It is like a war

tee_pee_2

me and OH bought in 2000 when our terraced was £40K we sold it 3 yrs later for £80k, but it is all relative, the semi we moved into also shot up in price. The only thing which I thanks my lucky stars for everyday is that we got on the prop ladder sooner rather than later, cos there is no way we could afford to pay our house at todays prices.

All of you trying to get on prop ladder have my sincerest sympathy

Chrismojam

Kevicho wrote:

..... and employing asylum seekers who then run off with millions than repair old peoples fences, and leave them at the mercy of thug youth.

Wasn't this in Lancashire or thereabouts? And didn't he 'overstay' his student visa?......and THEN got a job with the council finance dept....and dipped into shed loads of money........which was only picked up because of a dubious 'vat payment' which went to his or a member of his families accounts........really makes you think you get value for money from your local council....NOT (and I speak as a council tax payer and a council worker btw......not the same council though...).....too many chiefs and not enough indians I say......but then ...we could be getting outsourced soon...so you never know:p

Chrismojam

ali007 wrote:

And the conclusion? When we are old & sick we will have to sell up to pay to be looked after, the state will look after them . Go figure.......

Exactly............have to say though........similar applies with benefits..........my mum has serious mental health problems and as such receives DLA care and mobility (which me and sis applied for after receiving advice from a co-worker of sis's who happened to work for DSS part time......NOT FROM HER SOCIAL WORKER OR WELFARE ADVISOR!).....

Now my mum doesn't believe this is her money........thinks 'people' are going to bump her off for it....WILL NOT SPEND any of it.......another resident of mum's home (now deceased....may she rest is peace....).....spent every last penny of her money on crap from various charity shops...which did them the world of good no doubt.....

My point........my mum who doesn't feel it is her money to spend.......it builds up to the extent that her benefits get reduced and she has to pay full rent etc on something that should have been provided for her years ago.........which wasn't because we had to fight for it:mad:

Ok rant over........:o .......I feel like the odd one out not getting really caught up in this must have in now attitude...........OH says we need a wide screen tv..........well when he can pay for it out of his own pocket and not on credit he is more than welcome to buy it...until then we will make do with the tv we bought over 3 years ago for if I recall about £150.00 from Comet (and probably could have got that cheaper)...I don't care if the screen flickers now and then....it's watchable.....

Also, if we get a wide screen tv before we get the roof/wall fixed...plastering finished......doors/skirting boards back up (WE HAVE HAD THEM IN THE BACK ROOM SINCE FEB!!!!!)..and general decorating done..........I will be seriously !!!!ed off:rolleyes:

furrychimp

thank god some folks out there feel like I do, was starting to feel like a freak! until I took a long hard look at my debt problem (& finally confessed to my mum & wonderful OH) I would have spent first, worried about it later & felt it was the banks fault I couldn't afford stuff (& I used to work in finance too!:rolleyes:). Now we are in the lucky position of being able to buy our own home, we won't have a massive mortgage, and will have almost all second hand furniture (lucky we like old style stuff) & will be calling in as many favours as possible to get work done. this site has been a massive help, I'm still in debt but it's now managable & my spending is much more controlled....all my bills are paid on time, hell some even get paid before they come in!:D none of our friends have debt problems but I think as a group we are unusual in that none of us wears designer stuff & think most 'celebrities' are to be pitied rather than admired (vacuous halfwits!)...we still manage to go on hols once or twice a year thanks to mates in various locations with spare rooms, cheap flights (cheers Mr Easyjet!) & cheap hotel deals (long as it's clean & has a bed I'm happy!!)...Oh and BTW I earn just under £13K PA, just under half the so called average wage!!!:eek:

Luckystepho

It seems to me that wages haven't quite kept up with inflation, so people are getting more and more into debt as well just by paying bills and buying everyday living items, plus we are conditioned into thinking that debt/ credit cards are perfectly 'normal'.
There is no way I would be able to afford to buy a house where I live, without a £30,000 deposit at least! It's scary to think what would happen if interest rates were suddenly hiked by more than a few %.
Maybe it is one big conspiracy by the Government; keep people just above the bread line, but not poor enough so that they are motivated to revel against it, completely dumb down the Education system and ensure that everybody carries a certain level of debt so that we are kept as compliant workers, paying taxes and huge amounts to the banks in the form of interest etc but never question this or the Government power games and so never try to rise above our station and try to break free!
Phew! Need to breathe....

Pobby

Luckystepho wrote:

It seems to me that wages haven't quite kept up with inflation, so people are getting more and more into debt as well just by paying bills and buying everyday living items, plus we are conditioned into thinking that debt/ credit cards are perfectly 'normal'.
There is no way I would be able to afford to buy a house where I live, without a £30,000 deposit at least! It's scary to think what would happen if interest rates were suddenly hiked by more than a few %.
Maybe it is one big conspiracy by the Government; keep people just above the bread line, but not poor enough so that they are motivated to revel against it, completely dumb down the Education system and ensure that everybody carries a certain level of debt so that we are kept as compliant workers, paying taxes and huge amounts to the banks in the form of interest etc but never question this or the Government power games and so never try to rise above our station and try to break free!
Phew! Need to breathe....

Very much liked the post.There is a situation of dumbing down.I started this thread in a semi-beery, half past 10 at night little reflection.I didn`t believe so many folks would add to this.Indeed I am glad that so many have posted their opinions.I would like to know what conspiracy that the government has for us.Not that I am saying they do not have a conspiracy planed.Seems to me that over the last few years life has become a lottery.Take ya chance and buy a few properties pre 2001 and suddenly you are minted.Like to work that one out!

What is the message that we send out to our kids?But hey,as I have said before,become a celeb an it`s all sorted.Why should my kids walk away with awful debts to do a media course at uni,again more dumbing down.Spose cause I am mid 50s I still expect folks to get off there !!! and hit the streets.Did anti Vietnam war in 1967,rock against racialism,greenham,cnd,anti poll tax.Opppps,another 10.30 couple of beers rant

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lol.

skintasusual

quite apart from the fact that I have loads of debt, no deposit, and poor credit....

me and the OH rent in quite a cheap area in London (zone 5 so outskirts). we pay £675 rent for a 2 bed flat. These flats sell for about £170000.....we have a combined income of 55000. so not only would they probably not even give us a mortgage for that much, it would be more than paying rent, plus we would have to pay a service charge as its in a block, buildings ins and all the other costs that go with owning your own home.

what chance do we have really? Its bloody depressing.

so in 6 years time when my credit is somewhat better I hope something has changed!!

Pobby

To a degree,I think much of the damage was caused with the selling off of council homes.By and large many of these properties were very good.Many of them semi detached with generous sized gardens.So many people were then forced to rent in the private sector.Thatch and co. changed the laws in favour of the private landlords.

Indeed,here in the Uk we have a love of home ownership,however there is something to said that if all goes well you will end up paying no mortgage or rent.In fact it gives us another reason to get up in the morning.Skintasusual says that paying £675 a month is depressing.I can sympathise with that.

RibenaBerry_2

This is a really interesting thread. I earn what would generally be considered 'good money', but still find myself moaning about not having enough at the end of the month. Then I spoke to my Mum about when my parents first got married...

My parents married in the early 1970s. They bought a house and got a loan for a car. They both worked. My Dad's salary (the far larger of the two) covered the mortgage and repayments on the car. My mum's paid for everything else. It took them years to build up furniture and for the first couple of years of their marriage they didn't even have a sofa. They certainly didn't take a foreign holiday for the first 10 years of their marriage. Yet Mum says that they never thought of themselves as poor or missing out on anything. This is how life was- you couldn't afford a lot of the things you wanted and you had to wait and save up for them.

Today, we all expect to be able to afford mobile phones (one each), foreign holidays, Sky TV, and to furnish a flat the second we leave home. Add in the ipods, PSPs, etc that a lot of us desire and you've got one expensive life.

I'm not saying that I am any better than anyone else. I'm just as guilty as the next person. But I think that, as a society, we have lost track of what money means and what a standard of living a salary of £X can buy without incurring debt. We've been cultured to believe that someone on an average salary can and should be able to afford all these things. In reality, they are luxuries - and only the wealthy can afford most or all of them.

Pobby

RibenaBerry wrote:

This is a really interesting thread. I earn what would generally be considered 'good money', but still find myself moaning about not having enough at the end of the month. Then I spoke to my Mum about when my parents first got married...

My parents married in the early 1970s. They bought a house and got a loan for a car. They both worked. My Dad's salary (the far larger of the two) covered the mortgage and repayments on the car. My mum's paid for everything else. It took them years to build up furniture and for the first couple of years of their marriage they didn't even have a sofa. They certainly didn't take a foreign holiday for the first 10 years of their marriage. Yet Mum says that they never thought of themselves as poor or missing out on anything. This is how life was- you couldn't afford a lot of the things you wanted and you had to wait and save up for them.

Today, we all expect to be able to afford mobile phones (one each), foreign holidays, Sky TV, and to furnish a flat the second we leave home. Add in the ipods, PSPs, etc that a lot of us desire and you've got one expensive life.

I'm not saying that I am any better than anyone else. I'm just as guilty as the next person. But I think that, as a society, we have lost track of what money means and what a standard of living a salary of £X can buy without incurring debt. We've been cultured to believe that someone on an average salary can and should be able to afford all these things. In reality, they are luxuries - and only the wealthy can afford most or all of them.

Good post.Just abouts describes what it was like when I first started out in the 70s.