Preparedness for when

Frugalsod

thriftwizard wrote: »

Too true, GQ; our neighbours have just had their house valued & are looking to downsize fast, before the bank forces their hands. Over the last few years, they have literally, quietly, gone hungry to keep up appearances. I don't know if DS2 will ever realise that the "on-its-sell-by" bread he used to bring home for free at 10pm, when he shut the newsagents he used to work at, actually kept them going, along with any eggs I could spare.

This has been a lovely neighbourhood to live in & bring our kids up in; they all used to play out in the street together & run from house to house to see what was cooking or on TV. It's nothing much to look at compared to the rest of our little medieval market town, but it was safe and friendly. Although other families have come & gone, these neighbours moving on marks the end of a chapter; they, along with two other families and a handful of elderly neighbours, formed the backbone of our little community for the last 20 years. The last of the elderly folk passed away just before Christmas, one of the other families (engineer/midwife) is talking about going home to Scotland now the last of their kids is off to uni, and the others (both in education) are struggling too as she faces almost certain redundancy and his hours have been cut down, so they may need to move back to a cheaper area.

We've been able to keep our heads above water, thanks in part to the lovely folks & plentiful advice here & elsewhere online, but I do have a real sense that for us, it's the end of an era. Plus ça change and all that...

I suspect that many of the new people who will have moved into the area over the last few years are also be struggling before long. Stagnant wages will erode whatever disposable income that they have before long and they will move on eventually to a cheaper area.

I live in a wealthy area and while the people who live here are generally better off than most I do notice that many are struggling. Though many are deluding themselves that they are doing well.

My best friend has had a big drop in income over the last few years courtesy of the recession but he is still a top rate tax payer and has downsized his car, which made sense as he was doing a lot of mileage with his job as a sub contractor. His girlfriend wants to move into a big 5 bed home because they both have kids from previous relationships and wants to maintain the lifestyle and have bedrooms for each of their kids even though they will not be living there. His grocery bill is £100 a week for the two of them and his electricity bill is the same for him only being their for 4 hours a day whereas as I am home 24 hours a day. So trying to guide him subtly into not making expensive mistakes is a tough one.

Mojisola

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Outa the blue someone very au fait with whats what in this community told me that neighbour is someone who is one of the "Do you know who I AM?" brigade and expects everyone to "know who they are" (that would be "just another person then" would it?) and then kowtow to them.

I saw someone totally deflated when they tried that and the other person gently took them by the arm and said "Oh dear, have you forgotten? Don't worry, I'm sure we'll be able to help you get home safely."

moneyistooshorttomention

Mojisola wrote: »

I saw someone totally deflated when they tried that and the other person gently took them by the arm and said "Oh dear, have you forgotten? Don't worry, I'm sure we'll be able to help you get home safely."

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:love it....:rotfl:. Must remember that one....

RAS

Frugalsod wrote: »

I live in a wealthy area and while the people who live here are generally better off than most I do notice that many are struggling. Though many are deluding themselves that they are doing well.

One of the few occasions when I suggested that someone on MSE was a troll involved one of a couple of no-longer high earners. The story was unbelievable but apparently true.

Their statement of affairs indicated expenditure of £7,500 per month, including £3,500 on newly acquired mortgage.

She had lost her job 6 months previously, had not attempted to claim JSA and they had wracked up £25K in credit card debt.

He had just lost his job as well and her plan was to pay off the credit card debt with his redundancy and then sell the house ASAP and rent. She had seen this lovely little cottage @£1,000 pm. We suggested she check out the Local Housing Allowance for a 1 bedroom in her area.

We managed to get the expenditure down to £5.5K which included £500 golf club fees. We also pointed out that funding the mortgage until they could sell was a priority!.

The scary bit was that they had never earned more than £6,500 per month between them. When they took on the 5 bedroom house, they carried on living the lifestyle they has afforded with the cheaper mortgage.

Since she lost her job they had £4,500 income and had made up the £3k shortfall buying on credit cards.

By some miracle he got a job through an agency/headhunter at about the same salary but that was not a long term solution even on the reduced budget.

jk0

Did anyone read the story at the weekend about the couple who live at Heathrow Airport?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2943251/Homeless-Heathrow-look-holiday-truth-middle-class-couple-living-airport-losing-500-000-home.html

Not quite as daft, but fancy taking out a £170k mortgage in your late 50's!

GreyQueen

jk0 wrote: »

Did anyone read the story at the weekend about the couple who live at Heathrow Airport?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2943251/Homeless-Heathrow-look-holiday-truth-middle-class-couple-living-airport-losing-500-000-home.html

Not quite as daft, but fancy taking out a £170k mortgage in your late 50's!

Hmm, reading that, it's almost a textbook example of how not to arrange your life, isn't it? They would have greatly benefitted from taking advice before things got so bad, from somewhere like the housing charity, Shelter.

The article is factually incorrect about at least one thing; age is considered as one of the criteria of vulnerability. I do wonder if the story is factually correct in all respects, or is favourably slewed.

The reasons for my suspicions is that I have seen RL situations where I and my colleagues have known the all ins and outs, including the bald figures of income and expenditures, being misrepresented via the media by individuals trying to game the system.

I suspect that the contents of the interview notes from the local council's housing advisors might tell a different story. They might, for example, have been advised that they have sufficient income to rent privately, and thus aren't eligible for a high priority on social housing lists, so can join but probably won't get anything. They might feel that the kind of accomodation which their present income can buy is insufficient to their needs or beneath their dignity. I've heard people ranting IRL that they'd rather sleep on the streets than live in a shared house, in the earshot of many of us who live in shared houses........:(

RAS

jk0 wrote: »

Did anyone read the story at the weekend about the couple who live at Heathrow Airport?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2943251/Homeless-Heathrow-look-holiday-truth-middle-class-couple-living-airport-losing-500-000-home.html

Not quite as daft, but fancy taking out a £170k mortgage in your late 50's!

There is a certain amount of scrutiny elsewhere on MSE https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5171162

RAS

It is difficult GQ; some of the people I deal might as well be seeking a publication deal for fiction.

It makes it hard then to deal with the normal punters who are simply confused or mistaken.

I had a look at one case recently because there are characteristics that are similar to some fraudulent ones. The stuff is genuine but reveals a story suggesting he needs additional help in one area. It should be possible to sort before he gets into a mess.

In another case someone lost everything (income, home, possessions) because they did something very common and really stupid and got stuck in another country when on holiday. Who would think that laminating a document would lead to such disaster.

We were able to sort out one element that allowed them to take the first steps to putting their life back on track.

Do not quote, please, as I may remove later

thriftwizard

Hmmm - I have friends who rent out small flats for quite a lot less than £850 per month; they won't be little palaces, more glorified bedsits, but certainly better than nothing. And they'd love older, more settled tenants. There are maisonettes available in the less favourable areas for £550+. I'm 200 yards from the boundary of Poole...

jk0

RAS wrote: »

There is a certain amount of scrutiny elsewhere on MSE https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5171162

Thanks RAS. This quote from that thread tickled me:

ruggedtoast wrote: »

Jeez. The plight of the boomers. What shall it be today darling, chardonnay in terminal one or a rioja in t5.