On a personal level, has the recession effected you?

Davesnave

wageslave wrote: »

Every winter I consider opening up our fireplace and never get around to it.

Last thing I did this evening was cut up and stack a few more small logs. Just a dozen or so every few days soon mounts up. We buy-in larger ones from a friend, but our own probably come to a couple of tonnes.

The sweep was here on Monday, so that's us ready.

Wouldn't say I'm looking forward to winter, but there's something satisfying about gathering fuel, storing it and then having all that free heat from properly seasoned logs.

The last time I went through the whole process from tree to fire was with my Dad in deepest Dorset, and I'd have been about 8.

PasturesNew

Cleaver wrote: »

Without wanting to sound harsh Pastures, you've also lost out on income through your unwillingness to want to understand any other type of investment other than savings. The last 18 months has seen a huge rise in a massive range of equities and assets that you could have got involved in with a percentage of your money to hedge against inflation.

I don't know anything about savings, investments, equities, etc etc. I am from simple folk .... who've never done such things.

I can understand: "money in the bank" and that's just about it.

PasturesNew

Davesnave wrote: »

Last thing I did this evening was cut up and stack a few more small logs. Just a dozen or so every few days soon mounts up. We buy-in larger ones from a friend, but our own probably come to a couple of tonnes.

The sweep was here on Monday, so that's us ready.

Wouldn't say I'm looking forward to winter, but there's something satisfying about gathering fuel, storing it and then having all that free heat from properly seasoned logs.

The last time I went through the whole process from tree to fire was with my Dad in deepest Dorset, and I'd have been about 8.

Have you thought about/investigated making your own little brickettes from old newspapers? They're free... although you need some machine thingy to make neat brickettes.

wageslave

Davesnave wrote: »

Wouldn't say I'm looking forward to winter, but there's something satisfying about gathering fuel, storing it and then having all that free heat from properly seasoned logs.

The last time I went through the whole process from tree to fire was with my Dad in deepest Dorset, and I'd have been about 8.

You need to do the seasoning thing which takes at least six months.

The last time we had an open fire the cat was a kitten and used to literally lie in the dying embers. Off course the place was bliddy freezing.

I used to sell kindling and logs round the doors as a girl. Not the call for it these days I suppose.

PasturesNew

StevieJ wrote: »

I always got the impression that you had been scraping along on minimum wage jobs, prior to the recession, I appreciate that you would normally have received a decent % on you mortgage bundle (say 5%) but even so £45k (say minus £10k) would be slightly above MW.
BTW the recession not much effect for me.

The jobs I had been doing were poorly paid, one of my motivators to sell my house was to move 200 miles or so to find better paid ones, perchance to go contracting (I think rates for what I do were about £100k in 2006-2007, so I was hoping for £50k, which is what I got in 2000/2001 when I last contracted in that field). It was post 2000-2001 that things took a dive... 2001-2002 £25k, 2002-2006 a string of short-term jobs, each one paying less than the last.

So I sold to work ... only the jobs weren't there.

And the temping market had changed, rates were much lower - then there weren't even the low rates. I walked past one national agency window one day and they had TWO vacancies in the window, they said times were hard.

I can't comment on the rest, I don't understand it. I've no idea what a mortgage bundle is.

wageslave

PasturesNew wrote: »

The jobs I had been doing were poorly paid, one of my motivators to sell my house was to move 200 miles or so to find better paid ones, perchance to go contracting (I think rates for what I do were about £100k in 2006-2007, so I was hoping for £50k, which is what I got in 2000/2001 when I last contracted in that field). It was post 2000-2001 that things took a dive... 2001-2002 £25k, 2002-2006 a string of short-term jobs, each one paying less than the last.

So I sold to work ... only the jobs weren't there.

And the temping market had changed, rates were much lower - then there weren't even the low rates. I walked past one national agency window one day and they had TWO vacancies in the window, they said times were hard.

I can't comment on the rest, I don't understand it. I've no idea what a mortgage bundle is.

You do understand money in though I imagine.

£45k per annum was hardly poverty levels honey

Davesnave

PasturesNew wrote: »

Have you thought about/investigated making your own little brickettes from old newspapers? They're free... although you need some machine thingy to make neat brickettes.

Errr...MIL had one. When I saw it in operation, I thought, 'Well, there is justice, after all."
Unlike me, MIL also has the Daily Heil + The Times and all their supplements. I just get 'The Yokel' every fortnight.

nembot

1984ReturnsForReal wrote: »

That is what a lot of people either don't know or choose to forget.

I know exactly what is coming

Exactly, people haven't suffered during this recession in fact many think they're better off and in most cases they are primarily down to historically low interest rates (if better off, means more mo'neh in the pocket).

What people don't understand is it's not the recession that get's you, it's the recovery.

StevieJ

vivatifosi wrote: »

I do that too, but most trustee work is pro-bono.

There you are, I didn't realise that Bono had a Latin phrase for all his good turns

StevieJ

PasturesNew wrote: »

I can't comment on the rest, I don't understand it. I've no idea what a mortgage bundle is.

Net proceeds after selling your house, lazy English on my part.