FEELING TH£ PINCH
WORDS : CATRIONA MATHESON
PHOTOGRAPHY : JIM WILSON
The ‘credit crunch’ is not a cereal bar. I bet properties could be repossessed and then this year and more than half the population
you knew that, but just four weeks ago, I re-sold for a profit, the American housing has scrapped treats such as cinema trips
didn’t. market plummeted. as they attempt to tighten their belts. The
outcome of the ‘credit crunch’ may also
Any student returning home after a year Often, financial institutions use customer’s be more long-term than was first expected.
studying abroad will tell you that whilst at debts as a source of income which they can With employers recruiting fewer graduates in
first things may seem the same as before, invest. As fewer people are able to pay off a bid meet budgets, recent figures from the
little differences begin to crop up. For their debts however, such institutions are Office for National Statistics show there are
example, there are a couple of new cafes unable to take on more debt themselves now 8 000 more people staying at home than
on Great Western Road, and there seems and have little money to lend. This is how it five years ago.
to be a building site opposite the library. affects us. Not only will we find it harder to
Wayne Rooney and Coleen McLaughlin get a loan, mortgage, home or credit card, With no sign of the ‘credit crunch’ abating
got married (I don’t really care), and Boris but as we’ll have fewer opportunities to and some estimates claiming it may last for
Johnson is now Mayor of London. Gordon get out of debt, we spend less. Companies 5 years, it seems there’s a higher chance
Brown doesn’t seem to have many friends at including the corner shop then react by we’ll be both unemployed and living at
the moment and oh yeh, we’re having some putting their prices up- leaving us with little home when we graduate. On the bright side
sort of financial crisis which means a pint spare cash for the pub on a Friday night. though, we can keep our parents happy by
of milk now costs an arm and a leg. I must eating our greens.
have heard ‘credit crunch’ a million times The latest food price figures show the
since I’ve been home and it’s grating on me. average cost of putting a meal on the table
Economics is certainly not my forte; so for is a third up on a year ago. In fact, green
my benefit as much as yours, I’ll keep this British-grown vegetables are some of the
simple and we can learn together - gather only products not to have increased in price.
round! As thousands of first year students will be
buying their own shopping for the first time, 0 TIPS TO HELP bEAT THE bITE
The term ‘credit crunch’ has often been they may be in for a shock. Similarly, those
used in general terms to describe the of you privately renting for the first time
current financial epidemic including recent may get a nasty surprise when your bills 1. Quit fags
inflation, however it applies specifically to arrive in three months time. 2. Drink cider
the sudden reduction and availability of 3. Spend less time in the shower
loans (i.e. ‘credit’) or a sudden increase in It doesn’t stop there either - a recent survey 4. Make your own lunch
the cost of obtaining loans from banks. The has shown that students are paying almost 5. Wash at 30 degrees not 40
crunch we’re now experiencing has been 20% more in rent than they did four years 5. Get your furniture off the street.
caused by people in the US with poor credit ago. It’s not surprising then that our social 7. Get free condoms from the SRC
ratings who were unable to meet higher debt lives are suffering. Recent statistics published 8. Read the Metro
repayments due to rising interest rates. As in The Daily Telegraph show almost one in 9. Heating off - wrap up warm
more mortgages were terminated so that three people abandoned plans for a holiday 10. Go out less and read GUM more
2•GUM
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