Times are hard out there...Really?

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I haven't personally noticed much of a change in circumstances. My pay hasn't gone up much, but I now have a pension and my rent hasn't gone up in 2 years. I still save 10% of my take home and all my bonuses. The savings rates are !!!!!! of course.

The bars, restaurants and theatres of central London are still as busy as ever, but my friends and I take advantage of voucher deals quite often. This is seen as quite normal now, even for my mates who earn a lot more than me. I've always read library books for free and prowled charity shops, so no change there.

I only know one person who got made redundant; they have since found a better position.

Jennifer_Jane

I'm 'oop North' and it's gorgeous. I live on the edge of the Peak District, we walk in forested Country Parks with lakes and good, well-managed trails. As for the Macclesfield Forest, well it's stunning and all these areas have wonderful pubs close by for a great meal afterwards. And I haven't even mentioned being 1.5 hours' drive away from the Lake District.

So that's the North West. Then we could go on and on about the Yorkshire Moors.

Of course, in a small town, you lack the choice of cultural activities that London has. But frankly, I see as much theatre (in either Stoke or Manchester) as I did when I lived in London. It's obviously not the same as living in a capital city (I've lived in 3, and there is a definite buzz about being at the seat of power), but there are compensations.

chucky

iandury wrote: »

Times are hard out there...Really

it's not easy out there for people but it's far from the picture that people are trying to pain on this forum.

the best one so far is that "everyone is so maxed out on debt that they can't afford their mortgage payments" - yes everyone is maxed out no just some people. #nonsense

ninky_2

Jennifer_Jane wrote: »

. As for the Macclesfield Forest, well it's stunning and all these areas have wonderful pubs close by for a great meal afterwards. .

you see i've never heard of macclesfield forest. so either i'm extraordinarily ignorant or these places are not being sold in a reasonable way to attract visitors other than day trippers from the local area.

Percy1983

Being up north I can see a grimmer picture, a good few of my freinds are out of work and struggling to get anything. Personally I can see my savings for a house going nowhere and I haven't had an inflation based pay rise for 2 years (not holding out hope for this year either), but I have gone up pay scales so it hasn't been as noticable. I have seen a few redundancies at work but I have been effected directly... yet.

MyMFDream

I'm in Scotland. A few people I know lost jobs late last year when a games developer went to the wall other than that I am not getting a pay rise this year as company can't afford it, my husband is but only 2%. We are noticing the increases in food and petrol mostly.

kabayiri

ninky wrote: »

what could / can be done with the north of england?
....
the countryside up there could be a tourist draw if they actually invested in more wilderness creation. the weather isn't going to sell it but green spaces could if they weren't so deforested.

It's good clean efficient rail / tram transport which needs the investment.

I travelled out to Salford Quays from my village east of Stockport by train and then tram last week. It was surprising how the tram made the Salford part feel so accessible from central Manchester. The problem is the tram network is not extensive yet.

We just don't invest nearly enough in good quality high speed rail to link the regions together.

Loughton_Monkey

iandury wrote: »

........I see very little of the old image of desperate men with head in hands in dire straits. in really seems to be business as usual for most but just everyone being a little bit more sensible...

According to the sensationalist numbskulls the Centre for Economic and Business Research we are told that this is the biggest squeeze on family finance since 1921!

An average of £910 per household they say!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13029870

And how do they calculate this? Average inflation at 3.9% for 2011 and pay rises only 1.9%. So we are 2% worse off.

I'm retired. My main pension went up 4.6% this year. Given a fair wind on my investments, and the 3.2%-ish I get on savings, I'll turn well over 3.9% on the total.

So this household is not losing £910. So one of you, out there, stand by to be worse off by £1,820.

What is difficult to understand is how this can be worse than 1921. Can you imagine your old great grandfather - years ago - when you were a lad - saying "Mark my word, m'lad. You've never 'ad it so good. You wouldn't believe the squalor, the hardship, the starving in the streets, the dire poverty we 'ad to endure that year when we was 1.9% worse off!....."

As we all know, the 1921 slump was 100% caused by the final closure of the last of the workhouses. Bring 'em back......

Thrugelmir

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

And how do they calculate this? Average inflation at 3.9% for 2011 and pay rises only 1.9%. So we are 2% worse off.

Higher employee national insurance contributions and a freezing/lowering of the 40% tax threshold.

Pete111

Well I can report from London that the overall job market is perking up nicely according to the recruiters I work with. In addition, many homeowners are still enjoying low rates and rock bottom mortgages - in many cases using the extra money to pay down debt (as evidenced by the bbc last week)

Ranged against these positives are high inflation (especially on fuel) plus ongoing government cuts, tax rises and job instability in some sectors.

Overall, I think (given that interest rates will only rise) that people remain nervous and are expecting things to get worse before they get better. That said however, a lot of the headlines are put out there to sell Newpapers rather than accurately reflect the situation.