UK household finances stretched

mostlycheerful

Yes indeed, sensible people live within their means, plan ahead and save for a rainy day. Thickies, numpties and inane ignorami live beyond their means, borrow recklessly to gross excess and don’t plan ahead or save for a rainy day. Twas ever thus.

Dickens famously neatly summed it up with Wilkins Micawber in David Copperfield saying - "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery." Which is now known as the Micawber Principle.

Whether and to what extent it is the duty of the state to intervene to save stupid people from their own self destruction and those around them is another point to be considered. As so many people are patently unable to run their lives with any common sense and self restraint and are often wholly unfit at handling money there is therefore a compelling argument for more intervention. A good start, as Martin and a number of people have been saying for some years now, is that kids should be taught money management at school and if this was done sufficiently comprehensively then perhaps a lot of otherwise vulnerable people could be saved from debt damnation. If this had been done for the last few decades and also in every country and particularly in America then possibly the whole credit crunch recession debacle could have been averted and would never have happened. Maybe.

However, unfortunately much of supposed “education” is non vocational, useless, redundant, crass and absurd. Instead of preparing people for life a lot of education simply retards them, makes them turn against authority and is largely wasted and negative and fails miserably.

lostinrates

PasturesNew wrote: »

Many who say they're struggling have huge incomes. Huuuuge. Like £1000/month after housing costs.... and more!

I've been used to having £50-200/month in the past after housing/basic bills and I have no sympathy for those that would list in their expenditure any two of the following: £80/month mobile phones, £40 Sky, £1000 for Xmas, £1000 for a summer holiday, wine in their weekly shop, more than £30/person for the weekly shop (that's !!!!!! generous), gym membership ... and then say they're struggling. You're struggling when you have had 0 of those in your life ever or in the past 2 years and are eating gruel.

Phew, only one of those. ...and not even weekly,about once a month I buy wine....for the month though

TBH, and I say this knowing I'm in a lucky position, I think if on this sort of income appreciating that any ''suffering'' rather that a lack of prospering is in choices not for lack of them negates any benefit of the income.

chucknorris

What am I missing? I just don't understand this:

Unsurprisingly, the biggest impact was on the 23% of mortgage borrowers with base-rate tracker mortgages.

I would have thought those people (I'm one of them) have very little to worry about, apart from the fact that all the additional cash saved is going into savings paying very little (but that's one of the better problems to have in life/finance). Or are they specifically referring to people who took trackers out recently (i.e. with larger margins over base? If so I'm very surprised it's 23% of the market).

Generali

StevieJ wrote: »

Interesting that low LTV mortgage holders are more worried about their situation than high LTV.

I guess they have more to lose! Also, perhaps prudent people are more likely to be 'born worriers'.

chucky

UK household finances stretched

we've been through the worse economic crisis in 70 years - why is this a surprise to anyone?

abaxas

'Families in we've already spent it' shocker.

Sorry but you had the fun, now it's time to enjoy the drudgery of paying it back.

I didnt have quite as much fun as you, but I'm still having it!

RenovationMan

abaxas wrote: »

I didnt have quite as much fun as you, but I'm still having it!

"'All I wanna do is have a little fun before I die,' Says the man next to me out of nowhere.... And I wonder if he's ever had a day of fun in his whole
life". - Sheryl Crow

abaxas

RenovationMan wrote: »

"'All I wanna do is have a little fun before I die,' Says the man next to me out of nowhere.... And I wonder if he's ever had a day of fun in his whole
life". - Sheryl Crow

Bought a lotus elise this year. Obviously I have no idea on how to have 'fun'!

Seriously though, if you pay for things on credit cards, then get hit with interest. All you are doing is paying 10-20% more for the same product.

What would you prefer, a 1.6 focus or a 2ltr Audi A3 for the same money. I know what I'd choose.

wotsthat

Thickies, numpties and inane ignorami live beyond their means, borrow recklessly to gross excess and don’t plan ahead or save for a rainy day.

You leave these people alone. It's because of them that I get good dividends from my Vodafone shares!

RenovationMan

abaxas wrote: »

Bought a lotus elise this year. Obviously I have no idea on how to have 'fun'!

Seriously though, if you pay for things on credit cards, then get hit with interest. All you are doing is paying 10-20% more for the same product.

What would you prefer, a 1.6 focus or a 2ltr Audi A3 for the same money. I know what I'd choose.

:huh: I was agreeing with you [about the folly of running up debts 'to have fun before I die' and ending up in long-term debt and misery]