| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Mrs Fiddlesticks |
are you tightening your beltFollowing on from Sean's thread about what we think will happen to mortgage rates etc. With all the talk of credit crunch and belt tightening are you changing habits, reducing spending or in anyway altering your ways in response to the situation?or is it business as usual? Or do you think this is media hype and there is no 'crisis'? |
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| Cho-ku-ri |
Our pampered U.K. population has been living unsustainably in this country for too long. It was always going to be a bumpy landing. It really hasn't happened yet. Wait till a big bank (your bank) shuts its doors. 
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| Northern_Lad |
Right, so now we're aware of the sky falling in around us, what should we do? 
I've not changed my ways much, but I'm doing a different set of things to those I was doing last year so it's hard to compare. The big banks will not fail. They may struggle; they may call in loans; they may reduce lending; they might even get bought by another institution, but they will not fail. |
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| RichardW |
Cutting back (IE less extravigante)
reducing usage (IE less fuel, less elec) looking for cheaper deals (better priced fuel & elec, CHEAPER FOOD I know but cut your cloth ect) reduce borrowings move borrowings to cheaper deals go out less & more economicaly stop eating out (ok did that big time 4 years a go so less of a reduction now) make pack ups if going on a trip not using service stations ect no magazines few papers burn more logs & less oil Justme |
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| Cho-ku-ri |
Either get debt free, or get into as much dept as you possibly can. 
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| bernie-woman |
It is definitely not a media hype - my workload as a debt caseworker has doubled and we are still not meeting demand (and rather annoyingly the banks are still lending irresponsibly even after all the talk of the credit squeeze) - I was in court yesterday with a couple going bankrupt and they were telling me at the court that there is now an 8 week waiting list to go bankrupt (it was 2 weeks a year ago) and instead of doing two a day they are doing three a day now.
We haven't changed anything but then again we don't have much debt - only the mortgage and we are overpaying on that whilst rates are low - have noticed the difference at the petrol pumps but can't reduce the use of the car anymore and also the price of food and we already grow our own etc.. - saw one of these lists on how to reduce the food cost in your household and rather smugly we identified we were doing all of them 
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| marigold |
At the moment I'm mostly just taking more notice of what I spend on food and shifting some of my savings to safer places. Might be able to get back into the property market towards the end of the year or early next year, but first I have to decide whether to stay hereabouts or make a big scary move... | ||||
| Barefoot Andrew |
I'm not cutting back at all - almost the opposite in fact. My financial affairs are much healthier than they were last year so I'm allocating more funds to real food, lifestyle, etc etc.
A. |
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| vegplot |
We have no mortage or debt (thankfully) but I do worry about our staff if a big crunch affects our business.
Our personal issues are we haven't built the house yet nor have we got up to speed with growing veg. When the house is built we will significantly reduce our dependancy on mains services. We eat out once a week (cheaply) but we really should be much less reliance on supermarkets. We're cycling to work when we can about 3 days a week which helps. |
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| Mrs Fiddlesticks |
I'm alot more aware of where money goes. Things like the Owl are making me aware of the electrickery we use. I'm trying to watch things like food wastage and we aim to get a wood-burning stove in here before next winter to cut down our bills further.
These aren't actually in response to the credit crunch but to longer term green aims of ours. |
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| AnnaD |
We have decided to really make an effort to spend less money. We are going to eat more healthily which means no takeaways and we'll be cutting down a lot on meat as well.
I'm trying to save as much money as possible while I can as well. We've given up even thinking of getting a mortgage and will concentrate on saving money for other future plans we have instead. |
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| thos |
There has been a new report published in Belgium http://www.rtbf.be/info/belganews/BELGANEWS23992811_5
88% of Belgians have reduced their expenditure: 44% on leasure 36% on clothing. But 27% have increased expenditure on food. 29% have reduced savings, 12% have increased. Globally, the Belgians save 13% of their income in a savings account (i.e. not counting mortgages). Any idea on the UK savings figures? We haven't really made any changes. We live quite frugally, pay a lot off our mortgage and put a fair bit aside. |
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| cab |
Don't have a great deal of belt tightening to do. Most of the time we're frugal to the point of being miserly. | ||||
| lottie |
We've cut back on everything but the expensive to tax/fuel pickup---we don't drive it much but we need it for stuff we carry and I traded in my cheap to run KA for it as when my knee got worse I needed something higher to get out of and leg room for driving so I don't feel guilty. | ||||
| Vic |
I'm being a bit contrary here - I've just got a new job which means I've got financial security (instead of wondering if I'll get paid at the end of the month, every month), and we've just finished saving enough cash to pay for our extension (and yes, it has a large contingency fund built in). So, for the first time in about two years, I'm actually able to go shopping or out for a meal without worrying about spending too much!
But yes, our mortgage is quite low and because we've saved to pay for the extension, we're not adding anything on to it; we get a lot of food from the lottie; we're also lookign to buy a woodburner to save on fuel costs; neither of us are into gizmos or fancy technology so we don't generally buy much, or have any credit card debts; and we're only having two weeks holiday in Scotland this year. Though with the increase in petrol prices it might well be cheaper to fly up there than drive (if I was brave I'd raise that on the thread about fuel prices...) 
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| marigold |
Not nearly enough |
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| growingafamily |
I agree with Cho-ku-ri about too many people living unsubstainably. We see it everyday among our friends.
We know of one family in particular who have racked up £20K of debt in two years, have nothing to show for it, are still spending like crazy. I'm 26, hubby is 32, we find lots of friends who got married when we did had to buy a house right away with the largest mortgage they could afford, then had to furnish it out with all brand new white goods etc, they have really felt the crunch and continue to do so. We on the other hand didn't buy our house until 2 yrs ago (we married in 2003), at a level we could comfortably afford, and still afford if mortgage rates shoot up, furnished it with stuff given by family and other 2nd hand finds (some stuff was wedding presents too LOL). Things that will get tightened a bit are our petrol bill. Hubby has finished uni so no more 2 hr commute there also will be working in office closer to home and will be cycling (as much as possible) using a bike kindly given on freecycle. Baby 2 is on the way, but have most things from last time, inc cloth nappies, wipes etc. We are getting better prepared by growing more this year, preserving more etc. Even managed this week to find a loaf recipe that worked for me LOL so thats another thing that will be cheaper. Our food bill has gone up slightly though as there are some things we'd rather not compromise. sorry to have gone on LOL |
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| jema |
We are belt tightening in a big way, as I have just been nobbled to the tune of £20,000  all part of the big squeeze 
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| cinders |
I've always had to been frugal,
but room for improvement would like to save on electric/switch supplier, aswell as cut down save on food, even though i only spend £50 approx per week on all our grocery needs.Any savings go aside to help with our mortage We don't travel much as can't afford it/Tesco delivery once every 3wks big savings on fuel for us pack lunch/cook more,healthier foods with less meat(not that we consume much of that) We hardly go out,hence the reason OH has sky but i'd like to cut that down aswell.Kind of holding on to it as it will be our cushion if our mortage goes up |
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| bernie-woman |
Ouch
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| gil |
'kinell, jema. sorry to hear that. | ||||
| vegplot |
You have my sympathy. Dare I ask how ? |
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| Snowball |
Jema lost a major support contract from a big company, that has provided us with at least 20k a year for a few years now.
Much belt tightening going on here. We have even cancelled the Laithwaites subscription.
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| cab |
Sorry to hear that Jema. Thats a rotten thing to happen
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| bernie-woman |
Ouch and ouch - hopefully another contract will be around the corner
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| mochyn |
We already live reasonably frugally, partly to try to spend less but mainly for 'green' reasons. Since the old chap is almost the sole earner (my income is tiny) I feel it incumbent upon me to make the best of what we spend in the way of food etc.
It really helps having our own eggs, pork, fruit & veg: we spend very little on food shopping. We do need to look at way of raising the cash to build a small extension: as soon as that's done the old chap would like to stop doing the full time work 35 miles away and do something part time and more locally, giving savings in time and cash on travel and making more time for 'real' work here. Jema: that's really rough. How are you all coping? Can you throw Amipest out on the streets to earn anything? |
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| marigold |
Bummer . I hope that something better comes up soon (or that the idiots realise their mistake - be sure to increase your charges if they beg you to go back ).
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| jema |
Illegally lost under the contract terms I might add  but due to a certain complexity not a lot I can legally do about it.
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| gil |
More homebrew, then. |
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| mochyn |
Wasn't there a money-saving thread here once? Maybe it should be revived... | ||||
| Mrs Fiddlesticks |
sorry to hear that jema. My best wishes to you and your family - hope there is something else around the corner.
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| jema |
It was a contract that had every reason to end, and I am not complaining on that score. But they have still diddled us out of a years money that they should be contractually obliged to pay 
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| lettucewoman |
sorry to hear that jema
After a really good year last year this year is not anywhere near as good - we are having long gaps between jobs despite more marketig, so we are back to living frugally (no coffees out ) and have started to use the pushbikes and the motorbike instead of the car.
I need to get my jewellery our to fairs etc but its finding the ones I can afford a stall at!! It's mainly fuel thats affecting us - we buy a lot of our food from the reduced counter and are growing more this year...our ground rent is the same as last year and the gas has gone up but not too much. Lecky we will have to see... Ive been a bit naughty buying clothes off ebay - but I've stopped now  (only so many long velvet skirts one woman can wear)
we went t the festie last weekend but the cost of the fuel was huge - the festie itself cost £12 each! |
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| toggle |
himself had got a better job, and i was thinking that our days of belt tightening were over. Things haven't exactly gone as planned. I'm still uncertain of what my income or expenditures will be, or what proportion of the unpaid bills i will have to pay | ||||
| boisdevie1 |
We've always tightened our belts. And we're always trying to save money/consume less. So this year we have decided to switch on the immersion heater every other day and eat less meat. | ||||
| Chez |
Sorry to hear that Jema and Snowball .
We are tightening our belts, for similar 'stitched up by an ex-client' reasons and of course because I'm not working at the moment because of babies. Our mortgage comes out of it's tie-in at the end of June and it's going to stretch us; but because of our change in circumstances it's probably not going to be possible to remortgage on anything other than a self-cert with an equally high APR. We are + cutting down on electric, courtesy of the OWL + growing more of our own food (and the chicken's food) + budgeting what we spend on bought food + using less oil and more wood, now we have the agarayburnhunter going + trying to travel wisely Every little thing we can, really. It's about habit, isn't it? One new good living habit a month, is my aim, rather than a complete overnight lifestyle change. |
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| jema |
thanks for the tea and sympathy but please keep it limited, we are going from cushy to what may be a bit tough (especially when you have got a bit too used to cushy ) but compared to a lot of peoples circumstances it is no big deal, we may not be going on holiday this year, but we ain't going to be repossessed 
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| Chez |
It's still jolt to the system, though - speaking as one who's comfort zone has just suddenly involuntarily contracted. | ||||
| BahamaMama |
Definitely feeling the pinch at the moment, we both have 30+ mile commutes (and no viable public transport options) so the fuel increases are taking a big bite out of our income. Veg are growing well at the moment, chickens are producing lots of eggs, shopping is very often at the end of the day when things are reduced, meals out are a distant memory 
We are still in the very comfortable bracket but definitely noticing a difference. |
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| Belinda |
We are very fortunate in having a very small mortgage (because we bought a smallish house 11 years ago that we could afford on one income at the time, and we'd saved for a good deposit) and that makes things feel more comfortable. However, it turns out that teenage girls are an expensive species and so is saving up towards their future university education etc. We are always fairly frugal but I have recently cut down what we spend on meat and looking hard at the food bills overall. Pinching electricity in every way we can. Trying to be really mean with petrol too though that is difficult - both our jobs involve travel, to places where public transport isn't an option, so we have to run two cars. I try to cut down on local car use wherever possible. We don't eat out, we have an allotment, and nearly all meals are cooked from scratch. | ||||
| yummersetter |
I've responded to a possibly catastrophic financial nosedive in time-honoured peasant fashion - planting three times as many potatoes and having no scruples about using slug pellets round the veg seedlings.
Our business downsizing is beginning, moving some facilities out of rented premises and into a custom built studio on our own land. And we're investigating solar water heating for those processes, with information from these forums, as the studio has a huge southfacing slate roof |
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| Chez |
Off topic, but I would recommend Navitron. Helpful and reasonably priced. Our system is providing background heat for the DHW all year and between March and Sept it does most of it. |
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| marigold |
It did flick though my mind that I'd be thrilled if I HAD an income of £20k a year , but as chez said it's all relative and it's horrible to be treated badly by people you've worked for.
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| Bebo |
Not really. My job is reasonably well paid and we are in the fortunate position of having no mortgage and some savings. As most of my work is for housebuilders / developers I am expecting things to slow down, but at the moment there is no sign of that happening. If it does, we have enough squirrelled away to last a few years, especially if we reduce our expenditure on frivolous things like eating out and my OH's tool buying habit. If I'm at home more I anticipate being able to make sure that the veg beds and polytunnel are a lot more productive therefore saving even more. | ||||
| Barefoot Andrew |
Maybe so - but duff news nevertheless. Sorry to hear so. A. |
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| jax |
ive had my gas and electric tariff capped. im paying 7% more at the moment but if the prices go up in summer like they are saying i should be better off. | ||||
| Frewen |
I'm always looking for ways to tighten my belt. We lost my income when I stayed at home to look after the children, but then we had lived frugally to pay the mortgage off and didn't upsize like most of our peers (no it's not cruel to make two children share a room ).
I'm looking on it as an opportunity to learn/practice even more downsizery ways. Sorry to hear about the contract Jema - I admire your attitude to it; I think I would be sulking at the least
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| Rosemary Judy |
Reveiwed where I do my shopping - off to a cheaper supermarket for non food items.
Not prepared to compromise on food, but will be eating more from the plot, and more eggs from the girls and less meat..... looking at switching gas and leccy again - but researching how green the green ones really are is time consuming. Recommendations would be welcome looking at switching to a cheaper broad band and phone supplier. Using my much more economical but much less fun to drive, and less comfy, car for trips to visit family this weekend we both walk to our main jobs anyway..... stopped going out for meals a couple of years ago anyway - cept the odd one looking for more work - any one want a dietitian ???????? |
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| jema |
I have canceled magazines, wine orders, switched the sky broadband to the free option, got an Owl, got a better deal on virgin broadband, canceled the national trust, stopped a routine we had been in of taking a friend out to lunch weekly, all told I guess that saves £1500 or so.
It is amazing how all the odds and sods can add up if you have not been that bothered about budgeting. |
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| vegplot |
There's a saying "watch the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves" how very true. |
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| James |
We've been trying to live as frugally as possible for a while. Any spare cash goes into over-paying the mortgage. Thats been going very well for a few years.
My OH is on maternity at the momment & she's taking a year off, so her statutary entitlement runs out before she returns to work. Hence, for some time, we'll be on one income. So far, its going OK, but our mortgage is up for renewal in December & then we'll notice a difference. I've calculated that at current mortgage rates (lets say, fixed at 6.2%), we'll pay around £120 extra per month. If they rise further, we could be looking at £150-£180 extra per month. Do-able, but a bitter pill to swallow. More belt tightening will be needed as we have child care costs to contend with & we're both planning on going four days a week, so there's a 20% drop in income. On the up-side, my partner got a promotion just before she left on maternity leave, so she'll return to a higher sallery. And I've just inherrited an allotment which I should get time to attend to when my MSc finishes this autumn, so our home-grown intake will increase (presently our garden produces only a fraction of our vegetable needs) |
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| wellington womble |
Himself wants to make a fuel conversion plant thingy, and is sniffing around for waste veg oil. I'm awful at economising, but I have been very good at not shopping too much on the internet lately. Other than completely unavoidable mortgages etc, our main expenses are food, petrol, books, yarn, cinema/dvd's, beer and cigarettes. Himself has cut down on his drinking, and one of my aims this year is to make cider. He continues to attempt to give up smoking. Petrol I've mentioned, and I only spend money on books, yarn, etc if there is actually money in the bank (I never use my credit card, although I have one just in case) We also need to get the solar hot water up and running.
Food - ah, that's hard. Actually, it's better than it has been - I have a delivery of basics, and just top it up when necessary. I buy much less in bulk now, as we live further from the wholesalers. Apparently, our local farm shop has improved a lot, so I think I'm going to cancel the veg box and get stuff as and when (It's on my way home) I have every intention of putting the front wheel on my bike. Someday. I'll be giving up my Monsoon habit
The sun did a feature on this, and mentioned a clothes swapping site - I'll check the link. |
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| wellington womble |
Ah - it's http://www.whatsmineisyours.com/ | ||||
| gil |
looks pretty expensive to me, and more like ebay |
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| cab |
These guys here are excellent chaps, well worth picking the brains of for this kind of thing: http://www.cambridgebiodiesel.co.uk/ |