If things get tougher?

lauren_1

Yup, life is much better out of the 'false needs' society.

I don't need to get my hair coloured at a hairdressers - I get my mum and sister to apply it, then we do each others = £30 each saved

I dont need to go to the hairdressers every 6-8 weeks, if you take care of your hair and use olive/coconut oil treatments regularly, try using soft products like serum or wax as opposed to hairsprays and gels, gently blow drying rather than blasting and your ends wont split as much - therefor increasing the time between trips - I only go once a year and get dp to do a 4 monthly trim at the back.

Choosing a low maintainance style does help too! = god knows how much has been saved!

sammyjig

I certainly didn't intend to belittle anyone elses circumstances. I too am a little scared as we have large mortgage and some debts. I don't really remember the bad times in the 70's and 80's (I think my parents sheltered me from it).
I am just saying that it has made me realise that there is more to life than getting a new car/tv and all the other flashy gadgets. I have learnt that I can cook food at home cheaply and budget my money more effectively. I will get through this whatever happens and it will have been a life lesson.

parsonswife8

Kittie, things are bad.

It depresses me no end. I have a daughter who is flat sharing and a married son with two small daughters and a mortgage.

My daughter rents with her flat mate.

I am so scared that one or both of them may lose their jobs.

I am not in a financial position to help them much.

My blood pressure has gone up so much that I started on tablets 2 weeks ago and yesterday, the doctor doubled the dose!

Some people have a lot to answer for.

mardatha

Kittie, dont forget that we're older and less able to cope in some ways --if we told our kids all of the things that we've been through, they wouldnt begin to know how we did it. Each generation has their problems and when they're young they cope--although they might have hiccups !

ceridwen

kittie wrote: »

it is affecting me emotionally too lilac lady. I was fine for 2 1/2 years since I started the thread but events are just so fast now and it is like we are on a runaway train. I don`t want to listen to the news but I am addicted now

I am a really cheerful person but sometimes I feel tearful at what is happening as I don`t see us getting out of the mess like in the 30s 70s and 80s. I can`t help worrying for my children who are all young adults with mortgages. Then I see ordinary people on tv, like a mum with 2 children who is getting her house repossessed through no fault of her own. I believe this situation is now past being a wake up call and is very very frightening

I have to say that I hope karma gets to the greedy greedy people who have caused this to happen

Well...to quote a phrase in a book I am currently reading "What you send out will be returned to you 3 times as powerfully"......actually....I think there is a lot in that. I too think the greedy bankers - in all countries - that are partly responsible for our current plight will indeed "reap what they have sown" (mixing religions here - but you know what I mean). I have seen this happen so often - ie watching whatever karma a person has created coming back to them. More than once I have watched someone who has done an "ill deed" have the exact same thing come back and "bite their bum" and more strongly so. On the other hand - I have a particular friend I have had for many years who is one of the most loving, generous, kind people you could wish to find - no wonder everyone loves her - and when she was severely ill recently - you should have seen how much she got in the way of cards/flowers/practical help - inundated she was (but then as I've told her before "You're worth your weight in gold").

I was only wondering earlier today whether to start up a thread for the ordinary people of Iceland along the lines of "we aren't your enemies - we are holding out the hand of peace to you - we know it was just the greedy bankers you have in your midst - well, actually, we have some of those as well". I read an article earlier today in which it would appear that they only have about 2 weeks worth of imported food in their shops - and then what? (as, not surprisingly, foreign firms want money in advance now from that direction). I felt very sorry for the ordinary Icelander in the street and glad that at least Iceland has its heating well sussed out - so at least they will be warm enough in their homes. I am concerned for them. I cant see any other option for British people to recoup the money "tied up" in that direction other than grabbing Icelandic assets in Britain on the one hand - but I do feel sorry for the ordinary Icelandic person in the street on the other hand - who didnt ask for all this any more than we did.

I think it is now time for us to move onto alternative "currencies" besides the conventional money economy (barter, local currencies, gift economy, et al). This conventional money economy is difficult for most of us to understand - when these greedy bankers start going into things like derivatives on the one hand and far too subject to inflation on the other hand. I think its time for us to think again on our "means of exchange". It would also make it harder for people like this to steal our money from us - not to put too fine a point on it.

ceridwen

We CAN handle this Kittie - the human race has been through worse before. Just thinking back on this country alone - just within the last few centuries it has been necessary for people to remember what brand of "religion" they had to tell others they were....."hang on in there...am I supposed to be Catholic or Protestant? which one is deemed to be the flavour of the day at the moment or I'm in for burning at the stake?" or people just getting shoved onto ducking stools or burned at the stake just because some "gossip" somewheres in their local community didnt like them. We dont have that sort of nonsense going on any more in the 21st century - we do have overpopulation to contend with (which seems to have started about 1900 - judging by the fact that apparently the optimum world population is 1.5 billion - according to James Lovelock - but we have about 7.5 billion/8 billion - whoops!:eek: ) - but I think we can deal with a resources problem possibly a bit easier than some of the ones the human race has had to contend with over recent centuries.

D&DD

I'm so sorry to read of everyone's worries for their children.I'm sure with the resourceful parents they have they will weather the storm better than many though who don't have parents quite as 'switched on' .

I feel we are in a optimistically happy place, at the moment (!) as we are 3 payments away from being debtfree which will free up nearly £1k a month :eek: and our kids are all at home still,eldest is 17 but going on to further ed.
We are in local authority housing and have a store the size of..well you all know the score on that one :rotfl: :rotfl:

We went through the mill last time,but came out the other side stronger so I'll be here offering any support I can muster for those who are struggling
*insert dodgy hug here*

lauren_1

I wanna break out in to a disney-esque style song now

We can do it, We can do it, yes we caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaann.

Then dedicate a rather drunken karioke version of 'I will Survive' to Gordon Brown

brila

In a weird sort of way, I think the worse it will be, the better it will be for all of us. The greater the number of people seriously stricken by the economic situation, the bigger the problem will be for society as a whole and the more radical and wide-ranging the solution will have to be. If a simply enormous number of people default on their mortgages, then the courts won't have the capacity to hear all the repossession hearings, there won't be enough bailiffs or whatever and (more importantly) there will be a critical mass of people all saying "I'm not leaving my home". Everyone will be close to someone in a similar situation, and so hardly anyone will act. The same with food and fuel poverty. If the situation becomes so dire that even the well-off are starting to worry, then something will be done. At the moment only a few are worrying; if (or maybe, when) it becomes apparent that the situation will have consequences for everyone, then proper action will be taken - either from above or by the masses. *Waving my red flag etc*

I suppose what I am saying is that if small numbers of people are affected by what is happening we will hopefully be able to help those nearest and dearest to us and support the very worst off in our communities. If the situation is so bad that everyone is languishing then there would be a critical mass of people to take action. There are so many peaceful options available to us - guerilla gardening, shared community meals (soup-kitchens, church potluck type meals, school dinners free to all and cooked with donated produce by volunteers) refusing to leave our homes in the event of repossession and supporting others in their refusal, bartering of skills and produce, freganism, car-sharing, folk science-style community power generation projects and I would imagine many more options that I can't think of off the top of my head.

So, instead of worrying about what we can't change let's at least try to face the future with confidence that we have the skills, the imagination and the ingenuity (and perhaps even the barefaced cheek) to thrive. A least half of getting there is surely believing that we will.

Caterina

WE CAN! CAN CAN!

In a way I can't wait for Peak Oil to really hit, as I feel that the world needs a bit of a shock to take stock and start taking the wastefulness of resources seriously!

Having said that, I am also a parent (of 19 year old teenagers) and feel the same fears and worries as expressed by so many here, and no doubt felt by parents all over the place.

Wait and see...crossing fingers and doing our best all the way along! Hopefully all our kids will survive, having been brought up by parents like us, with OS values and with resourcefulness.

Caterina