When sterling devalued in 2008/2009........ How did you reshape your lifestyle here ?

[johnnybgood]

What did you do ? Any hints for the Euro and maybe Aussie guys?

As a retiree here in 2008, I made these personal changes to compensate......

1. Hung up my golf clubs, sadly, but I've played since I was a teenager in an area full of golf courses.

Thainess has spoiled the game. An easy choice made.

2. Gave up on my darkside local bars and restaurants, saved the 'experience' for the odd lost weekend in Pattaya instead.

The wife who doesn't drink is happy to drive. We now prefer the anonymity. A new normal by choice

3. Got into PC games. I used to scoff. Not for me...yohoho... tooo busy.

WOW they can amuse for days... stimulating the grey cells, reflexes & improving dexterity.

Like a form of meditation.

I've had it with a lifetime of domestic DIY, so gaming became my hobby of choice.

Reduced income dealt with and a sea change socially enabled me to stop smoking after 45 years.

Now 6 years since the pound got toasted & I haven't smoked since. Icing on the cake!

So if your currency gets devalued ..... Maybe trying a positive lifestyle choice would help?

[Stradavarius37]

Good for you OP - Granddaddy gamer

[metisdead]

Moved to the Jobs, economy, banking, business, investments forum.

[paddyjenkins]

I only had 20% of my net worth in GBP so i didn't have to reshape anything...its called diversity

Edited January 26, 2015 by paddyjenkins

[gerry123]

gosh what a gem of goody two shoes you are sorry (were) somewhat chuffed we didn't sign up for the euro eh ??

don't forget vote for UKIP

[gamini]

some years back when John Major was PM the pound plummeted to about Bt36? I was devastated but held on and in 2004 I sold all my pounds

(GBP 200,000) at Bt73. So really you never can tell. With the money we built a house and invested some in the Thai Stock market. The Thai baht is a pretty good currency to be in if you live here.

[SheungWan]

Sterling didn't devalue, it just went down in value. Not the same thing.

The OP's solutions are simply cutting back on expenditure after the horse has bolted, which is not exactly difficult to work out.

The time to consider action is when one's home currency is strong. That is the opportune time to shift assets, in anticipation of worse times ahead.

[worgeordie]

The big change for me was when the interest rates on fixed deposits here

started to plummet,at one point was getting 16 or 18 %,hawking your cash

around the banks every 3 -6 months,looking for a little more and the bank

managers where pleased to see you.not now

When the rates dropped to 5% and looked like falling further (which they did)

time to move into property,that was a good move,before they started asking

stupid prices,there where bargains to be found.now cash is not king,rates

are lower than inflation,real inflation not the figure the Govt. says it is.

regards Worgeordie

[kannot]

I told the wife my Uk money was now worthless and I had to retire, kicked her outta bed and made her work, she now gets +200k a month ( this month she tells me 287k........Ive told her if she doesnt start getting 300 k soon Ill be updating her...selfish cow!!

[Ricardo]

Happily our investments were largely no-longer in the UK, but our net-wealth still fell significantly in the crash, so we cut back on our living-costs & luxury-spending, but ring-fenced our childrens' education. No regrets there !

I still fly with the cheaper airlines, instead of the better Gulf-based ones or direct-flights, wouldn't anyone put their family ahead of their own temporary comfort or convenience ?

My car is now 12-years-old & over 200k km, so what, I don't care about face !

We never did get a family-trip to Aussie/Kiwiland, or that cruise up the coast of Alaska, never had it so didn't miss it.

I read more of my own books, for a 2nd/3rd time, but still visit the book-exchange occasionally.

Family & wat got fewer hand-outs.

To sum up, you can still have a pretty-good life, for less ! It sure beats going back to work & taxes !

[PattayaPhom]

Happily our investments were largely no-longer in the UK, but our net-wealth still fell significantly in the crash, so we cut back on our living-costs & luxury-spending, but ring-fenced our childrens' education. No regrets there !

I still fly with the cheaper airlines, instead of the better Gulf-based ones or direct-flights, wouldn't anyone put their family ahead of their own temporary comfort or convenience ?

My car is now 12-years-old & over 200k km, so what, I don't care about face !

We never did get a family-trip to Aussie/Kiwiland, or that cruise up the coast of Alaska, never had it so didn't miss it.

I read more of my own books, for a 2nd/3rd time, but still visit the book-exchange occasionally.

Family & wat got fewer hand-outs.

To sum up, you can still have a pretty-good life, for less ! It sure beats going back to work & taxes !

Great post Ricardo, a straight guy with common sense and outlook on life.

[meatboy]

Sterling didn't devalue, it just went down in value. Not the same thing.

The OP's solutions are simply cutting back on expenditure after the horse has bolted, which is not exactly difficult to work out.

The time to consider action is when one's home currency is strong. That is the opportune time to shift assets, in anticipation of worse times ahead.

exactly right sw.seems like the op.never done any homework in his school days.

[johnnybgood]

Funnily enough it's not about the OP..........

[paddyjenkins]

I went on the game

[johnnybgood]

I went on the game

Ah ............you must be that Greek chap?

[i claudius]

I didnt change my car ,but kept the old one ,

[Naam]

when Sterling dropped i was totally flabbergasted and dumbstruck thinking of my poor British friends who live in Thailand and their suffering. it was a big relief when my wife told me to cheer up because i don't have any British friends who live in Thailand.

[crazykopite]

Sit back and wait for the baht to drop like a stone then move your saving over . I move my income over when ever I see the £ gaining this week has been poor but I expect better in the coming weeks seeing as the PM has now announced that Martial Law is to be stepped up !! Uncertain times for Thailand !!!!

[i claudius]

when Sterling dropped i was totally flabbergasted and dumbstruck thinking of my poor British friends who live in Thailand and their suffering. it was a big relief when my wife told me to cheer up because i don't have any British friends who live in Thailand.

Do you have any friends?

note to self ,stop it.

Edited January 30, 2015 by i claudius

[jacko45k]

I carried on as before, only making plans to die sooner.

[sanuk711]

Sit back and wait for the baht to drop like a stone then move your saving over----crazykopite

but don't try to hold your breath while your waiting..............

Here is the chart for the last 10 years....a dropping stone is nowhere to be seen.

http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=THB&to=USD&view=10Y

[kannot]

when Sterling dropped i was totally flabbergasted and dumbstruck thinking of my poor British friends who live in Thailand and their suffering. it was a big relief when my wife told me to cheer up because i don't have any British friends who live in Thailand.

Naam u crack me up!! and Im a Brit (sorry), still good job the wife was there to tell you or the suffering may have continued for???? minutes? seconds?

[hocuspocus]

In 2008 I transferred 25000 sterling to Thailand to buy a house in Chiang Mai but the deal fell through due to a crooked lawyer. When I transferred the money to Thailand I got 68 Bahts to the pound but after the crash I sent the money back to the UK and I bought the pounds back for 48 Bahts each. Do the maths and even after losing the 10% deposit I still made a profit. So timing is very important and you have to be a bit lucky as well, but it could have gone the other way. So using the profits I furnished a rented house here in Chiang Mai and gave up on any ideas about buying a house again.

[elgordo38]

Coming from a Mennonite background I have been a penny pincher since watching my old Grandmother use the living room rug for a bank. I have saved my money all my life believing all that government crap over the years to save for my retirement. Now they have reduced my interest earned on savings to almost 0 to give almost free money to the people who are drunk on cheap money including the government of course. The banksters have ruined the world (modern day carpetbaggers) and the government has taken taxpayer money to bail them out. They the government has told us the next time the banksters break the bank they the government will take the money they need directly from our savings account to bail them out as they no longer can afford to. They are using the Cyprus model. My pension although indexed barely budges every January. I have a g/f now and have a comfortable not lavish condo unit here in Chiang Mai 38 sq. metres for 4,000 bahts a month with a pool and good security. I quit drinking beer except for 2 on the weekend. We salad bar it 3 times a week and Tops restaurant 2 days a week and cook on the weekend. We occasionally go out to eat. I have no desire to travel. We download movies for entertainment but 90% of the new ones are crap so I have gone back in time to download the oldie moldies as they were real movies not that junk put out today. They were real actors not these pay day flunkies who you read about in the news everyday throwing sh*tballs at each other. All this junk is thrown at the masses to divert their minds from the real world problems. We bike a bit for excersize and my g/f does her thing off of the tv (excersize videos) and I put on my joggers and walk all the floors in our 16 floor building plus doing the stairs. I have no car or motorbike just a pair of push bikes. I am now 77. I haggle with the taxi drivers, I fill up my own water jugs from a machine I trust. I am in a savings mode as I want to leave my g/f something after I snuff it. She is much younger than me but a good person who deserves something for all the kindness she has shown me plus she will be entering a really tough time as I cannot see the world getting any better only worse. I try to make friends here in the condo as friends are worth their weight in gold at times and at times can be a pain in the ar*e but then no one is perfect. At 77 I have taken to heart what one doctor stated on the news. He stated that if he reaches 75 and has a catastrophic illness he will not seek expensive treatment to buy a couple more painful years and I heartily agree. Why tie up valuable hospital space you've had your fun and death is only a natural progression in life.

[sandyf]

Sterling didn't devalue, it just went down in value. Not the same thing.

The OP's solutions are simply cutting back on expenditure after the horse has bolted, which is not exactly difficult to work out.

The time to consider action is when one's home currency is strong. That is the opportune time to shift assets, in anticipation of worse times ahead.

Terminology brigade are out again, play on words with the same outcome. Fixed exchange rates devalue and floating exchange rates depreciate but at the end of the day the currency is worth less in respect to the chosen reference.

The OP was obviously referring to the relationship between the British Pound and the Thai Baht

[Daniel Boon]

I only had 20% of my net worth in GBP so i didn't have to reshape anything...its called diversity

you mean diversifying ...

[smotherb]

I only had 20% of my net worth in GBP so i didn't have to reshape anything...its called diversity

Yes, diversify and always spend less than you make, which means you save and invest, wisely I hope. That is why I still have money after all these years. So, when the recessions hit--in the early seventies, late eighties, and 2007-8--only my net worth took a dive; my lifestyle stayed the same. It may be too late for you old farts, but is good advice for the younger ones.

[dotpoom]

I committed suicide........hand on a minute.....oh no, I didn't.....forgot there for a minute.

[paddyjenkins]

I only had 20% of my net worth in GBP so i didn't have to reshape anything...its called diversity

Yes, diversify and always spend less than you make, which means you save and invest, wisely I hope. That is why I still have money after all these years. So, when the recessions hit--in the early seventies, late eighties, and 2007-8--only my net worth took a dive; my lifestyle stayed the same. It may be too late for you old farts, but is good advice for the younger ones.

Good advice for any age

[SheungWan]

I only had 20% of my net worth in GBP so i didn't have to reshape anything...its called diversity

Yes, diversify and always spend less than you make, which means you save and invest, wisely I hope. That is why I still have money after all these years. So, when the recessions hit--in the early seventies, late eighties, and 2007-8--only my net worth took a dive; my lifestyle stayed the same. It may be too late for you old farts, but is good advice for the younger ones.

Quite wrong of course. For a significant number of old farts assets have appreciated and lifestyle has inevitably taken a definitive dive. The younger ones, b'stards, are younger and are advised to stay the same.