Does world finance dictate personal finance?

*collaborative post.

It seems one of the main topics in the news over the past decade has been finances. There have been some extreme highs & lows over that time period. For better or worse, financial ups & downs have changed the way households manage their personal finances.

When my husband & I moved to Ireland ten years ago, Ireland was in the middle of its financial boom. The building industry was in top gear. Everyone was building houses, flipping houses, driving nice cars & spending without concern. We built our house in that time period of time but thankfully didn’t get involved in buying & selling because shortly after we built the crash hit.

When the Celtic tiger fell, he fell hard. And it wasn’t just in Ireland of course, the effects of the financial crash were felt around the world. Most people cut back on their spending. A lot of people were caught out with properties that weren’t worth half of what they paid for them. Or properties they bought to flip & couldn’t. There was a lot of hardship & still is.

In recent years, things were getting back on track for Ireland & the UK. People were starting to spend again & starting to take risks again. Then the big vote happened for the UK to leave the EU & it’s like a whole new wave of financial worry has started to spread around the UK, Ireland & Europe again.

It’s a real shame that finances in one country seriously affects how people spend their money in another country. But the world is so interconnected now that what happens in one place spreads everywhere so quickly. I have read a few articles lately saying people are being more careful with their household finances since the EU Referendum.

I really don’t know what’s best for people & their personal finances at this time. Regardless of what’s going on politically, we still have to pay our bills & often need to take out loans for cars, weddings or other events. At the same time, no one wants to get caught out buying a property that will plummet in value. It’s a tricky time to know what to buy or how to spend your money.

With all of the financial questions out there – what do you think is the best way to move forward? To carry on as always or to be more careful with spending?