How has the recession affected you?

T

thedaras

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I was thinking about this today,and to be honest I see no sign of it around my area.
I don't know any one where I live that has lost their jobs,the cars are from 06 to 10, the extensions and garden work is on going.A lot of the houses would have been purchased at the height of the boom,so presumably the mortgages are big.

The local cafes still have the morning crew for coffee etc,the pubs are quiet Monday to Thursday,but I think that has more to do with the smoking ban.The shopping centre/hair dressers/beauticians is still busy,the kids are still doing their after school activity's,etc etc,.

I don't mean for those who have lost their jobs,but for those who still have jobs,how much has it affected you personally..

I suppose what Im saying is that their are still a lot of people who have jobs, OK their income has been reduced,but it doesn't seem to be badly affecting what they do,and by doing what they are doing ie; spending money,they are obviously keeping others in jobs.
 
I'm glad to say, and this isn't meant as a gloat, but things haven't really changed for me.

I appreciate that many are in dire straits and I do feel for them, especially if they were hard workers and now in trouble due to no fault of their own.
 
Yes.I agree with you..but I really don't mean those who have lost their jobs( that must be incredibly difficult .I mean those who still have a job,(with reduced income).
 
I don't want to gloat either.

My pay wasn't cut though I work damn harder as staff were laid off.

But even with the income levies, my rent went down 200 euro a month so realy, just comparing levies and rent, I'm nearly better off.
I was paying market rate and still pay market rate

Better off in a reccesion you say :confused:

If you're renting somewhere a few years and haven't managed to get a discount then look into it, could be huge savings. Rents have collapsed!

I don't know very much on NAMA or national debt. Or the upcoming budget
I do understand money in my pocket every month so I can't say the recession has affected me that much.
 
edited out, the OP want just personal experiences and I've done that

Not going off topic
 
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I'm probably doing a bit better since the recession. Working harder too though. I'm spending in anticipation of banking Armageddon.

People who haven't lost their jobs might not feel too much of an effect...yet. However, they'll only notice cut backs when they need them. For example, PRSI dental care.

The real problems will start after the budget, getting steadily worse for the next few years. It would be interesting to see if this thread is updated in 6 months.

Remember, we are coming down from a very high level, where people were borrowing and spending like crazy.
 
My pay has been cut twice.

Also, due to the income levy and the doubled Health levy, my taxes/deductions have increased.

So my take-home pay is down, maybe 400 pm.

Due to the recession, the ECB has cut interest rates to 1%, so my mortgage interest rate is now 1.5%, and my mortgage interest is down from about 500 pm to under 200 pm.
 
On the pure financial side, even with a pay cut I've been much better off these last few years. Combination of low mortgage rates, reduced prices and naturally we're actually buying less. So maybe from that view it's all rosy.

Downside though: much more work for less pay and less rewarding work too. Being told I'm lucky to have a job by peers when I worked bleedin hard to get my job there was no luck about it. Employers who feel that continually hanging the sword of Damocles over employee’s heads of threatening job losses is the best motivational technique ever invented. News for employers: it works for about 6 months, after that you have to actually learn how to be a good manager to maintain motivation.

Lack of foresight or long term thinking in employers where they only consider how to squeeze more money out of people rather than considering that losing clients because our ability to assist and service (the stuff they've already paid for) is far more detrimental. employers not realising that the new hard sell technique has meant a massive loss of trust from our clients. And so all round difficult, miserable and depressing working conditions and largely because of a worrying lack of business savvy among employers.

So the financials are good, the psychologicals aint.
 
We're probably doing the opposite of most people. We're getting an extension on the house and thereby wiping out all our savings. On the plus side we don't have a mortgage and I still have my job so we're not too affected by things at the minute. The extension is probably a fair bit cheaper now than say 3 years ago, plus the timelines and quality of builder is better I feel. So as long as I stay working I think (touch wood) we should be ok. As I outlined in another thread tho, my biggest fear is the IMF coming here and further damaging this country for everyone living here, but that's for the other thread!
 
Latrade said:
Downside though: much more work for less pay and less rewarding work too. Being told I'm lucky to have a job by peers when I worked bleedin hard to get my job there was no luck about it. Employers who feel that continually hanging the sword of Damocles over employee’s heads of threatening job losses is the best motivational technique ever invented. News for employers: it works for about 6 months, after that you have to actually learn how to be a good manager to maintain motivation.

Lack of foresight or long term thinking in employers where they only consider how to squeeze more money out of people rather than considering that losing clients because our ability to assist and service (the stuff they've already paid for) is far more detrimental. employers not realising that the new hard sell technique has meant a massive loss of trust from our clients. And so all round difficult, miserable and depressing working conditions and largely because of a worrying lack of business savvy among employers.
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Exactly the same story where I work. I can see a mass exodus of good people if there is ever a turn around in the economy.

My househld income is down to 33% of pre recession days (OH not working, Ive taken paycuts) - but no personal debt bar mortgage which was my own mortgage before I met OH so easily manageable on my income alone now.

Still saving, but not as much, and putting more consideration into large spends - do we really 'need' to go on an expensive holiday - or could we manage with a bit of daytripping around Ireland - that type of thing.

Also some small luxuries have fallen by the wayside as just not justifiable - things like occasional sports massage, less of the hairdressers, less likely to just fork out for expensive theatre tickets. And nights out now usually mean one of us driving to cut down on taxi costs.
 
Am lucky in so far as I have had no drop in income, apart from the increased levy, etc and my mortgage has dropped by €300 per month as it is a tracker, so it is at its lowest point. Where I need a kick in the backside is that I have spent that €300 on, well I dont know what.

Have decided to take €400 per month out of my salary and pretend I never had it, so that should give me savings of €5k per year.

Not cutting down on personal luxuries as such, the main reason why I work is that I have a nice lifestyle. I do not go mad buying clothes, cosmetics, but what I buy can be expensive. (eg, last week work boots €200, dress €200) Not as many nights out, though etc, taxis too expensive, more likely now to have a nice dinner in and a few bottles of wine.

Worry I have is that job is not secure and I personally think there is only a couple of years left in it. But will cross that bridge when I come to it.
 
RMCF said:
I'm glad to say, and this isn't meant as a gloat, but things haven't really changed for me.

QUOTE]

I'm in the same boat, still in my job, no pay cuts although I do work twice as hard. But I have the same salary while everything else drops in price so I feel the benefits of cheaper living costs. We can afford our mortgage, our bills and still have a luxury holiday. So to be honest I'm better off now than I ever was. I should add that during the "boom" years I didn't borrow money except my car loan (since paid off) and had no credit card debt so that has meant that these days the mortgage is my only loan. So am I lucky? Or was I just sensible and didn't get carried away (never bought something I could not afford to pay for) and that has meant I'm in a good position now of being able to save instead of paying back numerous personal loans / credit card debt like many posters.
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Not personally impacted yet but am in the private sector so never know when it might happen. (no slur intended there to PS workers, I wouldn't have taken a PS job during the good times so can't complain about your job security now:)

Not getting any enjoyment out of the recession though, too many people in a really bad place and the country has little to show for the good times.
 
I have taken a straightforward pay cut and another pay cut in the form of a pension levy, so my income is down considerably. I have cut down seriously on nights out, get my hair cut and coloured bytrainees as it is half the price and am constantly on the look out for bargains in the supermarket. I think twice before buying things now and am hanging onto my ten year old car, my microwave with the door that is hard to get open, stuff like that, that I would have replaced a couple of years ago. I also didn't have a holiday this year or last year.
To be honest, I'm amazed that so many people on here aren't feeling the pinch. I can't believe you're representative of the population still in work.
 
Not enough doom and gloom in here!
Was made redundant, no job prospects so had to emigrate, still no job prospects so stuck here and have no hopes of getting home anytime soon.

The only 'plus' is I didnt buy property/debt free and have no dependants.
 
i'm pretty lucky too, have taken pay cuts but i have a tracker mortagage so the savings on that have made up for the pay cut. Both myself and my husband are working so we're very lucky. Cars are both over then years old but are running fine and are paid for.
Gas and ESB prices are down as we switched both to bord gais, all talk of recession has changed my attitiude when shopping so now i'm more likely to look out for bargains, shop in lidl and local butchers and greengrocers.
Clothes are more likely to come from penneys and dunnes these days which doesn't bother me. Overall we're very lucky and i'm well aware of how good we have it!
The house is in negative equity but it's our home that we bought three years ago for a decent price as it's a real fixer-upper and we intend to live in it for many years so that doesn't play on my mind.
 
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