Foreign Perspectives

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The actions that the American, British and European central banks have taken have all affected their respective exchange rates of course.

We’ve seen the pound move from a typical $1.50 to more like $2 these days and that’s obviously had quite a considerable effect on international trade between the two countries which has always been substantial. Although it’s clearly an advantage to tourists from the UK going to America clearly the move in the other direction has gone down substantially.

Within Europe the pound has gone from around 60p to the euro to more like 80p for a euro these days which, combined with the dramatic price increases in discount airline flights, has pretty much killed off British tourism in Europe this year.

But the impact on tourism is just one aspect (and a minor one at that) of the impact on the European economy. It might be great for the European tourists to have really cheap holidays this year but if the exchange rate continues at anything like the current level they’ll soon find themselves out of a job as their products are priced out of the range of export markets.

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With the credit crisis in full swing there are a lot of people out there in need of some foreclosure help.

Fortunately, that crisis has spawned a whole industry aimed at helping those in financial difficulties. Help and advice abound if only you know where to look for it. Time might well look pretty bleak but often you just need a pointer as to where to go or what you can do about your situation.

Above all, don’t just sit there and let events unfold around you: take that first step and seek out help and you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised at just how much you can do.

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These come under all kinds of different names but basically they’re an advance on your salary.

That means that obviously you need to be in employment to get one and usually for at least three months. You’ll also need a bank account as payment is directly into your bank account. Finally, as they’re effectively an advance on your salary you need to pay them back when your salary next arrives in your account.

Payday loans tend to look as though they’re incredibly expensive when you look at the rate of interest but then that’s calculated on an annual basis and these loans are for less than a month so, yes, the interest rate looks high but the amount actually charged isn’t as bad as you might think.

Cash advances couldn’t be called cheap but are a useful way out to fill in the gap that most of us get towards the end of the month and before the next payday.

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