? about the economy

[*Lassie*]

I am on the basic min. wage and we have had redundancies at our place. This was due to some of our customers going bust so we don't get paid for work we have done for them.
My friend works for Woolies, her husband had an accident at work and is unable to work again so she is the breadwinner. My sister,the one with Farrohk has been made redundant.
We worked out our finances after paying bills with no luxuries, everything is already cut to the bone, we have £10 a month spending money , that is so long as nothing else goes wrong.

[jaydex]

My OH earns a good wage, prob 30 - 40,000 per year depending on what OT he can do( an boy does he do some), he is in the same tax bracket as Richard Branson!! who earns god knows how much per MINUTE, all our bills gas mortgage elec council tax etc etc come to just over £2,000 per month sometimes he's lucky to have maybe £200 to spend to himself, sounds a lot to some I know but when you work solidly for a month 12 hours shifts maybe the odd day off just to get £200 makes you wonder why you bother really

Its always on the news etc about how bad things are but TBH i don't know anyone who is affected as bad as the media are making out.  I know there will be some people struggling but not as many as they're trying to tell us  

We've just been to Basingstoke and it was HEAVING with people carrying at least 2 bags, so I see where your coming from there, all the shopping centres are bursting round here at the weekends too.

[rooooooooby]

i've saved oodles this year by buying nice 2nd hand stuff.

i got a gorgeous safari set for him worth over £200 new for £50 on ebay - theres a few scrapes and scratches but nothing more than a 2yr old is gonna put on them anyway and even better - no boxes to store lol !!!

got a kitchen for £35 (worth £65 in ELC) and it had a shopping trolley, food, plates etc ... kettle etc etc ...

plus i'm EBAYing a couple of items looking like another £70.

claire x

just heard MFI are closing all staff going.

[wags]

We've just been to Basingstoke and it was HEAVING with people carrying at least 2 bags, so I see where your coming from there, all the shopping centres are bursting round here at the weekends too.

but would they have more bags if they had more to spend - i know when i have had money to spend and gone out shopping ive had a stupid amount of bags to carry

i.e. the pub is packed with christmas partys and people having christmas meals they have booked but we have no one just coming in for a meal or for drinking -
why? are people stopping having meals out and going out drinking - why go to the pub when you can get 2 crates for £18 in asda when its £2+ a pint

[wags]

if you think about it though the shops that are closing are the shops that dont really fit into price catagories

the really skint people dont go to woolworths, MFI, Pier (dont know if you guys have them down south) etc because we cant afford it they arnt cheap shops -
i havent bought anything from woolworths in years simply because the stuff is cheaper elsewhere and even in their sale right now its not that cheap

the people with lots of money dont go to them either because they buy furniture that doesnt cause divorce as its already built and all that 

thats where i think a lot of the problems lie with these shops
as a bit of an example where did you all buy your school uniforms from this year
mine came from - M&S (3 for 2 offer), George and the uniform shop - any one get it from woolworths rather than george

[Val]

It's bleak down here in Swanage as well, our one big store (well to us it was big) was Woolies now we have none there are 7 shops shutting and in a town this small thats a big hole.
I am the only one working in this house OH job finished end of July I have to keep working we could not afford to live on the pension I would get.
Barretts the house builders brought up a big property on the sea front knocked down the hotel and have shut the site, that makes for a lovely view on the sea front, I think dear Gordon should get off his arse and come look round the south coast, we have no choice but to keep a car, we only have the one garage hope to doG he keeps going we have had some bad gales down here and the repairs are mounting.
Hope you manage to pick up the peices Wags at least we have no morgage
Val  

[wags]

ah im cool

im in a happy place at the moment even if my finances are kak 

[kizkiznobite]

the worse thing that could happen right now is if interest sinks below 2% and we start to go into deflation....

[SuzAndTheDiva]

ah im cool

im in a happy place at the moment even if my finances are kak 

Gotta luv ya wags - more people need that attitude   

Things are ok in this household my dads job is always precarious just because of the business hes in - thankgod im working, if the worst happens I could support the house for a bit  A few of my customers have been affected......

[jaydex]

We've just been to Basingstoke and it was HEAVING with people carrying at least 2 bags, so I see where your coming from there, all the shopping centres are bursting round here at the weekends too.

but would they have more bags if they had more to spend - i know when i have had money to spend and gone out shopping ive had a stupid amount of bags to carry

They did, most had a minimum of 2!

[rooooooooby]

oh no Val !!

has the shop with the gorgeous rose quartz sphere gone ...   hope not.

[Val]

No thats still going, just heard this morning the Bistro is shutting so are Windjammers.

oh no Val !!

has the shop with the gorgeous rose quartz sphere gone ...   hope not.

[dogloverwoooo!]

thats sad to hear about swanage. i went there every year for 12 years in a row when I was little. i remember the beach huts and the chap that used to run them, last i heard alot of them has gone? also remember going to a little farm on the outskirts and feeding the lambs. its a lovely place, i have relatives there.

[rooooooooby]

hi,

glad to hear that's still going, i was sooooo tempted by that sphere !! 

claire x

[Kerry_and_Beau]

its awful up here too, its a small area and work is hard to get, the company where i work went from 135 employees to 98 during Oct/Nov and there is a risk there will be more in Jan  its ok for the highly skilled people there is still deman for their work but it will mean moving area to a city like stafford a hell of a shock when you leave the lake district to that... if i'm made redundant there is nothing i would have to go to a temp agency..

i get paid a good wage but when i pay all the debts i built up from being with my ex there is very little left, i don't have a mortgage as i have never been in a situation to be able to buy a house i have rented the same house for 15 years.

fuel bills are just scarey as is food shopping i don't get time to shop between 5 different shops to get the best deal...and when i see my tax money being paid to families being homed in beautiful town houses and being paid £90,000 a year i get really peed off! this government is crap!! but who do we vote for? they are all the same!