When it comes to the crunch . . .

3:23pm Tuesday 22nd July 2008

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THERE’S only one thing guaranteed to put you in a bad mood quicker than having to practically take out a mortgage to fill your car with petrol.

And that’s watching the news or opening a newspaper and being told by some financial expert how you’ll need a mortgage to fill your car with petrol.

The credit crunch is firmly upon us — and don’t we know it.

But it’s not the huge gas and electricity bills, food price hikes or even the fact that I’m soon going to have to resort to salmon paste sandwiches for lunch that’s getting me down — it’s constantly having to hear about what a bad financial state we’re in.

You can’t turn on the radio nowadays without having another doom and gloom story about interest rates shooting up, house prices plummeting or fuel prices getting more and more ridiculous.

What with that and the summer monsoon we’re experiencing, it’s enough to have you reaching for the Prozac.

What’s even worse is that everyone’s getting in on the act. I walked past a cafe selling “credit crunch breakfasts” the other day. How they equated a couple of rashers of bacon and a fried egg with the sudden reduction in the availability in bank loans is anyone’s guess.

What next? Credit crunchy nut cornflakes? Credit crunch-flavoured Kettle chips?

I feel genuinely sorry for those facing repossession or bankruptcy but for most of us, if we’re honest, it’s just a case of having less disposable cash than we did a few months ago. I’m not arguing it isn’t depressing but it’s not going to kill us.

Are we really so devoid of imagination and creativity that we can do nothing more constructive than moan constantly about not being able to buy stuff rather than just doing the best we can and getting on with it?

Generations untouched by war tend to be a bit bratty and unable to comprehend not getting what we want when we want it, but most people over the age of 50 will remember childhoods when life was less cushy.

They didn’t moan because they couldn’t afford to buy an iPhone. In fact, many people remember the tough times as some of their happiest, before the greed of consumerism took over.

I certainly feel like this low-point seems a bit like payback. Don’t you look back to this time last year and feel a bit foolish at how over-indulgent you were? Not enough money to buy this season’s must-have jacket? Never mind, bang it on the credit card.

It’s like the financial equivalent of gorging yourself on Big Macs every day and suddenly waking up to realise you’re fat.

If the financial predictions are correct and this financial dark cloud is going to last at least another 18 months then at the very least we could try to be a bit more positive about it.

And there’s always Primark.