Best and worst of the last recession

The worst thing, my husband has to go to London for work and use to get up at 3 am on a Sunday morning to go to Dublin airport and came back on a Friday.

The best thing purchased a house for a really good price and got a builder to refurbish its at a great price and no waiting for him to start he was delighted to get the work.

Lewis_Benson

I had no job, it was shyte.

the beer revolu

The rise of Aldi and Lidl was a good thing, imo.

SusanC10

The worst thing was losing my job following shortly after my husband's paycuts.

The best thing was learning how to do with less and to cut our spending and stop wasting money.

keano_afc

Best thing: Being able to actually choose a rental property to view and secure tenancy with an offer below the asking price.

Worst thing: Same as yourself, lots of extended family and friends having to leave the country for work. So far, very few of them have come back.

I would also say the last recession has made people wary of debt execpt for mortgages debt which is a good thing.

jiltloop

Worst things building industry collapsing meaning my best move was to abandon my construction based college course half way through. My 2 brothers emigrating to Australia, just recently got the last 1 back after not seeing him for 7 years. Also lost my best mate to emigration.

Best thing...… things became cheaper, less traffic and general congestion on the roads and public transport.

the beer revolu

mariaalice wrote: »

I would also say the last recession has made people wary of debt execpt for mortgages debt which is a good thing.

I'd say it's more of a case that people don't have access to much credit anymore.
As soon as lending is relaxed, we'll be off again having learned nothing.

Ten of Swords

Made me very careful with how I spend money on day to day essentials and how I invest for the future. Also made me significantly upskill my education which I am reaping benefits from now

beejee

Best thing: woke me up to how easily people follow bad ideas (crazy mortgages, "soft landing", generally pompous and wasteful lifestyles, arrogance to avoid responsibility)

Worst thing: realising the above was depressing. Especially seeing it coming again now, talk about short memories

WesternZulu

There was nothing good about the last recession.

lawred2

Having stable/increasing incomes while cost of living decreased was great..

But the general mood was depressing

the beer revolu

the beer revolu wrote: »

The rise of Aldi and Lidl was a good thing, imo.

Best: similar to the above, the explosion of Dealsrush, Pigsback, groupon, grabone, living social and all the other voucher sites that had excellent bargains when they first came out. Mostly full of tat these days or crappy hotel deals with awful T&C's. I got a suit and shirt for €130 that I wore to about 12 weddings and a golf deal in Mt Juliet that I still can't believe (2 rds of golf, 1 nights accommodation, buggy for €125 each.....think it's €75 for one round these days).

Worst: Pay cut after pay cut, while listening to people telling me I was lucky to still have a job (the same people that had for years previously had been telling me to ditch the public sector job as the money was awful and they were creaming it in the private sector). What made it worse is they were saying it wasn't really a pay cut, yet hit the roof when the cuts were reinstated and all of a sudden it was now a pay-rise. Go figure.

Ush1

Decking and patio heater prices fell off a cliff.

the beer revolu

the beer revolu wrote: »

I'd say it's more of a case that people don't have access to much credit anymore.
As soon as lending is relaxed, we'll be off again having learned nothing.

I genuinely think there is a different attitude to debt now except for mortgage debt, spending less has become fashionable.

Arghus

The only good thing about it was renting was cheap.

Ush1

mariaalice wrote: »

I genuinely think there is a different attitude to debt now except for mortgage debt, spending less has become fashionable.

You reckon? I think it's got worse but in different ways. PCP finance wasn't really a thing before the first crash but it's crazy popular now.

spacetweek

Worst: Watching mates get angry at the state of the country, then very angry, then emigrate. Many never came back.
Best: I didn't lose any really good mates to emigration and the cost of things came down a bit and there wasn't much traffic on the roads or overcrowding on public transport.

JohnnyFlash

Bought 3 apartments for rock bottom prices.

Ush1

Ush1 wrote: »

You reckon? I think it's got worse but in different ways. PCP finance wasn't really a thing before the first crash but it's crazy popular now.

Nobody in my circle has a new car, the second-hand bargains are too good, the second thing is talking to someone in the hospitality industry about weddings they say the days of couples borrowing 20k for a wedding are gone its paid fo rby the parents or saved a shift in attitude about money.

touts

Worst things
Pay cuts. Just barely back to that level now.
Tax rises. Still paying more tax for less service.
3 years tacked onto my retirement age. 65 to 68
Negative equity. As I live outside Dublin my mortgage is still more than the house is worth.
Cutbacks at local hospital. Now have to travel an extra 50km to an A&E
Local post office and Garda station closed down and never restored
Local shops closed down and never reopened.

Come to think of it why are we talking about the "last recession". Last indicates it ended. But outside Dublin for most people it is still the "current" recession.

dxhound2005

It was different from previous recessions. Negative equity never happened before, because lending rules used to be strict. There was large scale immigration during the recession, which never happened in previous ones. 60% of Irish people who emigrated were in employment here when they left. In previous recessions, they would mostly have been unemployed.

https://www.thejournal.ie/emigration-and-unemployment-in-ireland-1639006-Aug2014/

PhilOssophy

Best : People stopping being idiots with their money (e.g. SUV's, shopping trips, etc).
Worst : The queue for the microwave and coffee machine in work. Gone from straight to the machines to 5-6 people in front of you.

And the worst outcome of it all is that the tacky tasteless SUV's are back in vogue.

suicide_circus

best: had my pick of places to rent, plenty of illegal raves in disused industrial units, i was genuinely happy to have a job

worst: suicides, constant doom and gloom

Berserker

mariaalice wrote: »

I would also say the last recession has made people wary of debt execpt for mortgages debt which is a good thing.

The number of brand new cars on the road would suggest otherwise.

Ush1

dxhound2005 wrote: »

It was different from previous recessions. Negative equity never happened before, because lending rules used to be strict. There was large scale immigration during the recession, which never happened in previous ones. 60% of Irish people who emigrated were in employment here when they left. In previous recessions, they would mostly have been unemployed.

https://www.thejournal.ie/emigration-and-unemployment-in-ireland-1639006-Aug2014/

Yep, two friends of mine emigrated who had jobs. They just wanted to go off on a jolly.

Stevieluvsye

I was fortunate. Pay rise YOY, plus increased bonus YOY. Wife's business grew YOY also. We actually managed to purchase a place abroad for a third of what it's worth today

But haters will always hate!

Stroke Politics

Best: Being able to do my 3.5k run every other morning and not in fear of being knocked down by the commuting traffic. The jobs dried up and so did the traffic. This has resumed now and I wouldn’t attempt to walk the road now with people in such a hurry.

Worst: Having to buy €35 worth of heating oil weekly from the petrol station as we couldn’t afford a proper fill from the oil company. I have the barrel and the hand pump still in the shed...

dxhound2005

Berserker wrote: »

The number of brand new cars on the road would suggest otherwise.

2019 has slowed down compared to 2018. Maybe an indication that the next recession is on the way.

https://www.cso.ie/en/statistics/transport/vehicleslicensedforthefirsttime/

GreenandRed

Customer care improved during the recession. And people starting ignoring price tags in shops and asked 'is that your best price' including taxis.

q85dw7osi4lebg

Worst: friends parent committing suicide over loans

Best: had a few years of chilling out after graduating

Princess Calla

Worst: Career stagnating and being told be thankful you have a job! I was thankful but also doing the work of two people on very little money.

Best: while I was saving during the boom and totally depressed that I could never buy. I had a deposit saved on a modest income for when the prices dropped. While I still couldn't afford close to home*,I still got a nice house in Dublin.

* turned out to be a blessing, huge pyrite issues came to light.

ToddyDoody

Best things;
the books I read, saving money from the dole for college, going back to college due to no job, bought property at reasonable price

Worst things;
straight from college onto dole, working for dole money, endless swathes of idle time, being fairly tight for money, poorer start to career than would otherwise have achieved, pressure to find a job when unemployed.

Feisar

Best; it brought house prices back to more realistic figures (for a while)

Worst; it didn't do my career any good but that's balanced out now. Best friend emigrated.

LirW

Best:
my country wasn't hit badly by the crash unless people invested in Swiss currency, they didn't do well at the time. Shortly before the creche my mother and stepdad bought a house on 2 self-employed salaries, and I'm talking 4 months before the States fell apart and the shockwaves hit Europe. Wouldn't have been possible otherwise. They were very very lucky and it was nice to experience the security of a safe home for the first time ever after renting sh*teholes since I was a kid.

Worst:
Jobs dried up all across the continent and there were a few meager years, when I was done with my school and training I couldn't find a job and unemployment was generally high. Welfare services were cut at the same time so there was a year where myself and my son really really struggled at an economic low point.

nannerby

Best..getting an extension done for 55k during the boom I was quoted 120k.

Worst..pay decrease of 17k.

nthclare

There's going to be a lot of 2019 car's on the road in 10 years time...

LirW

nthclare wrote: »

There's going to be a lot of 2019 car's on the road in 10 years time...

2017 struck me as a particularly strong year for all them PCP rides.
Alternatively you can always pick up on the these poxy 141 Opel insignia that seem to be littering country roads.

Cantona's Collars

Worst,my income halved literally overnight. I was lucky enough to be still able to afford to pay the mortgage etc.

Best,the boy racers tearing the tyres off their cars on every crossroads and racing every night stopped......the scrotes are back with a vengeance now.

Sleepy

Worst: Losing the job I'd had since leaving college, having to work in the UK Monday to Friday with a 1 year old at home who didn't understand where her Daddy was gone, finally finding a job back in Ireland but for lower money, lost a few friends to emigration

Best: We were able to afford rent on a 3 bed in a lovely part of Dublin (Clontarf), Hotels were bending over backwards for wedding bookings so got a great deal on it, finally made me behave somewhat responsibly with money, my daughter's reaction every Friday evening when I got home from London are still some of my happiest memories of her early years.

Airyfairy12

The worst thing - no job, barely enough to eat, only had old ripped clothes to wear.
The best thing - Taught me the importance of saving money incase anything like that happens again.

vriesmays

Worst: Paycuts.

Best: Decent rock bands in the charts.

Leg End Reject

Worst: pay cuts, USC.

Best: lower imortgage nterest rates and lower retail prices.

It all more or less evened out for me.

buried

Worst : All the dingy, piss moss covered empty half finished housing estates in the countryside cordoned off with dingy piss moss covered plywood walls.

Best : Nice quiet pubs with nice quiet lock-ins after hours

gmisk

Worst: cuts in salary and USC coming in

Best: house prices going down, so managed to buy a place after looking for years.
Better value in restaurants.

amadangomor

Stevieluvsye wrote: »

I was fortunate. Pay rise YOY, plus increased bonus YOY. Wife's business grew YOY also. We actually managed to purchase a place abroad for a third of what it's worth today

But haters will always hate!

Nah. people don't hate you they just hate the repeated use of stupid acronyms like YOY :pac:

tonycascarino

mariaalice wrote: »

I genuinely think there is a different attitude to debt now except for mortgage debt, spending less has become fashionable.

No way. There are still an awful lot of eejits going into debt because they cannot give up the fake lifestyle they had during the Celtic Tiger years.

anewme

Best: Kept my job during the recession. Would think that anyone who kept their job during the recession is surely in a fairly good place financially now.

Worst: Friend was a tradesman. Kept doing the work, but just not getting paid. Took his own life age 36 as he could not face losing his home. That hit me hard.

pgj2015

best - hotel prices in dublin nearly halved
a lot of scum bags left ireland for australia
hardy bucks came out
i was in college on btea so it was the perfect place to be


worst - petrol prices were up at 1.77 per litre

KWAG2019

Worst: The overwork to keep a place afloat and the utter brass necked cynicism of politicians looking for more. Led to ill health.
Best: People woke up to the utter uselessness of politicians and "managers".

limnam

the beer revolu wrote: »

I'd say it's more of a case that people don't have access to much credit anymore.
As soon as lending is relaxed, we'll be off again having learned nothing.

Are we not already there?

The amount of new cars around the place is phenomenal