what is stopping you?

[rich17865]

Parting with your money?

I am self employed, as is my wife, I am starting to wonder how I am going to continue paying the bills.

Since the announcement of the recession upon us again, local business is quiet as are the large retail park stores. M&S are announcing downed profits Tesco too.

It goes without saying that as a small business I am starting to struggle with the downturn in customers, my wife too is struggling for new customers. Even regular customers tell me that they are feeling the pinch and cannot order from me as much. My friends who also have their own businesses are reporting the same.

My question is what is stopping you parting with your cash? I assume the money is still there and if you need something you buy it? Help me better understand so I can keep a roof over my head.

[suffolk boy]

went through a similar situation several years ago.examined all my bank statements cut out everything apart from the mortgage gas electric water council tax.added up fuel food etc then worked out what was left in my case not a lot.so found a part time job to raise income it was only cleaning but i am not proud.from this one company i cleaned for gave me more work on the books for them.and later i started my own little buisness cleaning.still do it to this day.allow yourslf some little pleasure otherwise if you get nothing in return for labours apart from living it will all seem rather pointless and depressing.mine is a bottle of red on a monday night

[rovexCDTi]

Im spending more than i ever have, but i have no kids, no mortgage and the only real credit is for my car, and thats not much.

My job isnt super stable, but its safe for now. Apart from a few things prices arent going up much and i think people are using the 'economic climate' as an excuse to cut back, which isnt necessarily a bad thing.

[sikelsh]

I'm not sure the money is there in all cases.

When the downturn kicked in, I had to take a massive pay cut, nearly a third off my salary vanished.

It has now started to come back and I am now back up to my salary level of 18 months ago, so in my case, I realised how much I lived on a cash to mouth basis and how much pointless rubbish I could buy on a monthly basis, so am working on resolving that and continuing to live at my third cut salary levels, with the occasional opulence thrown in

I am still owed a low 5 figure sum from this period and cant imagine I will see that again anytime soon as the books still only just balance.

Simon

[VVC-Geeza]

As you point out, almost all businesses large and small have taken a hit since 2008.There is a fear among the public as a whole of spending on anything other than necessities.Fear for their own job security,constant rises in the cost of living in what was already a very expensive country to live in.Sadly I cannot see the current economic situation improving for the next 5 years,at least.I'd best not comment on why I think we are where we are!

Try to go the extra mile with the service you offer your customers,it often makes the difference

[windrush]

I think that the increase in VAT has a lot to do with it and as oap We find stuff much more expensive

[greendriver]

I have had to cut back on lunches, and get microwave stuff from the supermarkets as it's far cheaper.

I need to spend some money on my car but it just isn't available at the mo....

[rich17865]

My wife is a childminder, I work in property maintenance, improvement and repair.

Since people have spent less with me, I have had to lay staff off.

By not spending you must realise that impacts your own job security? If I have less business I spend less with my suppliers, I buy less commodities, as a result those people do the same.

I am not vat registered so that has had little impact on my customers, and my prices have not changed in 4 years.

[suffolk boy]

Originally Posted by greendriver

I have had to cut back on lunches, and get microwave stuff from the supermarkets as it's far cheaper.

I need to spend some money on my car but it just isn't available at the mo....

its even cheaper to cook it yourself

[sikelsh]

Originally Posted by rich17865

My wife is a childminder, I work in property maintenance, improvement and repair.

Since people have spent less with me, I have had to lay staff off.

By not spending you must realise that impacts your own job security? If I have less business I spend less with my suppliers, I buy less commodities, as a result those people do the same.

I am not vat registered so that has had little impact on my customers, and my prices have not changed in 4 years.

Agreed, but say I spend £1,000 on some work with your company, that £1,000 would be a drop in the ocean to the rest of the economy and the direct economy that filters via your business, this is due to the dilution effect, meaning to each household that benefits from it may end up at £50, but to an individual household such as mine, the £1,000 is still worth £1,000.

Does that make any sense??

In order for change to happen, then everyone has to spend £1,000, its like the argument / protests over fuel duty, a few lorries wouldn't make a difference, but an entire country on strike at the same time would.

Simon