Saturday 24 January 2009

The credit crunch has crunched the Escape

Yes its just dawned on me in the last few days.

The credit crunch has crunched my Escape.

The recent economic woes have definitely had an impact on my financial planning. The pound has fallen sharply with the dollar. Furthermore the pound and the eruo are now almost even. Now our money is simply not going to go as far in the US or Europe.

I don't know how much my apartment is worth. It might not be worth much more than we paid for it in 2003. The saving grace is that at least we have a repayment mortgage so there is equity in it but probably not enough to finance a permanent Escape.

The drop in interest rates has also had an impact. At the moment we are not worse off as most of our savings were in fixed rate bonds which I took out before the crunch. But these are going to mature in the not too distant future. I have a feeling that interest rates are not going to recover for some time. This also has an impact on the Escape. We were getting several hundred pounds a month in interest from these bonds. By the end of the year that will probably be halved.

Ha! There goes my plan of living in a magic bus in California or Oregon on $1k per month! Or my idea of buying a home in Nova Scotia outright and living off the interest from our savings. Perhaps that will happen one day but I cannot see it happening for at least a few years.

There is nothing I can do about it but sit tight. I have to think of my DH, not just myself.

We will probably have to work for longer. That means staying put for longer. Sigh.

But I remember to be thankful for what I have. Remember gratitude.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

When you realize the current truth, doesn't it just suck!?!

If you can find some solace in knowing that you are not alone, then I am here to tell you there are a heap of people who are feeling the same way you are. Me included.

What can we do?

Just as you say: be happy for what you have already. Today, being successful means just holding on to what you can.

You'll get your dream. Don't let it go. We're all just learning to appreciate it all the more once it arrives.

Dreamer said...

Thanks Morrison.

Yes it does suck. To some extent it feels like a big smack in the face when you know you tried to do everything right. But the situation just feeds my anger about loss of control over my situation - it as if other people's actions/decisions have control over my life and destiny - and I dont like that.

BTW - are you experiencing a similar problem with the drop in interest rates?

Jack said...

Just remember that it could be much worse. Postponing freedom definitely sucks, but better than other scenarios.

Take care,

J

http://adventuresinvoluntarysimplicity.blogspot.com/

Dreamer said...

Jack - how right you are - def better than the other scenarios - i am trying to take more of a zen like attitude about it and practice gratitude for what i have - there are a lot of people a LOT worse off than me - i must not let my demons talk me down!