ma-ku

I second this. Whilst I wouldn't recommend wasting your STR on shiney baubles and expensive restaurant meals every day. You need to live a bit mate. Life is short (my mother died aged just 44 as a potent personal example) and whatever plans you make for the future, you need to enjoy life today. I am not talking about blowing the wad on a stupid car etc , but you should eat well and see a bit of the world whilst you still have your youth and vigour. Neither has to be expensive with proper planning. As long as you are sensible, your life doesn't have to be quite as bleak as you paint it (although I am hoping you are exaggerating somewhat!).

This government is almost a parody of previous failed Labour governments. It would be funny if the consequences were not so serious. Looks like my kids are gonna have the same sort of childhood as me in the 70s. Growing up in a grotty, broken country. I wonder when the lights will start going out in the evenings. Jesus..

Hmm. These so called analysts and experts really knew what they were talking about pre credit crunch days didn't they?.. Just someone's opinion (and like arseholes, everyone has one..) Frankly who cares what a house will be worth in 20 years time at the time of purchase? As long as one's life isn't miserable from paying too much to live in it, it's shelter - that's all. Speculators deserve to get burnt. But if you buy a house (affordably), 20 year predictions don't mean anything. In "real" terms a house can be a good home for twenty years and more besides. It ain't a cash cow and should never be thought of as such. Just this arseholes' humble opinion. Pah! Experts and analysts. What they hell do they know?..

It's happened before and funnily enough it coincided with the annual salary review then as well. (ie, be grateful you still have a job, no pay rises here..). However, we are a fairly small group (within the group so to speak) and 5 is a notably high number within the group. Figured this would start happening about now anyway. It's been over two years since my old company was acquired by this behemoth and I heard that's about the time they start chopping.. (It was software incidently, and yes it was all at the sametime but hopefully not via sametime to the individuals concerned ;-) ).

redunderized.

Five people at work just got "Actioned" to use company speak. (Major Blue Chip hardware, software and associated services shop, recently association with a famous tennis tournament). We were let off pretty lightly apparently. Many more were "actioned" in the US. *edit for grammar *

It won't impact Joe Public until unemployment hits them personally and in large numbers. Baton down the hatches. That rainy day fund is gonna be needed pretty soon methinks. As per the redundancy calculator someone posted here the other day, don't expect much in the way of a golden payoff. No matter how precious you think you are to your employer..

I would probably draw the line at an appalling shi*thole but some folk like to do things themselves, to their own taste, requirements and budget. Bargains are to be had if one has a vision of how something could be as opposed to how it is. Seen some amazing turnarounders done by friends and family. The problem with something that is ready to move in to is that it is usually decorated in the most bland and frankly dull way. Also, the plumbing and layout of utilities might not be what you want. There will be some real cheapo houses coming on the market over the next few years that fit this bracket I expect. Coupled with the general housing crash, do'emuppers should be really really cheap bargains! Just my 2p worth.

Heh. Yeah, I'll remember that the next time I walk past a coffee cup rattling homeless person.

It's probably a combination of many factors. I can only speak for myself but for me home ownership represents a level of security and freedom not available in the private rented sector. Primarily, I don't want to live under the rules of some landlord that can dictate if I can keep pets or even raise children in THEIR property. Similarly I can decorate and furnish to my taste and I don't have to worry about renewing the tenancy every year or so and face the possibility of being forced to move. If you can get a nice council/HA property in a nice area - they do exist, then that is probably the best value for money and secure option. My sister has certainly fallen on her feet in that regard. Her rent is a fraction of my mortgage and she lives in a lovely LA flat in Chorleywood. I think that such places are as rare as hen's teeth though. As for the private sector I think the system is far too heavily weighted towards landlords at the moment. I had to rent for about 6 months a couple of years ago between house moves and I hated every minute of it. Deposit was raided for totally unfounded cleaning charges and other sundries at the end of the tenancy. Despite several letters of complaint I was of course completely ignored. I am glad that finally house prices are falling towards realistic values - even though I will likely lose any "equity" that I built up over the last 10 years or so. For me, it was never about that. After all, it's only worth anything if you sell up and move somewhere cheaper. I don't believe in MEW for anything other than a dire dire emergency (maybe a life or death operation etc.. that couldn't be paid for any other way). I feel very sorry for first time buyers that bought in the last couple of years though. I have several friends that bought recently and they have become extremely fearful of late. All they wanted was a place to call home. Isn't that what we all want? BTL brigade and the evil industry that fuelled all the HPI should be flayed, dipped in salt and chucked on a bonfire as far as I am concerned. Their greed is going to cause untold misery as this economic disaster unfolds. I would be surprised if many on here do not lose their jobs in next couple of years (including me). Thankfully though, I know that most of you are all sensible enough to have a nice safety net of savings. We are gonna have to ride it out folks. I wish us all luck. *edited for typo *

I heard that too. Nearly fell over laughing. That's what you call hubris! So does that mean that when this year's olympics are over, China's economy will turn a bit chilly?

If year-on-year really goes that low, I hope Her Majesty's Opposition are merciless in exploiting Brown's "no more boom and bust" mantra. Looks like it really is different this time though. Much much worse than before.

I have suspected this might be the end result for a while. "Executive Apartments" become LA tower blocks when the builders are forced to sell them to the government for a song. It might even be popular with the sheeple. (Apart from the unfortunates/suckers that borrowed 1/4 million quid to buy one in the last 2-3 years).

Some great saving tips notanewmember. But I have to disagree with that one. I just watched a video tape for the first time in ages. It looked like utter crap. My advice would be just don't buy DVDs unless they are in the bargain bin at ASDA etc. Better yet, borrow from mates. Video cassettes just make your eyes hurt and you will feel poor. It doesn't have to be that way when watching movies (sorry, wee rant from home cinema buff - I loved the other money saving tips though - honest).

Does the "household saving ratio" include pension contributions, or is it just money saved after bills etc have been paid? I know an awful lot of people that have made no pension provision but do have some (modest) savings. Just curious if anyone knows..

I still can't understand why the profit from the sale of a family home is not subject to capital gains tax. (Ok it's a political hot potato). That must surely contribute to the boom/bust cycle we have in the housing market. Anywhere there is easy money to be made, the speculators will pile in, creating the problems discussed on this forum every day. How can it be morally justified that money can be "earned" by just owning a home? I rarely advocate higher taxes but it just seems so abhorrant that up 40% of somebody's daily labour can be taken by the government to fund their client state, yet the proceeds of selling a home for a vast profit (more than most can earn in several years) are untaxed. It doesn't make sense.

You also have to be in the fortunate position of being in a critical (as in economically and/or politically) job like those drivers are. They had Shell by the short and curlies (and potentially the goverment too if it spread beyond shell drivers - although watch this space on that one). I don't think the average office worker will have quite as much clout in their negotiations. Maybe if they work for the inland revenue ..? I would like to join a union but I think that they are all affiliated with the Labour party and will hence hive a portion of my subs to them. In two words, sod that!

Yeah. No wonder the wife just bought me a "Grumpy Old Man" mug.

Shame on your parents for bringing up such a dependent child. Whatever will you do when they are not around? Bet you can't even change a plug, let-alone stick a shelf up or any other sundry tasks. One thing I thank my parents for is for making sure I contributed to the cleaning and maintenance of the home I grew up in from a fairly early age. Sure, I moaned like hell at the time, but thanks to them I can do pretty much anything for myself now and am very grateful for it. Referring to the original thread, keeping a house clean is a fairly trivial matter. 5K a year spent on mortgage overpayments would have served you far better than hiring a lady what does. Still. Live and learn I guess.

Very true. Councils can now charge you for parking your car at your workplace - even though it's privately owned land. How long before driveways and garages on private dwellings are similarly target under the badge of environMENTALism? I wouldn't be surprised to be hit with a TV arial/Satellite dish tax one day. And now that broadband has been adopted wholeheartedly by the nation, we can probably look forward to some sort of shakedown there as well.

Yeah, use the stamp duty as an excuse. If they reject your offer, just rent somewhere for 6 months and wait for their phone call asking if you are still interested. At which point you might dare an even lower "take it or leave it offer". Depends how much you like the house and area of course, but you could surely rent somewhere in the locality and wait and see where the wind blows over the next few months. You might be able to buy an even better house for less pretty soon. I guess the problem is the mortgage that you want to port across. If it is at a nice fixed rate with a longish (fixed) term, you might be loath to lose it. But it might still be worthwhile to get a new mortgage product (even at a higher interest rate) in 6-12 months time if the borrowed capital is tens of thousands less.

I use this all the time for cold callers and chugger types. Usually works a charm.

Yes. It had me diving for the radio a few times this week to change channels. Why did Radio 4 have to inflict the ravings of that money grabbing witch on us at coffee time..? Mindless tosh.

Well, not sure this price will filter that quickly to the pumps but the price is not going down anytime soon. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4aeba950-265c-11...0077b07658.html

All sorts. Lady at work bought one to live in for about 35K some 3 years ago. A bit of an alternative lifestyle and not for all, but she seems happy and did not have to take on a ridiculous mortgage for the pleasure of owning a studio flat that is not much bigger than her boat. (edit: Her boat is not a narrow boat, but more of a barge/tug type thing)