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Thread: Anyone tightening up their finances?

  1. #51
    It’s a difficult situation for a lot of people. Wage inflation isn’t keeping pace with general inflation.

    I somewhat foolishly in my older aged decided to buy my dream home, so have gone from mortgage free to having the largest debt I’ve ever had.

    I did fix my mortgage for 10 years, as I’m planning on paying it off in full at the end of the period, and I can’t see rates going down in the period, at least not by as much as I see them rising.

    I’m hoping that the cash I’ve freed up from my previous property sale will comfortably out perform the low interest mortgage rate. Fingers crossed.

    I fid pic up another days work, from my semi-retirement - so that should hopefully offset any additional expenses, but obviously eats into my planned free time. Maybe I’m just being overly cautious, but I’d rather feel a little more secure.
    It's just a matter of time...

  2. #52
    Grand Master Mr Curta's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wileeeeeey View Post
    Mine does too but I can't get it to work. Charger definitely works, car and cable work, but not all three together. Tesla think it's an authentication issue but want £90 to come out and see it with their own eyes.
    Have you tried turning it off and on again?
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  3. #53
    Master pacifichrono's Avatar
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    We're "trying" to tighten up. My wife joined me in retirement last November, so we need to tighten expenses as monthly income has obviously plunged.

  4. #54
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    No changes here. We’re not huge spenders so the impact will be minimal and we have a fair bit of headroom to move into.

    Come to think of it, I’m not sure where we could even save — I have a 3yo and a 4yo so the house has to be warm etc They don’t wear Gucci (like some friends kids!)

    My only concern is tenants starting to fall behind with rents. That could become tricky, but will cross that bridge when we come to it
    Last edited by demonloop; 4th April 2022 at 06:51.

  5. #55
    Grand Master ryanb741's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wileeeeeey View Post
    How are you doing this? Charging for free in supermarkets or at work?
    Yep mostly free Podpoints at Tesco

  6. #56
    Grand Master ryanb741's Avatar
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    Given rising costs why are central banks increasing interest rates? I understand this is a tool to control inflation yet there are pretty clear and obvious reasons for this inflation that are unavoidable currently and all this does is make it harder for people to afford the day to day necessities.

    Given the debts central governments took on to pay for Covid surely a couple of years of big inflation is a good thing as it reduces the debt burden in real terms?

  7. #57
    It is a concern, stupidly in hindsight booked a nice holiday for my 40th this year which has used a fair amount of savings.

    Ongoing we are already making cut backs and trying to save money if we can. We should be ok, but as others have said I do feel for the guys already living wage to wage.

  8. #58
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    Quote Originally Posted by demonloop View Post

    My only concern is tenants starting to fall behind with rents. That could become tricky, but will cross that bridge when we come to it
    That has crossed my mind too…another reason why we are planning to sell up.

  9. #59
    Master TKH's Avatar
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    By far the easiest one for us is to quit booze entirely which will save £200-£300 per month
    1 bottle of wine is 1 days Gas & Electricity and no doubt our health will be better for it.

    I too remember late 80’s early 90’s I had just bought my first house for £ 28500 which was a stretch meaning interest only mortgage at 14% with an endowment policy remember those ? Eek.

    Having worked in motor retail and FSA regulated lending it never ceased to amaze just how stretched some people where who had little headroom in the event of a ‘shift’.

    Since the events of 2008 retail lending and household debt has increased even higher fuelled by more cheap credit and consumer demand and the shift in buying habits particularly for cars is staggering in 2008 era Ford, Vauxhall, Renault, Toyota filled the top spots today its BMW, Audi, Mercedes and VW, contract hire and PCP is the way, consumerism is at an all time high.

    If you stress tested most famlies before the ‘energy hike’ or ‘interest tweek’ I doubt many would be able to go 90 days or even 30 on savings.

    Its truly tough times and the Heat or Eat decision for many is a horrible situation and dependence on foodbanks in a country as globally highly ranked as U.K. (hmmm).

    Most will look at their Direct Debits and start to cut out the ‘luxury’ or ‘borderline’ stuff.

    Netflix-Gym -Mobile insurance -Amazon Prime etc.

    Just be thankful we invested in building loads of state owned Nuclear Power Stations over last 10 years in readiness for such an event rather than spaffing 37 billion on Track and Trace and fraudulent PPE contracts and and HS2

    Right off to oil the bike chain.

  10. #60
    Master Ruggertech's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TKH View Post
    By far the easiest one for us is to quit booze entirely which will save £200-£300 per month
    1 bottle of wine is 1 days Gas & Electricity and no doubt our health will be better for it.

    I too remember late 80’s early 90’s I had just bought my first house for £ 28500 which was a stretch meaning interest only mortgage at 14% with an endowment policy remember those ? Eek.

    Having worked in motor retail and FSA regulated lending it never ceased to amaze just how stretched some people where who had little headroom in the event of a ‘shift’.

    Since the events of 2008 retail lending and household debt has increased even higher fuelled by more cheap credit and consumer demand and the shift in buying habits particularly for cars is staggering in 2008 era Ford, Vauxhall, Renault, Toyota filled the top spots today its BMW, Audi, Mercedes and VW, contract hire and PCP is the way, consumerism is at an all time high.

    If you stress tested most famlies before the ‘energy hike’ or ‘interest tweek’ I doubt many would be able to go 90 days or even 30 on savings.

    Its truly tough times and the Heat or Eat decision for many is a horrible situation and dependence on foodbanks in a country as globally highly ranked as U.K. (hmmm).

    Most will look at their Direct Debits and start to cut out the ‘luxury’ or ‘borderline’ stuff.

    Netflix-Gym -Mobile insurance -Amazon Prime etc.

    Just be thankful we invested in building loads of state owned Nuclear Power Stations over last 10 years in readiness for such an event rather than spaffing 37 billion on Track and Trace and fraudulent PPE contracts and and HS2

    Right off to oil the bike chain.
    Just going out for two pints every Sunday lunchtime is over £400pa, one and a half times that if the wife comes along for a couple of halves, double if she has wine!
    Endowment policy on top, I'd forgotten those.
    Very true regarding the cars, most people who bought new back then had something like an Escort or an Astra. The amount of new Audi's etc around me at least matches Ford, Hyundai etc, and it's not a well off area at all.

  11. #61
    Grand Master MartynJC (UK)'s Avatar
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    Sold house to developer and moved to Europe. If you can’t beat them join them!

    Bottle of drinkable wine 1.87€ - very dangerous
    “ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG

  12. #62
    Master unclealec's Avatar
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    I anticipate my cost of living is going to rise soon. Currently it is £50/20litres, but that includes shipping from Somerset, so not much chance it will remain stable.

    I am considering fitting electric under-counter water heaters. Our hot water atm comes via our combi gas boiler. We run off a couple of buckets of water before the hot stuff arrives, which then leaves a pipeful of hot water going cold (even with the lagging) without benefit, unless you consider it as a long thin radiator, which we don't.

    Two instant water heaters would cost £160. I doubt that outlay would take long to pay for itself given the gas/electricity cost imbalance.

    Any informed comments?

  13. #63
    Grand Master wileeeeeey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ryanb741 View Post
    Yep mostly free Podpoints at Tesco
    That's one way of saving up for a Grand Seiko Kodo!

  14. #64
    Master PreacherCain's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr Curta View Post
    I think that most of us are having to make some adjustments but I really don't know how those who already found it hard to make ends meet are going to cope.
    This. We will trim things a bit to make sure that we aren’t needlessly feathering the nests of energy suppliers etc, but the main concern I have is the people who work for us (cleaner, gardener, dog walker). We’ve looked at their pay rates and although we have kept abreast of inflation over the years we’ve just upped them all more substantially to try and help where we can. It’s only a few hours a week for each but hopefully it’s helpful.

  15. #65
    Quote Originally Posted by number2 View Post
    I do wonder how deaths due to hypothermia will be recorded?
    Of hypothermia, or with hypothermia?

  16. #66
    Grand Master Neil.C's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PreacherCain View Post
    This. We will trim things a bit to make sure that we aren’t needlessly feathering the nests of energy suppliers etc, but the main concern I have is the people who work for us (cleaner, gardener, dog walker). We’ve looked at their pay rates and although we have kept abreast of inflation over the years we’ve just upped them all more substantially to try and help where we can. It’s only a few hours a week for each but hopefully it’s helpful.
    Well done. You've done a good thing.
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  17. #67
    Grand Master Dave+63's Avatar
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    Anyone tightening up their finances?

    We had breakfast at a local cafe, a costa and cake mid afternoon and a Sunday roast at the pub yesterday.

    I really don’t know where there’s room to cut back from that!

    Joking aside, and yesterday was most unusual although we do like to have breakfast at the local cafe on a Sunday, everyone needs to do what’s best for themselves but also need to appreciate the needs of others. It’s all well and good cutting back on the luxuries but that has a knock on effect on what may be struggling businesses.
    Last edited by Dave+63; 4th April 2022 at 12:56.

  18. #68
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    My dining out bill will be mercilessly slashed from now on. Between fuel, utilities and grocery inflation, I think I'll be at least £4k worse off.

    Sent from my CLT-L09 using TZ-UK mobile app

  19. #69
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    Ive just renewed my mortgage for another 5 years on a very good fixed rate via a broker who was able to get a better rate than I could anywhere else, the gas and electric im tied into until the end of the year - but the cost of fuel and the commute to work means I'm really thinking of chopping in the car and going the electric route and charge at the office or at pods as mentioned elsewhere.

    My old man lived a clean life, was frugal and passed away suddenly in his 50s so Ive always been one for live for today in fact most of my expenditure goes on socialising I'd rather be cold and hungry than give that up, I couldnt think of anything more depressing than working all week to do nothing at weekends or have anything to look forward too
    Last edited by R0bertb00th; 4th April 2022 at 12:50.

  20. #70

    Anyone tightening up their finances?

    I recently dropped out of the workforce, by choice, before my time and have been living on savings. Years doing the same thing, working from home full-time, no longer prepared to work for clients, managers, organisations who I don’t respect and general organisational bollocks.

    I know many people of similar age who have done the same. Apparently there’ are hundreds of thousands of well educated, experienced people who have left the workforce early.

    I suspect I’ll be going back to work in the not too distant future!

    There’s a Labour shortage, perhaps government actions and policies will encourage us back.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    Last edited by BillyCasper; 4th April 2022 at 13:32.

  21. #71
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    Quote Originally Posted by BillyCasper View Post
    I recently dropped out of the workforce, by choice, before my time and have been living on savings. Years doing the same thing, working from home full-time, no longer prepared to work for clients, managers, organisations who I don’t respect and general organisational bollocks.

    I know many people of similar age who have done the same. Apparently there’s hundreds of thousands of well educated, experienced people who have left the workforce early.

    I suspect I’ll be going back to work in the not too distant future!

    There’s a Labour shortage, perhaps government actions and policies will encourage us back.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    Massive respect to you for that I did similar mid lockdown - lifes too short!!!

  22. #72
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    In the 1970's inflation hit 26% and it took years to get down below 10%, so it's nothing new.

    Inflation is a strange blessing and a curse. If you have property, that will increase in value, shares and equities tend to increase in value as long as the company has assets of value, and collectables such as watches, classic cars and other rarities nearly always go up in value.

    The main problem for most people is that all governments throughout the world will increase interest rates to control inflation which is bad for those with a heavy mortgage. However although the payments will be high, getting into "sensible" debt will be seen as the wise thing to do and as long as you can afford the higher mortgage to buy an expensive house, you will be making a small fortune as the value of the property continues to climb. This is why most baby boomers waft about in big 4 bedroom houses because it made sense to buy big in the 70s and 80s and their millennial kids now have to put up with a 3 bed semi with 2 kids. Now is the time for them to move up the chain.

    Inflation is not to be feared, it just means you shift your assets and money around a bit. If you use your head, you will come out of it smelling of roses.

  23. #73
    Done some household general shopping this morning and I noticed that some items I buy every week had increased by 12% to 25%

  24. #74
    I've halved my monthly truffle order.

  25. #75
    Master valleywatch's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mick P View Post
    In the 1970's inflation hit 26% and it took years to get down below 10%, so it's nothing new.

    Inflation is a strange blessing and a curse. If you have property, that will increase in value, shares and equities tend to increase in value as long as the company has assets of value, and collectables such as watches, classic cars and other rarities nearly always go up in value.

    The main problem for most people is that all governments throughout the world will increase interest rates to control inflation which is bad for those with a heavy mortgage. However although the payments will be high, getting into "sensible" debt will be seen as the wise thing to do and as long as you can afford the higher mortgage to buy an expensive house, you will be making a small fortune as the value of the property continues to climb. This is why most baby boomers waft about in big 4 bedroom houses because it made sense to buy big in the 70s and 80s and their millennial kids now have to put up with a 3 bed semi with 2 kids. Now is the time for them to move up the chain.

    Inflation is not to be feared, it just means you shift your assets and money around a bit. If you use your head, you will come out of it smelling of roses.

    Alas Mick,

    This wont hold out for those people on low incomes (minimum wage etc), those who rent, those who already struggle with their mortgages (yes, including those who DONT waft about in grand houses, but maybe a basic 1 up 2 down).

    yes. those who are reasonably financially secure, wont have much to worry about. They arent the ones worrying, its the millions of low paid , desperate people, who cant shift their assets around or sell their Rolex...simply because they have no assets (or Rolex) to shift around. The ones living in poor housing, paying high rents etc etc etc...These are the ones who will be worried,

  26. #76
    Master murkeywaters's Avatar
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    Part of my business is dealing with property, a house I visited last week has multiple buyers and just sold over asking for £455k to a FIRST TIME BUYER!

    Todays money saver tip:

    Missus has just bought one of these for £8.00, her friends have been using them for a long time and swear by it, apparently it lasts for about 70 washes and only costs £4 to refill.

    Should save a few quid on pods/tablets -


    Last edited by murkeywaters; 4th April 2022 at 15:10.

  27. #77
    Quote Originally Posted by Mick P View Post
    In the 1970's inflation hit 26% and it took years to get down below 10%, so it's nothing new.

    Inflation is a strange blessing and a curse. If you have property, that will increase in value, shares and equities tend to increase in value as long as the company has assets of value, and collectables such as watches, classic cars and other rarities nearly always go up in value.

    The main problem for most people is that all governments throughout the world will increase interest rates to control inflation which is bad for those with a heavy mortgage. However although the payments will be high, getting into "sensible" debt will be seen as the wise thing to do and as long as you can afford the higher mortgage to buy an expensive house, you will be making a small fortune as the value of the property continues to climb. This is why most baby boomers waft about in big 4 bedroom houses because it made sense to buy big in the 70s and 80s and their millennial kids now have to put up with a 3 bed semi with 2 kids. Now is the time for them to move up the chain.

    Inflation is not to be feared, it just means you shift your assets and money around a bit. If you use your head, you will come out of it smelling of roses.
    Not so. It spirals out of control. Google Weimar Republic. Have a look at Venezuela etc


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  28. #78
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    Quote Originally Posted by dandanthewatchman View Post
    Not so. It spirals out of control. Google Weimar Republic. Have a look at Venezuela etc


    Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
    If the BoE put rates up to 5%, inflation would be well under control but unfortunately unemployment would rocket upwards. So it's a balancing act.

    The US, EU and the UK knows how to control their finances and non of us have had it that hard since the early 1950s.

  29. #79
    Quote Originally Posted by Mick P View Post
    If the BoE put rates up to 5%, inflation would be well under control but unfortunately unemployment would rocket upwards. So it's a balancing act.

    The US, EU and the UK knows how to control their finances and non of us have had it that hard since the early 1950s.
    I don't know about the early 50s it was bloody hard in the eighties when my mortgage interest rate was 16% :(

  30. #80
    Grand Master Dave+63's Avatar
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    The only time in the eighties that I remember interest rates going up to 15% was for the one day before we left the ERM.

    It shot up because of the mass selling of sterling to break the €1.95 barrier and dropped straight back down again the day after when the government gave up trying and let the pound drop to €1.50.

    I didn’t have a mortgage in the early eighties so can’t comment pre 1987.

  31. #81
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheTigerUK View Post
    I don't know about the early 50s it was bloody hard in the eighties when my mortgage interest rate was 16% :(
    I would say there is no chance of such high interest rates in this day and age but I also wouldn't have thought we would have had a world wide pandemic or tanks on the streets of a European country but look what's happened since 2020!

    Anything could happen..

  32. #82
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    And we ain't seen nothing yet......

    Major food inflation and shortage will be well and truly here come the Autumn.

    Pitch

  33. #83
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pitch3110 View Post
    And we ain't seen nothing yet......

    Major food inflation and shortage will be well and truly here come the Autumn.

    Pitch
    Agree. I was thinking that it is going to get worse.

  34. #84
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    I remember taking a fixed rate at 9%

  35. #85
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    The average household wastes a ridiculous amount of food. I reckon not paying for food that's thrown away will more than offset price increases.

    Plus food price inflation is uneven - not everything is shooting up. Probably wheat will be expensive so eat less bread, and there will be other foodstuffs that don't go up which can be eaten instead.

  36. #86
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    Quote Originally Posted by ryanb741 View Post
    Probably wheat will be expensive so eat less bread, and there will be other foodstuffs that don't go up which can be eaten instead.
    Cake?

  37. #87
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    Quote Originally Posted by johny View Post
    Agree. I was thinking that it is going to get worse.
    Wheat/barley prices are going through the roof then add in how much of the global feed grain comes out of Ukraine, which needs to be drilled now and this is all going one way. You cannot fatten a pig or feed a laying hen on grain at £300+ per ton....... Then factor in fertiliser inflation at 200%+ which then poises a question....yield will drop and price will go one way, again... So many factors.

    And don't think your pint is staying put.......

    Pitch

  38. #88
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    Not just an issue for food from Europe or beyond but the price of agricultural fertiliser has risen sharply. Producers will likely apply less meaning lower yields resulting in higher prices. Transport and production costs will rise also.

    Potentially a challenging period ahead and for some, it could be very tough.

  39. #89
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pitch3110 View Post
    Wheat/barley prices are going through the roof then add in how much of the global feed grain comes out of Ukraine, which needs to be drilled now and this is all going one way. You cannot fatten a pig or feed a laying hen on grain at £300+ per ton....... Then factor in fertiliser inflation at 200%+ which then poises a question....yield will drop and price will go one way, again... So many factors.

    And don't think your pint is staying put.......

    Pitch
    Yup - and the people who can ill afford increases don't have the ability to buy in bulk. I can see a lot of people surviving on tinned tomatoes and pasta/rice.

    I'm determined to cut back on the beers at home, and also return to home-made-soup lunches. To be fair - I don't have huge fuel bills, so not much to be saved there.

  40. #90
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheTigerUK View Post
    I don't know about the early 50s it was bloody hard in the eighties when my mortgage interest rate was 16% :(
    You obviously bought into a mortgage at the wrong time. I took my first mortgage out in 1971 at 8% and paid it off in 2004 at a rate I now forget.

    The highest rate I remember paying was 11% but with properties belting up more than that in value, I just did not give a damn. The eighties were a bloody good time for me.

  41. #91
    Quote Originally Posted by Mick P View Post
    You obviously bought into a mortgage at the wrong time. I took my first mortgage out in 1971 at 8% and paid it off in 2004 at a rate I now forget.

    The highest rate I remember paying was 11% but with properties belting up more than that in value, I just did not give a damn. The eighties were a bloody good time for me.
    It was in 1982 I bought my second house for £32,000, at the time I think the average mortgage was about £16k and within a year or so it shot up to 16% or 15% I cant remember which and I remember my bank (TSB) offering a fixed rate of 10% which I applied for but they had all gone in no time.

    It was during this time home owners were pushing the house keys through the letter box of building societies and walking away because of the negative equity etc (if I remember correct, i'm getting old :) ) was it the early 80s or 90s ? I forget the dates now just the pain I remember.

  42. #92
    Grand Master Dave+63's Avatar
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    There was definitely a negative equity crisis in the early nineties but again, I don’t remember interest rates above about 5%.

    The negative equity was due to the changing of MIRAS to one per property rather than per individual IIRC. At that time, people were grouping together to buy houses because they were too expensive for many individuals to buy on their own. In the run up to the change, property prices soared and then plummeted once the new legislation was in place.

    Those, like me, who could wait it out whilst the prices rose again, didn’t actually suffer. It was only those who had to sell in the interim.

  43. #93
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    Just about everything arrives in a truck so fuel price rises will add cost to just about everything.

    I can't help thinking that there will also be long queues at the supermarket for free electricity. I wonder how long the free offering will last?

    I consider myself fairly lucky. I am between the minimum wage and the average wage. I got a bus pass 18 months ago, which saved me £80 a month in bus fares. The car was costing £120 a month in fuel alone, but I got rid of that. The motorbike hasn't turned a wheel in two years, but that does about 45mpg and is only used for leisure anyway. I live in a small council house that is horribly heat inefficient, and water heating is done expensively by an immersion heater on 24 hours a day, no shower, no TV, no American fridges, no dishwasher, none of the fripperies that you don't really need, but save labour. I have no space for them to be honest. High usage of electric also comes from a halogen heater in the kitchen and a tumble dryer. Bulb have given me an estimate of £1,200 a year for my electricity bill. This only takes into account this first rise. That's up from what I over-estimated to be £780 a year.

    I have a bottle of cider in the fridge that has been there for 6 months, so spending on booze is microscopic. The consultant advised against booze after my last endoscopy exam. I haven't smoked for over 20 years. I don't have the need to compete with anyone to have the best car in the street, or the best of anything come to that. My little luxury is decent coffee and a decent coffee machine.

    I have no debt and minimal outgoings, although I don't own much. I looked at the cost of my rent and council tax for the year ahead and decided that I could buy a decent (by my standards), watch for that, but did the wise thing and paid the rent and council tax up front for the year. Clearing all of my debts 20+ years ago was the best thing that I ever did. The amount of money that I paid in interest over the years was huge, especially on some of the credit cards.

    A few years ago we considered spending over £40k on a new VW T5 campervan, but sense prevailed when the other half said why don't we just rent one when we are on mainland UK, rather than paying through the nose to take it from here to Aberdeen and back on the ferry? I agreed and we have never bothered to hire one.

    I will go back to putting some decent food in the food bank. I feel sorry for the poor sods living on the Value range, so I put the Tesco Finest stuff in there, but there is not much of that in tins sadly.
    Last edited by Templogin; 4th April 2022 at 20:08. Reason: sPillONg

  44. #94
    SydR
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    I guess it may be my lifestyle, cycling to work, fixed rate energy for another 18 months, etc but TBH nothing seems to have changed for me. Still able to squander money on superfluous purchases.

    I do think that many more will be struggling than this time last year.

  45. #95
    Grand Master Wallasey Runner's Avatar
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    I bought my first house in 1984 and had a mortgage until 2011 and for most of that period the average was around 5%, but during the John Major government they did climb as high as 15% which was painful as I recall and ultimately lead to his mob being booted out.

  46. #96
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wallasey Runner View Post
    I bought my first house in 1984 and had a mortgage until 2011 and for most of that period the average was around 5%, but during the John Major government they did climb as high as 15% which was painful as I recall and ultimately lead to his mob being booted out.
    John Majors "mob" got deservedly booted out because Tony Blair under NuLab was far more of a Tory than the Tories themselves. If I remember correctly, he secured a 180 odd majority and of course after 3 election wins Labour forced him out and replaced him with the dour Gordon Brown. They have been losing ever since.

  47. #97
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    In early May when all the Direct Debits at the new higher costs start hitting peoples bank accounts, lots of heads will come out the sands of the less finacially savvy. And especially those who live month to month with no savings will be hit hard which in turn will hit those consumer sectors that rely on disposable income of the lower paid.

    e.g.
    Disposable fashion like ASOS, Primark etc
    PCP deals on cars. Might see a plummet in used car values especially of those with high MPG as people are forced to offload them, but there will be demand for cheap high MPG cars.

    I think there's a real danger of a recession and/or a housing price crash given teh brick wall impact coming in 1st week of May when those bills land.

  48. #98
    It is making me think, as of today things I have done.


    • Today renewed my broadband/phone contract and saved over £20 a month.
    • We have had two council garden waste bins for a few years for which we pay £35 each a year, cancelled one, saved £35 PA.
    • My iphone 10s battery had gone down to 75% health so I was going to buy a 11 with a budget of £250/£350, today I had a new battery fitted, £50 so "saved" £200 ish.
    • We always have our heating set for 22C, last week we altered it to 20C.
    • There was a watch on the SC today which I really fancied and I think I would of gone for but today I dident, heating and eating more important than another watch.


    Plus we don't drink or smoke and have no credit cards or debt but its still looking bleak so for some I imagine it will be rough.

    In the great theme of things little savings but as my granny used to say "Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves".

  49. #99
    Master Templogin's Avatar
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    It would certainly be good to see some re-alignment of housing prices. It's getting silly here. One house (detatched 3-bed on the sea front) was advertised for £275k and someone put an offer in £100k over. My partner put an offer in on one (semi with garage extension on a small estate) that was £210k and that went for just short of £40k over.

  50. #100
    Craftsman
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave+63 View Post
    There was definitely a negative equity crisis in the early nineties but again, I don’t remember interest rates above about 5%.

    The negative equity was due to the changing of MIRAS to one per property rather than per individual IIRC. At that time, people were grouping together to buy houses because they were too expensive for many individuals to buy on their own. In the run up to the change, property prices soared and then plummeted once the new legislation was in place.

    Those, like me, who could wait it out whilst the prices rose again, didn’t actually suffer. It was only those who had to sell in the interim.
    I bought a flat in 1988 which was pretty much the peak (people buying before MIRAS was abolished) so I remember 3x annual salary, 15% mortgages, and then I sold it four years later for 58% of my purchase price... Luckily I was buying a house in the same area, and stayed there, so did not suffer in the long term.

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