Chip

But surely if they did not have these things then they would be classed as living below the so-called poverty line

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Edd, how do you get 0 percent for three years ? does that involve moving the balance around between 0 percent cards ?

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

I got myself in a bit of a pickle when I was 18 and my bank manager suggested I have a credit card to help my credit rating. I ended up spending nearly £2k tarting up my j reg 1.4 vauxhall cavalier . I ended up paying it off though and prefer to stay in the black from now on.
Unfortunately saving seems to be frowned upon these days, I think my isa made me about £60 last year.

GlesgaKiss

I don't understand. Are people supposed to produce goods for the hell of it? If everyone saves then there is no demand, you're right; but why are they saving? I've told you before on here, with consumption it is only a matter of when. Consume now or consume later. If you consume now rather than save, that is the same amount of economic activity 'lost' later as there would have been 'lost' now if you'd saved it. Savings fuel investment and the ability to consume greater amounts further down the line. Spending now and getting into consumer debt - in other words the western world's current situation - is the converse of that.

What you demand shapes the market. What's the use in having a market planned for you - i.e. stimulating demand to get people to produce goods? Demand is natural, there's no danger of it going away, and, if it does, the lack of goods and services won't be harming the people who don't demand them.

Based on your point of view, Africa should be booming by now, as there's plenty of demand!?

Leslie

Coming from a very poor family, I was taught that if I wanted something that there was no option but to save up. Must have become a habit because apart from the mortgage I have never borrowed any significant sum on the drip. I have always been quite happy like that, it makes you appreciate anything you do buy more and you tend to take care of it better too.

Its a good position to have the mortgage paid for and no large sums of interest to pay to the lenders.

Les

austinwrx

my sister in law turned 29 on saturday: stuck in private rented.

earns a decent enough wage, but on her own. only way she'll buy somewhere is to meet a minted bloke, or a bloke who already has his own place.

and we live in yorkshire so we're not even talking the sily prices of the south.

EddScott

Absolutely. With the kitchen we could either have put it on 12 months at 0% but I'd probably jsut leave it and stick it on a card in 12 months time which would prolong the debt. If I paid for the kitchen with a credit card that has 0% for 18 months then I have to pay something each month to get rid of the debt. I'm paying £400 a month and should get the odd grand here and there through work so hopefully have it paid for by Christmas.

I know my sig says looking for a WRX and I was going to reduce the amount I'm paying on the CC to cover the cost of a 3K loan to get the WRX. My Jeep is so thirsty on fuel and group 17 insurance so the WRX isn't much more and actually much cheaper on fuel.

However, this extends my debt paying time considerably so I've decided to stick with the Jeep, shift the CC bill ASAP and then look at things again. I'll probably still get a loan but I'll be able to buy a newer car and have the loan over 2 years so I'm not stuck with the same car for too long.

GlesgaKiss

That would be back in the day when people didn't expect to be taken care of or have any sense of entitlement.

Unfortunately there is the belief now that, while individual people being prudent is good for them, a nation of sensible people will not be prosperous. Talk about defying logic!

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

The only way we will be able to get on the housing ladder is when the Grandparents leave the house to us. They bought the house for £6k it's now worth £350k.

ScoobySteve69

iTrader: (13)

I`ve always had loans and credit cards from age 18 cos I didn`t like to wait for things and I could never save as I always had **** paid jobs when I was young. Moved into my first house with a blood sucking b1tch and no money and 100% mortgage and borrowed to have a kitchen, windows and so on. I saved £*** a month for car expenses and £*** a month into a company sharesave scheme so every year I had an amount of money `maturing` to spend or save....always spent it. 14 years on and now living on my own, I`m in the position where after a company takeover, I now save the share money every month and don`t owe money anywhere (except my mortgage). It`s a nice feeling but it`s taken me 44 years to get here

hodgy0_2

it seems to have gone away in Japan

and re Africa, demand with no cash is just aspiration

dan.evans

Im 24 now and had some bad debt when i hit 18 etc, couldnt wait for things,bad paid job blah blah. Now im in a better paid job debt free and live well in my means. I live in a rented house with the wifey and 2 kids pay all the bills and save the rest. Got a nice 06 plate car for the fam, saving at the mo so i can get another scooby lol. We got the flash tv with surround sounds, all got smart phones nice clothes watches etc, all paid for no debt on anything. People at work say i waste money cus i dont have a morgage and only rent, but renting im able to save £700 a month with ease, and the misses and kids dont go with out, even tho i do sometimes lol. I will never get a morgage il keep saving and with inhertinace that il have coming to me in say 20-25 years il be able to buy the house i want outright and not have any worries, i might in 10 years time buy a house to rent out but il see.

GlesgaKiss

Exactly. And how do you get 'cash' exactly?

rossyboy

iTrader: (8)

Presume you will have the balance transfer fees to pay though as there have never been any cc companies that do 36 months interest free on purchases that I've noticed? Usually 2.5 - 3%

Interest free balance transfer cards are great if you have the discipline. I paid the £3k balance needed on my daily driver that way and it'll only cost me £90 extra over 20 months.

hodgy0_2

surely by creating a market with both supply and demand

no one "saves themeselves rich"

GlesgaKiss

No, cash is demand and it comes from supply, can't you see that? No one saves for the point of saving, they save in order to demand.

And by that process you have a market.

hodgy0_2

yes they do -- irrational maybe, but i am afraid that's the way it is -- look at Japan

GlesgaKiss

No, they don't. It must give them something in life otherwise they wouldn't do it. That could be security or a better quality of life further down the line.

Bubba po

Yes, we save up and I don't mind admitting it. The only large debt we have is the mortgage. Saved up and bought the first Scoob cash eight and a half years ago. There is nothing in the house that we don't own outright. I don't agree with the never-never; we could all live it large so long as we kept up the payments, but whose job is safe long-term these days?

Leslie

Yes quite so.

Les

Leslie

Spot on.

Les

Hysteria1983

Well, even though I/we use credit cards, it's not so much as a way to fund our lifestyle, but more because the cards are convinient. Any spend is paid off with in 5 weeks or so.

I am pretty old fashioned though, recently purchasing childrens clothes on line, from next with my credit card was quite foreign to me. I think until then all I had used my credit card for was an online shop at ASDA. I still like to have cold hard cash in my hand, and know I can afford to spend it.

I own my cars, but have two mortgages. Never missed a payment.

I think that when I get back to work, my attitude to spending might change, but at the moment I will stick to bring old fashioned.

Hysteria1983

Same here.

Leslie

I don't think you wiil go far wrong at that.

Les