Pack of wastrels

arkonite_babe

Ivan, behave!!!

leftieM

IvanOpinion wrote: »

Only the good looking ones

ivan

How do you know? :eek:

thetope

to me it seems that people in NI are very much more into "keeping up with the joneses" than perhaps other areas, even if it means getting in to debt. everyone has to have holidays abroad (fair enough, with the weather here, i'm the same) but to me it seems that people are always obsessed with dressing their kids (and themselves) in the latest designer wear and "showing how well off they are", even if they're not.

leftieM

thetope wrote: »

to me it seems that people in NI are very much more into "keeping up with the joneses" than perhaps other areas, even if it means getting in to debt. everyone has to have holidays abroad (fair enough, with the weather here, i'm the same) but to me it seems that people are always obsessed with dressing their kids (and themselves) in the latest designer wear and "showing how well off they are", even if they're not.

It would be nice if we didn't see ourselves and others in terms of material worth.

IvanOpinion

leftieM wrote: »

It would be nice if we didn't see ourselves and others in terms of material worth.

whenever I look at DW I always hope not to see any material

it is a strange thing about NI ... there seems to be a general attitude of 'we couldn't afford that' when you suggest something but in the next breath they will point out the designer label on their clothes

Ivan

Colin_Kee

I have to say that when I lived in England I always noticed when I came home to Visit, everyone (when I say everyone I mean the average joe blogs) had much newer & higher spec cars than where I lived. and that was in Newbury in Berkshire which isn't exactly a poor area!!
I always believed it was down to the fact that as the huse prices were so low, people had a higher disposable income. I mean 4 or 5 years ago you could have bought a building site in the country for £40,000 or £50,000. and an average town house would probably have been £70,000 or £80,000 (OK not everywhere but in general) Certainly not the case any more.

Another thing I noticed (Which I could Never understand) was people's loyalty to the Big 4 banks over here. Even when members of my family would have been charged for something, say going over an overdraft limit or canceling a Direct Debit (Yes £7.50 for cancelling a Direct Debit) They would just shrug their shoulders and live with it thinking it was OK. I got charged £30 (4 x £7.50 charges) for cancelling 4 direct debits with the Ulster Bank about 7+ years ago now and I was straight on the phone to have a go at them.. I had it fully refunded that day cause I made a fuss.. (And bloody rightly too..) It's only really recently what with all this charges who-ha going on with the banks that people are waking up to it. I would Never use any of the Big 4 over here, they have never been able to offer as good a deals as some of the other "UK" banks..

I would agree with Leftie, I think it's more a case of lack of knowledge of finacial Products & Services thats the problem. Sometimes they can come across as very complicated and people don't think of the bigger picture.

(One example i'd use is that our company recently introduced "Childcare Vouchers" I'm the only person in the whole company that has taken it up & I'm a bloke, there are loads of people with young children in the comapny who have their little darlings in creches & childminders but nobody else has bothered to look into it. I think it's mad.. I'll save around £800/year in Tax but I think because people don't see it as hard cash in their pay pack, then they think it's a waste of time!! Obviously I don't know everyone's financial situation but I'd find it hard to believe that it wouldn't benifit anyone else in the whole company)

miserly_mum

thetope wrote: »

to me it seems that people in NI are very much more into "keeping up with the joneses" than perhaps other areas, even if it means getting in to debt. everyone has to have holidays abroad (fair enough, with the weather here, i'm the same) but to me it seems that people are always obsessed with dressing their kids (and themselves) in the latest designer wear and "showing how well off they are", even if they're not.

You've obviously never been to Ballyclare then?:rotfl:

miserly_mum

Maybe i'm wrong (as OH tells me I so often am :rolleyes: ) but I find peeps in and around where I live(N.E. Antrim) (ok ok its Ballyclare) tend to do things the way Ma and Da did it ....ad infinitum.

As most older folk didn't trust banks they dealt with everything in cash and so many people I know still do this.

My granny really did keep her saving under her mattress. My mother was there waiting for the Post Office to open on Pension day because she genuinely believed if you didn't collect it on the right day they might think you didn't need it and stop your money. The family joke was that she was never to die with her purse in her hand or the undertakers would have to break her fingers before we got our inheritance. This was nothing to do with rigor mortis, more the vice like grip she held it with:rotfl:

My ex hubby never had a bank account until we got married way back in 1988. When he got his bank card through he kept bringing it out in public to let everyone see he had one (and the bank card:eek: :rotfl: )

leftieM

Colin_Kee wrote: »

(One example i'd use is that our company recently introduced "Childcare Vouchers" I'm the only person in the whole company that has taken it up & I'm a bloke, there are loads of people with young children in the comapny who have their little darlings in creches & childminders but nobody else has bothered to look into it. I think it's mad.. I'll save around £800/year in Tax but I think because people don't see it as hard cash in their pay pack, then they think it's a waste of time!! Obviously I don't know everyone's financial situation but I'd find it hard to believe that it wouldn't benifit anyone else in the whole company)

It'd madness that they don't use them. They are so easy!
I think NI people are thrifty in day to day spending - we like to think we got a bargain and paid less for something (that's what I hear people boast about most often) - but will let money drip away by sticking with the old bank account, not getting a good savings account, paying 18% on credit card debt etc.