Manga Girl's wants your views on the Credit Crunch

M

Manga Girls

Hunter
Hiya folks

It's already been a year since the credit crunch started and I would like your views on the topic. I'm writing an article and I want to know how the crunch has effected your lives. If you could answer my questions below, I would really appreciate it:

1) Over the last year, how has the credit crunch effected your life?
2) What changes have you made to your lifestyle?
3) What is your best tip to beat the credit crunch?

If you could give me 3/4 sentences for each answer, that would be ace!

M.G xx
 
1) Over the last year, how has the credit crunch effected your life?

In no way whatsoever. I buy food from Lidl, so it's still cheap, my credit card interest rate is up 1%, and my fuel bills are up MAYBE £10 over every 3-4 weeks. On the flipside DVD prices are down and they're my main expenditure.

2) What changes have you made to your lifestyle?

I drive a bit more slowly to conserve fuel. Not much else really.

3) What is your best tip to beat the credit crunch?

Don't get a mortgage, don't arrange an overdraft, don't take out a credit card, DON'T buy property, DO buy shares in HSBC, Barclays, Shell, and BP (In about 6 months when the price has bottomed out), the prices will rocket when we hit the flipside of the economy.

Besides, the "Credit Crunch" is being mad worse by people talking about it. The entire basis of it is the confidence of investors....so if you talk the economy down then more people will sell shares cheaply etc. By continuing to spend how you always have you actually prevent the "Crunch" getting worse; most of it is just tabloid media stupidity deliberately trying to rock the boat.
 
1 - can't tell, as I moved to London shortly before the credit crunch, so my bills raised a lot in just because of that.

2 - none. My new London salary compensate, so I could say I've kept the same lifestyle I had in Belfast. A bigger lifestyle change happened when I moved to UK.

3 - Common sense. Credit is not money, I think this is the line most people fail to understand...

MrChom said:
Don't get a mortgage, don't arrange an overdraft, don't take out a credit card, DON'T buy property, DO buy shares in HSBC, Barclays, Shell, and BP (In about 6 months when the price has bottomed out), the prices will rocket when we hit the flipside of the economy.

Besides, the "Credit Crunch" is being mad worse by people talking about it. The entire basis of it is the confidence of investors....so if you talk the economy down then more people will sell shares cheaply etc. By continuing to spend how you always have you actually prevent the "Crunch" getting worse; most of it is just tabloid media stupidity deliberately trying to rock the boat.
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Slightly agree with the first paragraph. Don't agree with one thing on the second though.

It's not only about confidence of investors, but confidence in borrowers. The bad effect of it was pulling the confidence of investors as well. I wanted to get a mortgage, but it's more difficult now, even though I have a job, I get paid reasonably well. it's also not sane to do that right now, so it's paying rent a while longer for me now..
 
1 - It has made it harder and more unlikely that I will be able to find a flat to rent which I can afford, as less people are buying property. So rental prices have gone through the roof.

2 - It hasn't yet. Although inflation has got to the point where it is noticable almost on a day to day basis, and this is making me more wary of what and how much I buy.

3 - Overthrow the Government. :wink:
 
1) Over the last year, how has the credit crunch effected your life?

Unlike everyone else, it has effected me, low retail sales means less hours available at work, thankfully me its only something like £15 a week but there are others at work who have droped from 25 hours to 18 a week

2) What changes have you made to your lifestyle?
Not much really, little less junk food and driving slower/fuel concious but tbh the price of petrol isn't really anything to do with the credit crunch, more the instability of the middle east

3) What is your best tip to beat the credit crunch?

Don't panic buy and turn off the news when it mentions it :D

oh and don't buy a ps3 ;)
 
ayase said:
1 - It has made it harder and more unlikely that I will be able to find a flat to rent which I can afford, as less people are buying property. So rental prices have gone through the roof.
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I know you're not in London, so situation over there must be different, but here, the opposite happened. As people are not looking into selling anymore, they put their properties for rent. as the market were flooded with loads of new properties for rent, rent prices actually went down a little.

That's what I've been told by the state agent. I've rented my flat in april and I was amazed to get a much better flat, almost double the size of my old one for virtually the same price....
 
Well up here the houses are coming down in price as everyone looks to sell now and make the biggest profit they can before the market collapses, then move into rented accomodation and save their cash to buy another house after the market *does* collapse.

Buy low sell high - a smart move I guess, but it takes the rental properties away from us who can't afford to buy :(
 
ayase said:
Well up here the houses are coming down in price as everyone looks to sell now and make the biggest profit they can before the market collapses, then move into rented accomodation and save their cash to buy another house after the market *does* collapse.

Buy low sell high - a smart move I guess, but it takes the rental properties away from us who can't afford to buy :(
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I see where these people comes from, I just fail to see how this might actually happens... prices are dropping because the supply is higher than the demand, so I can't see how people would make money out of it. And also, on the long run (and maybe not so long) the prices will catch up again. The problem was that property was costing more than it was valued because of weird economic scenarios, where people had more credit than they deserved, this is going to be fixed now, as banks are learning that they can't lend money to those who can't pay.
 
Thing is they're probably right in thinking it's better for them to sell now, even at a reduced price, than be stuck in negative equity and / or have their home repossesed if the market does collapse. Supply & Demand is an issue of course, some will win, some will lose. But I'm pretty sure the market will crash now - the banks have seen their recklessness too late.
 
You think so? The way I see houses were over priced, what is happening now is actually the adjustment of perceived value to real value of property. I'm not an economist, but that's how I see this thing.

I don't think the market will crash now, if it would crash, it should have done a couple of months ago. Why I say it's just the market adjusting itself?

You're right on rent prices rising though as per here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7567963.stm

These figures are pretty intersresting as it says that house prices will rise 9% by 2013 (five years from now) - it is specially interesting if you consider that 9% rise has been what some properties have seen in a year, not too long ago...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7529144.stm

These shows that house prices are rising in certain locations, despise the general fall in prices....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7482115.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7347203.stm
 
chaos said:
These figures are pretty intersresting as it says that house prices will rise 9% by 2013 (five years from now) - it is specially interesting if you consider that 9% rise has been what some properties have seen in a year, not too long ago...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7529144.stm
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That's in interesting link, but bear in mind it was written a month ago - there's also a very telling line in there: "As soon as the economic outlook improves, house prices will resume their previous upward trajectory." However, yesterday we got this news.

You're right that the price of property needs ajusting downwards. But the massive amounts people have been borrowing have lead many people to pay interest-only on their mortgages, and if they go into negative equity they will actually be better off if the bank reposseses their home. So not only do people loose their homes, but the banks loose money as well.
 
1. Hasn't really effected me, my mortgage is still fixed rate so I haven't had any rises. I did buy a motorbike earlier in the year giving the excuse that it uses less fuel than my large engined diesel car.

2. I've never been the kind of person to watch my budget that closely, I earn a lot for someone my age and because I live with my girlfriend we are classed as a DINK household (Double Income No Kids - only thing I remember from business studies).

3. Don't panic, and take the news with a pinch of salt, they always make it sound so much worse than it is, as headlines sell stories.
 
ayase said:
chaos said:
These figures are pretty intersresting as it says that house prices will rise 9% by 2013 (five years from now) - it is specially interesting if you consider that 9% rise has been what some properties have seen in a year, not too long ago...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7529144.stm
Click to expand...
That's in interesting link, but bear in mind it was written a month ago - there's also a very telling line in there: "As soon as the economic outlook improves, house prices will resume their previous upward trajectory." However, yesterday we got this news.

You're right that the price of property needs ajusting downwards. But the massive amounts people have been borrowing have lead many people to pay interest-only on their mortgages, and if they go into negative equity they will actually be better off if the bank reposseses their home. So not only do people loose their homes, but the banks loose money as well.
Click to expand...
:/ That's truly bad news, specially considering the natural growth of population. I think we should really start buying more anime and manga to inject money back into the economy!!!

Like McIcy says, we do have to take news with a pinch of salt, but as long as it won't decrease, I think we should be fine. I'm an optimistic though, I believe this year is still gonna be slow, but next year we will bounce back =)
 
chaos said:
I think we should really start buying more anime and manga to inject money back into the economy!!!
Click to expand...
Thing is, when I buy Anime and Manga I'm often injecting money into the US, Hong Kong & Japanese economies!
 
Manga Girls said:
If you could give me 3/4 sentences for each answer, that would be ace!

M.G xx
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1) Reduction of jobs in the housing industry. Reliance on bankers to hemorrhage losses by investing in commodities.

2) Cost of energy has more than doubled from last year. But i suppose this has led to competition in other areas. (phones and internet are a good example)

3) You cannot beat it. only ride it out. Supplement higher food and fuel costs by saving in other areas of your lifestyle.
 
1- Hasn't really affected me, but my sister works at Tesco and they've apparently been making workers redundant there. That might have something to do with it...

2- Nothing, really. At the moment I'm just concentrating on my college studies.

3- Remember that the news reporters and such are being far too over dramatic about it? I dunno... (Seriously... my local paper has a 4-page spread on the Credit Crunch every week, with it's own logo and everything. And it's always the same thing- "We're all gonna go bankrupt, we're gonna die, think of the children! O:" With miserable faces of random members of the public.
Yet, still no Tesco mention.)
 
I havn't been that affected. I'm at University and my dad sends me £250 a month for bills and food, I earn £20 a week cleaning a ladies house so I can spend that money on treats for myself, and my rent is paid by my dad.

I buy food from Co-Op. I rarely buy clothes anyway, I just wear what I have until they fall apart, plus I have three pairs of jeans that are all exactly the same because they were in a sale and I knew they fitted. I rarely go out, if I do it's to the pub where I'll have a drink or two depending on the price. I prefer to watch DVDs, play games or stay in and watch telly with my boyfriend. I save my money if I want to buy a new game or something.

The only problem I've really had is finding a job, which has been difficult as most places don't want part-timers.

I'll just be dealing with it until it passes basically.
 
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