General Chat

When we could , donkey's years ago we would watch anything and everything on TV up to the epilogue.
Now there's scores of channels on round the clock.

Everybody rented their television when they were very expensive and unreliable. I had a terrible job persuading Fred that we would eventually be better off buying one and his mate still carried on renting for a long,long time after that until I managed to persuade him that he was paying for more than one new tele a year with his rentals.

We eventually bought him one while we were in Wales and brought it home on the back seat of the car.

Now Mr flash has a 50" flat screen job!

When my parents passed I'd to dispose of their home and effects.
Among Mother's papers were my GF's birth, wedding and death certificate.
These were the documents that got me interested in genealogy.
Also there was my GM's death certificate (bowel cancer) signed by my former GP
In addition was a receipt from CWS for GM's funeral 1945.
Embalming, hearse, coffin, one other car, interment, notice in paper £24-10-0
These days you would pay that for flowers RIP

My Missis once was involved with Damart,

and was refused an account because .........she had no credit rating............ everything she had bought was paid for.......up front

Things ai'nt what they used to be LOL
When I was young (a long time ago) we had coloured "ticket men" come to the door trying to sell you a shirt and or tie on credit !
As they returned for payments they would attempt to sell you some thing else, you were always in their debt. They or their sons now own their own shops and employ people to do their selling. They own all the corner shops and most of the taxis.
Things have changed. Don't know if it's for the better

I believe that the more you borrow, and pay back without problems, the more you are able to borrow. This is because they have a record of your financial transactions to prove you are a good payer.

On the other hand, people like me, who usually pay in full, up front, would find it difficult to get a loan.

I remember reading, many years ago, that Prince Philip's credit rating was so bad that nobody in their right mind would lend him anything!! :-) :-) :-)

I remember Mercantile Credit!

I worked for Habitat in the mid/late '70s and we offered their credit which was usually taken up for expensive furniture purchases.

I still remember the credit application form we had to fill in for the applicant, an absolutely massive single sheet of carbonated paper, that asked for everything bar their blood group. :-D

I was still there when 'Instant Credit' started (1980?),.....Cheque guarantee card and a proof of address was all that was needed to get up to £200 instant purchasing power.

I was brought up by parents who did use HP but wisely (TV was rented from Radio Rentals, remember them ;-) ). They are now in their 80s and have never had a credit card.

I have credit cards but only use the one that gives me benefits, and I pay it off every month. Scarily I just added up all the credit instantly available to me and it came to £50k+ :-0

Chris

Amongst the many pieces of paper my gran hoarded, I believe I still have my dad's first HP document - for a Norton Motorbike in about 1949!!

We were certainly brought up to dread debt - about 1950 my father on retirement from the navy got an office job with EMI and my parents got a television as no one in the office talked about anything else - but we children were strictly told never to tell granny and grandpa they had bought it on the HP!

Wonderful. I don't still have the letter but once and only once in the early 70s we were slightly overdrawn because salary went in late but mortgage was still taken. We were not very well off at that time but were appalled at being overdrawn. The bank sent a letter which said in essence that we should be reminded that we banked with them not the other way round. (Bat West) and we are still with them, wonder if it is on file.

You should build a shrine to that letter.

I was brought up the same way, but there were such tight restrictions on borrowing that most people had no choice.

I don't have a credit card, and OH only uses his for large purchases, like holidays, because if anything goes wrong he will get his money back. He pays it in full every month, so it costs him nothing.

As for keeping the letter - I was supposed to be throwing stuff out, not putting it away again!

Hello Andysmum

I feel your letter is something I would wish to keep as a reminder of what I feel were better times.

My family never bought anything until they could pay cash for it- and yes they taught me to do likewise and to bargain with sellers.

Sadly bargaining is not done these days (unless a small shop ) as they get discount from the money providers.

Cannot help feeling that the younger generations would have a better sense of
values if they had to handle there cash themselves instead of just handing a card
over,

Wow that would be the banks that these days throw credit cards at Uni kids like there's no tomorrow wouldn't it!

For those of you old enough to remember the days of Hire Purchase, friendly local Bank Managers etc.

OH is a hoarder, but I have finally persuaded him that it will make life a lot easier if I do some sorting (chucking out!) while he is still here to vet it.

This is a letter from his bank, dated June, 1978.

Dear Commander W....

I notice that your monthly payments of £37.66 to the Mercantile Credit Finance have recently been completed and this must be a source of great satisfaction to you.

Payment for larger items such as vehicles, domestic appliances, furnishings or double glazing by monthly instalments has now become part of the pattern of life. My purpose in writing to you, therefore, is to suggest that next time you contemplate such a purchase, you approach the bank for a personal loan for which the interest charge is often lower than Hire Purchase. Such loans can be swiftly arranged so that cash is available before the purchase is made, and you are, therefore, able to shop around for the goods at a discount for cash.

I would not wish you to look upon this letter as encouragement to borrow unnecessarily, but should the occasion arise, may I suggest that you contact me to discuss this type of finance.

Yours sincerely,

....

I love the last paragraph. :-) Can you imagine any financial institution writing such a letter these days? :-) :-)