How have you benefited from low interest rates?

RenovationMan

We decided to take advantage of what we believe will be years of low rates by buying a 5 bed stone farmhouse with a bit of land and a brook at the north boundary. Our mortgage was £300,995 but we overpaid that to £270,000 and we have a further £27k overpayment pending for June 2011 when we are allowed our next 10% overpayments.

I cant begin to say what a difference our move has made to our lives so far, and as each year goes by, and we pay down the mortgage debt, things will get better and better. Not only will myself and mrs Renovation benefit from these low rates, but so will our kids when we pass on the house (or the equity of we sell and downsize).

These low rates are a once in a lifetime chance for ordinary people to get on in life. In my parents time, they had all the public companies selling off (BA, BT, etc) and all the building societies demutualising to give them their windfall. As far as I'm concerned, this is my generation's windfall.

maveli

My mortgage repayment came down to £73 from £565. Wife quit the job to look after 2 kids at home. saved around £20K in ISA.

IveSeenTheLight

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Oh, it just gets better!!

Surely it makes a valid point.
If you earn £20,000 and get a 2% pay rise, your wages increase £400 over the year.

If your purchase of consumable goods is 35% of your income, you spend £7,000 per year and if increased 4%, your paying an extra £280 on consumable goods.

Net profit is £120.

Of course it depends what you spend the remainder of your income on.
Many will be house owners who have seen a reduction in base rates affecting many on SVR's to be paying a lower amount, thus further increasing the disposable income.

botchjob

I am liking all the stories of people who have made good use of the low rate. Good work. What is also pleasing is the knowledge that the grizzly bears on here will be growling in annoyance at the injustice of it all and muttering that it's not going to last and how all the silly overstretched people will PAY. Make hay while the sun shines.

ellies_angel

The average pay rise is around 2% (even today)

I would love a pay rise of 2%. Last year 2010 our pay was frozen, it looks like the same this year. 2007 they did a service review of all the salaries and decided to have less pay scales and fit us into smaller grouping. I was red ringed which means they decided I was paid more than I should be so my salary stays the same for the next 5 years until the others catch up, if not after 5 years my salary will drop. I haven't had a pay rise since 2007!!
My everyday expenses have gone up. I work for a charity and assess candidates in their workplace all over Aberdeenshire. I am paid 40p a mile. I was paid 40p a mile when I first started in 1999! (thats not mileage from home to work, thats from 1st appointment to last appointment) My car back then cost me around £25/£30 to fill up. Now it costs me £45/£50 and I drive a ford fiesta. The miles I do mean that its above the normal annual mileage so it depreciates quickly, needs servicing sometimes more than once a year and the normal wear and tear. I realise I am lucky to have a job in this current climate and have personally funded myself up to post graduate level studying part time in the evenings to keep myself employable.
Cost of living has rocketed, unlike my salary and I would have loved to have benefited from the drop in interest rates, unfortunately I tied myself into a fixed rate deal just before they started to drop.

DervProf

ellies_angel wrote: »

The average pay rise is around 2% (even today)

I would love a pay rise of 2%. Last year 2010 our pay was frozen, it looks like the same this year. 2007 they did a service review of all the salaries and decided to have less pay scales and fit us into smaller grouping. I was red ringed which means they decided I was paid more than I should be so my salary stays the same for the next 5 years until the others catch up, if not after 5 years my salary will drop. I haven't had a pay rise since 2007!!
My everyday expenses have gone up. I work for a charity and assess candidates in their workplace all over Aberdeenshire. I am paid 40p a mile. I was paid 40p a mile when I first started in 1999! (thats not mileage from home to work, thats from 1st appointment to last appointment) My car back then cost me around £25/£30 to fill up. Now it costs me £45/£50 and I drive a ford fiesta. The miles I do mean that its above the normal annual mileage so it depreciates quickly, needs servicing sometimes more than once a year and the normal wear and tear. I realise I am lucky to have a job in this current climate and have personally funded myself up to post graduate level studying part time in the evenings to keep myself employable.
Cost of living has rocketed, unlike my salary and I would have loved to have benefited from the drop in interest rates, unfortunately I tied myself into a fixed rate deal just before they started to drop.

Don't expect my sympathy round here.

You might get some advice though, such as.......

Get a better paid job.

Invest in property.

Should have moved to Aberdeen.

It's great out here in Thailand, why not join me ?


Seriously though, it does seem that some have benefited greatly from low interest rates, others have not done so well. While savers might be feeling a bit miffed at the moment, I'd rather have savings that are losing a little of their value at the moment, than a pile of debt, no matter how low the interest payments are.

DervProf

botchjob wrote: »

Make hay while the sun shines.

I did, back in the boom. I predicted tougher times ahead, that's why I made some hay and am now finding it rather useful.

Graham_Devon

IveSeenTheLight wrote: »

Surely it makes a valid point.

You think?

Let me ask you....how many families / people do you know who only spend 35% of their wages each month?

It's a stupid point and only applies to the rich.

To the average person, it doesn't apply at all.

You sure you seen that light?

MGCP

We have a large potential house deposit sitting in a number of different accounts earning various shades of sweet FA and gradually being eroded by inflation.

On the plus side we are able to grow that deposit by about £3k a months so it isn't all doom and gloom. Some interest on it would have been nice as well though.

Running_Horse

Got a tracker mortgage. The £175 a month extra has been used to pay some very big
unexpected expenses. We will be clear this year, just in time for rates to rise again. We have been very lucky and had a good recession so far.