winkie Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 The thing is there are people that earn mega money but still always manage to spend more than they earn, pleading poverty and others that earn a fraction of what they earn and are happy and grateful for their lot....there are people who have brought up kids with very little and their kids now have far more than their parents.....and there are people who have given their kids everything and more, and their kids have spent that and more and still require more.....and get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motch Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Reminds me of this; Was watching that program where the banker/whoever builds their 'dream house'. There was a couple that were getting past it, he looked like a banker and she an old bint.Well they spent £750k digging out a basement in their shitty london house, put in a led dace floor for their spoilt child etc... And then,, She starts boasting about thousands of pounds worth the solar panels and how it only costs £2/week to run the car! HELO - you have just wasted the best part of a million on crap then you are trying to save £2. It is what I call boomer war mentality, I see it in my own family. indeed, I only caught a quick glimse of the electric car bit and did think the garage or whatever looked like the engine room of some TV spaceship, thinking that lot must cost a fortune to put in and maintain it for the "free" electric. jeez the electric part of those cars is peanuts anyway, in the grand scheme of things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexw Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Indeed. I don't normally read the Guardian, but today's Money section has quite a lot of gems. Such as this one from the "pocket money" story: http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/aug/30/pocket-money-how-much This particular couple chimes with us as our joint income is similar, but we don't have any kids nor property/mortgages. Our only big spends are multiple big foreign holidays every year but we still manage to put away a motherload of savings every month (most of which does not stay in cash). I think this couple is heading for a shock if they are already spending that much on their kids. The costs can only go up. That being said, we are friends with many couples, some of whom jointly earn less than the doctor above alone but manage to raise children and stay in reasonable homes so it's all relative I suppose. Jeezus..... I'd like to see the husband in that couple made unemployed for 6 months - 1 year. He needs grounding in reality. It currently does not seem that he has much contact with it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonkers Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 (edited) Two nannies! They appear to fear their children. Edited August 31, 2013 by Tonkers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motch Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Jeezus..... I'd like to see the husband in that couple made unemployed for 6 months - 1 year. He needs grounding in reality. It currently does not seem that he has much contact with it.... they need an "O pear" sell the spanish tat and buy a bigger place with an extra room. if the wife is scared about a young female in the house with hubby then get a minger... I should charge thousands for this sorta advice.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomwatkins Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Idiots that fall for the ultra high pressure sales pitch and sign on the dotted line there and then. Years ago, my wife dragged me along to a time share sales do. They had offered some free gifts which were not conditional on buying anything and she couldn't resist. Of course, the offer was conditional on both husband and wife attending. The sales pitch was relentless, with probably half those attending being undercover sales people agreeing how wonderful it was and "signing contracts". I was in my 20s then and felt like an idiot for walking away from the "wonderful opportunity", but walk away I did, much to the chagrin of the Mrs who was completely sold. She got her free gifts, cheap tat, and after sleeping on it we realised what a narrow escape we'd had. I know the pitch as I went along to one because there was some nice grub on offer, plus some respectable plonk. I had no intention of buying but the Missus was spellbound. I think it was something like 8 grand for a one week (Majorca I seem to remember) when the average package holiday at the time around 200 quid per person. Interest rates were around 10% at the time (long time ago). I started to explain about the cost of money but gave up. Plus, at the time you couldn't even swap the week for summat else. Unbelievable but people were flocking to sign up...one bank manager (no kidding) said something like "that's only 200 quid a year over the next forty"...then we wonder why we have a banking crisis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 +100 My business partner has a house near Carcassone in France. Middle of country about 5 clicks from nearest town. Nice enough went there once but even though the sun doesn't like me I prefer sun sea and sand whether it be Whitstable or Pescara in Italy. Anyway long and short of it his 'holidays' seem one long round of maintenance and admin. Long Drive taking old kitchen down, or getting there and mowing the Lawn sure he saves two bob on not using a hotel but in the scheme of things no big deal. My list of 'free' accomodation now is: Carcassonne France Bourg St Maurice - French Alps -good mates ski chalet Whitstable - Flat of good friends Bisemti - In Italian mountains near Pescara mates again Corfu - good mate got a villa there Been all there once and they are all lovely places but they seem desperate to have friends out to break up the monotony and in truth they are ok once but after that slightly boring going to the same place Ditto for friends of mine who done up an old disused barn in the middle of France - literally in the middle of no-where. They seem forever to be travelling down there to do it up and have failed to get people to rent it as there is so much choice to rent in France. All the locals who live in the area live in brand new modern housing. I stayed with them once and went to the local town worrying about my French. I had no need to worry as the place was swarming with Brits. Seems the Brits all bought the old, run-down houses and the French just live in new-builds. It was lovely to stay there once but once was enough for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
campervanman Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Well we all knew that, but the Channel 4 Place in the Sun type property porn would have you believe that it's a money-making dream. Looks like enough people have had their fingers burnt that the tide is turning. I only know two people who have had holiday cottages in this country, in both cases they ended up regarding the cottage as a total chore and sold it. On Yahoo front page from lovemoney.com: http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/buying-holiday-home-huge-waste-082409006.html Life is a waste of money, a really bad investment. Cut out the middle man and abort. Alternatively rewind to pre 1979 and choose life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Bear Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 It is a British snob ego class thing. FGS, plenty of people who aren't Brits have holiday homes! last Sept. we were in cape Cod, just for starters, and that is as littered with them as Devon and Cornwall. And it's rubbish to say it's a snob or class thing, though I'm not saying it's never done for s***** factor. but I have known a few people with holiday homes both here and abroad, and none of them did it for s***** or ego - they did it because it was somewhere they loved and wanted to spend a lot of time there. Some people actually do like going to the same familiar place over and over. OK, it's not everybody's ideal, it wouldn't be mine either, but there's no need to have them all down as showy-offy snobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hovis Posted August 31, 2013 Author Share Posted August 31, 2013 I don't think you can altogether generalise. Of course a lot of people rush into some 'dream' without doing any research or thinking through the practicalities or finances. But my sister and BIL had a small cottage in a fairly remote part of the Dales for many years and being keen walkers they used it a great deal - it wasn't far from their home - and also rented it out a good part of the year to other walkers. When they retired they moved into it to see whether they'd like to live in the area full time, and they did - eventually sold it and bought a larger house nearby. For them it worked very well. That's doing it properly and for the right reasons. I worked with somebody who had their main house in Weymouth IIRC in which they spent every holiday and planned to retire to, with a smaller one which they lived in whilst working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Preacherman Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 To my mind Timeshare is almost as bad. Which idiots buy in to this crap? Timeshare is way worse value. I was told that 80% of the cost is the sales & marketing that they need to drag the suckers in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheBlueCat Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Reminds me of this; Was watching that program where the banker/whoever builds their 'dream house'. There was a couple that were getting past it, he looked like a banker and she an old bint.Well they spent £750k digging out a basement in their shitty london house, put in a led dace floor for their spoilt child etc... And then,, She starts boasting about thousands of pounds worth the solar panels and how it only costs £2/week to run the car! HELO - you have just wasted the best part of a million on crap then you are trying to save £2. It is what I call boomer war mentality, I see it in my own family. My grandmother lived in poverty when she grew up in the 1900's they had nothing and she had 5 sisters. All her life she would spend absolutely nothing unless she had to - passed away leavign the best part of a million behind after a lifetime of scrimping, savign and Tesco value. That mentality of scriping and saving was passed down to the 'spoilt generation' who have a misguided sense of scrimping and saving. You will find the boomers fighting in the reduction isle of a supermarket, then step into the Land Rover evoque - They cannot mentally link the two acts together. You wont find any/many generation Y/X with holiday hovels. Plus 1,000,000. It's just f*cking insane isn't it? I'm mean, I know we're good at holding contradictory ideas in our heads but the approach of save tuppence on one thing whilst wasting 1000s of pounds on the other is beyond bonkers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkG Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 At the other end of the scale, a friend's family bought a cabin on a lake in America decades ago, they visit it for several weeks a year, and the land alone would probably fetch a million or more if they sold it. I suspect it's more of an issue in Europe, where people can go to dozens of very different countries only a couple of hours from London. Here, you drive for days or fly for hours and you're still in North America. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venger Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 5.4 Million thinking of buying abroad? Just from that figure you know the survey is crock. May be thinking of buying in the UK, but will not / can not because of the vast bubble / over pricing. Either that, or because it's just not hurting over here yet for so many home-owners. The majority owning outright, and even those with mortgages having it super easy, and all at non-owning prudent savers and younger peoples expense. Including friends and very close family (younger brother and sister) in their early 30s who are burning out in high-stress jobs, doing unpaid overtime, mostly all having reached senior position jobs, which no longer feel so secure, paying £40K a year. Which goes absolutely nowhere compared to house prices, unless they accept something a part-time milkman could have bought 25 years ago on a single wage. Compared to older owners prancing about saying how hard they've had it, with everything being done to stop house prices correcting, and so many who've just burnt money in the good times, many of whom haven't had to suffer consequences of over-extending their finances, and even continue to burn money today on lux cars, basement conversions, holiday homes. Fewer than two in five UK households have property debt. 22 June 2013 .... 2. Fewer people with a mortgage consider it 'a heavy burden' Possibly thanks to a long period of low interest rates, only 13.6% of respondents, compared to 15.2% in 2006/08, considered their mortgage a "heavy burden". The proportion considering it 'somewhat of a burden' is also down 1% while 'not a problem at all' responses are up almost 3%. As you'll see though, that's one of the only surprises to come out of the research. Unsurprisingly, the more you have to pay, the more likely you are to consider it a burden. While on average 13.6% of those with a property debt consider it a heavy burden, this rises to 1 in 5 of those who have over 80% of the value of their property left to pay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiveinHope Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 (edited) Plus 1,000,000. It's just f*cking insane isn't it? I'm mean, I know we're good at holding contradictory ideas in our heads but the approach of save tuppence on one thing whilst wasting 1000s of pounds on the other is beyond bonkers. Especially when people try to save money on food. If you want to save a bit of money just buy less but make sure it's better quality. Taste, smell, texture, sound, visual appeal - food satiates all the senses - and provides relaxation and an opportunity for interaction. But yes, a holiday cottage is a huge waste of money and denies you opportunities to live, heck, any house is a prison that you have to return to every day and lock yourself into, why have two ? Edited September 1, 2013 by LiveinHope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Preacherman Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 Rather than a white elephant holiday home they should plough their money into cheese. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 One bank manager (no kidding) said something like "that's only 200 quid a year over the next forty"...then we wonder why we have a banking crisis.:-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Bear Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 Idiots that fall for the ultra high pressure sales pitch and sign on the dotted line there and then. Years ago, my wife dragged me along to a time share sales do. They had offered some free gifts which were not conditional on buying anything and she couldn't resist. Of course, the offer was conditional on both husband and wife attending. The sales pitch was relentless, with probably half those attending being undercover sales people agreeing how wonderful it was and "signing contracts". I was in my 20s then and felt like an idiot for walking away from the "wonderful opportunity", but walk away I did, much to the chagrin of the Mrs who was completely sold. She got her free gifts, cheap tat, and after sleeping on it we realised what a narrow escape we'd had. Ages ago my folks went to one of these when they were new thing, purely to get the clock radio or whatever it was - something that was quite expensive then. It tickled my old man no end to keep telling the shiny sales people that they were only there for the freebie, thanks, and help himself to as much of the free tea/coffee/biscuits as he could manage before the end, when aforesaid shiny salespeople were forced to hand over the clock radio with gritted teeth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyguy Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 I've been monitoring the holiday-homification of Whitby over the last 10 years. You'll see my posts in the Yorkshire regional topic. 2nd homes and holiday have always been present around Whitby. However, this cycle has seen it go nuts. Flooded does not do justice to the current situation. Whitby has seen a notbale drop off in the population over the last 10 years. My observations are: - 2nd home owners will spend all their holidays doing DIY. A few years ago me + my brother had to break into a 2nd home to turn off the water. A pipe had burst - quite a regular occurence in the North esp. when the house is not being heated. Most home insurance mandates that the property must not be unoccupied for 4 weeks or more. Nothing goes to ruin quicker than a empty property. - Holiday homes will only let out for xmas, half-term,Easter + Summer. That's about 15 weeks income tops. Borrowing to buy a holiday home makes a bad investment a suicidal one. Oh, expect the house to be totally trashed about once every 3 years - you have 4+ adults staying in a small house, it rains, they get drunk, argue, fall out, fight, dirty protest, etc. - Never use an agent. They take about 25% for doing very little. - Most people get very bored of visiting the same place, year in, year out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 Rather than a white elephant holiday home they should plough their money into cheese. ...or instead of having one big high cost home they can have two small economical homes.....variety is the spice of life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diver Dan Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 You don't buy a holiday house when you can afford one. You buy a holiday house when you can afford six. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venger Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 You don't buy a holiday house when you can afford one. You buy a holiday house when you can afford six. Understand the point you're making, but even then I wouldn't buy a holiday home in the UK or abroad. Overseas there's too much megapolitical tension, that could ignite just about anywhere. To be responsible for a home many miles away. To ensure is safe to anyone coming onto the land it sits on, insured, gas leaks/water-bursts. Wouldn't be able to sleep soundly in my main home - if I could afford one, or find one at value at least. Others have no such concerns. Both older people who think they're hyperinflated UK homes are worth many hundreds of thousands of pounds so they can afford to spend-hard on top-cars and holiday homes. Also those with hardly any equity in their own homes, rushing to debt, wanting holiday homes to play the smart foreign property-investor for rental income. Expect the banks to let you off the debt you took to play with. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?304834-Overseas-home-voluntary-repossession-British-Mortgagaes-Abroad-GE-Money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lagarde's Drift Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?304834-Overseas-home-voluntary-repossession-British-Mortgagaes-Abroad-GE-Money I guess there will always be fools and money being parted. I bought some of this My link earlier this year and sold it again to free cash up. I do it online via my stockbroker and it costs a few quid to deal. Seems so easy compared to that experience above - but of course I did not access credit to leverage up my exposure to capital gains(losses). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCountOfNowhere Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 i know 2 people with holiday homes...one in spain...been trying to sell for 4 or 5 years now...its a nice pkace too but asking price is still 40k more than the last on sold for 2 yearsao. other one is in bulgaria...bought in 2007 not had one weeks rental out of it...say no more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dances with sheeple Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 i know 2 people with holiday homes...one in spain...been trying to sell for 4 or 5 years now...its a nice pkace too but asking price is still 40k more than the last on sold for 2 yearsao. other one is in bulgaria...bought in 2007 not had one weeks rental out of it...say no more. God, people are f*ucking idiots aren`t they? What is it with property that all notions of common sense just get discarded? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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