reluctant guest Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 Should I Worry About...? Thu 28 Oct, 19:00 - 19:30 30 mins Spending With our collective debt at over a trillion pounds, should we be worrying about our spending habits? Richard Hammond embarks on a series of experiments to establish what is going on when we shop, what tricks the retailers are pulling to keep us spending, and what we need to know to curb our addiction to our credit cards. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zzg113 Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 "what tricks the retailers are pulling to keep us spending" Yeah, the retailers marched me up to the till with a gun at my back and FORCED me to buy this £500 Gucci handbag. Not. When will people start taking responsibility for their own actions????????????????????? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gwailo Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 "what tricks the retailers are pulling to keep us spending"Yeah, the retailers marched me up to the till with a gun at my back and FORCED me to buy this £500 Gucci handbag. Not. When will people start taking responsibility for their own actions????????????????????? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> To be fair, many years ago if you didn't have the cash you had to save before you made a purchase. Obviously those days are long gone, (shame really), and now it's all 'Instant Gratification' with your credit cards! The programme should really be looking at now the Consumer Credit industry has take over our lives and has become the new 'virus' for many people. Cheers Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thunderbird 2 Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 I am, by bailing out. The Illuminists have you by the fundamentals when you get into the credit card trap. By any means necessary you get this monkey off your back or you are doomed. Average English people are so dumb. Just look around the average English high street. Babies with babies, pushing designer prams they were in only years earlier, wearing Hilfiger/Lacoste/FUBU; 16 year old girls with tatoos, metal in their faces and mouths like gutters. Rothschildian Goyim. Lambs to the slaughter. And the meedja pretend all is OK, keep spending, Lawrence Lwellyn Bowen makover-mindless-fodder units. Carnt evun spel their naymes, with a pocket of plastic to burn and not a hope in hell of ever seeing the way out. No wonder we are in the state we find ourselves. Educashun educashun, educashun... God in Heaven help us. Stop the world, I want to get on. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GORT Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 I am, by bailing out. The Illuminists have you by the fundamentals when you get into the credit card trap. By any means necessary you get this monkey off your back or you are doomed. Average English people are so dumb. Just look around the average English high street. Babies with babies, pushing designer prams they were in only years earlier, wearing Hilfiger/Lacoste/FUBU; 16 year old girls with tatoos, metal in their faces and mouths like gutters. Rothschildian Goyim. Lambs to the slaughter. And the meedja pretend all is OK, keep spending, Lawrence Lwellyn Bowen makover-mindless-fodder units. Carnt evun spel their naymes, with a pocket of plastic to burn and not a hope in hell of ever seeing the way out. No wonder we are in the state we find ourselves. Educashun educashun, educashun... God in Heaven help us. Stop the world, I want to get on. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That man definitely needs a San Miguel! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GORT Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 "what tricks the retailers are pulling to keep us spending"Yeah, the retailers marched me up to the till with a gun at my back and FORCED me to buy this £500 Gucci handbag. Not. When will people start taking responsibility for their own actions????????????????????? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Round about the same time as hell freezes over?! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TW11 Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 I saw this tonight and the real eye opener for me was the 21 year old graduate who was 18K - yes 18K in debt. 18 bloody thousand pounds in debt at 21!!! She's utterly screwed and she's only 21. Am I alone in thinking this is an unspeakable tragedy? The stupid cow has been sold a lie. Go to university, get a degree and you'll be made up for life. A little debt now is fine - you'll soon be A Graduate. It will be easy to pay an 18k debt - employers will be queueing up to pay you 100k pa so 18k debt is nothing! ......she has a degree in..... tourism. I must be getting old. Is this what the UK is doing to it's young? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zzg113 Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 TW11, I hate to break it to you, but the AVERAGE graduate has that kind of debt nowadays. That means there are many, many more who have more than that amount of debt. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Smeagle Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 My 21K trumps her 18K. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TW11 Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 ZZ, Bloody hell. I am getting old. There was a time when countries sent their young to die for them in world wars. Now we have much more civilised ways of screwing them over. Thanks for enlightening me. Not sure I really wanted to know though... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bull''s Advocate Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 The 'money wizard' did make a good point about debt only being a problem if you can't repay it. The bears seem to overlook this point, especially as I believe, and correct if I'm wrong, that the majority of people with debt are able to pay it back. The often quoted 1 trillion figure is just psychological and doesn't actually mean that everyone's in trouble does it? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
OnlyMe Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 Bull''s Advocate, See CAB thread. I believe that a lot of people have only been able to pay their exisiting debt by taking out more, typical bubble activity and revolving credit cannot continue forever as there is always a breaking point. If the authorities let it continue for long enough (as in the 20's) it has the potential to create outright economic depression. I think we are in very dangerous territory and may already be beyond any reasonable exit point. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gen-X Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 Not all student finish will loads of debts, Often the ones which shout the loudest about how much they owe are the ones who enjoyed living it up for the last few years. i.e. fashionable clothes, mobile phones, lots of nights in the pub and clubs, cars, holidays etc. I know I finished uni with no debts but it meant making sacrifices. I lived in cheaper property several miles away from uni (cycled 8 miles to and from each day). Asked for clothes for christmas and birthdays. Had a Saturday and Sunday job. Did not have an evening job as it would interfere with my studying. Worked fulltime in the vacations. No holidays for all the time whist studying for my degree. Choose a university which offered lower living cost but still had a good reputation. Cooked my own meals instead of take aways, readymeals. Went shopping 30 minutes before the supermarkets shut to get reduced food. So I think alot of it comes down to choice, if you want to go to university to enjoy the "university experience" as portrayed in the media, partying every night etc, you will come out with mountains of debt. If you want to go to university to be educated and willing to have it tough for several years the you can come out relatively debt free. but hey that is just my experience, Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy88s Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 Not all student finish will loads of debts,Often the ones which shout the loudest about how much they owe are the ones who enjoyed living it up for the last few years. i.e. fashionable clothes, mobile phones, lots of nights in the pub and clubs, cars, holidays etc. I know I finished uni with no debts but it meant making sacrifices. I lived in cheaper property several miles away from uni (cycled 8 miles to and from each day). Asked for clothes for christmas and birthdays. Had a Saturday and Sunday job. Did not have an evening job as it would interfere with my studying. Worked fulltime in the vacations. No holidays for all the time whist studying for my degree. Choose a university which offered lower living cost but still had a good reputation. Cooked my own meals instead of take aways, readymeals. Went shopping 30 minutes before the supermarkets shut to get reduced food. So I think alot of it comes down to choice, if you want to go to university to enjoy the "university experience" as portrayed in the media, partying every night etc, you will come out with mountains of debt. If you want to go to university to be educated and willing to have it tough for several years the you can come out relatively debt free. but hey that is just my experience, <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Well done, what did you graduate in? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bull''s Advocate Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 Thanks for pointing me to the thread and the link OnlyMe. This is just another of the "more people getting into trouble with debt" stories though. This may help to slow down the housing market and contribute to a crash, but I don't believe the contribution would be significant though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gen-X Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 Well done, what did you graduate in?<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering Finshed my phd, 6 months ago in researching novel digital architectures i.e designing new circuits for computer chips to get more performance, lower power etc Quote Link to post Share on other sites
doogie Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 The 'money wizard' did make a good point about debt only being a problem if you can't repay it. The bears seem to overlook this point, especially as I believe, and correct if I'm wrong, that the majority of people with debt are able to pay it back. The often quoted 1 trillion figure is just psychological and doesn't actually mean that everyone's in trouble does it?<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yes I'd agree that debt is not a major problem as long as it's serviceable. The trouble is a lot of people are close to being maxed out, so a small rise in interest rates may be enough to tip them over the precipice. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Crazy88s Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 Degree in Electronic and Electrical EngineeringFinshed my phd, 6 months ago in researching novel digital architectures i.e designing new circuits for computer chips to get more performance, lower power etc <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I am glad you said that, proves my point that Engineers are superior managers of money. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
OnlyMe Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 Bull''s Advocate, Yes I agree it is yet another one of those stories, but peope don't go waddling off to the local CAB on a whim, the figures seem extreme - 50% rise in 6 months, but from other reports the trend is there. It's all fine and dandy for the BOE to say oh well there's an increase in assets on one side and an increse in debts on the other side and pass it off, but that is just simplistic twaddle. Markets are often priced on the margins - those margins in the property market recently have pushed prices up and have been based on the degree to which people have been prepared to take on historically unheard of loan sizes in some cases on dubious financial pretences (self cert etc) when the pendulum swings from these extremes it can even take the most cautious by surprise. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
OnlyMe Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 Doggie, Yes I'd agree that debt is not a major problem as long as it's serviceable. The trouble is a lot of people are close to being maxed out, so a small rise in interest rates may be enough to tip them over the precipice. You can also be maxed out it if you require further debt to service existing debt. Case in point is the couple who have just had their £300k odd of debt written off, it only became unserviceable when the shutters went down on further debt. In fact if this creates any sort of precedent - or even the potential for a precedent you can imagine a situation where the creditors scrabble to get their piece of the cake before another does - pop, and no interest rate rises required. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thunderbird 2 Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 Oh yes it does. 44% increase in people seeking debt advice at citizen advice bureaux :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3935671.stm just type 'consumer debt' into Google. There are 757, 000 entries. This is a bubble if ever there was. Remember the late 1980's anyone? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thunderbird 2 Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 RePost Quote: The 'money wizard' did make a good point about debt only being a problem if you can't repay it. The bears seem to overlook this point, especially as I believe, and correct if I'm wrong, that the majority of people with debt are able to pay it back. The often quoted 1 trillion figure is just psychological and doesn't actually mean that everyone's in trouble does it? Oh yes it does. 44% increase in people seeking debt advice at citizen advice bureaux :- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3935671.stm just type 'consumer debt' into Google. There are 757, 000 entries. This is a bubble if ever there was. What is UK GDP these days? I bet it's not £1 TRILLION at current prices. Remember the late 1980's anyone? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Topher Bear Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 In fact if this creates any sort of precedent - or even the potential for a precedent you can imagine a situation where the creditors scrabble to get their piece of the cake before another does - pop, and no interest rate rises required.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> very, very good point OnlyMe. A little tit-bit of news that can cause chaos a little while down the tracks. I'm thinking heavily leaveraged BTLs may find their little clause (which i found out onyl earlier tonight on another thread) being used much earlier than anticipated to force some return of funds...If the banks get worried that it may prove difficult to get their money back from someone in very serious trouble (a highly leveregad BTL) then they will use what power they can to get it back ASAP before trouble arises. Of course they always have the propery as security and they don't charge absorbidant rates so might be a storm in a teacup. but it could still effect those with large unsecured loans, overdrafts etc. which can only feed back into the general system. The soliciters response was that the would go away and look at the statement to see what its effects might be..but the implication was that if there were any, they would certainly act ASAP on it! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BBB Posted October 29, 2004 Report Share Posted October 29, 2004 I am glad you said that, proves my point that Engineers are superior managers of money.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> da diddle de de de deeeeeeee.......... nice to see you do sweeping positve generalisations as well .............shame they are just about you Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BBB Posted October 29, 2004 Report Share Posted October 29, 2004 This may sound hard but...You guys are wimps. I finished university in America with about $15,000 debt, and that was decades ago when that was a serious amount of money. Enough to buy 50% of a small flat. It took a bit of sacrifice: over 4 years I paid 25-30% of my salary as debt service. But once I paid it off, I started saving for a flat, and my lower-than- colleagues lifestyle meant that I had mastered the savings habit, and it piled up quickly, and I learned to be clever with money. So what do you want, the taxpayers to shoulder the burden for YOUR university education. No thank you. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> steady on DB, you're well onto finding the real reason why half or more of the people on this site need a crash. never mind your debt bubble thesis, stick to this one and you're onto a winner. btw on a similar vein, i like that story you wrote about the 20's please continue with it. cheers BBB. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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