How to Get Through The Tough Times The Old Style Way.

Primrose

I'm rarely able to post on here now because for the past month we've suffered continual internet disconnection problems which BT have been unable to resolve. So frustrating! And today our poor window cleaners arrived and told us they have to increase their prices by 30% because their personal insurance has gone through the roof. We can't really complain because this is their first increase in five years, but 50% of their customers have now decided to cancel, so they're suffering a double whammy. They're a family partnership, work in all kinds of rotten weather and are always cheerful so I feel very sorry for them. I'm not surprised the retail trade are having a bad time. Virtually everybody now is feeling the squeeze on their budgets. The only good thing to come out of it is that many people are now resorting to a more frugal and less extravagant lifestyle. If everybody had done this years ago (including governments) perhaps we wouldn't be in the dire financial state we are in now, but it's a hard way to have to learn the lesson.

Meanwhile I have turned two more collars on favourite shirts my OH bought from charity shops, so they're now in their third stage of recycling!. Unlike a cat they probably won't have nine lives, but when these collars wear out, they can always become gardening shirts (a joke, because my OH LOATHES gardening!), or be cut up for cleaning rags, fruit & jelly bag straining cloths, or even gay handkerchieves! (Handkerchieves don't have to be white, do they?)

kidcat

Mardatha you flounce all you like

Am busy trying to sort insurance for our big car atm, and its gone up £200 and we have had no claims - worse anywhere else is quoting triple the price - I assume its due to the women cant get cheaper insurance thing so next year will be horrific - our renewal was obviously generated before the law came in. I think next year we will be forced to buy a third car to use day to day and then sell the big one - which menas we will never be able to go out all together again.

jackieglasgow

My insurance renewal is due through the door any day now, and I am absolutely dreading it Kidcat. trembling at the thought actually.

juliettet

Re car insurance, mine went up on 1st March by 20%. I shopped around and got a cheaper quote and rang my insurance to cancel. They offered to keep last years price. I was thrilled. Am I allowed to say which company?

imataloss

Hello I`m another long term lurker, occassional poster. Love reading the threads on OS but never get much time to reply.
On the `its tough` theme - We are lucky that when I took redundancy from my old job nearly 7 years ago we managed to pay the mortgage off. Have often thought about moving to another house but really don`t want the millstone of a mortgage again.
My DD and her DF are finding things a struggle at the moment so we try to help out as much as we can. Do this by inviting them around for meals, buying nappies and clothes for DGS and if I find 2 for 1 bargains in the shops give her those.
We wouldn`t be able to help out as much if we had a mortgage to pay.
I remember how our parents helped us out of the years and now feel it is time to do the same for our children.

lostinrates

jackieglasgow wrote: »

My insurance renewal is due through the door any day now, and I am absolutely dreading it Kidcat. trembling at the thought actually.

Me too. Next year dh would have been a driver for long enough to see a discount, now, having written off the car, it will be tear jerking.

imataloss

kidcat wrote: »

Mardatha you flounce all you like

Am busy trying to sort insurance for our big car atm, and its gone up £200 and we have had no claims - worse anywhere else is quoting triple the price - I assume its due to the women cant get cheaper insurance thing so next year will be horrific - our renewal was obviously generated before the law came in. I think next year we will be forced to buy a third car to use day to day and then sell the big one - which menas we will never be able to go out all together again.

My daughter works in Motor Insurance and she said that all of the premiums are increasing.
This is due to the amount of claims that are being made.
Personal injury claims are costing a fortune to the industry.
Also the no cheaper premiums for women must be impacting too.
Are you doing quotes through cashback websites? I think there is something on here about doing this.

kidcat

LiR - did you have your NCd protected - I have always protected our NCD - it has seen us through some very tough times, my OH managed to crash three times in three weeks - first his own car then mine (he actually hit me driving a courtesy car with my own car ) then a week later crashed the courtesy car - at that point my dad took away his car keys and insisted on a few driving lessons with my old instructor - OH was not impressed but my dad was of the opinion that he was likely to kill someone at the rate he was going. Thankfully the protected NCD meant it wasnt as tearjerking as it could have been and I was able to do a deal with our existing insurer - showing evidence of the lessons. Cant see companies being willing to even consider that sort of thing now though:(

Have tried to speak to our insurer to see if I can bring cost down at all but they insist on only speaking to OH ( he insures big car and I insure little car).

de1amo

mardatha wrote: »

Quote from Juliette - "I too had an IB as a neighbour"...........

:rotfl::rotfl: I will keep reading "irritable bowel" for IB ... :D

That's İBS which always reminds me of the İRS--inland revenue!

kidcat

imataloss wrote: »

My daughter works in Motor Insurance and she said that all of the premiums are increasing.
This is due to the amount of claims that are being made.
Personal injury claims are costing a fortune to the industry.
Also the no cheaper premiums for women must be impacting too.
Are you doing quotes through cashback websites? I think there is something on here about doing this.

Yes I have done all the tricks to bring costs down - its just a problem - claims are up and the number of uninsured drivers is rising (It always happens in recession)false claims are really in play at the moment too so its all conspiring at once - this is the effect of such tough times. Am resigned to the increase this year and will obviously have to change things for next year as £1250 a year is way too much for us to pay next year, especially on a 12yr old car that is battered.