Save, don't borrow.

opinions4u

The whole point of this is that it's a lot more complicated than just "Save. Don't spend."

Spending is inevitable. Essentials, luxuries and those things in between that most of us take for granted.

Borrowing is not inevitable. It is very much a choice.

middlepuss

opinions4u wrote: »

Borrowing is not inevitable. It is very much a choice.

Just so. People who borrow will tell you they can't afford to save. Yet, having borrowed, they can afford to pay interest.

It all comes down to mind set. However little money they earn, some people just naturally put some money by. You could look upon this money as the interest that borrowers would be paying.

Other people will always spend everything they earn. If you ask 'why aren't you saving something?' they may ask 'saving for what?' (ie what's the point of saving money just for the sake of saving money) or they will say 'I can't afford it' which usually means they have made a choice to spend as much as or more than they earn.

Yes, there are some who genuinely, through no fault of their own, are driven by misfortune into debt.

Degenerate

opinions4u wrote: »

If I own a boiler, I have a responsibility to myself and my family to plan for important things needing to be repaired or replaced.

What if you're a homeowner who got made redundant? Your rainy day savings dwindled away on your mortgage payments in the waiting period before you qualified for SMI. With the recession, a lot of people found themselves in this sort of situation recently.

Hope is pointless unless you can identify a known change in circumstances that will give you the chance to pay the debt off.

In the example above, the obvious hope would be finding a new job.

opinions4u

Degenerate wrote: »

What if you're a homeowner who got made redundant? Your rainy day savings dwindled away on your mortgage payments in the waiting period before you qualified for SMI. With the recession, a lot of people found themselves in this sort of situation recently.

And now you are taking the discussion away from the context and specific examples I included in the original post.

But by saving up for stuff rather than buying it on the never never you can certainly reduce the impact of difficult times as and when they arrive - because you would have lower outgoings when it hits the fan.

Degenerate

opinions4u wrote: »

And now you are taking the discussion away from the context and specific examples I included in the original post.

The original post read like a sweeping generalisation to me.

Soubrette

Degenerate wrote: »

The original post read like a sweeping generalisation to me.

Although a generalisation, it's probably that only a small amount of people would be in the dire situations you mention through no fault of their own.

In general people can save but choose not to, this is when the one off costs become a problem. Many people would rather live up to their income rather than incorporate regular savings.

In general, people who have been a bit cautious (or a bit lucky) with their mortgages (not too highly leveraged, saved for a big deposit, able to pay the bills on one income, overpaying where possible) will be able to cope in an emergency - even one person losing their job.

It's good general advice (and is even more pertinent in view of the welfare and pension cuts we'll be seeing), rather than taylored to an individual, which is the best you can get on an internet forum.

nearlyrich

Degenerate wrote: »

Things like "How can I live without a fridge to keep my food in?" tend to override such concerns.

It can be done we didn't have a fridge when I was a kid, of course you need to shop as you need stuff but it's not impossible.

The other point is you don't have to go out and buy the most expensive fridge on the planet, looking in Bright House window I was surprised to see a £600 washing machine in a shop aimed at people with the need to pay weekly for stuff !!! I have never paid more than £150 for a washing machine in my life. There are plenty of people trying to give away decent stuff on the likes of freecycle.

Rupert_Bear

Follow in the footsteps of Viv Nicolson and spend, spend spend. If nothing else the BOE will love you for it!

ILW

Degenerate wrote: »

I was trying to suggest a realistic scenario. We have a minimum wage and benefit system in this country that should mean everyone has adequate income to pay for food. Where people on low incomes tend to struggle is when they are hit by unexpected large outlays like replacing broken appliances. That's when some end up resorting to things like payday loans. To suggest that it's all down to to poor judgement is rather debateable when their alternative may have been to go without refrigerated food or heating etc

.

So, for example, what would your solution to a broken boiler have been?


It wasn't an argument, it was an observation.

Anyone who has to pay to get a boiler replaces must be a homeowner. The fact that they cannot save a contingency fund for such eventualities says they have been living beyond their means and should looked at possibilty down sizing at some point in the past.

Degenerate

ILW wrote: »

Anyone who has to pay to get a boiler replaces must be a homeowner. The fact that they cannot save a contingency fund for such eventualities says they have been living beyond their means and should looked at possibilty down sizing at some point in the past.

You obviously didn't read the thread very carefully or you would have seen the post where I pointed out how easily a homeowner could find themself in such a situation in the wake of a recession - It's called redundancy. People will naturally try to cling to what they have for as long as possible in the hope of finding another job - can you blame them? It's also not a very good time to be selling a house anyway, and broken heating is hardly a selling point.