Preparedness for when

GreyQueen

Grim reading, Frugalsod. I can recall doing my O Level Economics back in the late seventies and being incredulous at the way banking worked back then. Even as a teen, the whole house of cards seems absurd and dangerous.

I feel as if the global west has been playing economics whilst some other parts of the work have been getting serious about making things and selling things. You cannot run, long term, an economy based on selling financial services to each other. Someone, somewhere, gets to call BS on that and things can get very real, very quickly.

As for deflation, I suppose I contribute towards it. I have a personal rate of inflation driven by sectors I cannot control (my social landlord has doubled my rent in the past decade, for instance) and other costs of living which are heading resolutely upwards over a number of years. My wages have either not gone up at all (most years) or have gone up by such a paltry percentage that the net, after deductions, equates to an increase of about a fiver a month.

So, my essential spending takes an ever-larger chunk of income and my discretionary spending shrinks proportionately. I rarely darken the door of a proper retail establishment unless I am buying food or it's a discount store/ charity shop. Lots of things just don't get bought, like a newspaper or new books.

This is true for an awful lot of people. Individual employers might feel pretty smug about being able to get labour, even well-qualified labour, so cheaply. I know people with PhDs who work on supermarket checkouts and my call centre is full of people with undergraduate degrees. But when too many employers play the same game, you end up with a bunch of people who cannot afford to contribute to the glory which is the modern consumer society.

Frugalsod

Yes it is just that reason why deflation is a symptom of a serious problem elsewhere yet TPTB treat it as a problem in its own right determined to create inflation to erode the debts that they have got, whereas the average person has only two options. Pay off that debt or go bust. As you or I pay off that debt it seriously kills demand for discretionary goods and the result is deflation as retailers deeply discount to clear stocks. It is not as if we are holding out for better prices as nearly every economist reports.

The real problem is that wages and incomes are falling in real terms and so debt deflation is something that will ravage the middle class when the next recession hits. Their incomes will shrink and then the real costs of those mortgages will hit them hard. Which is also why I am concentrating on debt clearance to be ahead of the problems once they strike. Only a few more months to go.

I was reading that the amount that people are saving is up over the last few years but I wonder how skewed that figure really is.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31799221

With most people living from pay cheque to paycheque they certainly cannot save £113.77 a month.

nuatha

Frugalsod wrote: »

I was reading that the amount that people are saving is up over the last few years but I wonder how skewed that figure really is.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31799221

With most people living from pay cheque to paycheque they certainly cannot save £113.77 a month.

It doesn't take many people putting the proceeds of a property sale into savings to skew those figures. The rise in numbers "saving" is probably not reflected in the "amount saved" but both were a very low base to start with.

Frugalsod

nuatha wrote: »

It doesn't take many people putting the proceeds of a property sale into savings to skew those figures. The rise in numbers "saving" is probably not reflected in the "amount saved" but both were a very low base to start with.

I was thinking of the few who can put the maximum ISA amount (£15240) aside every year. Just one of those would average out another 10 saving nothing. There are also the very highly paid who could save even more. Also the proceeds of a house might not necessarily count as the money could be used to buy another property and so not be counted at all. Also many house sales might go to clear existing debts or make a one off pension contribution.

Even so it does not give much comfort when there is another serious recession. So few will have a buffer for any kind of emergency. Also it would mean so many would automatically qualify for any means tested benefit.

GreyQueen

I guess that the trouble with politicians is that they carefully shield themselves from RL and real people's circumstances. They look at statistics and imagine that this is all there is.

I see 'proper shops' pretty sparsely browsed and charity shops and bootsales positively heaving with customers. The last few village church hall jumble sales Mum has helped with have been positively terrifying in their scrummage for bargains.

Now, not everyone who shops cheap has to shop cheap, some just prefer to save the money or spend it on other things, but a lot of people haven't many choices about how they manage their needs and wants.

For regular Jo and Joe Soap, living standards are fast slipping backwards, and only easily-obtainable credit has masked to many how little they are able to afford the trappings, as it were. Once the repayments can no longer be sustained, it goes pear-shaped at a rapid rate.

I know people who, less than a handful of years ago, pooh-poohed the idea of shopping around, thrifting, make-do and mending as something hopelessly quaint who are now hardcore frugalistas and who have almost turned their backs on the consumer society.

Frugalsod

I had a brief spell when my debt repayments were taking all of my disposable income. As I was already keeping my regular bills very low there was no scope for cuts there. So I adjusted as I could and have over the last few years just paid off everything and now have only one debt left, and that should be gone in a few months.

My basic premise is to keep my regular bills to what I would be expected to live on if unemployed so less than £55 a week. It does mean that I can cope with drops in income and also means once debt free my disposable income shoots up. Though I will be boosting my emergency funds.

[Deleted User]

I've been thinking! 'Oh no not again!' I hear the sussuration clearly but, this is to my mind quite a sensible thought. I was looking through some of my vegan recipe books and the recipes read very well, nourishing and delicious sounding and just had that thought of maybe putting in some of these completely plant based recipes on a regular basis, not because we don't do meat, fish or dairy but because becoming familiar with a few simple basic vegan dishes made with things that are NOT processed in any way and things that grow in our climate and are seasonally available here, no imports necessary, would be a good way of acclimatising us to what would most likely be the only foodstuffs readily available in the aftermath of an emergency situation. I know there would be food in shops, I know we all have a good and well stocked up Armageddon Cupboard but making 'real' food from garden and hedgerow seems a viable alternative to hunter gathering. Today I'm making a roasted roots salad to have warm as part of lunch, just slowly roasted carrots, parsnip, onion,beetroot and potatoes with a drizzle of oil and I'll dress them with some cider vinegar and salt and pepper. I'll try to share what works and what doesn't in season as things come available. I might do something with kale tomorrow as we have some nice ready to pick plants in the polytunnel along with leeks still standing in the garden. Does this make sense???

Softstuff

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Does this make sense???

sounds lovely. Just don't forget your b12, either as food or as supplement. It used to be thought you could obtain it from plant sources, but its now been found you can't and its very important not to miss out on.

[Deleted User]

Good point and I guess you'd get round that one by finding the odd egg and catching the odd fish, maybe even getting lucky and catching the odd pheasant/rabbit, what I will do is maybe find a couple of 'filling' things a week so we're satisfied and not hungry again an hour later, but veg don't need catching and can be stored so it seemed a sensible move to get used to a few just veg meals each week.

OK todays has just come out of the oven and is most acceptable.

Roasted Root Vegetable Salad

1 large carrot
1 parsnip
4 small cooked beetroot
6 new potatoes
1 medium onion
a little cooking oil
salt
black pepper
a few seeds, I used cumin seeds, whole not ground
cider vinegar

I diced the onion and cut the rest of the veg into battons about an inch long. drizzled them with sunflower oil (but any would do) and a grind of pepper and put them onto a baking tray in Fan oven 160/non fan 180 deg C and gently roasted them for almost an hour, turning them over a couple of times to make sure the bottom ones cook evenly, I added a sprinkle of cumin seeds half way through. Took them out of the oven and added 2 capfuls of cider vinegar, I used the bottle cap and seasoned them with sea salt and a little more pepper. The beetroot give this a lovely sweetness and the other veg are nutty tasting. Nice, I'll make it regularly.
I might try it on the hob in a lidded pan to see if it works as an alternative to the oven.

mardatha

Try it on the hob MrsL - I won't use an hour's gas for one wee tray of veg, it's not worth it for me.