Are the good times over ?

[rodderz]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

The good times are almost over I think. Will finalise my decision towards the end of the year.

I actually agree with Flappist on this one. People generally want the best of everything far to quickly these days.

I work with people who make very good money, still live at home with the parents yet come time to buy a $15 grand car they are off to the bank to borrow 90% of it...

I really think you should run your life like a business, I do, and have no regrets. See what money you have coming in, see what would generally go out over the course of a month, plan for a rainy day or week, plan for a family emergency, plan for rate rises etc.

How many people live payslip by payslip? Although I'm only young, I like some of the valuable lessons those older than me told me about.

Like starting small, roughing it for a while when times are good, and then being able to survive the bad times should they pop up out of the blue.

Buy what you can afford, not what you want here and now... credit can be good, and a tax deductable expense, but borrowing for things that won't make you live longer etc is just stupid.

Ask your parents what they did when they were teenagers and young adults. Sure, those times are long gone, but the lessons behind them are valid to this day, perhaps more so.

Take control of your own life, be proactive rather than reactive. Sacrifice every now and again, rough it once in a while, be willing to work harder than the person next to you and you will be in a far better position to weather the downturn.

For those who are starting to hurt, act now. Over act even. It may just save you in the long run...

Very very smart. I think it's the only way to go with life as it is these days and how money determines everything.

Everyone's entitled to fun, toys etc but every now and then you have to sit back and look at how everything is travelling, plan ahead and see where to go from there. Do you cut back on things to survive better in tough times or do you go with the flow.

You may have to get rid of some things or sacrifice some comforts long the way, but the stress levels will be lower

[BENT_8]

The good times are over for some, the rich will get richer though.
For every poor soul that loses their home, some investor will make a packet renting them a house for not much less than the mortgage which crippled them.

The way i see it, interest rates on mortgages wont be the cause of it though, people using their plastic money to make mortgage repayments when the cash is gone is what will break the camels back.

You cant survive paying interest twice.

[gcg2503]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

The good times are over for some, the rich will get richer though.
For every poor soul that loses their home, some investor will make a packet renting them a house for not much less than the mortgage which crippled them.

The way i see it, interest rates on mortgages wont be the cause of it though, people using their plastic money to make mortgage repayments when the cash is gone is what will break the camels back.

You cant survive paying interest twice.

Especially since credit card interest is around 15-25% depending on the institution vs 9% on home loans

Feel sorry for the people that need to resort to plastic due to circumstance. And i am not talking about the 50" LCD brigade either

[Hunter]

There's nothing wrong with getting a car loan for 100% or near 100% - so long as you pay it off more quickly than you need to. We just bought a new car, put down $500 deposit and that was it. Why? Because we _can_ pay it off quickly and we _will_. This is what I did with my last car loan and I paid it out much much earlier than it was supposed to, and saved myself a lot of interest in the process. We are planning to do the same with our new one and will pay it out twice as quickly as the term is now (5 yrs).

Have the 'good times' ended? Not really. We're still riding on the back of the resources boom and while a lot of things have gone up stupidly in price (houses, fuel, groceries), our economy is still doing 'ok'. The main problem is with people buying crap they don't need (I must point out that we needed a new car because my Falcon was turning into a money chasm, not a pit)...

I think the world economy is going to take one up the khyber and we will suffer a little bit of blow back but I don't think we will all end up lining up in the cold for stale bread once a week.