Interest rates could stay this low until after 2012

Financial commentators are starting to speculate whether interest rates will move at all next year (2012). This implication being that it could be 2013 before we see any chance in this unprecedented low base rate. The UK has never seen interest rates held at such a low rate, to sustain this rate for the forseeable future is testament to how seriously the BoE take the crisis, it also indicated that the crisis is far from over.
Nett investors will be pulling their hair out - those with a mortgage will be delighted to hear the news. Those with tracker-type mortgages will be able to continue with thier miniscule repayment rates - even those with fixed rates should be able to negotiate a better deal as the long-term prospects start to look more certain. I would urge those who are making good savings to consider making over-payments (after consultation with a financial advisor of course..) to lower the principle amount of the mortgage. This has the effect of lowering repayments in the long term, and is especially important if, like me, you have an endowment mortgage that will not materialise into a pot big enough to pay the mortgage off in full.
I have used the principal of retaing the level of payments that we were paying about three years ago even though the actual interest payment has dropped dramatically. The extra we are paying is reducing the original debt (principal) which is good for two reasons:
It means the amount raised by the endowment will be closer to the actual amount owed
As the principal is being paid off, the amount of interest keeps falling even when the interest rate is steady.
Of course, one has to bear in mind that the endowment itself will grow in a very restricted rate during this time of low interest, but at least by over-paying whatever happens, we will be doing our best to overcome any of the negative effects. One other thing to bear in mind is that when rates eventually climb again, all the overpayer has to do is reduce the overpayment to maintain the same standard of living. The temptation is to spend the 'extra' money released by low interest rates - which will mean an adjustment of spending patterns when the rates come back up - an adjustment I would rather not have to cope with..

Saving money in the recession

There are any number of useful online resources for saving money in the current economic decline. These range from helpful sites like MoneySavingExpert.com to comparison sites which help you to not only get deals on insurance, but to reduce your weekly shopping like with 'MySupermarket' which allows you to compare the major retailers.
Another helpful site is the Energy Saving Trust website which helps you to reduce your energy bills as well as giving information on grants and offers. There are sites like Kelkoo which compares retailers of electronic goods, Quidco is a site that gets cashback from retailers across the board, and MyVoucherCodes features deals and discounts from both online and offline retailers.
All these sites are worth checking out if you are serious about shaving some expenditure from your personal budget - I have not supplied links (they would have to pay me for that!!), but doing a quick online search should take you to the relevant sites.
I have a couple of other sites that you may also find useful, PetrolPrices.com allows you to search for the cheapest petrol and diesel in your locality, and Freecycle is a site that works along the lines of the old 'SwapShop' TV programme.
Let me know if you have any other suggestions for sites that have genuinely helped you to save money. (Please don't suggest sites for cheap viagra!)

Related posts:
the decline of my debt
how to get out of debt
Are we in too much debt?
credit card warnings

Survival through frugality...

Frugality is set to become a watchword over the coming months as more jobs are lost and belts are tightened. Recycling is already established as a growing concept, so combining the two makes perfect sense in the current economic crisis.
We are used to the idea of replacing our furniture nowadays almost as often as we change the bedsheets. Furniture companies flood the market with the latest trends, hoping that you will feel the need to get a newer, better sofa, but the quality of these 'fashion' items, like fashion clothing must be questioned.
Save Our Sofas aims to provide an alternative to purchasing low quality sofas, proving sound information on renovating your old sofa to give it a new lease of life. They provide information on buying new sofas, buying 'previously enjoyed' models and if the worst comes to the worst... how to effectively dispose of your old sofa.
These are the kind of concepts that will be embraced by those who are setting themselves up to survive the recession - buying a new low-quality item might give you satisfaction for a few weeks, but in the long-term, recycling represents money in the bank.

Unemployment effects

I remember first hearing the theory that a rise in unemployment leads to a rise in crime, and having one of those 'wait a minute...' moments. Are you saying that if I become unemployed I am more likely to steal something? How short-sighted, prejudgmental and downright rude...! The sort of thing you would expect from a politician - who are quite adept at demonstrating white-collar crime and sleaze despite the fact that they are wealthy fat-cats with excellent prospects. Peter Hain should be able to explain how it was that £103,157 of donations were not properly declared, however it seems such a paltry sum got overlooked... an administrative error.. I'd like someone to make such an administrative error in my favour...

However, I digress from my theme... my own feelings are that if you are the sort of person that is likely to steal, then having more time of your hands whilst being unemployed will make you more likely to steal from the general public rather than your employers, but really theft, crime, muggings and the like are a result of your state of mind not the state of your employment, job prospects or CV.
Whilst it is true that the criminal classes (?) are less likely to be actively pursuing work, it is NOT true to say that a person is more likely to become a criminal when they are unemployed.

Nevertheless it has been reported that the current financial crisis has had an effect on the crimes that are being committed and some of those specific areas of 'petty' crime are listed here:

• Shoplifting - a marked increase has been evident in supermarket thefts leading to some surprising goods such as organic food being security tagged.
• Garden theft - theft from gardens and allotments are on the increase as the fruits of the hard-work of domestic agriculture is being diverted to petty thieves.
• Burgulary - There is concern that burgulary will be on the increase as a result of the failing economy and leaked government memo's have leant gravitas to this view.
• Fuel theft - 'Bilking' (driving away from a forecourt without paying) and fuel theft from vehicles on the road have both been reported as on the increase.
• Insurance fraud - Fraud such as deliberately writing off vehicles and false claims against holiday insurance, are on the increase - it is estimated that false car insurance claims cost other insurers around £40 a year.

Having looked at the evidence, there is a fair argument that economic crisis can lead to a crime wave, but I would stop short of linking unemployment with crime - how many burglars hold down a steady job I wonder? The list of crimes above does not signify a collapse of society into chaos, just an increase in activity by the low-life that stoop to these depths.

Related posts:
How to survive recession
Effects of the crunch in the UK
Will we all end up broke?
How long will the credit crunch last?

TalkMoneyBlog review

The internet is a great resource for finding helps and tips for frugal living and coping with the Credit crunch, presumably you are aware of this fact and that is why you are reading this blog.
I like to report on financial stories and how they might impact on the average household, and I also like to find good advice and resources for surviving the financial crisis that we are currently in the middle of.
The ‘TalkMoneyBlog’ offers advice on all types of topics related to financial matters, three of which I have chosen to highlight here:

• The first issue is whether Buy to Let Landlords can survive the current financial crisis. This is a comprehensive and detailed examination of possible pitfalls for landlords and how to avoid them, particularly in the light of tightened mortgage offers.
• There are some general money saving tips where the idea of combining ‘freecycle’ and eBay is mooted as a money generating ruse…
• There is advice on Credit Cards Debts Cleared Legally. This last article is the most intriguing of all. The argument is that most credit card agreements actually violate the Consumer Credit Act and therefore can be legally challenged in court. Your previous debt could even be turned into a compensation payment.

This blog is worth bookmarking as articles are added frequently, and the advice is always up to date in this fast-moving environment. Interest rates and exchange rates are currently in a constant state of flux and advice needs to be updated on a daily basis. Every consumer can find something useful at TalkMoneyBlog.

Christmas Bonus

The Credit Cruncher strives to bring you ideas that help to promote your business at a time when, more than ever before, competition determines which companies will survive.

The Gallery Collection is offering saving on Corporate Holiday Cards this year, not only that, they have a fantastic free offer to go along with the cards. The collection is not at all limited to Christmas cards, but includes cards for every occasion including all-purpose cards and birthday cards which extends the range that corporate cards are normally limited to. What if you started sending birthday cards to your best clients, how special would that make them feel?

Back to the Christmas cards then, there are a staggering 225 different designs on offer. This amount of choice means that your clients are less likely to receive the same card from several suppliers, you will stand out from the crowd, your card will be pretty much unique. What's more? They are sponsoring free downloads of Charles Dickens' "Christmas Carol" - this alone makes the site worth a visit. Charles Dickens is my very favourite author and I believe I have read pretty much every book he wrote. Christmas Carol is a classic (as all his books are...) that needs no introduction, introducing characters that live on beyond the confines of the story in 'Scrooge' and 'Tiny Tim' to name but two...

All cards are helpfully categorized, so that you can quickly drill down to look at just cards with established works of art, or cards with a religious theme, or wildlife cards - this way you can choose a card that is appropriate for your industrial sector. A famous work of art for a design company, wildlife for an environmental engineering company, patriotic cards for armed forces, and emergency services - something for everyone. Each card comes with a range of greetings in several languages and you can even include a customized greeting to make the cards more personal. Don't feel limited to Christmas Cards because this site represents good value for cards for all occasions.