How Are Posters Effected By Recession

jimbojazz

A lot of threads are starting up on the forum in connection with the recession.

What I'd like to find out is in what way Waterford posters on this website are actually effected.

My situation is that I work in construction. I am currently on 2 days a week and have been more or less told that I will be finishing up soon if things dont pick up and as we all know things are going to get a lot worse.

I am separated so I have had to reduce the maintenance I pay . This is obviously having a knock-on effect on my kids.

I also have to try and keep up loan, car and rent payments which I am just about struggling to do. This leaves me with zilch out of my wages.

I would just like to get a feel from anyone else on here on their situation.

I'd also like to know has anyone not felt the effects of it yet and are not likely to.

thanks

Paddy@CIRL

I'm in 4th year in college, finishing in May, don't think I could of picked a worse time to be going job hunting. Have a fairly secure part time job, but our hours are getting cut more and more every week which does cause concern.

Only thing I know is it'll get worse before it gets better ...

Multivan

First of all id like to say how sorry i am to hear a story like this and count my blessings that im not that badly affected.

I have to say alot of Irish people have been throwing caution to the wind and just buying buying buying. I was living in Germany and the situation happened over there a long time before it happened here, There was a good economy and the influx of foreign workers meant that employers were saying hold on a second here why pay big money for this and that when i could get this foreign lad to do it for next to nothing and this was happening on a large scale, Before we moved back here my GF said be prepared to see it repeat itself which it did, Im not running down foreign workers its just supply and demand has swung in the opposite direction.

When i moved back here we worked hard and resisted the credit that was offered to us to buy a house and we also resisted the temptation of buying a new car which we could well afford on credit obviously, regarding a Credit Card we only got one for things that we wanted to buy on the internet or book flights a small amount that is only for neccesity purposes.

So i cant understand how people were so short sighted to not see this coming an economy based on a building boom and foreign companies working here for tax relief purposes.

Again i would like to sympathise with the first poster, I also think credit institutions are to blame for giving people so much rope to hang themselves with, that being a metaphore for loans etc etc.

So I havent been affected really as i didnt go out on a limb but i do hope none of you were too badly hit!

magick

im currently in college in san francisco, while not in waterford things here are bad too, theirs constant news of job layoffs all over the shop, and im trying to find something or other to pay the bills.

When i was back in waterford during the christmas season i did notice the half built construction zone by pc world where that car dealership used to be, i heard they have stopped work due to a lack of funds, is this true?

Sully

magick wrote: »

When i was back in waterford during the christmas season i did notice the half built construction zone by pc world where that car dealership used to be, i heard they have stopped work due to a lack of funds, is this true?

Seem to be working away on it every time I pass.. unless its minor work.

Daysha

I'm a 1st year in college so things haven't affected me too much, except I was told the chances of me returning to the summer job that's kept me going the past 3 years is pretty non existant.

I do know of a family near me where the mother was laid off and the father is on less than half time work, yet they still have children to mind

AdMMM

Well for a start, my grant for college was halved, despite no changes in mine or my families income. Christmas was busy in work but now that January is upon us, I've been getting absolutely no hours in work. Thankfully, I do some freelance work for some events companies around Ireland. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have a penny to my name!

solas

sorry to hear things are tough jimbo, fingers crossed things will pick up for you before too long. I was laid off before Christmas last year (left a job to go to Bausch and Lomb only to find we were no longer needed after 8 weeks) and went to aol to tide me over and keep a wage coming in but lasted just the two months of training before I cut loose and have been on benefit since. Kept failing my test calls there and it really knocked my confidence which made picking myself up and getting back on the horse harder than I thought. Have applied for so many jobs since then have lost count so I try not to think about it anymore, or at least try not to let it get me down. Have teenager too but she's fairly understanding of the situation and she doesn't put out too much. Money's always been tight for us (it's always been just the two of us) so we're pretty good at making do with what we have.

jmcc

Well it means that I have to work harder. However the real recession has not kicked in yet. It is scary how much the city after business hours is beginning to resemble the Waterford of the 1980s.

Regards...jmcc

echosound

Have been made redundant not just once, but twice.
Hurrah.

mutabi

I am currently living in Oklahoma. It saddens to read irish news websites. Seems like a constant stream of job layoffs. Here, so far, we have been somewhat insulated against the recession. We havent had a huge housing crash, since houses tend to be dirt cheap here anyway and that has prob helped. Still, layoffs where I work could happen any time. Best thing to do is to have little or no debt, and batton down the hatches until the storm passes.

ec18

Paddy@CIRL wrote: »

I'm in 4th year in college, finishing in May, don't think I could of picked a worse time to be going job hunting. Have a fairly secure part time job, but our hours are getting cut more and more every week which does cause concern.

Only thing I know is it'll get worse before it gets better ...

same for me

Chochese

I'm halfway through second year in a 4 year degree in college. Have a handy part time job, although I'm paying back a Credit Union loan which has me down on wages each week.

I feel like the recession hasn't yet had an adverse effect on me yet, as I'd be broke either way! If anything, all these 'recession busting deals' on offer are great for the likes of me

Paddy@CIRL

Think your lucky enough Trev, that hopefully the worst will be over by the time you graduate. I'm strongly considering another course or appyling to do my masters but we'll have to play it by ear.

Gadgie

echosound wrote: »

Have been made redundant not just once, but twice.
Hurrah.

Me too!

PS. OP - it's affected.

Diver79

I work in a support company and the support calls have just died up over the last few weeks. Ive done three calls since Monday. We got called into a meeting yesterday where we were told there would be no salary increases. Was relieved that I still hada job. Could be much worse and quite possibly will be if things dont pick up.

My partner was told today she could be facing up to a 12% decrease in wages. Not good!

We bought a house last year, so paying the mortgage is the main concern, its not a problem yet but the worry is there...

eeloe

hasn't really affected me too much!
started a new job on jan 12th, and there's no sign of me being laid off, of me leaving!

Also have a part time job, and that's family owned, so i'll always have that(it's in fast food, people always need to eat:)).

Im working 75 hours a week, and if i was pulling 750 a week, i'd be over joyed, but im not earning 70% of that!

my other half has a pretty secure job too in pharmacutical(spelling) so that's okay too!

I'm happy at the moment!

Vadrefjorde

Well i'm lucky that i haven't been made redundant. But i never worked in Ireland in my life, strangely enough.. I undertake contract work in the US and Asia mostly. But from Waterford all the same and lived in Kilcohan area for the last 10 years. A lot of my life spent in airports so to speak to get home. But now it has come to calling it a day sadly enough.. So i guess it has affected me to the point that i couldn't live here any more.
The town itself started to take on a gloomy factor with the last 2 or 3 years, city centre is like Boot Hill, God knows what it'll be like now that everyone has sp0nked whatever credit they could squeeze from the more than willing banks..
So enough is enough and i'm moving country, feck this carry on.
I've watched friends who earn 50% of what i do buy Land Rovers and crap, buy second homes.. WTF like, now they are crying they can't make the mortgage payments on the house they are supposed to be living in here :mad:
And now to cap it all off ye are straddled with a band of buffoons running the country that haven't a clue what to do so lets sack everyone and put up taxes... sweet, not me thanks and not my kids baling this sh1t out.
So sadly enough i'm now surrounded by cardboard boxes, which of course cost me €30 for 10, in true rip-off style... (The first place wanted nearly 3 times as much) . And so i am off, affected by the recession? YES .. Affected by what caused the recession, YES. Affected by the nonsense government left to run this place, yes...

fricatus

It's all very depressing reading... I've got a friend who lost her job and it's driving her cracked. Another mate is on a 3-day week, so he's down a few bob, but he has loads more time to spend with his daughter, the dole makes up part of the two days off, and his mortgage has fallen a lot, so he's only marginally worse off. As long as it doesn't get worse, he'll be OK.

I must admit that I'm doing well out of other people's misfortune so far, embarrassed as I am to say so! My mortgage has fallen, so even though I'm overpaying, it's still costing me less. Petrol is a big cost for me because I commute, and that's down a lot.

I work for a bank, so you never know what's around the corner... so far though, the share price has been hammered and our pay has been frozen, but in my actual job we're as busy as ever, and as long as that remains the case, I'm still in a job, because I work in a vital support role. They can't fire me until they fire about 50% of the workforce. At least I'll be able to see it coming if it does happen!

So for me, it's so far, so good. If I can hold on to my job during the recession, I'll be grand. I'd be happy to pay extra tax or even take a pay cut, as long as I still have a pay cheque coming in every month. I hope those of you in difficulties can find a way out of them soon. Best of luck.

Multivan

eeloe wrote: »

hasn't really affected me too much!
started a new job on jan 12th, and there's no sign of me being laid off, of me leaving!

Also have a part time job, and that's family owned, so i'll always have that(it's in fast food, people always need to eat:)).

Im working 75 hours a week, and if i was pulling 750 a week, i'd be over joyed, but im not earning 70% of that!

my other half has a pretty secure job too in pharmacutical(spelling) so that's okay too!

I'm happy at the moment!

Think its Pharmaceutical

kensutz

Lost a handy part time number with the Waterford People. Now waiting for the shi'ite to hit the fan with the normal job. Contemplating getting out of the country if anything gets worse.

Mr Ed

Thankfully i haven't been affected yet by the recession, i resisted the temptation to buy property and the new cars and am relatively debt free, always kept the mantra of not spending what i didn't have or keeping up with the jones.

Tough times ahead for many and its really terrible to be working one day and nothing the next. I really wouldn't know what to do with myself if i didn't have the job.

Keep positive, somehow!

eeloe

there is plenty of work out there!

1.2million eastern europeans came in to the country over the last few years, and everyone of them found a job, some of them working 2-3 jobs!

the days of everyone working a 9-5 and earning 500 a week are long gone!

If people want to pull that kind of money they will have to get a second job, which there are many!

abouttobebanned

kensutz wrote: »

Lost a handy part time number with the Waterford People. Now waiting for the shi'ite to hit the fan with the normal job. Contemplating getting out of the country if anything gets worse.

Why don't you try and get another handy number with some of the other papers in the group?

Waynecarr

6% paycut myself (thankfully I still have a job). Two mates made redundant. Another on a 3 day week indefinetly and those were so called good jobs.

kensutz

abouttobebanned wrote: »

Why don't you try and get another handy number with some of the other papers in the group?

Have other papers to deal with and looking into starting up my own business. Probably best to keep my options open at the minute.

AdMMM

eeloe wrote: »

there is plenty of work out there!

1.2million eastern europeans came in to the country over the last few years, and everyone of them found a job, some of them working 2-3 jobs!

the days of everyone working a 9-5 and earning 500 a week are long gone!

If people want to pull that kind of money they will have to get a second job, which there are many!

You speak as if it's easy to get a second job. A quick look on Monster.ie found only 44 jobs in Waterford City, 2 of which are part-time. Of the few businesses that are hiring, they most certainly aren't going to deal with someone who has other job commitments.

Partizan

Things are going very well for me at the moment so I cant complain. I'm in a good job, fantastic conditions and the pay is quite good. Last August I signed a 3 year contract with a further 2 years extension. That said I'm single, no kids or mortgage and i'm renting a nice apartment in Rathmines in south Dublin so I have no debts.

I'm a native of Waterford and go back twice a month to see the folks. Up to 2001, I was working in construction. Money was good but I decided to upskill and i'm glad i did. I knew even back then that things couldnt last forever so I went back to college got my degree and moved to Dublin in June '06 and havent looked back. I've lived abroad, speak good French, Bulgarian and passable Serbo-Croat (fluent Irish too). My language skills are good in that I have always found it easy to pick up a language. I think for many here who are out of work, my only advice is to use the time on the dole well. Dont wait for things to fall in your lap, go out there and take the initiative. Check out the WIT for evening courses and see if anything there interests you. The City of Waterford VEC offers good choice too. Upskill so that when the economy does turn around you will be in a good position. The easy option of emigration is not there as the downturn is global. Canada and Australia are getting squeezed. US & UK are definitley out. For the next few years at least folks, you better be prepared to take the pain.

gscully

Partizan wrote: »

For the next few years at least folks, you better be prepared to take the pain.

That pain will be all the more bearable if the lending institutions show some compassion and common sense when it comes to mortgages.

If thousands of people lose their jobs here (and quite a lot don't have mortgage protection), are the banks going to repossess every home? Or will they realise how bad things are for everybody, show some compassion, and accept a nominal amount until the storm passes? I mean, having a few hundred houses in their possession won't do much for them if no-one can buy them...

Multivan

gscully wrote: »

That pain will be all the more bearable if the lending institutions show some compassion and common sense when it comes to mortgages.

If thousands of people lose their jobs here (and quite a lot don't have mortgage protection), are the banks going to repossess every home? Or will they realise how bad things are for everybody, show some compassion, and accept a nominal amount until the storm passes? I mean, having a few hundred houses in their possession won't do much for them if no-one can buy them...

A few hundred? ha ha:p more like a couple of hundred thousand plus plus plus.

Partizan

gscully wrote: »

That pain will be all the more bearable if the lending institutions show some compassion and common sense when it comes to mortgages.

If thousands of people lose their jobs here (and quite a lot don't have mortgage protection), are the banks going to repossess every home? Or will they realise how bad things are for everybody, show some compassion, and accept a nominal amount until the storm passes? I mean, having a few hundred houses in their possession won't do much for them if no-one can buy them...

What will happen here is that the banks will take back the house but the tenants will not be evicted. Instead the bank will come to an agreement to lease or rent out the house to defaulted tenants for nominal sum every month. By agreeing to this the tenants will have relinquished any ownership to the property and the ownership will revert to the bank. Bankruptcy laws are different here in Ireland. You cannot just drop the keys into the bank (jingle mail) and walk away. You are still liable to pay off the outstanding mortgage debt to the bank even if you no longer own the property.

Thanks to the property porn engineered by Zanu FF and their builder buddies along with their VI's from the sidelines, hundreds of thousands of young people have been condemned to a lifetime of servitude to the banks. You can call it a modern form of slavery.

Multivan

Partizan wrote: »

What will happen here is that the banks will take back the house but the tenants will not be evicted. Instead the bank will come to an agreement to lease or rent out the house to defaulted tenants for nominal sum every month. By agreeing to this the tenants will have relinquished any ownership to the property and the ownership will revert to the bank. Bankruptcy laws are different here in Ireland. You cannot just drop the keys into the bank (jingle mail) and walk away. You are still liable to pay off the outstanding mortgage debt to the bank even if you no longer own the property.

Thanks to the property porn engineered by Zanu FF and their builder buddies along with their VI's from the sidelines, hundreds of thousands of young people have been condemned to a lifetime of servitude to the banks. You can call it a modern form of slavery.

Thats a good post! best one ive read on here.


Irish people consume consume consume, i dont think there are many people who look too far into the future and think well if i have spare money in my pocket i will save it, no they see the new opel astra add and say oh ill get that, and yes the credit institutions are to blame as they pimped out these people to gain profits, weve turned into america in 10 years with everything getting bought on CREDIT,

I am angry by all this as i want to buy a house but I refuse to buy at these prices its just not worth it, but these people who think oh i have to buy a house i know im 22 but my friend has got two she rents the other one out, i mean it got too mad here and that fueled the house prices for a long time.

gscully

Multivan wrote: »

Thats a good post! best one ive read on here.


Irish people consume consume consume, i dont think there are many people who look too far into the future and think well if i have spare money in my pocket i will save it, no they see the new opel astra add and say oh ill get that, and yes the credit institutions are to blame as they pimped out these people to gain profits, weve turned into america in 10 years with everything getting bought on CREDIT,

I am angry by all this as i want to buy a house but I refuse to buy at these prices its just not worth it, but these people who think oh i have to buy a house i know im 22 but my friend has got two she rents the other one out, i mean it got too mad here and that fueled the house prices for a long time.

That's your opinion. A lot of people would rather live for today and if they have the money at the time, and they choose to spend it then good luck to them. No-one can predict the future. The housing boom started 10-15 years ago and prices started to sky-rocket. If anyone had aspirations of being a homeowner it was a case of buy now. When I wanted to buy my house in 2001, my folks advised me to wait a few years and save (rather than take out a sizeable mortgage). The thing is, house prices were increasing faster than anyone could save. I bought my house for 150k euro and it practically doubled in value in 4 years. I'd never have saved that much money in 4 years, so I'm glad I did it. I know people with mortgages twice as much as mine for the same house. It's prudent to wait sometimes, but person-by-person, case-by-case it's different.

longshanks

after the revolution there will be free houses for all. and swimming pools, yeahh!!

viva la deise

robtri

Partizan wrote: »

What will happen here is that the banks will take back the house but the tenants will not be evicted. Instead the bank will come to an agreement to lease or rent out the house to defaulted tenants for nominal sum every month. By agreeing to this the tenants will have relinquished any ownership to the property and the ownership will revert to the bank. Bankruptcy laws are different here in Ireland. You cannot just drop the keys into the bank (jingle mail) and walk away. You are still liable to pay off the outstanding mortgage debt to the bank even if you no longer own the property.

Thanks to the property porn engineered by Zanu FF and their builder buddies along with their VI's from the sidelines, hundreds of thousands of young people have been condemned to a lifetime of servitude to the banks. You can call it a modern form of slavery.

Actually what normally happens is that when you default enough on your mortgage, the first thing the banks tries is to set up a new monthly figure to help you out, if that fails then they bring you to court, get permission to take ownership and sell your house. If the house is sold for less than the amount you owe they seek a court ruling, requiring you to pay x amount back per month till the remainder of the loan is paid....

do not blame FF or the builders for this.... they only provided what the majority of people wanted, HOUSES, the cost was based on what people would pay, if people refused to pay the prices, the prices would have come down sooner.....Call it a modern form of slavery but this is by choice....

merlante

It's business as usual for me thankfully.

I have sympathy for the lads working in construction, but in fairness, ye made out like bandits for a long time. The lads who left school in the mid-90's, went into construction, built their own house, etc., etc., made my decision to go to college look like a joke. I guess it's a boom bust industry.

Sully

At the moment running the businesses part time (well full time over the next few months) and its been busy enough since the new year. I have noticed people are being more wise with their money from speaking with them and rightly so.

I have a few big jobs lined up for the next few months which is a great start as I had thought that the recession would hit hard this year. Hopefully it will continue that way.

jimbojazz

It's good to see that most people on here havent been affected too badly (apologies for earlier typo).

There seems to be a lot of negativity towards the construction industry and I can understand why. But it must be stated that the vast majority of building contractors, general craftsmen and labourers faired out no better than anyone else during the boom.

Waterford never really got the construction boom like they did in other cities and towns (we all know why and who caused a lot of this).

Most contracts had to be won by tendering and to get these you had to be competitive and keep profit margins keen.

We all pulled in a good wage but we worked long and hard to get it. I know a lot of lads in the industry who are having a really bad time of it at the moment - I know of one lad who has been in hospital the last two months with a stress related illness. He has a young family and no income at the moment as he was self employed.

It was the developers who cleaned up but the rest of us who worked for small and medium sized firms are in a lot of bother at the moment.

Go down to any labour exchange and talk to any of the construction workers there and they'll tell you exactly the same thing.

counterpointaud

jimbojazz wrote: »

Waterford never really got the construction boom like they did in other cities and towns (we all know why and who caused a lot of this).

Most contracts had to be won by tendering and to get these you had to be competitive and keep profit margins keen.

Sorry bud I have to call you on this. I bear no ill-feeling towards tradesmen, but I know of a local guy who was earning €1800 a week as a plastering contracter. That is just not sustainable. I have no doubt that he works hard, and is very good at what he does, but c'mon...

Also, ALOT of tenders, especially those for government projects were not won by the applicant with the keenest price. In the good times this was often about who you knew, and how well you were versed at filling out extensive forms.

Nathan

jimbojazz

counterpointaud wrote: »

Sorry bud I have to call you on this. I bear no ill-feeling towards tradesmen, but I know of a local guy who was earning €1800 a week as a plastering contracter. That is just not sustainable. I have no doubt that he works hard, and is very good at what he does, but c'mon...

Also, ALOT of tenders, especially those for government projects were not won by the applicant with the keenest price. In the good times this was often about who you knew, and how well you were versed at filling out extensive forms.

Nathan

Well, Nathan, like I said there was those who probably did make that type of money, but that was the exception and you can be damn sure if he was making that type of money he wasnt working a 40hr week.

As for the government tenders being on who you knew - I know of this going on as well - but that's exactly the point i was making - it was the ones who were in the know that got these tenders and who made it difficult for the rest even during the boom - but the majority of private jobs were tendered fairly.

deisemum

My husband is a self-employed carpenter so our income is down but he's managing to get a couple of days work most weeks. He has a few things in the pipeline once people get their wages for January.

We're fortunate that I used all my SSIA money to reduce the term of our mortgage so have just over 2.5 years left to pay on it. Our monthly repayments are low. I think we've less than €10,000 to pay back. We don't have a car loan but hubby has a loan for his van through his business.

I've got a few grands worth of prize bonds that I won to fall back on if needs be plus some in a special savings account for their education. Our children are very good at saving and both have a lot of money in the credit union. We might have to get a loan from them. At least when they were smaller we used to encourage them to save for the rainy day and now they see the importance of it.

We've been through this before. We bought our home in London when prices were at their peek and lived through the recession of the 90's. We sold it 10 years later for less than we bought it for. Typical 6 months later the prices shot up. Then again we bought our current home for IR£58,500 so it's swings and roundabouts.

Partizan

deisemum wrote: »

My husband is a self-employed carpenter so our income is down but he's managing to get a couple of days work most weeks. He has a few things in the pipeline once people get their wages for January.

We're fortunate that I used all my SSIA money to reduce the term of our mortgage so have just over 2.5 years left to pay on it. Our monthly repayments are low. I think we've less than €10,000 to pay back. We don't have a car loan but hubby has a loan for his van through his business.

I've got a few grands worth of prize bonds that I won to fall back on if needs be plus some in a special savings account for their education. Our children are very good at saving and both have a lot of money in the credit union. We might have to get a loan from them. At least when they were smaller we used to encourage them to save for the rainy day and now they see the importance of it.

We've been through this before. We bought our home in London when prices were at their peek and lived through the recession of the 90's. We sold it 10 years later for less than we bought it for. Typical 6 months later the prices shot up. Then again we bought our current home for IR£58,500 so it's swings and roundabouts.

You are lucky. There are hundreds of thousands of young people who are now mortgage slaves, unable to pay back their loans - car and house.