Was it the "Nice Decade"?

posh*spice

Merv has baptised the last 10 years as the "nice decade" but was it?

It was "nice" to have low inflation, low unemployment & cheap chinese goods but it wasn't "nice" to have to borrow massive amounts of money to buy a house which we now have "not-so-nice" decades to pay off. Do you think this was the nice decade?:cool:

thriftybabe

My OH and i thought it was great. He worked in Construction and was in work constantly. We managed to pay off our mortgage and i have been able to work from home with my children before they go to school. My eldest is at school and my youngest starts school next year. We have had a great run with our work and life. Things are going to be a bit tighter but to be honest we should be okay. We have savings to keep us going plus no mortgage.

granville_2

NICE = Non Inflationary Constant Expansion.

i.e. in the last decade the UK has 'experienced' low inflation with the economy growing steadily.

In reality it occurred (IMO) through a combination of cheap credit available to anyone with a pulse and China producing more and more of the world consumables.

Microstar_2

Not everyone has 'massive borrowings'.
Lots of nice holidays, being able to buy (within reason) pretty much anything I want in terms of consumer goods, cars, furnishings etc. HPI has made me financially very secure - frankly even a 40% house price drop would not upset me. Yes, a very nice decade.

Cornishpixie_2

Life was a lot easier then. I only had 1 child. Hubby and I both worked full time opposite shifts and could afford holidays abroad, get out and do more. Having to adapt but at least I get to spend more time with the kids now, have new set of friends who are generally more supportive, and get to holiday on my door step so not that bad.

stonethrower

I've had lots of nice holidays been able to buy within reason anything that I wanted but the same could be said for the decade before. I just see a bigger crash this time around the government as well of lots of the population are up to their eyeballs in debt. If Brown the so called greatest chancellor of our time was so good, why didn't he put money by for a rainy day, He has led by example and borrowed and borrowed.

harryhound

Yes it has been a good 10 years.

I'm mortgage free and driving a better car.
We have money in the bank.
The children are both independent, qualified and have built up good equity in their own homes; the clever one has managed to sell to rent.
Lost a few quid in the dotcom crash and the present credit crunch but by and large we are still more affluent than ever before.

However the two of us are now pensioners with part time jobs and nobody has told Mrs H that the party is over.
I think that 90% of the population don't believe that either in their hearts.

A whole new world is dawning, this is a "cusp", watch this space for the next dozen years. The countries that used to lead the world's economy have no money and are running out of credit.

WTF?_2

For me, an absolute stack of cash in the bank, a decent career position, ability to buy (within reason) pretty much any luxury consumer goods I wanted to and lots of foreign travel in common with many other posters.

Definitely a very good decade for me - I well remember looking around for a job in the early 90s and having no luck whatsoever and no real prospects either as there was so little work out there and so much competition. Even when I got my first decent job later in the 90s I was still living paycheque to paycheque.

In the last 10 years though, the opportunities and the cash came thick and fast - I can't see that being the case generally in the next 10.

neverdespairgirl

A nice decade for me, too.

10 years ago I was at university, doing my undergraduate degree. Since then, I've done a master's degree, and a post-grad BVC, and undertaken pupillage. I'm now a fully-qualified barrister, and a tenant. I have a gorgeous 2 year old son.

Financially, we spend less than we earn, and have no debt.

PasturesNew

For me a big downturn. Moved to a rural/remote area, got a job 100 miles from there but company was taken over, couple of OKish jobs after that then working 200 miles away. Then the dot com bubble burst and I couldn't go that far any more because the rates then being paid weren't doable with the travel/hotel costs.

So tried to make the best of what I had. In/out of poorly paid, seasonal jobs. Trapped in a house I couldn't afford that needed a LOT of work that I could neither do myself nor pay to get done.

Lots of staying in/eating beans. Ended up living in one room to cut costs.

Decided enough was enough ... due to the Internet I found out that others were having fabulous lives and decided where I was was preventing me having access to anything (jobs, people, things, life). So sold up.

So I have my STR fund. And that's it. I feel I "missed out" somewhere on all the fun people were having. And the stuff/gadgets etc.

Now wondering "what next".

Still single. Always was. Now living in a city, but not going out as I don't know anybody and going out on your own isn't good, or mostly even possible. But glad I chose to sell up/move. I'm sure something will turn up.

neverdespairgirl

PasturesNew wrote: »

Still single. Always was. Now living in a city, but not going out as I don't know anybody and going out on your own isn't good, or mostly even possible. But glad I chose to sell up/move. I'm sure something will turn up.

Why not meet some new people? Join a yoga / pottery / dancing (whatever floats your boat) class.