It is like a war

cattie1

my 2p's worth-on how stupid tax credits are-my partner and I are better off NOT working because of all the benefits we would get, HOWEVER I have chosen to go in2 full time work while my OH stays at home and cares for children,-IF he did decide to go in2 work we would be much worse off as then we would have to pay for childcare etc, the entire system is backwards and does nothing to encourage people to go out and get a job.

Zammo

This is an excellent thread. The 'miracle' economy is just a scam and is reliant upon huge ammounts of personal debt and equity withdrawal. Nu labour have used every trick in the book to prop up this sham of an economy and when it all unravels, which eventually it will, this country will head into the mother of all recessions.

cattie1

It is also disgraceful that even if you don't have a job you can still get credit- at extortionate apr(345%)-shopacheck and provident are really aimed at the unemployed as you are practically gaurenteed a loan-(I know because when me and OH were unemployed we got 1....or 2!)

Mrs_Sparkle

Excellent thread.

One point I'd like to add is that these days you almost always need 2 good incomes to buy a house. In my parents' day my mum gave up work when she got married and my dad's salary covered the mortgage for a 2 bed terraced house. Now we have a similar 2 bed terraced house yet our mortgage is £1400 a month and requires both of our full-time salaries. My parents had 3 kids by the time they were 28- I'm 35 and expecting our first baby- there's no way we could have afforded to do it before now. Even now it's going to be a struggle and we both earn good salaries. So I think life in general is less affordable for us than it was for our parents.

Saying that, I know that my parents didn't spend money they didn't have. If there was nothing in the kitty they just didn't buy things. My mum says I have a varied maternity wardrobe while she had 1 pinafore dress which she made do with right the way through her pregnancies until someone passed on some second hand clothes to her. For me that just wasn't an option- I have to maintain a professional image at work and wearing the same dress every day wouldn't be acceptable. I do think clothes are more affordable for us (e.g. my maternity tops have all cost £4-5 each brand new or £1-2 from eBay) but in those days they seemed to accept their financial limits more.

It's shocking how much we rely on credit these days and I'm going to make every effort to avoid it once I've got myself out of this mess.

Pobby

Zammo wrote:

This is an excellent thread. The 'miracle' economy is just a scam and is reliant upon huge ammounts of personal debt and equity withdrawal. Nu labour have used every trick in the book to prop up this sham of an economy and when it all unravels, which eventually it will, this country will head into the mother of all recessions.

Back in the 80s Mrs. Thatch talked about ``the economic revolution``.North sea oil revenues were squandered as she set about destroying the unions,using the oil monies to fund huge unemployment.Whole areas were desimated and still some of those communities have never recovered.House prices soared,borrowing rose{any one getting my thread} and what happened.CRASH!House prices stalled,interest rocketed,folks lost their jobs.

``It`s different this time``,``they won`t let it happen``,yea right!We live in a global economy.We are at a time when we have little or no control over interest rates.The UK and USA have distorted the economy because of very low interest rates.If the trend{and I think it is already happening} for higher global interest rate rises then the UK must follow suit.Sadly I think we have been conned!

elantan

thanks for bringing this up pobby really enjoying reading everyone's thoughts on the subject (trying to sneak a look between classes)

Zammo

Mrs_Sparkle wrote:

Excellent thread.

One point I'd like to add is that these days you almost always need 2 good incomes to buy a house. In my parents' day my mum gave up work when she got married and my dad's salary covered the mortgage for a 2 bed terraced house. Now we have a similar 2 bed terraced house yet our mortgage is £1400 a month and requires both of our full-time salaries. My parents had 3 kids by the time they were 28- I'm 35 and expecting our first baby- there's no way we could have afforded to do it before now. Even now it's going to be a struggle and we both earn good salaries. So I think life in general is less affordable for us than it was for our parents.

My folks were able to move up the property ladder, something else that's impossible nowadays. They started out with a 2 bed flat, then a terrace, and eventually a 4 bed detached - all on my Dads modest wages. There's just no way of doing that nowadays with prices that are so detached from reality and the rungs stretched so far apart. You would need a joint income to buy anywhere and you'd be stuck there for eternity.

Lawbag_2

Im certainly in agreement this is a good thread.

I am in the situation where I couldnt afford to buy my house at its current value.

Zammo

Pobby wrote:

Back in the 80s Mrs. Thatch talked about ``the economic revolution``.North sea oil revenues were squandered as she set about destroying the unions,using the oil monies to fund huge unemployment.Whole areas were desimated and still some of those communities have never recovered.House prices soared,borrowing rose{any one getting my thread} and what happened.CRASH!House prices stalled,interest rocketed,folks lost their jobs.

``It`s different this time``,``they won`t let it happen``,yea right!We live in a global economy.We are at a time when we have little or no control over interest rates.The UK and USA have distorted the economy because of very low interest rates.If the trend{and I think it is already happening} for higher global interest rate rises then the UK must follow suit.Sadly I think we have been conned!

I get quite worried about the future of this country when I stop to think about things. At the moment inflation seems to be raging out of control which would normally be a good thing in terms of debt being eroded, particularly debt secured against housing, but wages just aren't going up to compensate so in effect we are getting steadily poorer.

Kevicho

CLAPTON wrote:

in reality we live in a golden age ...

Im just wondering where that comment came from?
Do I need a perscription of rose tinted glasses?

Seriously though our society is becoming the dregs of the world.
The masses are under educated, our jobs are going to the hard working, but hard to understand, markets abroad, we dont produce anything of value anymore, kids are roaming the streets getting away (literally) with murder.

The government dont care, they are a bunch of mindless morons who are driving this country into the ground.
Councils dont care, they would rather waste money on "cultural projects" and employing asylum seekers who then run off with millions than repair old peoples fences, and leave them at the mercy of thug youth.

Over in America we have a president who is a self declared doomsday evangelist, who is trying to bring on nuclear holocaust.
The environment is becoming more polluted, scientists recently came up with an idea to release incredible amounts of carbon into the atmosphere to shield us from the suns radiation, what about the life below?

I think the people of the last 300 years, certainly in industry have a lot to answer for.
Todays culture of comsumption, driving people to debt, but hey, they dont care, there having a laugh, is driving us towards a poverty nation.

It has gone wrong, the UK today is a sesspit of chavs, violence, drug abuse, criminal foreign elements, and a small percentage in charge who dont care.

Golden age indeed

I personally think people are dumbing down, hopefully soon there will be no free will and no intelligence left.

Hopefully then the smart ones in charge can go about sorting out the mess.