Preparing for troubled times ahead - Advice on what is needed.....

[ONE]

You need a community ready to accept it's situation first and we're probably at least a generation away from that. Everything I see, everything I hear, locally, nationally and across the western world is focussed upon how we're going to maintain our standard of living.

We're not.

 

[TeeDee]

I sometimes think these things are self fulfilling prophesies!

Or created so we end up owning not very much.

BlackRock Buying Up Residential America. – Civilian Intelligence Network

www.civilianintelligencenetwork.ca

Lloyds Bank to buy 50,000 homes in coming years

The housing market could be in for a financial boost of an unusual kind as a High Street bank plans to buy 10,000 homes by the end of 2025.

www.estateagenttoday.co.uk

I do wonder if what we are seeing now is the beginning of something else other than unintended inflation due to covid & gfc lag

 

[Toddy]

I think the best thing folks can do is live simply and save resources/pay off debt as much as possible before inflation and interest rates really bite.

Many of us have lived through the days of mortgage rates of 17%.....and that was hard enough when you could only get one and a half times the main breadwinner's salary for a couple.
My son was recently offered five times his annual salary He was looking for twice and he had a huge deposit. Imagine taking on five times and then finding the interest rates tripling ? If they're offering it though, there'll be some will have taken them up on it.

We are incredibly rich in stuff these days. Not just the physical bricks and mortar, but the whole electronic this that and t'other, the multiple choices we have about everything.
We don't need that, we just like it.

 

[Broch]

Or created so we end up owning not very much.

BlackRock Buying Up Residential America. – Civilian Intelligence Network

www.civilianintelligencenetwork.ca

Lloyds Bank to buy 50,000 homes in coming years

The housing market could be in for a financial boost of an unusual kind as a High Street bank plans to buy 10,000 homes by the end of 2025.

www.estateagenttoday.co.uk

I do wonder if what we are seeing now is the beginning of something else other than unintended inflation due to covid & gfc lag

Every recession, every financial 'blip', inflation rise, interest rise ... is an opportunity for someone to gain. And, to be honest, financial institutions would be criticized if they did not make good business investment decisions and act on them. Many people's pensions are reliant on banks and other institutions doing exactly that.

I don't think Lloyds becoming a major landlord is necessarily a bad thing; they have a reputation to protect which is more than can be said for a lot of private landlords. I believe banks own quite a bit of rental property in countries like Germany and that seems to work.

 

[Wayne]

Im confused but I often am. I'm pretty good at science and medicine but economics confuses me as its often counter intuitive.

Currently the official inflation figures are running at around 10-11 percent. whilst everything I purchase including my business expenses are increasing nearer 40-50%. Food, Energy, diesel etc.

Are other people's experiences the same? How is there such a difference between the official figures are my bills?

 

[TeeDee]

Every recession, every financial 'blip', inflation rise, interest rise ... is an opportunity for someone to gain. And, to be honest, financial institutions would be criticized if they did not make good business investment decisions and act on them. Many people's pensions are reliant on banks and other institutions doing exactly that.

I don't think Lloyds becoming a major landlord is necessarily a bad thing; they have a reputation to protect which is more than can be said for a lot of private landlords. I believe banks own quite a bit of rental property in countries like Germany and that seems to work.

Maybe - but having access to the printed money at source and at extremely low interest terms allows the over bidding thus pushing joe public potentially out of the housing market.

That can't be a good thing long term. At least for Joe public.

No profit isn't a dirty word but there tends to be acceptable ways to do it without the need to rely on an uneven playing field.

 

[ONE]

Perhaps the era of Joe Public having a reasonable expectation of owning a house before middle age, if at all, is over?

 

[Woody girl]

You need a community ready to accept it's situation first and we're probably at least a generation away from that. Everything I see, everything I hear, locally, nationally and across the western world is focussed upon how we're going to maintain our standard of living.

We're not.

That is so true, and something we have to accept. I've been going towards a simpler life for many years, and I feel, as long as I can afford rent and water bills, the rest is get aroundable. I grow veg, forage, and live much more simply than I did ten or fifteen years ago.
I have shaved so much away, I can still afford to buy what I need if I cannot find it second hand and I will haggle. Its surprising what you can get.
Bought a slashing hook at the weekend and got £4.00 off, a twenty four pound price tag. Not much, but it was very blunt, so I asked for a discount "as it would take a lot of work to get it usable"
Every little helps!

Wayne, I'm sure that inflation is much higher than they admit to. It just doesn't add up at all, and hasn't for some while. I cottoned it when they were saying its only 8% inflation.
I reckon the real figure is so frightening they realy dare not say, but still saying its a fair bit above what it was, so as the sheeple don't panic too much. I reckon it's about 30% myself right now. It certainly will be more than 50% by October when the leccy goes orbital. They will try and convince us it's less though.
The only way to know for real is to do your sums from last year, and compare to this. If your bills etc are 40 or 60 or 80% more, then that's what it realy is.
I was listening to a radio program today and they were saying its already about 30% in one baltic country or other. I didn't catch which one as I was busy. But it caught my ear at the time.
Something has to give, and it won't be big business companies, like the power and fuel ones. It will be us. The plebs.

I'm glad I'm not living a high tech life, I know that some have felt I was being a bit of a dinosaur, but realy... I'm ahead of the game in some ways.
That's not to gloat at all, it's foresight, or instinct, or just plain luck!

 

[C_Claycomb]

I had a chat the other day with a guy who owned a few rental properties, along with a small retail business with three retail sites spread around this part of the country. He said two things that tie in here. One, that the financial institutions and pension funds are the biggest landlords, and it is their buying power that has kept the housing prices so high that people struggle to afford them. Second, that many commercial properties have also been built or bought by similar funds who have no interest in selling on, only want to rent them. This chap wanted to expand, found a good site in a brand new development, but was not able to buy the site since the owners only want to rent. Of course, when conditions are tough, owning outright is a huge help for a small business. He thought that the future was liable to be that no individual would own their own home.

I have to admit I am looking at the savings I have in a bank and thinking it might be good to take some out and put it into something more tangible than fiat currency.

 

[Broch]

put it into something more tangible than fiat currency.

It was you!

 

[TeeDee]

I have to admit I am looking at the savings I have in a bank and thinking it might be good to take some out and put it into something more tangible than fiat currency.

Worth less with every single day that passes.

 

[Scottieoutdoors]

I have to admit I am looking at the savings I have in a bank and thinking it might be good to take some out and put it into something more tangible than fiat currency.

Bona-fide fiat currency?
If you took one [1] pound out and change it into two [2] fifty [50] pence coins, you'd be able to invest in two [2] freddos with change left over, then when inflation hits you can sell them for pure profit...

 

[Paul_B]

I read somewhere that the London property market was kept as high as it is by Russian money. That was in a bad piece about some money man pleading for the government to weaken sanctions against certain kinds of Russians who have been buying up London for recent years. No idea how true. London property always seemed excessively high. A cousin bought a tiny, one bed, million pounds flat in London when I was barely out of primary schol I'm almost 50 now so almost 40 years ago!

We lived in a house that sold for £36k a few years later, a good price for a 3/4 bed dormer bungalow back then where we lived.

 

[TeeDee]

Perhaps the era of Joe Public having a reasonable expectation of owning a house before middle age, if at all, is over?

If you look into the World Economic forum and its Great Reset one of the drives is the following , you tell me what you think of it.

 

[Woody girl]

The first video instantly reminds we of revelations.

No man shall buy or sell but that he has the mark of the beast, or the name or number......or something like that.

Not a churchy person, but I had a force fed religious childhood and things stick !
Do we sleepwalk into this, shrugging our shoulders wistfully saying , "there's nothing I can do"
Do we ignore it, and say, " it's all balony, and scare tactics, it won't happen "
Or, do we fight it and refuse to go along.
The very fact this sort of stuff is out there is scary. I think it's meant to worry and confuse us and make us scared enough to comply with whatever is planned....yes I know, tin hat time again!
Second video, havnt watched, as I'm so tired of all the scare tactics.
I'm electing not to fill my head with anymore.

Anyway, back to practical stuff,
Another hand tool added to my stash this weekend. A slashing hook.
I made my first ever willow basket, and learned how to make a herbal healing salve.
Later this week I will be cleaning beeswax so I can make candles.

 

[TLM]

You need a community ready to accept it's situation first and we're probably at least a generation away from that. Everything I see, everything I hear, locally, nationally and across the western world is focussed upon how we're going to maintain our standard of living.

I can clearly see that you have not visited rural Finland. While they certainly like their comforts there still more than a few who remember earlier times.

 

[Woody girl]

Remember if you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything.
A quote to keep in mind.

 

[Toddy]

Scotland's largest offshore wind farm begins generating energy

The wind farm is expected to be fully operational in the first half of 2023.

news.stv.tv

I am quietly hopeful

 

[Broch]

I think those of us that enjoy the outdoors and a more back-water way of living, are fortunate. I think most people that live in Rural environments are more this way inclined, though there are many examples of recent 'incomers' to this area that are having difficulty leaving their chaotic way of urban life behind.

I confess to having a slight 'split personality' - I love my technologies, cars and bikes but at the same time I am most at home sitting in the wood contemplating the smoke rising from the campfire. I rarely watch TV and if I do it's to be entertained not informed. I programme micro technologies for fun yet spend more time on artwork and leathercraft. I ride a motorbike and drive a fun two-seater but would still prefer to be on a river in the canoe or walking the hills.

What I'm saying is that most of us could probably switch off the 'high cost' activities yet still enjoy life.

Our biggest rising cost, like most people, is electricity. All our cooking is on electricity and we have two big freezers running full time. Taking account of our usage would probably cut our costs though. Instead of using that big 5kw central hob for half an hour I should be finding ways of using the 600w microwave for 5 minutes - a huge saving. The freezers are more difficult; they store a lot of our garden produce for the winter months but, perhaps, I could consolidate into the one. Objective usage logging is required; I might just go programme a micro to record our usage

 

[Scottieoutdoors]

We're all beating around the bush here, we know who will truly suffer the most and its unlikely to be us... go into boots where there are the bright orange makeup women, go past stylists and look at the men and women in there, the townies... I'm sure we care about our personal images to a degree, but the self obsessed image conscious pre ripped jeans designer lot etc, look in the local rag and find the articles about people who nearly died of dehydration because they phoned the council on Friday afternoon and sat there all weekend listening to the pre recorded stuff until Monday when someone eventually answered, or those that have to have 5 mins of fame because their bus broke down and they were "forced" to endure "sweltering" heat by the roadside because their home was over a mile away... - OK maybe an exaggeration on the last two... but you get the gist..

Sure we may have to watch our own personal expenditures, reduce frivolous spending, hold off from buying that backpack, that knife, that new jacket.

I'm already adapting with regards to fuel costs... If I need to drive somewhere I'll think about what else I can tag into the same journey, whereas before I'd not think much beyond the first journey.. I'll plan my routes.

Edit:
Adaptation is the key here, there are plenty anomolies in every socoal group, there will be some Ken doll "man" or Barbie girl who will turn i to some raving bushman/banshee when the chips are down, equally I might turn into a gibbering mess when I can't do x, y or z, but being able to alter anything and everything is the point... there aren't many things in my life that I am not willing to compromise.. Safety of my family (wife and doggo) is about it... everything else is a want rather than a need... I love lots of things in my life, but I probably don't need any of them.

With you there @Broch, lots of things one half of me enjoys doing, but the other half of me finds comfort in the simpler bits...