Ordinary families can't put food on the table.

[Anny Road]

This country is talking itself into the shit.

 

OOh I can't afford this mortgage?

 

Its the supermarkets making me buy to much. Buy 1 get one free.

 

My Range Rover cost £100 to fill whereas last year it was only £60.

 

I have had the misfortune of having some of my wifes '' '''

visit us this evening above are some of the highlights

of the conversation.

 

Whilst I was busy necking sly drams and thinking of ways to stab them it got me thinking about how much of a load of bollocks this downturn is.

 

My business is suffering big time but are we realy in economic trouble?

Have you started planting veg?

Are your kids sharing a bed?

 

 

 

 

Does your Missus have to walk 10 miles for water?

 

Lets get a fucking grip.

[AL66GOLF]

How true! I'm sick of the prophets of doom.

Repped

[Guest davelfc]

Absolutely true, when people driving £50,000 4x4 cars are up in arms about paying an extra couple of hundred pounds in road tax you have to wonder what's going on.

[Section_31]

Shows you how soft we've gone as a country, even my mother's generation spent their childhoods living hand to mouth and barely able to see a doctor.

 

We've turned into a society of sex and the city wannabees (even the fucking men) and it needs to come to a head - the UK needs to man the fuck up.

 

By the way, it's at times like this too that you realise how shit the likes of ITN are. "Sales increase on the high street, let's go to our business editor to find out why this could actually be BAD news!"

 

Moaning about M&S now too "oooh M&S's profits are down, surely the end of the world"

 

Erm, M&S has been haemoraging spondulics since moses wore short pants. Fuck them and fuck all these soho-dwelling business cunts.

[JohnnyH]

This country is talking itself into the shit.

 

OOh I can't afford this mortgage?

 

Its the supermarkets making me buy to much. Buy 1 get one free.

 

My Range Rover cost £100 to fill whereas last year it was only £60.

 

I have had the misfortune of having some of my wifes '' '''

visit us this evening above are some of the highlights

of the conversation.

 

Whilst I was busy necking sly drams and thinking of ways to stab them it got me thinking about how much of a load of bollocks this downturn is.

 

My business is suffering big time but are we realy in economic trouble?

Have you started planting veg?

Are your kids sharing a bed?

 

 

 

 

Does your Missus have to walk 10 miles for water?

 

Lets get a fucking grip.

 

 

I saw this thread name and thought that if this is someone whinging about the cost of living going up then they can fuck off. That's the way the world goes. If there are good times then there have to be no so good times. Anyone who has got themselves into shiteloads of debt with a mortage they can't afford and a fancy car they shouldn't have with no way of getting out and did not make even a small plan for when times got a bit harder deserves anything they get.

 

Good post Anny.

[kopitegaz]

I agree with most of the above (re: the money obsessed, complaining they have it hard, but actually they havent), but what about (for instance) my mum and dad who can barely live off their pensions and more often than not I'm having to contribute quite a lot of my shite wage to pay (or part pay) various utilities bills. Are they not in the shit then?

 

And before any comes back with smart remarks, yes we do turn off appliances when not in use, but you know, you have to have heat and light on now and again, or they'll just become those pensioners that are afraid to put on the heating in case they cant pay the bill.

 

And food is fucking expensive, by the way. A seemingly small increase on 1 item may not seem like much to some, but it does all add up, believe me.

 

There, I've said my bit. Just got to negotiate climbing down off this soapbox.

[RobbieOR]

I saw this thread name and thought that if this is someone whinging about the cost of living going up then they can fuck off. That's the way the world goes. If there are good times then there have to be no so good times. Anyone who has got themselves into shiteloads of debt with a mortage they can't afford and a fancy car they shouldn't have with no way of getting out and did not make even a small plan for when times got a bit harder deserves anything they get.

 

Good post Anny.

What he said.

[RedinSweden]

Heartbreak home: One woman's blow by blow account of what it's like trying to sell a house in the credit crunch | Mail Online

 

t was reported yesterday that house prices are falling at their fastest rate since the 1990s property crash. There are already a million unsold homes in Britain - with a tale of misery behind each one. Here, Femail charts the agonising diary of one family's attempts to sell up. Karen Green from Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, is a 38-year-old widow with four children. She works full-time as a dental receptionist. Her children are Michael, 18, Nicky, 16, Charlotte, 13, and Sophie, eight. Her three youngest children attend a private day school.

 

February, 2008

I have to face the agonising prospect of putting our beautiful, four-bedroom detached home on the market.

 

It is eight years since my husband Paul, a retail manager, died very suddenly from a stroke, and this was the house I bought after selling our family home. Our old one had six bedrooms and a huge garden - it just felt too big without him.

 

Also, I wasn't left with a lot of cash and have since had to rely on the equity from that sale to keep us all going. I earn about £1,500 a month, but that's by no means enough to feed and clothe us all, and pay the school fees.

 

The children were already at private school and their father's death was traumatic enough without making them move schools, too.

 

So I bought this house for £405,000, which was about £100,000 cheaper than the house I sold.

 

Since then, I've spent at least £90,000 during the years we've lived here, repainting, re-plastering and putting in a lovely new bathroom and kitchen. I love this home and it feels very secure.

 

But I am beginning to feel overwhelmed by debts. I owe £8,000 on my credit cards and I have an overdraft of £4,000 as well. The equity from selling the last house has long since run out.

 

The children's school fees are £2,000 each a term, so that's almost £20,000 a year with their music lessons and extras, and I can't possibly cover that with my salary.

Downsizing is the only option.

 

March, 2008

 

Petrol prices are beginning to soar, and driving the children on the 50-mile round trip to school is costing me £500 a month in petrol.

 

I really can't afford this. I have a BMW X3, but it will have to be sold to cut costs.

 

I have had four estate agents come to the house, and all are tremendously bullish that I will sell 'immediately'.

 

The house has a lovely outlook on to fields, and I have installed a gorgeous beech kitchen with oak floors and granite work surfaces, which opens out on to a conservatory which overlooks the garden.

 

 

 

Call me cynical, but she sells a house for 500,000 when her husband dies as she needs the equity to live off, she then has the bathroom and kitchen done and various other things done amounting to 90,000. She keeps her kids in private schools, which she has to drive miles to. For this journey she choses a BMW X5. This is while she is the only earner and gets 1,500 a month. To manage this she has credit of 12,000. She also mentions going to the gym later on.

 

I'm sorry, but that is a hell of a lot of stupid use of resources for me to be feeling sorry for you.

[Faustus]

I couldn't believe the criticism the Labour MP got a few weeks ago when he said that people should stop moaning during this recession because they've never had it so good.

 

I'm not sure if I agree with the phrasing but I agree with the principles behind what he said.

 

The poverty people speak of nowadays is fuck all compared to what the likes of my nan and grandad experiences in the post-war generation. Even people living below the poverty line nowadays can afford things like Sky telly, broadband, games consoles and a few tellies in their homes.

[Section_31]

I must be the only person around here who's gald house prices are falling, I might one day be able to afford something other than a shoebox.

[RedinSweden]

I couldn't believe the criticism the Labour MP got a few weeks ago when he said that people should stop moaning during this recession because they've never had it so good.

 

I'm not sure if I agree with the phrasing but I agree with the principles behind what he said.

 

The poverty people speak of nowadays is fuck all compared to what the likes of my nan and grandad experiences in the post-war generation. Even people living below the poverty line nowadays can afford things like Sky telly, broadband, games consoles and a few tellies in their homes.

 

It is these high expectations that cause so much unrest. Focussing on material possessions is bad. When you get them you think you will feel happy. Then when you aren't you get even more down than before. The fact that you have taken credit to buiy the happiness that doesn't materialise then makes you even more down. So you think that buying something else will cheer you up and so it continues. OK, that was simplistic, but it is sort of true.

[kopitegaz]

I couldn't believe the criticism the Labour MP got a few weeks ago when he said that people should stop moaning during this recession because they've never had it so good.

 

I'm not sure if I agree with the phrasing but I agree with the principles behind what he said.

 

The poverty people speak of nowadays is fuck all compared to what the likes of my nan and grandad experiences in the post-war generation. Even people living below the poverty line nowadays can afford things like Sky telly, broadband, games consoles and a few tellies in their homes.

 

Of course it is, but who was making a comparison.

 

I dont care if I get the piss taken out of me, but I still live at home because I cant afford fuck all, other than a grotty flat in an area I wouldnt want to live in. I see every day how my parents (my mum in particular) cant cope. As for Tellys and broadband and the like. Yes we have a couple of tellys. I bought one for the main room last year because the previous one (almost 10 years old) wouldnt work anymore. I have one in my room which is 5 years old. I have broadband which I pay for myself and as I said earlier in the thread, without my extra contributions, our utilities bills would not get paid on time.

 

We have a 10 year old renault megane (so, not a flash car by any means), which we have had for 8 years and will have to get rid of either this year or next, if fuel, road tax, insurance keep rising at the levels they have been.

 

By all means have your own opinion, but dont make sweeping generalisations about the posessions of people on low income.

 

By the way, I'm glad my parents 25 year mortgage was finished up when my Dad retired 8 years ago or we'd be completely in the shit now.

[Section_31]

I'm in pretty much the same boat as you Gaz, as are most of my mates (although their parents have got more dollar than me)

 

I think the average age for buying your first gaff now is 33, I MIGHT be able to pull that off if there's some kind of nuclear war, other than that, I'll still be lying in the spare room with my feet sticking out the bed, watching some HBO and sinking some bombay mix for the next ten years at least.

 

And do you know what? I'm fucking quite happy about it!

 

My mate's got a mortgage with his Mrs and kids, can he drop it all and come to New York with us in October? Can he fuck! What's more, he actively HATES his Mrs, but is scared she'll fuck off back to Spain with the kids if he splits up with her.

 

Know what life I'd rather live, pass me those nuts and dry bannanas thanks.

[kelster]

I think the average age for buying your first gaff now is 33, I MIGHT be able to pull that off if there's some kind of nuclear war, other than that, I'll still be lying in the spare room with my feet sticking out the bed, watching some HBO and sinking some bombay mix for the next ten years at least.

 

I'm hoping for an outbreak of bubonic plague or something. I'm pretty robust so I reckon I could ride it out, just have to keep the missus indoors till it blows over.

[melons]

Heartbreak home: One woman's blow by blow account of what it's like trying to sell a house in the credit crunch | Mail Online=

 

Jesus, wouldn't mind her hard life for a day... or life.

 

But i'm sort of with Gaz on this, i am really pissed off, my nan is dying, maybe 3 months if we're lucky. We're really close i went to visit today, took her shopping down and so on, fucking £20 petrol for a days visit. I don't have a 4x4, although in the winter they would be a god send on some roads, i don't have a fuck off house, i don't have much, do i give a shit about materialistic items, no, i would give it all up, and have started too, just so i can spend that little more time visiting her.

 

This time last year i would take her out weekly, sometimes twice a week, now i get to be there once a week. I don't even get to take her out.

 

2 sayings,

 

your a long time dead.

no pockets in shrouds.

 

Yes, the poverty line i had as a child my kids dont know, but, i would like them to know a bit more. And i'm not talking private school. I'm talking family and memories.

[Michael Howard]

It's costing me £90 + to fill my Merc with diesel.

and I'm growing my own tomatos.

 

Poverty is relative. This is breadline britain c21 style.

[Section_31]

It's costing me £90 + to fill my Merc with diesel.

and I'm growing my own tomatos.

 

Poverty is relative. This is breadline britain c21 style.

 

Good to have you back Mr Howard.

[tokyojoe]

I live in what a load of you lot call a 'Daily Mail' neighborhood darn sarf.

 

All with their 4 x 4, BMW shit, machines I would not be seen dead in. Well worth offering 500 quid each. The shit hasn't started yet.

 

Hummers can't even be given away in the US.

[Spy Bee]

Ordinary families can't put food on the table

 

Why?

 

Is there barbed wire around the table?

Have they got no arms?

does the table have a moat?

Is there food enormously heavy?

 

Why?

[Spy Bee]

12 months ago my Transit van was £60 to fill, now it's £87. But I don't care, cos I'm not paying.

[Dirk]

How about the people that can't afford to own a car?

[melons]

How about the people that can't afford to own a car?

 

me in a few months at this rate. sadly i'm serious.

[Spy Bee]

How about the people that can't afford to own a car?

 

They aren't poor, they are environmentally friendly.

[Baldi]

I have always found this quote good for people complaining about the current situation and this was written 1500 years ago.

 

"It's my belief that history is a wheel. 'Inconstancy is my very essence,' says the wheel. Rise up on my spokes if you like, but don't complain when you're cast back down into the depths. Good time pass away, but then so do the bad. Mutability is our tragedy, but it's also our hope. The worst of time, like the best, are always passing away."

- Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy

[Hooch]

I fucking love the tags, not just on this thread.