Has this downturn in the economy affected you? And if so how?

more enquiries...but i am a debt advisor so not surprising :D

nope mot yet. if anything i am busyer than ever :wack:

Yep, it's starting to take it's toll.

 

I work for a Bank. Need I say more.

 

The car is now up for sale :(

Im a lot worse of financially than I was 2 years ago...but I would'nt say thats anything to do with the credit crunch.

 

Although....It would be near impossible for me to get a mortgage right now if I wanted to (currently renting), and that would be down to the changes with Mortgage companies due to the credit crunch.

Not me personally ... just spoke to a friend with two kids ... his wife (architect) was laid off last week and he was laid off today. Doesnt know how he is going to pay the mortgage at the end of the week. I dont think this is an unusual story, especially in construction, at the moment.

I imagine Estate agents are really struggling. I noticed 2 closed down in town the other day.

I work in high end property development in London, can't say i've notice much of a change, i think we may be 1 property down on last year but that may all change as alot of our clients are investment bankers and they are now feeling the crunch too!

Fortunately at home we haven't seen much of an effect, apart from the obvious price rises in food/fuel/utilities etc. I work in the fertiliser manufacturing industry (which is having its best year for a long time due to demand for increased food crops and the bio-fuel business), my wife works for a well known oil company who seem to be doing ok for themselves at the moment too :rolleyes:

 

We have lost quite a lot of money on some shares we have, but as that is a long term investment we can wait for them to recover (hopefully). On the other hand we have just swapped our ISA's over to another bank as they are offering more than 2% more interest than what we were getting.

 

Not wanting to sound controversial but the people who I know personally who are struggling are the ones that have been living beyond their means for the past few years. The problem is that maintaining and paying for that lifestyle is now coming back to haunt them.

 

I do feel sorry for the people losing their jobs through no fault of their own though...

 

My 2p...

Not much at the mo. Ask me again when my mortgage is up for renewal next May

Not wanting to sound controversial but the people who I know personally who are struggling are the ones that have been living beyond their means for the past few years. The problem is that maintaining and paying for that lifestyle is now coming back to haunt them.

 

I do feel sorry for the people losing their jobs through no fault of their own though...

 

You hit the nail square on the head there mate!

It seems nigh on impossible to get a mortgage at the moment and everything from food to fuel costs more but other than that no change for me.

well 30 days and i'll be redundant! i aint working in financial sector again! lol

Pub is alot quieter but this could also be due to smoking ban/ crap weather

Apart from fuel costs and food costs, I don't seemed to have felt the effects yet, no doubt it will eventually filter down and affect us all in some way or another. It will be interesting to see if this Government still goes ahead with the proposed road tax increases on cars registered after 2001 planned for March 2009. I would imagine that about then we could be in recession and also reeling from possible Council Tax inceases (as normal) and of course bills from the recently announced energy charge increases.

My company has just told all staff that there will be delays in paying salaries this month. We are U.S. funded :cry:

It's hit me REALLY hard, practically put me out of business.

 

I do window fitting for the new-build sector (David Wislon, Wimpey, Persimmon etc.) but I have always worked as a sub-contractor to enable me to 'go where the work is' - but now there is no work and the few employed fitters out there are doing what little work there is, leaving none whatsoever for me. I haven't fitted a single window for a new build for nearly three months, turning what was a grand a week income into zero.

 

I am just about making ends meet by going back to what I used to do which is doing replacement upvc doors and windows for private owners. TBH, I am actually quite enjoying the work and hours (used to be up at 4:30am for new build) but the loss of earning is horrendous.

 

We've had to sell a lot too!! :)

It's hit me REALLY hard, practically put me out of business.

 

I do window fitting for the new-build sector (David Wislon, Wimpey, Persimmon etc.) but I have always worked as a sub-contractor to enable me to 'go where the work is' - but now there is no work and the few employed fitters out there are doing what little work there is, leaving none whatsoever for me. I haven't fitted a single window for a new build for nearly three months, turning what was a grand a week income into zero.

 

I am just about making ends meet by going back to what I used to do which is doing replacement upvc doors and windows for private owners. TBH, I am actually quite enjoying the work and hours (used to be up at 4:30am for new build) but the loss of earning is horrendous.

 

We've had to sell a lot too!! :)

 

I just changed jobs after 8 yrs of fitting, am now a maintenance surveyor

with the local housing association, the guy i used to fit with has had no work

for 3 weeks now (we subcontracted for the same company for 8 yrs), i'm

beginning to think i made the right move!

I still do weekend cash jobs though, kept hold of my van. People still want the

work done, they just want it done for peanuts!:headvswal

My company has just told all staff that there will be delays in paying salaries this month. We are U.S. funded :cry:

 

if i was you bud i'd keep my eyes on any expensive looking equipment around the office...no pay on pay day then take the kit in lieu of the money tell em they can have it back when they pay you....its a bit like securing your debt :D :nana2:

You shoudl be ok now, the US has just agreed to the $700billion bail out.

You shoudl be ok now, the US has just agreed to the $700billion bail out.

Yeah, I think thats what they were holding back for.

You shoudl be ok now, the US has just agreed to the $700billion bail out.

 

its not over till the fat lady sings Stu....there is another vote to come yet before its ratified

 

interestingly enough all those who were voting against last nights motion (25 i think) are due up for re-election...i.e. their constituents were telling them vote for wall st bail out and lose your seat

Being self employed the economic downturn has hit me quite hard. Sales at DTA and Smithy's Place are down nearly 60% on last year's figures for the same period. On top of that margins are falling faster than house prices so what little turnover I do make there is even less profit in it. This is due to a combination of competition from other sources as well as increasing cost of parts and of course increasing shipping costs. Having looked at the company's finances I can only hope that things pick up soon otherwise it will become financial suicide to continue trading after December ...

I got laid off cause the project I was employed for was funded by a creditor

 

Project cancelled!

 

New job is better tho :) but been properly skint the last couple of months

Not me personally......

 

........at work I have seen orders decrease last month but sales still look pretty healthy for the forseeable future, although it's getting harder to secure large deposits in advance from customers (I work in the disabled access lift industry, where advance payments of up to 90% have been commonplace so far....). It's still do-able though; the sales team just have to negotiate a little harder:slap:

 

Richard:)

my job sucseeds in these times, i rent out bedsits, so the more it costs for people's mortgages the more reposessions the more tennants we get, sounds nasty but if t helps pay my mortgage then im hapy