PowerSwitch

I'm not directly affected by the current situation .. but I assume that it is real, and not just a minor nuisance.

I know of only one couple who are in trouble ... they believed the hype and mega stretched themselves to buy a big house with the aim of selling later at a big profit.

They already don't eat one day a week due to cash problems so I dread to think what will happen to them in the longer term ...

Is the Credit Crunch REALLY going to affect you or someone you know?

I know one person who is maxed out on their credit cards and is looking for a second job to be able to afford the rent!

I know somebody who has just (this week) signed a large mortgage and was told by the bank person dealing with it that it had to be signed on Monday as that particular mortgage was being withdrawn and being replaced with a product with a higher rate. It was a base rate tracker he signed, despite my encouragement to sign a 5 or 10 year fixed mortgage.

Otherwise, it has not affected me yet. Although I come out of a 5 year fixed mortgage in 16 months - goodness knows what will be available then......

The lenders will be looking for 'safe bets' - the credit crunch may actually end up benefiting some of us.

They will be fighting for the customers who are least likely to default.

I enquired about extending my (small) mortgage to buy a chunk of land ... they practically bit my hand off!

The Mortgage Dept STILL needs to do deals otherwise they will be laid off ... and if you have a smallish requirement with lots of security then it's ideal for them!

"He who has shall be given even more in plenty, but from he who has not shall be taken even that which he has . . . "

We've had several of our biggest customers have their budgets cut 20% by government.

Suspect this is the first of lots of such things.

One person has handed notice in and we've decided not to replace them - never done that, always been growing.

Interesting times...

Nope. No effect whatsoever.

Interesting to watch events unfolding though.

Not much here either - interest rates on the credit cards went up ridiculously - snotty letter to the bank telling them not to make thier problems mine - and rates promptly reduced by 14%. So a positive effect for me in reality!

The level of junk mail letters offering 'cheap' loans has dropped off.

My brother in law has paid a large deposit on a new house, and is putting his up to auction in two months. He has stopped sleeping.

yeah, gold's going through the roof!

Andy Hunt wrote:"He who has shall be given even more in plenty, but from he who has not shall be taken even that which he has . . . "

The bible certainly had capitalism well-understood!

At work things have quietened off for a lot of my colleagues who work in mergers and aquisitions (doing environmental due dilligence), as no one is doing big deals at the mo'. We have to account for every quarter of an hour of our time to a paying client - and lots of my colleagues are sending emails saying that they have nothing to do and are able to help with any ongoing project work. I am a little worried as the credit crunch will very much be a test for exactly how much companies do care about climate change, or whether the consultancy they have undertaken in the last few years has been greenwash that they opted to do in times of plenty. So far, my projects have all been fine other than one of the big high street banks quibbling about our rates. We're still doing a lot of work with house builders too, although some of the smaller ones have gone quiet and I think may be struggling.

On a personal level, I'm still plodding on paying off my education and still aim to be debt free this summer. I was going to bod off to Tibet this summer, but that's looking like its on hold - for reasons other than the credit crunch! I guess I'm being more cautious, as the council tax shot up this year, and whilst at present we are in credit for our leccy (we overpaid over the winter) - I have a feeling that this won't last long.

Looking a bit further afield, one friend who works in construction, and who bought last year on a self certified mortgage (?400k), and is seeking to remortgage so that he can do it up and sell it on - has had his remortgage refused by all of the banks he has gone to, so is heading for troubled times I think.... In terms of the housing market in Oxford, there are a heck of a lot of for sale signs and not much movement in the market as everyone is hanging on and waiting for a crash. I have another friend who bought last year, and is kicking himself as he thinks he overpaid for his house and is only on a fixed rate for 2 years.

Ha, and just as I was typing that I happened to overhear TWO colleagues on the phone this lunchtime to their mortgage companies, with slightly nervous tones in their voices - making sure that the rates they have been quoted for updating their fixed rate mortgages are still available, and it didn't sound like they were. The joys of the open plan office....

Seem to be ok here at the moment. We are on a 5 year fixed rate mortage deal which gets us through to 2011. Our business is plodding along very nicely with income looking reasonably solid for at least the next 18 months or so. If things go according to plan we should be able to pay off most of the mortgage at the end of the fixed term.

Both cars are paid for and fairly new so should be good for some time to come.

We are signed up to the 2010 British Gas price promise so approx 20% under current rates. Will probably be in for a shock in 2010 though!

Noticing food prices shooting up though - full speed on the veg garden this year.

Interestingly we buy our wine via a mail order company and over the weekend I found myself picking bottles that were a little lower in cost than normal. ie I dropped my notional average cost per bottle down approx 10 to 15%. We can afford the higher price but it still felt prudent to save a little. If I'm doing it I'm sure plenty of others are. This must start to trickle through on a whole host of goods and services during 2008. If we have to give up red wine then I will know for sure that we are mired in the smelly stuff.

I thought the 2.5% drop in house prices last month was good news, and hope it continues. Interest rates to savers on some accounts have dropped a bit, that isn't so good, and I hope things don't get so bad that my safe savings aren't so safe.

I looked at a 2 acre smallholding this afternoon, with 4 acres as a separate lot some distance down the lane. It's a long way down an unmade road that might be good when TSHTF, but a bit isolated, and with few people around to help if it's found by starving people with weapons. I reckon the house could be divided, so I could accommodate some WWOOFers, or someone longer term to share it with, so it might not be that lonely. Looking at a small semi with 1.79 acres tomorrow. It's a lot cheaper, but no space for others to live there unless I extend it. They're both in the same auction. But do I try to buy something now, or wait and see what happens? Getting settled with time to prepare, or waiting, maybe until it's too late