Is there a credit crunch crime wave?
January 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Recent govenment statistics show that, whilst overall reported crime is down in the United Kingdom, domestic burglaries increased by 4%, fraud and forgery increased by 16% and drug offences up 9%. Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling has claimed that these shifts are directly linked to the credit crunch with more people either turning to desperate means to deal with financial hardship ….or indeed numbing the worry through resorting to drink or drugs.
Is this a trend that readers of Credit Crunch Helpdesk have observed? I know that, personally, the number of scamming and phishing emails that I receive on a daily basis have quadrupled….undoubtably some people must be taken in by these for them to be so prevalent.
Please post your stories so as to warn readers what to look out for and Credit Crunch Helpdesk will then run a series of articles about how to tell if a communication is a scam and what to do about it.
Could setting up a “bad bank” thaw out the money markets?
January 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Gordon Brown has recently suggested to German chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin that the setting up of a “bad bank” (to take on all of the risk and bad debts of the high street banks and so free up money markets) may be an option. It has even been suggested that Northern Rock may be used for this purpose.
This suggestion has come hot on the heels of the news in the US this week, that the government has injected $20 billion into Bank of America, and guaranteed bad assets to the tune of $118 billion, as the US Treasury took a stake in the bank. Clearly, argued Brown, the banks are not going to lend freely again until they know what to do with all of these bad debts.
Partial or complete nationalisation is becoming a growing trend in trying to resolve the global financial crisis. This has also been seen in Ireland last night when the Irish government nationalised Anglo Irish Bank to protect it after a recapitalisation plan was felt to be insufficient to resolve its problems.
It is evident that much more stringent monitoring of the financial institutions is going to be vital in protecting against any recurrence of this financial crisis. Perhaps partial or complete nationalisation is a good step towards the increased accountability of banks?
Global banking crisis deepening further
January 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Well, who’s enjoying the 2% bank interest rates? They seem to be at an all time low (even though the U.S and Japan are “enjoying” 0% interest rates) but there still seems to be a crisis over whether money will be loaned to medium and small businesses in order to get tham over the cash flow crisis that the recession and credit crunch have brought.
A big part of the problem of the global banking crisis deepening further is that global inter-bank lending has ground to an all time low and that was an important part of the availability to funds to lend to consumers and businesses. There also seems to be a lot of debate in the U.K as to who should shoulder the risk for future bad lending decisions…the banks or the government. If the risk is to be shared, the public are concerned that tax payers will be carrying the can for bad lending decisions by the banks.
In the U.S, JP Morgan Chase have announced a 76% drop in quarterly profits due to writing off bad debts and re-directing funds to buffering themselves against the worst of the global financial crisis. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (Japan) have meanwhile reported $3.2 billion loss on its securities portfolio in the third quarter of its financial year ….mainly due to the challenges being faced in the Japanese stock market. Their situations seems typical of major financial institutions globally….so it seems hardly surprising that international inter-bank lending has ground to an all time slow.
Beating the January Blues during the credit crunch
January 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Happy New Year to all our readers!
It’s that time of year again. All the Christmas festivities are over and the New Year parties and good wishes for the new year a not too distant memory. That’s what we all want – isn’t it? A happy new year. And whilst our friends and well-wishers all say the words, we all know that while some of that happiness may come down to good fortune (or luck if you prefer to call it that), those new year’s resolutions are part of working towards making our own happiness come about in the next twelve months. The January Blues are starting to set in as we start to wonder where the financial resources will come from to meet these resolutions.
How do we make that Happy New Year more likely?
In the midst of a credit crunch it is harder to do those traditional new year activities like joining the gym if financial resources are challenged. However, it is essential to make sure that our health and well-being are taken care of before we can have any realistic chances of tacking limited financial resources and making the cash part of our new year happier.
Physical and emotional well-being boosts on a shoestring
Here are Credit Crunch Helpdesk’s ideas on how toward away January Blues during the credit crunch.
- Invest in home equipment for health and fitness that will meet your needs throughout the year. A trampoline, Wii Fitness programme, weights etc will continue to be there for you to return to regardless of whether your enthusiasm wanes by February and can be used by the entire household. By contrast, a new year gym membership is dead money with nothing left to show except a lower bank balance if your enthusiasm wanes.
- Home made foods tend to contain less fat, are lower calorie and more nutritious than fast foods and takeaways. Taking your lunch to work and eating breakfast before you go will save money during the year and probably do more for your overall nutrition and health.
- Hobbies are great for an overall sense of well-being. It is a great stress reliever to have 30 – 60 minutes per day totally focused on something that you enjoy doing and is life giving. Whether it be craft activities, gardening or even doing jigsaws, the rest time from a busy schedule will make you more able to cope with stress during the week.
- Spend time with friends…even if you just meet for a chat / to play silly board games. Laughter and fun boosts out emotional well-being and small intimate gatherings make us feel well supported.
- Get more active. Walking to places costs nothing more than wear and tear on shoes. Fresh air and exercise helps to promote our immune systems and metabolism…all helping us to achieve a healthier new year.
All of the above ideas keep costs very low during these financially challenging times. Look out for our next post examining how we can achieve improved finances whilst avoiding the scams that are out there.
Saving money on heating
January 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Heating bills are a huge source of anxiety for many in the current financial climate amidst rising fuel costs adding to the pressure.
Here are some tips to help get those heating bills under control:
- Only heat the parts of the house that you are using. Keep the central heating to key times of the day when everyone is around then use radient heaters in the the rooms that you are using dring the day. This will make significant savings on heating.
- Ceiling fans can be useful in winter as they will blow back down the warm air from your heating as it rises. Obviously they need to be set to run very slow otherwise they will make an unwelcome cold breeze.
- Ensure that your home is well insulated and draught proofed to avoid heating the birds in the trees outside instead of yourselves. Lagging in the roof space, cladding, secondary glazing or plastic sheets at the windows etc can all help to reduce heating costs.
- Check that you have the most efficient heating system possible. If changing your system is not viable, the above tips should help.
