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| Saturday, March 22, 2008 |
| Debt-Gorged British Start to Worry That the Party Is Ending |
Blimey! The New York Times reports: Debt-Gorged British Start to Worry That the Party Is Ending At one point, Alexis Hall had more than 50 pairs of designer shoes and handbags. It never occurred to the 39-year-old media relations executive from Glasgow that her £31,500 in debt ($63,000) would be a problem.
“It was so easy to get the loans and the credit that you almost think the goods are a gift from the shop,” she said. “You don’t fully realize that it’s real money you are spending until you actually sit down and consolidate your bills and then it’s a shock.”
[...]
According to a survey for the Office of National Statistics, less than half the population saves regularly, and more than 39 percent said they would rather enjoy a good standard of living today than save for retirement. Ms. Hall said she was among that 39 percent. She recently took out new loans, planning to repay her existing debt. But she ended up spending the money on more luxury goods instead.
This year, she published a book about her experiences. She said she did not expect the book’s proceeds to repay her debts, but it may help the growing number of people in similar positions cope with theirs. |
| posted by Boston Gal @ 5:29 AM *
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| 7 Comments: |
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I wonder if the British have an equivalent tax rebate stimulus package coming? Is the US unique in that regard?
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The Brit's 'stimulus package' is the fact that they can buy stuff from the Yanks for fifty cents on the dollar.
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When I was in Orlando last week, I was at the Premium Outlets, and clearly in the minority. There were tons of Brits and Canadians there, and they were acting like kids in a candy store. Actually, the women were giddy and the husbands were bored, but that's besides the point :-) The euro is so strong that they were buying things like Coach bags and Nikes for a song. All that spending is bound to catch with them eventually.
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I saw this headline yesterday and my first thought was they've written about me in the NY times, but then I thought no, I've reformed! my second thought was, is there not a consumer debt problem in the US as well?
Its the same old problem every where, no financial education and the need to have it all right now not in the future.
a Brit trying not to be too defensive :)
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Huh. I wonder if her book talks about how much of an idiot she was in overspending and how she blatantly blew a loan meant to pay off debt only to increase it all over again.
I'm also wondering if she's hoping to get bailed out of her predicament by others.
Its simple, people.
STOP OVERSPENDING and being so damn MATERIALISTIC.
Ugh.
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It's about time the US economy benefited from exports. This could go a long way in reducing the trade imbalance. Though it is too bad that everyone is following the US consumers profligate spending habits.
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ctmom - brits don't use euros, they're still stuck in the 20th century :)
Here's an article from a couple months ago about Irish shoppers coming Christmas shopping to NY; something that's so common it's cliche at home. Interesting paragraph!
"If you haven't made it to New York for a shopping trip yet, don't panic. Some economists believe the dollar is only at the beginning of a long cycle that could see its value remaining depressed for seven-to-10 years."
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I wonder if the British have an equivalent tax rebate stimulus package coming? Is the US unique in that regard?