Credit, Loans and personal debt
02-September-2010
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Credit, Loans and personal debt

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I’m really fed up generally with the amount of junk mail that I get, but more so the amount of offers for credit cards and loans that come in the post these days.  It feels like everywhere you turn, credit card companies and banks are falling over each other to try and persuade you to borrow more money.

credit, loans, personal debt problems and bankrupcy

This country has, in my opinion a serious debt problem at the moment, or more accurately a problem with its attitude towards debt.  For example, loans, when used wisely, are a great stepping stone.  However with more and more people abusing then, loans are slowly becoming modern man's gallows.  It’s the young people I feel sorry for most.  They’re growing up in a world where it is not unusual to be in debt by several thousand pounds and where living on an overdraft is considered normal.  Yet for some reason or other the big creditors and banks are more willing than ever to keep throwing loans and cards at some of the most vulnerable people.  Personal debt in the UK is currently at an all time high of 1.1 trillion pounds and is increasing by around 1 million pounds every four minutes (source www.creditaction.org.uk).

There are a number of other factors that either have, or will enter the equation at some point in the future.  The property market is one good example.  House prices are so high that first time buyers cannot get on the property ladder, whilst those who can afford to buy a house now face much larger mortgage repayments.  Add to this the fact that the price of a barrel of crude oil is currently at a record high.  The knock on effect of expensive oil is that you pay more at the petrol pump and household energy bills go up.  You’re spending more, so you borrow more.

The story behind price of crude oil is interesting in its own right and one of the reasons oil prices are on the increase is that there is more demand from developing countries such as China.  Our manufacturing industry is in direct competition with the Chinese. With greater worldwide competition some of our export industries will naturally take a bit of a hit and some of the people who work in these industries may loose their jobs.  Some of the unemployed people will be unable to cover their personal debt and this may lead to bankruptcy.

Banks and Credit card companies, too much borrowing

There is a fine balance with so many of things are connected to everything else.  Where is the vicious circle of borrowing and spending all going to end?  Basically we don’t know!  We’re muddling through and the cost of living just goes up and up.  No problem for the banks and lenders though, they just dole out some more credit and make a quick buck while they can!

I think we all need to learn to live within our means and to borrow less.  Attitudes need to change and the credit industry needs to be regulated better before it’s too late.

Sites that may be of interest

Debt help UK
User friendly and informative web site with lots of information and links related to this issue.


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"Do not trade with China. They are not fit to deal with."

As stated by the previous poster, it is a regime which tramples on human rights and prevents access to the media. The way they have treated the Tibetan and Uygur minorities is scandalous, Tibet of course being a country which they effectively annexed.

China still has widespread child labour and other inhumane practices, breaches copyright laws, and produces fake goods, which is a form of theft, even though most people don't see it as such.

Unfortunately there are some instances where we simply cannot avoid buying Chinese goods, and for that matter those of other countries whose regimes breach human rights, for example Israel, but it is always worth looking for alternatives.
*MikeP  14-Mar-2010 23:01

 
Do not trade with China. They are not fit to deal with.

Minister of Industry and Information Technology Li Yizhong was speaking at China's annual legislation session about Google/

"We need to preserve our nation's interest, our people's interest, we cannot be relaxed with any information that will cause harm to the stability of our society, to our system, and to the health of our under-age young people," he said.

"So, of course, what needs to be shut down will be shut down, what needs to be blocked will be blocked."
*Do NOT trade with China  14-Mar-2010 22:14

 
Well. Go ahead spend spend spend. Soon you will be able to pay off your credit debt with a devalued, worthless and inflated pound.

The pound is in total freefall. Just watch them add zeroes on the notes. They have no choice. Hyperinflation is staring us in the face. Just watch the printing machines. They are going to speed them up.

£1,000,000,000,000,000 for a can of baked beans.

Impossible you say. Well it isn't.

Zimbabwe.
*Mark my Words  15-Nov-2008 08:27

 
In China everyone is singing

"I ain't got nobody and nobody cares for me."

http://tinyurl.com/5uzuqp

How they deal with traitors.
*Running around like headless chickens  10-Aug-2008 23:20

 
Shopping around for a quote for your car insurance [http://www.carinsurance-cheap.info/] instead of automatically renew your policy is something that you absolutely have to do. Most of the time it will give you a quality insurance and at the same time usually save you money.

The old fashioned way to track down an affordable car insurance quote is to go directly to the source. Head to your local insurance office in person; sit down with an agent, and find out what discounts and rates are available. Keep in mind however, that your idea of a cheap car insurance and your agents may be totally different. A cheap car insurance quote for a new sports car owner with a history of accidents for instance, will be substantially different than the cheap car insurance quote offered to the owner of a fifteen year old pick-up with a spotless record.
*John  23-Feb-2008 15:57

 
I have noticed that our country rewards incompetence, The US and the countries of the EUropean Union also seem to do this. The incompetence I am talking about is the inability to manage a large business properly and profitably over a long period of time. I mean, by a long time, several generations. These people are not trying to leave the next or subsequent generations any a kind of wealth.

The people at the top of businesses and companies in this country want to make a very fast buck for themselves, in as short a time as possible, as quickly as possible before they are found out just how bad they were at running the businesses they were assigned.

Selling young people credit is extremely profitable in the short term. In the long term it is disasterous for the country, to social cohesion, to everything this nation stands for.

Selling China and India the blueprints how to make cars, buses and lorries is very profitable in the short term. In the long term the next generation will not find work as skilled labourers. Theirs will be the work of unskilled labour, if they have a job at all. Those who sell these industrial patterns are nothing short of being traitors.

With China and India on the horizon, the European Union, having failed to protect us from the onslaught of cheap industrial goods from territories outside the union, which it was supposed to do, becomes totally irrelevant. We should seriously question our membership.

Don't look to politicians for a lead: all they are out to do is make a fast buck for themselves. Greed has driven this country to desparation.

Buy gold. Go self sufficient.
*Argos Panoptes  02-Dec-2007 10:23

 
I have no debt but the banks are determined to get me into debt, letters every week , this cheque for 10 grand could be yours. you can borrow this that and the next thing, I'm not even employed
*timasora  01-Dec-2007 23:15

 
It's the same here in the US too, in that seemingly every day I get credit card offers, home load re-finance offers, and on and one it goes. These banks and lending institutions want your soul financially...

It's really about being financially responsible, and resisting the temptation to get that credit card...

Here's what I do with these offers...

I shred the paper and then send it back in the postage paid envelope provided. No reason why you can't have a bit of fun with the junk they send you, right?
*Captain D  16-Dec-2006 23:42

 
just look at the difference between the rise in the cost of living? to the rise in our wages. 5 years ago I was earning £17500 p/a and the average house price in my area was around 55k now its 110k but the average wage doesn't seem to have gone up much yet debt as risen dramaticaly you do the math
*WRX  21-Mar-2006 23:33

 
As a housewife, I believe couples in a marriage should treat each other as equals. My husbands job doesn't allow me to work because he travels so much. While he's away, it is my responsibility to take care of the children and bills. We work as a team and neither one of us have credit problems or debts. Yes, a woman can stay at home and not run her husband into debt. Maybe it would be better if the man trusted the woman more. We're just as smart with money as you are. Give us a little credit. Before we met our men, we dealt with our problems on our own.
*Responsible Housewife  27-Feb-2006 04:20

 
It would be interesting if a court declined a possession order on the grounds of irresponsible lending.
*Michael  07-Feb-2006 21:33

 
As someone who has fallen foul of the credit card companies - and now my credit rating is somewhere burryied under antartica, while my (bad) debts are so large it doesn't really matter any more - I say the credit card companies deserve all they get. Debt in this country will soon be too heavy for the economy to support in the very near future, and hopefully the finance houses will have to pay the price by not being able to recover any of the bad debts they hve given away without checking people's ability to pay.
my advice to anyone about to go bust is spend every penny left on your cards / loand - cos it doesnt matter if you fail to pay £300 or £50,000 - if your debts are un secured, they cannot touch you - and you may as well buy what you can before your cards are stopped.,
*got debts - dont paythem - dontcare!!!  03-Jan-2006 14:18


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