The Economic Downturn

[BertRoot]

What are you doing to get yourself round the troubled times both now and ahead? My company have asked us to take a 5% cut in salary to bolster up failing areas off the business but barring the price of camera equipment rocketing I haven't really noticed it.

What has happened to you and what are you doing to get round it?

[CzarJunkie]

Not affected me professionally or personally as yet. Quite the opposite, times are good. The weak pound has affected the bottom line a little, but not by a great deal as thats been offset by the slump in the oil price and cheaper raw materials.

[DelTrotter]

ill be making this
Moonshine Still with Mr Distiller Making Alcohol Making Moonshine

Also got my garden ready for growing my own veg. cant wait.

also heard that loans before 2007 can be quashed somehow, (I knew i had to hold out paying) my late teenage years and most of my twenties have been booze , sex and drugs literally , but it has to end sometime. dam no regrets!:
Have decided to knuckle down at the age of 29, with a New son, new University course and new responsibilities, im ready.

The economy cant keep growing there has to be a fall somewhere in the line and many people will prosper offering new opportunities and change for many people.

[Argyll]

I have two technicians working under me. My manager had me in his office on Tuesday and informed me I had to cut their hours. One does his job well (A) and the other hides all day (B). To be honest I'd rather get rid of B but he's got three kids. A has none.

I'd rather get rid of B completely and keep A on full hours. That way we won't be affected work wise that much, in fact probably not at all! So I have a moral dilemma. Do I tell my manager to get rid of B entirely or split the reduction in hours?

I can imagine my dilemma is shared up and down the country at a time like this. It's not easy.

[Argyll]

also heard that loans before 2007 can be quashed somehow

I assume your referring to student loans?

[DelTrotter]

I assume your referring to student loans?

no, bank loans, and i would imagine student loans aswell but im not sure. as i have only become a student

[Argyll]

Any links mate to this mate? Haven't heard anything about this.

[DelTrotter]

ill see if i can find, but its been on national radio for a couple of weeks.

heres something for a start
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...april-1st.html
http://birmingham.gumtree.com/birmin.../34420642.html

Debt dont exist in eyes if the banks were stupid enough to give me the money then its there fault.
i didnt prove i could afford these loans they just plied me with them all through the late nineties and early part of this decade.
i went nuts!!
fuck em!!

[Argyll]

Never listen to the radio tbh. I'll have a look in MSE and see what I can find. Thanks for the tip.

[Argyll]

Found this mate. The radio advert you heard may not be what it seems.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7894840.stm

And here

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/art...card-debt.html

[DelTrotter]

ill have to look into it before i sign up. Bankruptcy here i come !!!wooooooooooo

[willp2003]

too be honest I've not really noticed it. I'm fortunate enough to have a stable job. My mortgage has gone down, petrol has come down a bit, and my leccy and gas didn't go up and i'm in credit with those.

[beerman]

Debt dont exist in eyes if the banks were stupid enough to give me the money then its there fault.
i didnt prove i could afford these loans they just plied me with them all through the late nineties and early part of this decade.
i went nuts!!
fuck em!!

So you take a load of money off the bank, have a good time on it, now you can't afford to pay it back (or don't want to) and it's the banks fault for lending it to you in the first place?

[super mike]

Hopefully I'll be starting an apprenticeship in september, and when the economy is on the mend I'll be qualified on my way to being chartered. That's a big 'hopefully' though.

[ant3b]

Only place is it affected me is wage increases are 2% instead of 4%.. not much else really.. although work is getting quite thin looking at my work list

[tombott]

I've not really noticed much change.
I've had to rain in the spending, but that's more to do with having our second child in December so our income is lower and outgoings greater.
I've been brewing my own booze for a while, and grew loads of veg last year.
This year the in-laws have given up some of their land (they are farmers) so we shall have bumper crops of vegetable and fruit.

[liveseytowers]

I've noticed it a bit, like Ant said 2% pay rise this year. For me its more of a worry than anything. I'm not changed my lifestyle as i've always been quite tight with the cash but I do worry about what would happen if they made us redundant. Hopefully our jobs are safe here as there is only 3 of use on site and they need that many to cover holiday's and potential sickness. I plan on keeping my car for a few extra years as well rather than change for a new one.

[Soulassassin]

Tis quite odd for me atm. Work at a car manufacturer and mon - thurs we are going tits out then not working on a friday. Loadsa stock seems to be building up (which the management have said they are reducing to cut costs) but there seems to be getting more and more built up. We've been offered voluntary redundancy which atm I am going to take as I cant see the car industry picking up any time soon and in all honesty I hate the job (and the shifts). Assuming I get the redundancy I have no idea what I want to do but feel its my only chance to get out of the job I hate.

[Over Carl]

I reckon my company is actually doing well, even though management don't want to let on.

We were given a new company handbook saying our holiday entitlement was being cut by around 3-5 days. I told my line manager I wouldn't accept that. In the end, we met with the md, and I've now had 20% added to my salary in return for the difference in holiday (and recognition of a couple of other things). So now I've got more money, and a lot of stuff is cheaper, so I'm not doing that badly.

However I've been asked to keep it quiet as there are going to be no raises this year.

Edit: Come to think of it, this has actually all worked out quite well for me. Was contracting before, and lost my last job around this time last year to the credit crunch - that was what made me decide to get a permanent position, and I'm very glad now as a lot of contractors are sat at home waiting for work, or watching their rates drop.

[DelTrotter]

So you take a load of money off the bank, have a good time on it, now you can't afford to pay it back (or don't want to) and it's the banks fault for lending it to you in the first place?

got it one!! I made my choice and fuck em! i have lots of good memories and good friends. I don't wanna die at the age of 80 decrepit and tattered!
what ive learnt is life is too short and i hope it says on my gravestone. "He owed many monies to Banks." Money don't matter when your dead and my son will not be affected one bit as all my savings go through his mums name .
FUCK DEL and fuck these banks.... There the biggest criminals of the lot for what they have done!

Now if it was gangsters i owed money to.......... it would be different!