Sorry Oolongchie if it should be "effecting"

So have you had to cut back or have you not noticed it?

I haven't noticed it.. but my mum has stopped buying a pack of mini mars bars and has started buying sainsburys own brand.. but cause they so much cheaper she also buys the sainsburys own milky way and twixs.. so that 3 times as much for cheaper.. and they just as nice if not nicer.. so thats a good effect

my takings are a good 20% down on this time last year, just putting in an extra 6 hours a week

I've been hit with it. I've been busking since 1988, then was OK. The early 90s were awful but it picked up as the 90s went on and to the end of the 90s it was quite good. The years just after the millenium were the best, 2001 was the best year. I only had to work 2 days a week for large parts of 2001. Its 7 days a week recently. I'd say the economy was at its peak in 2001. Since 2002 theres been a steady decline year on year. Its like the early 90s now and has been this year in general. I knew the economy was in trouble for the a few years before the credit crunch as the money kept going down.

2 days a week only? That is incredible

It was. I wish those days would come back. You can't make £100 nowadays. Like today I made £18 and worked hard for it.

So was today a full day to get that much? How long were you doing it today?

Today I did the late shift, from about 4pm to sometime after 11pm. Theres gaps between pitches as you go from pitch to pitch and it sometimes takes time to get a pitch, but I worked fairly solid today as I had no problem finding pitches. Theres a few times recently where I've hit the dizzy heights of £1 in an hour. I had to move out from where I was staying a couple of weeks ago.

It was more like 3pm I started. Have the clocks changed?

lol no they havent. I think we've got about 2 weeks yet

Thanks. I noticed there was an hours difference between the posting time and what I thought was the time.

On here? Sounds like you need to go into your forum control panel and change the time settings in board settings

I think John Major and Kenneth Clark were better than people realised. It was under them the busking money went up and the peak 2001 under Labour was still from them, before the Labour effect kicked in and sent things down. Labour get accused of squandering money and it is true. The Millenium Dome is an obvious example but not a good one. I read the other day that Labour have a policy in operation to rubuild every school in Britian. Why? If a school needs to be rebuilt then it should be rebuilt, but rebuilding every school in Britain for the sake of it is an expensive political vanity project. It is an example of politicians 'leaving a legacy'. Like Saddam wanted to rebuild Nebadchednezzar's palace or whatever with 'Saddam' written in every brick. The Conservatives did not appear to oppose the rebuilding every school policy but were complaining that Labour were lagging behind in its implementation. People should let politicians know we do not want their legacies. Tony Blair wanted to leave a legacy in Iraq. It was under Tony Blair that the rebuilding all schools legacy was in the election manifesto, so it could have been a Tony Blair legacy. And it is quite a meglomaniac Nubadchednezzar legacy. But I suspect that one was Gordon Brown, Blair let him do it in exchange for Blair legacies.
My saying that John Major and Kenneth Clark were quite good econimically is in no way an endorsement of the Conservative Party. I think David Cameron and George Osbourne are a pair of jokers, and would rather Gordon Brown to them.

Thankd for the advice Scorpio.

I had to buy sainsburys home brand fishfingers today

oh dear

Anyone had sainsbury's own brand cheap bread? It isn't too bad actually.

I've had some stuff from there, not too bad..

I had a big bar of sainsburys basic chocolate though before.. horrible stuff

Looks like the so-called "credit crunch" is really starting to bite now.

Seems only right that the luxuries have less spent on them. But then i can say that cos i'm not a big drinker

The "Credit Crunch/Recession/Economic Crisis/Banking Crisis/Global Slump" really hit home this past week after my girlfriend found out her company were making her redundant. She works (worked) for a construction company that to be honest made some major dollar in recent years and was no stranger to multi-million pound contracts. But a combination of the current problems and I suspect some poor management decisions have led to a closure of it's Leed's office and the loss of 20 jobs at her office in Manchester. She hasnt been there 2 years and is being offered no redundancy (although I am nearly sure the government gives companies 1 weeks pay for every year to fund redundancy-bet the bastards are keeping that).

Up until now the credit crunch hadnt really hit me. I am fortunate that I have one full time job and have the option to pick up extra income anytime I want by nursing on the bank register, but it's def made me sit up and take more notice now.

Not hit me at all, work still busy petroil going down mortgage going down prices in the shops going down
I think the kids will do well this Christmas as I don't think I will have to cut back at all and just hope all goes well in 2009.

What do pubs expect, its as much as £3.50 for a bottle of Bud down this way. Its £11 for 20 bottles in most supermarkets, £3.50 x 40 is £140, I'd go livid if I spent that much on beer.

I went to Manchester on Saturday night for a meal with my girlfriend and her family and we where first there. I went to the bar in the restaurant and ordered a glass of Rose wine and a JD and coke. THIRTEEN QUID!!! THIRTEEN CHUFFING QUID. Whole night cost me £160 - that's seen to it that everybody gets nuts and fruit for Xmas pressies off of me.

i think own brands ...are made by the same companies ... Sainsbury`s, Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, etc
have a lot of sway...when it comes to buying...cheaper ingredients...maybe !
people i have known... working in a canning factory...say `different labels`

A combination of semi-interest and complete slobbishness led to me to watch Credit Crash Britain tonight on BBC2. They managed to prove that renting and therefore not being on the property ladder (at present) is better than if you are on the ladder! They worked out that if you bought a house between 1980 and 2000 you'd actually be about £60,000 worse off than if you'd saved the money you would use for deposit, legal fees, stamp duty etc and put it in a shares account.

Apparently renting is going to become much more popular over the next 3 to 4 years whilst the housing market cools. I worked out that for my 3 bedroom victorian terrace i pay £5500 a year in rent - the equivalent mortgage repayment annually wouldnt cover me for the price of the house of say a standard 25 year repayment mortgage.

Yeah i bought a pint and a glass of wine and a pack of crisps for me and the other half the other night and it was £10 for ffs .

No I havent noticed anything reli, but im a simple student so what do i no? lol
But buying food i learnt is expensive haha, but it was expensive anyway...
Feel bad for woolies, i reli dont want them to dissapear so am buyin stuff for my party from there lol

My mortgage payments might be going down again today

To be perfectly honest, it hasn't affected me one bit.
Maybe thats because my utilities are included in the price of my flat.
Won't have that same luxury in the house I'm sharing with 5 people next year.

It hasnt really affected us too much other than I find groceries have got a bit more expensive, but we have tightened out belt more.

The price of food is still dearer than a year ago even though inflation dropped sharply today.

Its dropped today? I havent seen the news much today..

I was in a local pub 3 weeks ago i had 5 lagers and 2 vodkas

OK i want you to guess that the bill was it was more than a £5er and Less than £30 i bet no one gets it

Probably close to 4 quid for each lager and then 2.5ish for the vodkas?

So that's £25 You Think

Come Drink Up Here You Poor People

£10.50 for 5 pints Tennants lager and 2 Vodka and coke