A new 'tougher' thread... and so it continues

VJsmum

We do own our house but have always had very low mortages compared to our income. I have always been scared of it being taken from us and i can only imagine the pain of it - my heart goes out to those with experience.

I really do dread to think what will happen the the Euro does go - the ripples are going to be felt for a long, long time. I had always been in favour of us joining until a year or so ago (no having to exchange money when we went to France ) but now ...

prepareathome

My family are house snobs as well and we are looked down on as total failures as we rent. We did own our own home but then sold it when kids were young - in the mid 1980s as we wanted to move elsewhere, but sadly after a couple of years living where we loved there just was no jobs, well none that paid enough to either continue renting privately or buying so we had to come back here as here we were entitled to a council house. We are lucky we are not on a council estate, where we live the council in the 1930's bought some of the houses being built where then was well outside city and so we are one of few here how rent from now HA and 95% of other houses all privately owned, although quite a few are now privately rented. We unfortunately never got the chance to buy again, we refused to be pressured when council were trying to get everyone to buy as we knew we could not afford it. We have had so many lectures over the years from family about all the dead money we have paid in rent, but at least we do not have to worry about repairs. House when we moved in was still as it was in 1932 when it was built and we slowly modernised it and were very lucky as when HA took over they actually gave us back the money we had laid out for upstairs toilet, central heating, double glazing and new kitchen. When government annouced all council houses had to be brought up to a certain standard by I think 2020 our council couldn't afford it, so they formed a HA that could claim money from the government to do this. We didn't get the cash as such, they gave us rent credit which came in very handy past few years so we waited till we had 4 weeks rent left and started paying again, and pay a few pound each week extra so we can build on that, so if hubby is off sick we have rent. Here as we found out if you are off sick and claim housing and council tax benefit, the minute you go back to work the council ask for it back trying to pay rent plus the benefits back , they treat is as a loan, so we would rather not have to claim it if he is off sick again ( he was off for 8 months during 2005 and it was so hard when he went back and only as part time ( he had been full time before but refused to take him back full time as they had actually medically dismissed him while he was off as drs at time thought he would not be able to do his job ( driving and delivery ) again.

Right off to do my first real budget grocery shop, must stick to my limit.

fuddle

What physically will happen 'when the euro goes down' I don't understand it. How will it effect us in our normal lives?

mardatha

I dont know :rotfl::rotfl:It just sounds dead dramatic and I was looking for something to worry about

fuddle

You don't want to go surfing the net about what could happen. I am pooping my pants now one word, 3 letters beginning with 'w' That is the worst case scenario. Nobody really knows what is going to happen. People just surmising.

Ignorace really is bliss

eta

Just also read that 'war in the physical sense as in fighting and troops is not what people mean. They mean that countries will begin the blame game and not be as unified as they have been, I hate the net sometimes. Sorry if I have scared anyone

jamanda

I think we get poorer again

VJsmum

fuddle wrote: »

You don't want to go surfing the net about what could happen. I am pooping my pants now one word, 3 letters beginning with 'w' That is the worst case scenario. Nobody really knows what is going to happen. People just surmising.

Ignorace really is bliss

I've just done some of that as well, but WWII in particular was caused by many things other than a crap economy. One of the biggest factors was the state the allies left Germany in after WW I - giving them very little scope to build their economy, added to the fact that there was a brilliant but complete maniac of a man in charge.

I'm no expert by any means but the best case scenario is not much will happen - relevant countries will go back to their own currencies and can set their own interest rates etc, which may or may not lead to high levels of inflation. THe worst (not considering the w*r option) is that the EU goes down with it. THen? NOt sure - maybe we just go about trading as we did before, without the special relationship which we only seem to lose by anyway. I think the worst thing is perhaps the uncertainty.

In any case we (OH and me) are going out of our way to spread monies around the banks and take it out and put it into bricks and mortar as soon as poss.

ETA - sorry FUddle, just seen your edit. I think you might be right.

lizzyb1812

mardatha wrote: »

This is what gets me, Fuddle. On the other forums in here they go on and on about buying houses and owning your own home - and talk about council tenants as if they are a lower form of life. Ok so I live in a nice council house in a tiny village with a big garden and have nice big rooms etc, so I am lucky, and I know it. But we have paid rent for most of the last 45 years so we aren't being subsidised by anybody.
By promoting this view that you have to buy a house or else, they have got us to the state where we have thousands and thousands of poor families who had their dream- then worried themselves sick trying to hang onto it - then lost it. So what was all that for ?:mad: Council housing or renting is for people who havent got the income or the job security to buy. And that, nowadays, probly includes 95% of the nation! There is nothing bad about renting and its snobbish and dangerous to believe that there is. It's good to have the choice and we all choose what suits our own circumstances eh.

Not all of us with a mortgage think that renting is for lowlifes you know. I used to rent until I was about 30. When I wanted to move the type of house I wanted - in a village, small but with a good sized plot/allotment - was cheaper to buy than rent - just. So I bought. I'm getting to the end of my repayment mortgage so my mortgage payments are small compared to what others pay for similar houses today. When I'm older I'll probably sell up and rent a more modern place so as not to have repairs etc to fork out for - my house is really part of my pension fund, which otherwise is very small.

I do agree that there are a lot of housing snobs around - I have a mortgage on a small terraced house and several people have asked me why I never moved up the housing ladder, but I could never see the point. And the talk of renting being like throwing away money is stupid - mortgagees pay loads in interest, what's so clever about that? People make a home, not the building - pity some people can't see that.

fuddle

From what I understand the collapse of the euro will/can/might etc effect

the government's plans to reduce our debt by a mixture of austerity measures and relying on economic growth will falter.
Britain will not be able to grow economically
back into a deep recession
credit crunch
growth stalls but high inflation stays - hiking interest rates to control inflation
austerity that angers people - civil unrest
houseprice crash as overpriced due to low interest rates
benefits system being effected
the euro will be no more, each country back to looking after itself.
tough times for everyone financially that could take a very long time to recover from.

That is opinions from on the net. I have no idea if they're right etc but at least I have a fair idea about what might happen and how it might effect me. Anyone looking in on this post who has any knowledge of the financial crisis I apologise for my ignorance. You may howl at this thick apron wearing housewife.

On that note - christmas tree!

hornetgirl

CH27 wrote: »

Thanks for the recipe. I do have mushrooms that I was just going to freeze but i'll do this instead.
Could I use creme fraiche instead of cream?

I don't see why not. I'm sure anything creamy would be fine. It also looked good before the milk was added, so would probably be fine like that too, just not quite so rich.

Got home from the hairdresser about an hour ago, to find that someone had backed a BMW X5 into the lamp-post outside our house and knocked it clean over, smashing it in half at the base :eek: It'll be interesting to see how long it takes for the council (or highways people, not sure which) to replace it. At least we might get a few nights without that funny orange glow illuminating our bedroom.