Credit Crunch

It's undeniable that the credit crunch has finally munched it way to the shores of Britain. I'm writing this based on my personal views and to warn you beforehand, I'm not an economist.

First thing which my parents worried about was how much personal savings were the banks in the UK guaranteeing each customer if it ever goes bankrupt one day. As a warning, don't be so complacent to think that famous banks can never go bankrupt as a few has already done so in the past and in the US.

Just for you information, if you are that rich as student, the Bank of England has recently lifted guarantee on savings from the previous £35,000 to £50,000. Story here. You can start worrying if you have savings more than that. Maybe go buy gold or something and hope that nobody robs you.

Another thing which affected me was that the interest rates kept on decreasing. I was saving more but getting lesser in interests in return. Darn.

New graduates in fields relating to the economy like Business, Economics, etc. were badly affected as well. In this slowing economy, people are retrenching more than employing. Even the current employees are worried if they're able to hold on to their jobs till next year. Bad time to graduate, that's all I can say. No wonder some of my friends prefer to forgo what they really wanted to do and to read medicine or dentistry instead as no matter how good or bad the economy is, the demand of health care is always there. Who know, the demand for health care might increase as more people are mentally affected leading to physical manifestations.

If there's anyone thinking of buying properties, like houses, this is the time to start surveying as the prices are dropping like Niagara Falls. People who planned to make money from investing in properties and selling it when Liverpool became the European Capital of Culture 2008 are seriously unlucky. If they had foresight and sold it off in the beginning of this year, they might have made some profit, but it'll be the time to hold if you have the holding power and wait patiently for the prices to increase in future.

Picture taken from here.

I was wondering about the prices of daily products like groceries, transportation and all. How will they be affected? I don't think transportation fares will decrease. It goes in only a 1 way direction - up. How about food? Toiletries? Books?

Another thing was the cost of going on a holiday. Since more people are cutting back on expenditure, travel agents, flight providers and holiday accommodations will surely think of ways to attract customers to keep their business alive, right? I'm seriously hoping for a good bargain holiday to come my way for this December. So far, I'm planning to be a good 4th year medical student and stay at home to prepare for my finals. Will that happen? Only time will tell.

As the times are getting harder, cost of living gets higher, number of jobs getting lesser, crime rates will definitely go up. So, be careful when going out. Don't go around advertising your new mobile, branded handbags, posh Apple iPhones etc. If you can avoid it, don't walk around alone while talking on the phone as there are many cases of snatch thieves and robbery recently. Come home before dark, which I myself cannot adhere to due to on-calls. Be more aware of your surroundings and be street smart.