| Well, we've all felt it in some way, money has never been so tight! My life has completely changed over the last 18 months, I used to have a nice car, savings, and a decent wage going in the bank to cover my expenses. I know where it started to go wrong for me - I had a few grand saved up and I was willing to invest in the stock market, because I'd done it before and the time was right (or so I thought) to have a dabble (as the say). We all know it is corporate gambling, but I always kept my eye on share prices and decided that I would invest in a couple of banks and breweries LOL Within a week of buying the stocks, they were just diving down ridiculously, I've always had an itchy trigger finger (metaphor) so I sold the stocks and cut my losses! I lost £600 that week, It didn't kill me, but I felt bad for a few weeks. I bought a laptop for the missus - that was £300, also I was constantly going clubbing, and buying clothes and smoking. The wages at work started to die down, so I was constantly dipping in the stash. Eventually it was gone. Probably February 2008, I started to feel the bite a bit, however carried on plodding on through the cold weather getting low wages. In April the 18 month mortgage deal needed replenishing but all the deals available were rubbish. So I kept putting it off and putting it off. Me and the missus split up and from there, everything just went belly up! I didn't have a pound some of those nights as winter crept back in late 2008, I got a job and started walking to work, I also promised myself I'd quit smoking but I didn't manage it til late Feb 09, but all the bad times have made me healthier, happier with what i've got and smarter becuase i'm not out getting drunk all the time - i'm on my computer learning Adobe Dreamweaver, so it goes to show you all this can make you think about yourself and make you want to be better!!!I would be interested to hear of any other CRUNCH stories, have you felt it? |