Financial crisis - Has it affected you? How?

[Willow]

We've been affected too. I lost my part time job just after Christmas, I'd been there 5 years and thought I was safe. I don't really think anyone is.

DH still has his job thank goodness and is thinking about taking a new position which could mean a pay rise but there is also talk of cutting back hours and if that happens, things will be a lot tighter around here.

We locked our mortgage in at a fixed rate for 5 years when we brought this place, we still have about 16 months to go so we're not seeing the benefits of reduced interest rates which is frustrating, that would help us out in the future but we're weighing it up against the money we've saved over the last 3.5 years and still think we'll come out in front (we're on a really good fixed rate).

I must admit I'm getting more and more worried about it, especially with another baby on the way. DH has been told his job (with a large company) is safe, but people all around him are loosing their jobs or working reduced hours.

Still, we are in a fairly stable position and have worked hard to clear all debt over the last 12 months apart from our mortgage. We have some money still to pay off our credit card but hopefully the stimulus package payments and/or tax will pay out the last of that.