The economic situation: Your position and outlook.

[Manks]

It would be interesting to hear from anyone who feels that their situation is going to significantly improve or worsen over the coming year from the answer given above.

[Manee]

they're better for me
got a steady full time job and a steady part-time job too. had the bathroom and the two kitchens fully refitted so i'm saving alot too for these purchases and i get to spend a lil on luxury items such as my dslr, lcd tv and xbox games

Saying that i'm in a lucky place where i have a house fully paid up. alot of my colleagues here do get by but only just.

[sinizter]

Looking at buying my own business, even though this will create financial difficulties in the shorter term, means that I have picked better than 3 years ago.

[Miguel Alvarez]

I'm in a better position than I was 3 years ago but am at the age where I need to knuckle down and have been for the past year. To be honest if it was a boom period I'd probably still be coasting along. I tend to focus more when things are bad. Not my best trait.

ETA my savings are the best they've ever been as well so I'm ok at the moment and for the forseeable future

Edited by Miguel Alvarez on Thursday 6th January 11:11

[thinfourth2]

Erm how can i show my outlook with a poll that only looks at now

[skoff]

Things are better for me than 3 years ago, but only because I was having a rough time then and got up off my backside to do something about it.

Fuel costs are starting to pinch, as I do quite a few miles and have big engined cars, but that's my choice and this is PH after all.

Our plans to finally buy a house seem to be more and more unrealistic as bigger and bigger deposits seem to be needed, and I really don't want to take too much of a drop in the standard of house we live in.

We have a very nice life compared to most, I really feel for those who are having it rough as it's not going to get better for a while. I have been there and it's no fun.

[Crusoe]

Much the same, costs gone up slightly but wages increased a similar amount so not much worse off in real terms. Mortgage fixed for another 4 years at a lower rate than 3 years ago so that is saving me a fair bit and in reality probably makes me better off just now than before even after all the other increases. Lucky to have paid off enough of the house to be able to re-mortgage quite easily though.

[Manks]

thinfourth2 said:

Erm how can i show my outlook with a poll that only looks at now

By writing about it below.
I did consider adding outlook options but it made the poll too unwieldly and a second poll to discuss outlook alone would have been excessive.

Edited by Manks on Thursday 6th January 10:48

[Maxf]

I'm worse off now. My wage hasn't increased, although my workload has. Costs have definitely increased - food and transport bills are higher.

I am doing ok, although a good deal of this comes from me moving into a cheaper shared house after a breakup. Luckly sharing with a friend instead of strangers.

It seems that workloads are increasing, and as we are generally able to absorb the work (through longer hours - salaried) wages are unlikely to.

Silly things like car and fuel allowances not increasing are biting, although it seems that more people at taking the train to jobs rather than driving (and expensing the travel).

I'm not on the breadline by any means, and consider myself very lucky - but I'm definitely less well off at the end of the month than I have been in the past.

[Galsia]

I was made redundant in November 2009 and I found another job 3 months later. I am on a few thousand more per year although I'm trying to build up another safety net incase I get made redundant again in the future.

Petrol prices are worrying me but to be honest they shouldn't be. I only live 3 miles from work and as soon as the weather gets a bit better I'll be commuting by bicycle again. I've downgraded my car to a 1.4 turbo (I'm not ready to admit defeat and get a 1000cc car just yet but if I did more than 4000 miles per year I would)and I don't got for random hoons anymore.

I've stopped buying lots of luxuries so I'm not living from paycheck to paycheck.

To sum things up I'm not struggling, but I'm preparing myself for the worst.

[Bibbs]

3 years ago I was £14k ish in debt.

Since then I've got engaged & married (and all the costs that involves).

I've had holidays in Lapland, Portugal x2, France x2, Spain x2 & Australia.

And I'm now out of debt and moving out of the UK. This is the scary part, as I'll be homeless, carless and jobless.

Edited by Bibbs on Thursday 6th January 11:37

[dandarez]

Nothing has really hit yet.

This coming year and the economic situation will be best described by 5 emoticons in this order.

[carreauchompeur]

Fingers crossed, I am doing alright. I think that my last 3-week foreign trip might need to be the last one for a while... Mainly paid for by a priority payment at work, which I expect to be the last one for ages.

If mortgage costs go up substantially I will need to tighten my belt- Now on the SVR after a 3-year fix, and can't go changing because obviously my flat has declined in value.

People look at me having 2 cars, nice city centre flat etc on a relatively modest public sector salary and say I'm "rich"- But I don't really spend excessively on clothes, etc, and rent out my spare room which is a sacrifice but does seriously help.

I am hoping to pay off my student loan this year, this will seriously improve cashflow!

Just need to remain sensible and resist new 4-wheeled extravagances!

Edited by carreauchompeur on Thursday 6th January 11:47

[Engineer1]

Pretty stty, I am currently trying freelancing after being made redundant 3 years ago from a job that offered a £3K payrise, and I'd been in for 3 months. I then tried a few other options but ended up starting freelancing a year ago, my wife is a Nurse and the main breadwinner so the pay freezes haven't helped. The flat we live in needs a new roof at our expense and the lease could do with extending as it is now post Northern Rock's collapse mortgageable as the lease is too short. So all in all we are just about scraping by but there are some potential big bills looming and we are close to maxed out on family favours for quite a while.

[Jackleman]

I was made redundant in September 2009, I have done a little bit of travelling over the winter of '09 but got back to find that there were no jobs I was willing to do so set about generating my own income until the economy has improved. I am doing OK and am able to save a little bit each month if I don't go mad down the pub every weekend. This should carry on unless there is a major cock-up. Over the last 2 years I have learnt how to live within my means.

But I think this country is really heading towards bad times again, I predict another recession in the next 24-36 months unless the BOE can do something magic with inflationary pressure / interest rates. IMHO they are completely stuck with no real room to move.

[Manee]

i think alot of people dont know how to live within their means and hence struggle. they still want that consumer lifestyle without having the stability they may have had in the past.

[andye30m3]

Last 3 years have been very up and down, I've been made redundant twice but now working for a company that looks to remain busy for the foreseeable future which I think is a very good thing for the next couple of years even if the work is a bit boring whilst also starting to do some other work in my own time.

Luckily paid the mortgage off (although remortgaged to fund an investment property which is going well as the rent is coving a repayment mortgage), lodger almost covers all bills at home so should be fairly well set should things get bad. For the first time in a while I've contemplated getting a loan for a new car so I must be feeling reasonably secure.

If I had the kind of debts a number of people seam to have run up over the last 10 years or had a large mortgage I think my out look would be very different. In some ways I was quite lucky to get made redundant the first time just before I stretched myself financially by moving otherwise things would be very different, It's really changed my opinion of debt and in particular debt relating to property, I'd kind of fallen into the mind set of debt against a property no matter how much was in someway far more acceptable than other debt.

[carreauchompeur]

I have to say, I've been recently financially investigating someone at work with a lot of debt, the cost of sub-prime lending is immense. A horrible trap to be in- Astonishingly expensive lending, and a bad cycle to get into. There but for the grace of God..

[turbobloke]

A timely survey, but the options relate more to position than outlook maybe? ETA as already mentioned by thinfourth2

2011 has a lot of uncertainties and quite possibly anybody considering the present as 'better than 3 years ago' will be crossing fingers at the same time.

Not PHers, of course. In PHland the value of our houses always goes up and there is a new well-paid Directorship around every corner to fund the next RRS

Edited by turbobloke on Thursday 6th January 13:14

[fido]

In a Frankie-Boyle'sque train of thought, i'm betting that no one is going to tick the 'I am going under...' option - besides they'll probably be too busy consoling themselves on Facebook.