Re: $2.10 and counting
 

That's the American way.. look in a typical American garage (3 car, no doubt).. you'll see a sailboat, 4 waterskis, several ski sets, a third car, some 'old' 42 inch TVs, several bikes.. this is the ultimate consumer society.

Lookmin a tyopical UK garage,, barely wide enough for one car.. a pile of old magazines, a cupbaord on the wsall with spare china for when family comes t'dinner, and that's it.. maybe a push lawn mower, with rusty blades

Re: $2.10 and counting
 

Like you, hubby is enjoying this exchange rate with his British pensions:D- on the downside we own two properties in Florida :unsure: One we're living in is okay- good mortgage and still has equity. The other was an investment- haha- its lost so much we are now officially upside down in the damn thing. Oh well. We tossed up between handing it back to the Mortgage company and walking away or renting it out. We're lucky, it rented immediately and we've had no trouble at all getting the rent on time. So we'll just ride it out- hopefully not too many years before we can sell it.

I feel sorry for the people who have lost their homes in all this mess.

Re: $2.10 and counting
 

Are you saying the UK is not a consumer society? Yeah, right. :rolleyes:

Re: $2.10 and counting
 

I'd agree, UK is a consumer society these days - it just appears to not be so because most people these days simply can't afford a small stuff filled garage you can peek into, never mind a 3 car one!! :(

Re: $2.10 and counting
 

Nope I think youre wrong US is defo more consumerist than the UK.

With this exchange rate bang goes the idea of even going back to Blighty for a week in December (how much would a pint be??) and bang goes the idea of going home forever - at least till somehow the exchange rates reverse themselves.... In our dreams.

Re: $2.10 and counting
 

Much of my savings has been sitting in a USD account since I moved back 15 months ago, waiting for the stupid exchange rate (about $1.95 back then) to improve (and because I just couldn't bear to switch to GBP at that rate). I think it's going to be quite a while before we see $1.95 to the GBP again ... :(

Re: $2.10 and counting
 

Yep it'll be a very protracted wait, but lucky you for moving home. Hope youre enjoying it. :)

Re: $2.10 and counting
 

Err, no, unfortunately not, largely (but not completely) due to some of the issues in this thread. Hard to enjoy yourself when you have no money.

Re: $2.10 and counting
 

Need to increase interest rates - stop people spending money. Need to make the Dollar a currency you'll get a decent return on investment on... Quick - before China exchanges all their dollar bills for something of more value, like toilet paper...

Rate seems to be going up roughly 1ct per day... So i estimate by end of the year its going to be $2.50 to the pound. :(

Re: $2.10 and counting
 

The US's profligate ways mean it's now stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place. The Fed has had to reduce interest rates because of the financial market turmoil that started in the subprime market. But by reducing rates it's fueled the dollar's decline and likely stoked inflation thanks to huge rises in the price of commodities like oil. The only people happy right now are US exporters, as the dollar's decline is making their products far more attractive abroad.

Re: $2.10 and counting
 

Listening to radio discussions here in the UK, and reading articles in the papers, more and more Brits will be doing their Christmas shopping in New York instead of the High Streets of Britain. That should ease the congestion and overcrowding in the stores and on the streets in the UK. The American stores and hotels and restaurants etc should welcome all this extra business.

Re: $2.10 and counting
 

thats doesnt seem to be happening the UK tourists are eschewing the US because of the global anti americanism. And I heard that on the beeb so must be true!

Re: $2.10 and counting
 

There was a journalist doing a commentary on NPR last night. She wasn't scared of a recession because she earns $1200 per month at a minimum wage job, and has expenses of $950 per month. (Whether or not she's got medical benefits was not mentioned.) She reckons she can ride out any recession. She wasn't so sure about some of her retail customers with maxed out credit cars, or the people with "two kids, two cars and a mortgage."

Erm -- excuse me -- exactly what is wrong with having two kids, two cars, and a mortgage? I can't sell the kids. My mortgage is reasonable, and it's a first mortgage with no other liens. Our cars are both over seven years old, and are paid in full. We need them to commute to our jobs, which are 25 miles from the house and we can't ride-share due to getting the kids to school. It's now costing $15 per day just for us to get the kids to school and us to work, due to the price of gas, and neither of us drives an SUV. There's no public transport available.

We do not have an HDTV or a big screen TV or in fact, a TV that is less than 10 years old. Nor any sports equipment, or loads of clothing (I shop on eBay for used clothes) or .... so .... I am failing to see where I went wrong, short of having the ex spend up all our money in a divorce, and having two kids.

Re: $2.10 and counting
 

wow Bob, that is some serious doom and gloom! i'm thinking things wil go quite crap, but thats HEAVY :)

Re: $2.10 and counting
 

thats the thing, it seems you live quite moderately. lots of people don't :(

i think i am going to start battening down the hatches, thats if its not too late already