Preparedness for when

Frugalsod

jk0 wrote: »

Anyone read this in the mainstream media?

http://www.forexcrunch.com/greeks-withdrew-e3-billion-from-banks-in-december-more-than-beforehand/

I doubt that you would. The last thing that any government want are the plebs to get their money out as they will be the ones paying for the bail in. In Cyprus insiders in the government managed to slip hundreds of millions of euros out of the country before the bank holiday. So as a result they were not "taxed" by the bail in. I am sure that those in the ruling party will be doing the same should it look likely that they will be out of a job come 25th January. That is the thing to keep an eye out for.

To be fair to the average person I would rather keep my cash in my pocket rather than in an insolvent bank. I would also include nearly all the big european banks in that description. Though for most people they have so little money in a bank that they might not get impacted at all by the bail in.

It will be the effects on employers that will cause problems. If they target accounts with sums greater than the deposit protection of €100 000 then most individuals will not be impacted directly, apart from being unable to get their money out. Since most employers will be either running on overdraft or have more than the deposit protection limit they will be bailed in as creditors. Those with overdrafts might get demands for instant repayment meaning collapse of the company, or being unable to pay anything as further credit will not extended. Those with a positive bank balance will be bailed in to rescue the bank and so with far lower balances have to pay all their staff, which might be impossible. Then they will still owe monies to suppliers.

It is the whole bail in process that will cause problems. While the bank run on Northern Rock were embarrassing to the government the new bail in process will actually be more damaging to the economy longer term. I really do not think that any of the politicians have actually thought this through. It actually makes bank runs even more likely and certain industries will be hit a lot harder as a result of the lack of confidence. Would you want to buy a house when your money at the solicitor could be bailed in and you will still owe the balance of the funds. You could have the funds bailed in before you even paid for the home yet will not be able to complete the purchase and still owe for the mortgage outstanding.

boddy

Hello everyone. I'm still lurking and enjoying reading the posts.

Quite agree with what is being said about being vigilant. I volunteer at the local hospital. I'm a meeter and greeter at main entrance and also work in A&E. Being quite an observant person there have been many times I've alerted security as to what is going on. Some people come in for easy pickings.Im good at spotting the the ones not there for genuine reasons. I've seen people leave bags on seats to go get their coffee. Sorry I digress. I have often said that anyone could walk in with really bad intentions. They could look like a visitor, patient or health professional. It's bad how things are going though as usually just one security man on.

Perplexed_Pineapple

Has anyone seen this?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-09/all-over-america-government-officials-are-cracking-down-preppers
It's a bit OTT in the general message I thought, but I found the section about woodstoves interesting. Does anybody know whether there are restrictions on emissions from woodstoves sold here? Wouldn't it partly depend on the fuel you were burning (different types of wood) and how well it was seasoned anyway? I'm trying to learn more about this, a woodstove or multi-fuel stove is on our wishlist,
Frugalsod, that's a good thought about cash held by solicitors, I don't know what could be done about that, nothing I expect. It might be best if buying a house to sell first and move into a rented place for a short while, then at least if a house purchase falls through at the last minute you aren't homeless. It would cost a bit more (although not much in the scheme of a house move) and might be worth it for peace of mind. Although then there is the risk of having the cash in your own account for longer (unless you keep the house deposit in used 20s under the mattress :rotfl:)

thriftwizard

Perplexed Pineapple, it all depends on the bye-laws where you are. We've just had a multi-fuel stove installed, and in the end we chose one that could be used anywhere as it's DEFRA-approved, so almost smokeless & can be used inside city limits, though we're technically rural (200 yards outside the city!) so could have opted for something cheaper & less efficient. Or even an old one, if a small enough one had turned up. But this one was the best "fit" for the size, shape & style of the room & the hole it goes into. And you need to either get it fitted by a registered HETAS engineer, or have it "signed off" by your local council when fitted if you do it yourselves, which, needless to say, isn't free. The paperwork for this will be required if you ever sell your home on.

if you burn a lot of "green" wood, or treated/painted wood, you'll be in danger of the chemicals released into the smoke damaging your chimney liner, as well as blackening the glass & needing to clean it too often. There's rather more to it than just choosing a stove you like & using Freecycled wood, as we've just found out!

Perplexed_Pineapple

That's very helpful, thanks. There is plenty of stuff on the web about the building regulations and HETAS engineers but I hadn't found anything about local regulations. I guess a local installer would know.

GreyQueen

Perplexed_Pineapple wrote: »

That's very helpful, thanks. There is plenty of stuff on the web about the building regulations and HETAS engineers but I hadn't found anything about local regulations. I guess a local installer would know.

The should be well-aware, but if you have concerns call your council. I take these calls from time to time; there are a few parts of our city where they're verboten, mostly the ancient historic centre which is also under constant air quality monitoring for pollution anyway (traffic fumes).

:mad: I was rather cross the other day at getting door-stepped by chuggers, the Red Cross, this time. I know they're mostly students, that they get given a 'patch' and left to get on with it, but I do feel that this borders on unacceptable behaviour on behalf of charities. Imagine how uncomfortable my immediate neighbours will feel (one big issue seller who's just got re-housed from a hostel, another bloke with a pregnant g/f who got laid off his job the week before Xmas).

Those of us who work aren't exactly on Easy Street and those who aren't working are struggling to get by. This ward is officially classified as deprived, I do think charities ought to check on that and not send chuggers to the impoverished places. *rant over*

mardatha

You don't need to keep money under the mattress in used twenties, you get nice crisp new £100s instead lol - makes a much tidier pile.

GreyQueen

mardatha wrote: »

You don't need to keep money under the mattress in used twenties, you get nice crisp new £100s instead lol - makes a much tidier pile.

Only in Scotland - try asking an English bank for £100 notes and see how far you get.:rotfl:

moneyistooshorttomention

FrugalSod

That thought, ie re house equity money sitting there in a bank whilst getting transmuted into "bricks and mortar" or next bit of "bricks and mortar" certainly gave me some worrying moments when I sold my last house and bought this one (not helped by not even knowing just whose neck I would like to wring if my money got stolen by a bail-in on bank accounts at just the wrong moment).

I was well aware it would have been Game Over for me personally if I'd lost being a house-owner and at a time of my life when I am temporarily on part-pension (ie in between my Retirement Age and my revised State Pension Age) and therefore couldn't afford to pay rent if I were even prepared to go back to rented accommodation at my age/many years of house ownership under my belt by now.

I was absolutely insistent that Exchange of Contracts and then subsequently Completion on both the houses involved in this was to happen literally to the minute both times and no question whatsoever of me having "given" before I'd "got" iyswim.

One of the "positive" sides of my enforced move across country (ie because I couldn't afford a This Stage Of My Life house in my own home area - grrrr!) is that there aint likely to be any terrorist incidents in a place this remote from the Main Drag so to say, whereas I was "on the watch" in Home City.

maryb

we have a Clearview stove and I went into all the ins and outs of it before we went ahead. We are in a smokeless zone but the Clearview is so efficient, it's officially OK to burn wood - as long as we don't have a back boiler for heating water. If we do, it becomes less efficient and we would only be able to burn smokeless coal. Yet another thing to factor in.