I can live without. Food, housing & heating are my main priorities.
I would be very surprised if the fuel companies find that they can, or want to, provide investment in new technologies & supply the energy thus produced for a cheaper cost than current fuels.
Coupons, deals, comparison engines & cashback sites are usually for those items which are non-essential. They are unlikely to be much help in buying such items as flour, potatoes, eggs, or even the much loved OS staple, vinegar!
As for wages, well!!! My DH had a pay rise this year. We were very pleased, until I worked it out - it amounts to 50p a week! :rotfl: :mad: :rotfl:
I don't think that will go far towards any fuel increases - and I can't see it funding too many pairs of designer jeans, however cheap they may be!

Icemaiden

My O/H already works very long hours and very rarely has time off as hes self employed so in effect we don't get a wage increase every year unless he takes on more work. IYKWIM.
We have given up so much anyway in order for me to be a stay at home mum but if needs must, I would go back to work as DD starts school in sept and my DS is 15 this year. We could move to a smaller home, lowering our costs but we have lived here for nearly 16yrs and it was our first home after getting married. I would also lose the large garden of which this year I'm planning to grow some veggies.
I do agree that Housing, food & heating would be our main priorities, everyone & everything else would have to wait.

[Deleted User]

grex would you mind putting your posts on the discussion site. What you are saying is interesting but has nothing to do with the topic of this thread, which is about enabling people to survive. Luckily a lot of us don`t have our heads buried in the sand and are not living in cloud cuckoo land

Personally our income will reduce by half in three months time, but by preparing now and having built up a cash safety net, we will be able to maintain our standard of living to a great extent. Threads such as this on MSE have been invaluable in helping the preparation so please don`t spoil it

SueRob_2

I keep re-reading this thread, & the more I read it the more worried I become. last year my OH was out of work for 6 months, he's disabled so finds it hard to get work. We really did cut things to the bone, we can't get freeview here, so have only ever had basic TV, we got rid of our internet connection, we just plug our pc into our phoneline & use cheapie aol service. we used the landline for incoming calls only & put £10 a quarter on our mobile phone. We keep our heating set between 10 & 15 degrees. Don't use dishwasher or tumble drier. We've changed fuel suppliers. We can't grow much veg as we are limited to container gardening. I make everything from scratch. We don't buy new clothes, the only time we go out we go for a walk. I work full time, take in lodgers, last year I knitted scarves & made £80, no doubt the tax man will be after his share of that too, lol. We still couldn't pay all our bills on time. If prices go up what else can we cut down on? What else can we do? Any ideas anyone
Sue

[Deleted User]

SueRob what you are saying is very frightening. You are obviously a good manager. You are doing it all with no slack left

I can see this being a common scenario with a lot of people on small fixed incomes

OMG what on earth is happening to our society? Bare bones? Does that mean soup and bread once a day. If the thought of this doesn`t make people sit up then what will?

System

SueRob, what an awful dilema to be in but I think if i couldnt afford to run my house i would sell my house and downsize. My fuel bills are quite high at this time of the year as we are in an exposed area and my house is old and draughty but i would consider moving into a decent sized flat. Dunno where we would put the stuff in the two sheds though.

[Deleted User]

Judi we did the downsize thing last year and moved to a new build town house. Energy costs are much cheaper because of the better insulation. The big downside is much less storage space. It really can be a good option for people who own their own homes

We are prepared to downsize again in our lifetime

grex9101

kittie wrote:

grex would you mind putting your posts on the discussion site. What you are saying is interesting but has nothing to do with the topic of this thread, which is about enabling people to survive. Luckily a lot of us don`t have our heads buried in the sand and are not living in cloud cuckoo land

Personally our income will reduce by half in three months time, but by preparing now and having built up a cash safety net, we will be able to maintain our standard of living to a great extent. Threads such as this on MSE have been invaluable in helping the preparation so please don`t spoil it

Kittie, my intention was not to spoil things at all, but rather to put a positive slant on a very negative thread.

Also, many of the posts on this thread are already off topic. Please do not single me out purely because you have decided that what i say is wrong.

Thanks.

Spendless

This isn't aimed at anyone in particular just a general observation.There has been more than one comment on this thread about it being depressing.

I know the original post was about energy rises which I think we (me personally) could manage but it would be a different story if DH was to lose his job, or if one of us became ill. Or even if the mortgage rate went sky high (as has happened in the past)

I've known several people both on here and in real life have a very drastic change of lifestyle caused by various reasons for example death of the main earner/redundancy/ill-health or break up of relationship.

Isn't a thread like this that gives ideas of what could go or be substituted a good idea