Zascar wrote: » Anyone who is in the same job and has not taken a pay cut is a serious winner - a lot of things are cheaper and the amount of deals etc to be had is fantastic now.
GerM wrote: » It's a serious minority but the recession has actually been fantastic for some people. For those that came into the recession with no financial commitments and managed to keep their jobs, it has made life much more affordable.
Grumpypants wrote: » Lots of things are cheaper except food, petrol, oil, electricity, gas, home & car & health insurance, medicine and clothing. But you can get an hours paint balling for a tenner so its swings and roundabouts.
Grumpypants wrote: » Zascar wrote: » Anyone who is in the same job and has not taken a pay cut is a serious winner - a lot of things are cheaper and the amount of deals etc to be had is fantastic now. Lots of things are cheaper except food, petrol, oil, electricity, gas, home & car & health insurance, medicine and clothing. But you can get an hours paint balling for a tenner so its swings and roundabouts.
68Murph68 wrote: » Losers - Union officials - had sfa to do prior to the recession, picking up money for jam. Now they are busy trying to justice the free money they got in the Celtic tiger days and everyone hates them.
Sir Pompous Righteousness wrote: » Someone with a lot of money who decided to go on a property buying spree after house prices dropped dramatically. That individual was a winner. The best time to buy is when the markets are down not when they're high in the sky.
RossyG wrote: » governments will introduce a load of laws to stifle trade unions and make firing people easier in order to "kick start the economy".
Gary The Gamer wrote: » I don't believe that. The past 4 years have seen prices increase, inflation is running at 2% this year. Somebody in the same job, earning the same money will have seen a drop in net income due to changes in bands and newer levies. So the overall picture is of higher prices reduced income. This is going to get a lot worse in the coming years.
up for anything wrote: » Too true. €600 per annum Union dues got my ex exactly nothing!
68Murph68 wrote: » On this - know a couple of older folks with family all grown up who sold close to the top of the market and traded to small house who made a killing. They keep fairly quite about it though - coming back from their third trip to Portugal this year is a bit of a give-away though. I'd imagine that there were quite a lot of four and five bed family homes sold for insane prices where older couples moved into small places and freed up some serious cash especially in some of the suburbs around Dublin. Also winners - a lot of farmers who sold farmland to real estate developers for insane prices. They are able to buy it back for a fraction of the money they received before. I have heard of one smart property guy who sold out of all property before the crash is sitting pretty on a mountain of cash. Worth remembering - in any of the cases where someone overpaid for something someone had to end up with that cash. While some of these people possibly got caught in the boom as well, there has to be someone at the end of the chain who ending up benefiting. You can be damm sure that any of these winners are keeping things damm quiet though. These are the individuals who would be too smart to fall for the conspicuous consumption nonsense that drove the tiger.
68Murph68 wrote: » Personally I don't know anyone who has got any benefit from being a member of a union.
GerM wrote: » My rent dropped dramatically and the apartment is about €250 lower a month than a similar property would have been 5 years ago. There are deals to be had in a variety of areas. Eating out is dirt cheap compared to where it was. Clothing is cheaper. Cars are cheaper. Yes, utilities and fuel are higher but overall they're balanced and some by other reductions. There are people who are were lucky enough not to get stuck with a mortgage during the boom that are now able to afford a mortgage and get a house without moving miles away. People were spending plenty of money during the boom but the money wasn't theirs quite often. There's a higher percentage of income being saved now than ever before.
Fromthetrees wrote: » Energy prices have gone crazy but everything else feels cheaper. You can eat and drink in or out for very modest sums. I saw a house a few weeks ago on daft that I was renting before the crash and it's 450 per month less today, even by the time we had moved out a few years ago we were paying 250 less per month. You can go look for a deal on anything now, over half price vacuum cleaners, 150 off tvs, PS3s for 200 odd, 70% off shirts and jeans, savage stuff out there if you look. If you have a job and no debt things are grand.
