Preparedness for when

GreyQueen

If property prices fell by 70-80% it would only put them back where they were 20-odd years ago, in my area at least. There is no natural law that says a house which sold for £40k in the early nineties has to be priced at £180k in 2015. You ain't getting a square foot more house for that additional money, you're just participating in an insane bubble, and the sooner she pops, the better.

Not being a property owner, I watch this with a degree of detachment.

thriftwizard

Well, I am a property owner (half, at least, with OH owning the other half - mortgage long gone now) and I too want to see the bubble burst, so that our kids can afford to leave home! It doesn't matter to me what the price tag actually says, as long as any property we go onto has a similar one.

DawnW

GreyQueen wrote: »

If property prices fell by 70-80% it would only put them back where they were 20-odd years ago, in my area at least. There is no natural law that says a house which sold for £40k in the early nineties has to be priced at £180k in 2015. You ain't getting a square foot more house for that additional money, you're just participating in an insane bubble, and the sooner she pops, the better.

Not being a property owner, I watch this with a degree of detachment.

Well, I (with OH) am a property owner, and I am watching with an equal degree of detachment Our house is where we live, and unless we sell it, thus making ourselves homeless, any nominal increase in value (tbh not much in this town in any case) is entirely academic. What people tend to overlook is that there isn't 'a' housing market, but many markets. In this area of the SW, prices / price rises vary from one small market town to the next (at different stages of being run down/ levels of social problems), and according to the type of property. A modest Edwardian terrace like ours in this town has risen, if we are lucky, by the amount we have spent doing it up (roof, heating system, serviceable kitchen and bathroom etc, since buying it 8 or so years ago .... but only if we are lucky! Fortunately we have no mortgage now. As the main focus of our preps, we paid it off.

Frugalsod

DawnW wrote: »

Fortunately we have no mortgage now. As the main focus of our preps, we paid it off.

Clearing a mortgage is probably the best prepping you could have done. Without that debt the impact of deflation will be almost irrelevant to you, deflation will make the things that you need cheaper.

Though be aware that deflation also brings a fall in wages so it makes sense to keep expenses low so that you have more scope to change things if necessary.

calicocat

My major prepping was the house too. I still have a mortgage, but it is so small now, it doesn't really figure too much in my mind anymore.

With my job hanging in the balance pretty much continuously now, I have got it to a level that no matter what job I got if I lost my present one, that it wouldn't matter as I would always be able to pay it. The plan, is to have any kitchens, bathrooms etc done before retirement if I can, so once I get there, I can relax.......however, best laid plans.....it could all go belly-up....

I have various different money pots for different things, so that I try to keep on top of whatever I will need to do over the next decade.

I'm trying to concentrate on other preps now too.

Sometimes I feel like i've got too many balls up in the air in my head at once.....:D. This year i'm going to try and focus it down a bit better......as I can get a bit carried away.



Tomorrow.........is sorting out the secret cupboard/storage area........... :rotfl: :T. It's a bit tricky, as I can only just squash myself into the opening. A very good hidden store though.

Karmacat

calicocat wrote: »

Sometimes I feel like i've got too many balls up in the air in my head at once.....:D. This year i'm going to try and focus it down a bit better......as I can get a bit carried away.

Thats exactly how I feel I'm trying to focus, but everything takes longer than it used to and the *real* focus now has to be on the tax declaration. Its prepping of a sort, hey?

DawnW

Frugalsod wrote: »

Clearing a mortgage is probably the best prepping you could have done. Without that debt the impact of deflation will be almost irrelevant to you, deflation will make the things that you need cheaper.

Though be aware that deflation also brings a fall in wages so it makes sense to keep expenses low so that you have more scope to change things if necessary.

Expenses are necessarily low, as although we have savings, we are both early retired / redundant, and our income consists of small workplace pensions and tiny self employed earnings. I do worry about the money we have in the bank, but can't see a way around that at the moment.

DawnW

Karmacat wrote: »

Thats exactly how I feel I'm trying to focus, but everything takes longer than it used to and the *real* focus now has to be on the tax declaration. Its prepping of a sort, hey?

We do ours as soon as possible after the end of the financial year. It hangs over me and ruins the summer if I leave it :eek:

Frugalsod

DawnW wrote: »

Expenses are necessarily low, as although we have savings, we are both early retired / redundant, and our income consists of small workplace pensions and tiny self employed earnings. I do worry about the money we have in the bank, but can't see a way around that at the moment.

Considering most banks are paying almost no interest there are no real reasons for keeping cash in the bank. It makes more sense especially if your money is in a big bank to remove as much as possible and either keep at home or move it to a small bank which does not have any investment banking interests, which is where the real risks are. That is my plan. It significantly reduces the impact of a bail in.

Frugalsod

calicocat wrote: »

My major prepping was the house too. I still have a mortgage, but it is so small now, it doesn't really figure too much in my mind anymore.

I would be even more careful. A small mortgage is enough for a rapacious bank to demand immediate repayment and if you do not have the funds they could still foreclose you. Until you have cleared that mortgage you could still be foreclosed on. Once that mortgage is cleared you are much safer.