Families Struggle to Make Ends Meet

Financial problems are pushing Britain’s families to breaking point, according to latest research.

A study by the Scottish Widows think tank, the Centre for the Modern Family, reveals the “increasingly desperate measures” families are taking to cope with the impact of recession.

Almost eight in 10 people said they feel family life is tougher now than it was a decade ago while one in five people said they are struggling to manage financially.

Two-fifths of the 1,500 adults polled said they are “just getting by”, with only seven per cent the UK population finding family life comfortable at present.

Increased living costs and falling wages, coupled with the rising cost of childcare and the ongoing economic climate, are creating a nation of “on the brink Britons”, the report said.

The younger generation appears to be bearing the brunt, according to the study. People aged 18 to 34 are more likely to have resorted to selling items online in the past 12 months to make ends meet, compared with the national average. They are also twice as likely to have taken out a payday loan to tide them over.

Meanwhile, one in five young people has been left unable to pay household bills and one in eight has skipped meals in order to ensure their family eats well, the research reveals.

Lord Leitch, chairman of the Centre for the Modern Family, said: “These findings paint a stark and in some cases desperate picture of family life in Britain today as families feel the squeeze of these difficult times.

“Young people in particular face a very different kind of working life from the one that their parents and grandparents experienced.

“Affordable housing and a comfortable retirement are just two aspects that can no longer be taken for granted and as a result young people now face an increasingly uncertain future.”

Risky Baines & Ernest Debt Scheme

A debt solution provider has started a new trend to deal with debt - win your way out of debt. Baines and Ernest has set up a free competition to have £8,000 written off if you with the competition. You can read what has been said below about the unethical competition:

Financial doom and gloom – it’s hard to escape the grim news surrounding our economy.

But there is one company set to change the financial outlook for one person, as Baines & Ernst is going give one lucky winner the chance to win up to £8,000 to pay off their unsecured debts*!

A Spokesperson for Baines & Ernst – one of the country’s leading providers of debt solutions – said, “We hear from people every day who are struggling to pay their bills and meet debt repayments. You can’t ignore what’s happening to people right now – job losses, income cuts, price hikes in household bills, skyrocketing food and petrol prices. We wanted to do something positive and give someone the chance to change their future by helping them to pay off their debts.”

Baines & Ernst is one of the country’s longest established providers of debt help to people struggling to repay the companies they owe money to. Since 1996, the company has helped over 100,000 people escape the pressures of debt with solutions including Debt Management Plans, IVAs and Debt Relief Orders.

“Through this competition, we also hope to raise awareness about the types of solutions available to people struggling with debt. We want people to know that they’re not alone and that there is help available that could make repaying debts much easier within their budget,” the Baines & Ernst spokesperson continues.

Credit Action – the national money education charity – issued statistics surrounding debt showing that the average household debt (excluding mortgages) stood at £8,002. This referred to unsecured debts including payday loans, catalogue accounts, credit cards, store cards and overdrafts.

“Getting this amount of personal debt cleared in one go could be life changing. It will allow someone to wipe out £8,000 worth of unsecured debt that is no doubt causing a great deal of stress and anxiety. All it takes is for someone to complete a short application form to enter,” the Baines & Ernst spokesperson added.

To be in with the chance to clear up to £8,000 of unsecured debts; enter The Baines & Ernst free prize draw online via Facebook or Baines & Ernst.

The Baines & Ernst prize draw is open to everyone in the UK aged 18 and over. The winner will win up to £8,000 to pay off their unsecured debts. *No cash alternative will be offered and all payment will go directly to their creditors. Terms and conditions apply.

Entries will be accepted from 30th May to midnight 3rd July 2012. The prize draw will take place on 6th July and the winner will be notified on 13th July. 

help from a debt charity

Don’t Fret About Debt

For many individuals due to many different reasons they find themselves in an almost impossible situation. They are in debt and they can see no way off paying it back.

Our advice is simple don’t fret, there are many different reasons why people find themselves in debt it can be redundancy, ill health, divorce the list is endless. Though the effect of debt can affect people in similar ways our advice is seek help as soon as you realise you are struggling with your debt, we all want to mange it and nobody wants to pay somebody to sort it out for them, however if we seek debt advice early enough we may have more options available to us at that stage.

In the first instance you want to speak to a charity people that are not there to gain anymore from you but will offer free debt advice. We recommend speaking to a debt charity.

In order for anyone to be able to give you the correct advice they will need to gain some information from you, they will want to know how much debt you have, how much income you have and how much expenditure you have. They will also enquire about any assets you may have. It is at this stage they will be able to offer you the best advice to suit your own personnel situation.

The advice varies from person to person as each personnel situation has to be taken into account. It could be for some they are missing out in benefits which they are entitled to, for others they may be advised to negotiate with their creditors and make token payments until they can get themselves back on their feet.

A Debt management plan may be an option which is an informal arrangement between you and your creditors in which you repay all the debt though over a longer period of time.

An IVA is another option where you repay a percentage of your debt and at the end of the term the rest is written off.

Bankruptcy is recommended when you have no disposable income and are unable to repay your debt.

For any of the above solutions you need to be aware of the impact they will have on your credit rating and that will last for six years.

Before entering any solution you must be aware of all the advantages and the disadvantages before you sign.

If you do find yourself fretting about debt call a debt advice charity they will offer you friendly advice and make you aware of the best way for you to become debt free.

Family Allowance Cuts to Be ‘Watered Down’ After Tory Revolt.

After a Tory backlash controversial plans to cut child benefit for the better off are being watered down.

The Chancellor George Osborne plan was to remove child benefit from any household where one person earned enough to pay the higher tax rate. However he is now making way to change this.

Nick Clegg confirmed this morning that the government is looking again at the child benefits cuts due to the 'unintended consequences' of the plans at the moment.

Nick Clegg the Deputy Prime Minister said the Government believed it was right to ensure that those on the highest incomes bear their share of the burden of deficit reduction.

Nick Clegg told Sky News: 'We've also equally accepted that there's an issue about how you do that, so you make sure you don't create these unintended consequences where, say, a family with one upper-income earner get child benefit removed when there's another family with two income earners who collectively earn more but keep the benefits.'

The original figure which was just over £40,000 now looks as though it will be raised as high as £80,000 nearly double what was first indicated.

The change is due to come into force at the beginning of next year, however it emerged yesterday that the Chancellor had different options for softening the impact of the change.

His options included raising income to £50,000, higher rate tax payers only receiving half the amount of child benefit or making payments only to families where the children are under the age of five.

However in a Statement issued last night by the Treasury they made no reference to higher rate taxpayers, they instead focused on those earning more than £80,000.

A spokesperson for the treasury said: ‘It is not fair to ask someone earning £20,000 to pay for the child benefit that goes to someone earning £80,000 or £100,000.’

Critics say the current proposal will unfairly penalise families where the mother stays at home and Tory MPs are putting pressure on Mr Osborne to abandon his current proposals.

The current plan is that all families in which one parent earns more than the 40 per cent tax threshold which is currently £42,475 a year will lose all child benefit.

This would mean a couple with two children could lose more than £1,750 a year. However provided neither partner pays the higher rate of tax a couple who between them earn £80,000 would still receive full child benefit.

Critics last night said the options being considered did not go far enough.

Mark Reckless Tory MP said: ‘None of these proposals addresses the unfairness of single-earner couples with a stay at home parent losing their child benefit while two-earner households with much larger incomes keep theirs.’

The original plan was unveiled by Mr Osborne at the Conservative Party conference in October 2010.

David Cameron said in January: ‘We always said we would look at the way it’s implemented and that remains the case.’ This gave the first glimpse of a possible re think.

However with the £1 billion planned saving the treasury has warned that softening the blow will wipe out most of the savings.

‘If you are a two-earner family on £84,000 you keep it, but if you are a one-earner family with three kids on £42,000 you lose £2,500 – where is the fairness in that?’

Ed Balls, Shadow Chancellor

Today Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls will force a symbolic Commons vote on the issue thus adding to the pressure.

Yesterday Mr Balls told Sky News: ‘If you are a two-earner family on £84,000 you keep it, but if you are a one-earner family with three kids on £42,000 you lose £2,500 – where is the fairness in that?’

Labour will also attack plans to cut working tax credit on thousands of part time or low income families.

Under new proposal, which are to be introduced next month couples who qualify for tax credits will have to work a minimum of 24 hours instead of the current 16 hours.

Mr Balls said for some families they would be ‘better off if they quit work’. The Treasury last night dismissed Labour’s claims

Parents Face A Fine For Taking Children On Holiday In Term Time

An option being looked at, is fining parents who continue to take their children out of school in term time, to go on holiday they are doing this to take advantage of the cheaper holiday prices on offer.

At the moment, if you allow your child to truant you can face a penalty of up to £100. However Ministers are concerned that more often than not the courts offer conditional discharges and that this threat of fine is becoming meaningless.

The proposal comes after a review of school discipline and attendance by teacher and behavior expert Charlie Taylor. Approximately 4.5million days of school are unattended due to pupils going on holiday, holidays are significantly more expensive when taken during school.

Head teachers it is believed authorize 75% of holidays taken, and they are second to sickness when asked for a reason for absence.

The concern for Ministers is that if middle class children can miss school for a holiday, the signal will be that truancy is acceptable.

A source at the Department for Education said: ‘Any time out of school has the potential to damage a child’s education. That is why the Government will end the distinction between authorised and unauthorised absence.’

Under achievement at school is caused from high levels of truancy Ministers believe, this can mean that children from poorer backgrounds do not reach their full potential as teachers are left unwilling to enforce attendance.

They also believe that the parents should have tougher penalties imposed on them and they should be more and more vigorously enforced by the courts.

Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: ‘The discretionary ten days has become a bit of a cultural expectation with parents viewing it as a right in some cases. It is not. Children only have one chance to get their education right and for schools to do their best for pupils. It is essential that children have good attendance.’

The National Association of Head Teachers said the measure would discourage parents from trying to put pressure on heads to sanction term-time holidays.

Research by travelsupermarket.com reveals prices increase by up to 42 per cent for a family of four taking a two-week trip to the Algarve during the school holidays.

A spokesman for the Department for Education said the proposals had been revealed as a result of leaked information and that they refused to comment on leaks.

Edwina Currie Says "Just Go Bankrupt"

Edwina Currie, a former politician was on BBC5 Live yesterday to tell people "Just go Bankrupt". Mrs Currie went on to say, you've "lived a very good life indeed" and that was why the caller was in debt.

Edwina was invited onto the show because she believed people were no starving in the UK because of the austerity cuts. The author and broadcaster clashed with Hayley Sanderson after the young mother claimed to regularly go hungry to feed her children.

Mrs Currie suggested that by living a life which was too good was to blame for being in debt. 'When the money was coming in, this sounds like there were two salaries coming in, and no savings, and life was being lived to the full and a very good life indeed,' said former junior health secretary Mrs Currie in a Radio 5 Live phone-in yesterday.

'But when that’s no longer the case, when there’s no longer money coming in, you have to evaluate whether you are going to be able to get back to the good life quickly or not. In which case, you are going to have to think about maybe declaring yourselves bankrupt.'

The young mother was then reduced to tears when she told Mrs Currie she had no credit cards, catalogue debts or satellite television, hit back.

'Edwina, I’ve never lived life to the full. I don’t go out every weekend. You’ve really upset me,' she said, bursting into tear.

'We don’t buy clothes on a weekly basis. We’ve never lived life to the full.

'I never said I’ve borrowed money from anywhere. I’m paying off old bills like council tax.'

Mrs Currie, who was a Northfield councillor from 1975 to 1986 and appeared on Strictly Come Dancing last year, had also probed Ms Sanderson on whether she had any pets.

Bankruptcy Advice

Mrs Currie went on to say "I hate to say this but you need to go Bankrupt". Huh?!!

That's crazy to provide this advice without a complete income and expenditure and evaluating a person's situation. The austerity cuts mean people struggle to survive and weathy, ignorant people like Edwina who are completely out of touch should not be invited onto radio programmes for subjects as sensitive as this.

Prediction that 400 Scots could go bankrupt every week in 2012

Accountancy Firm PKF has predicted that over 400 Scottish residents will go bankrupt every week in 2012 due to the continuing poor economics.

Sequestration (the Scottish term for bankruptcy) the firm predict that over 20,000 Scots will have entered this or a Protected Trust Deed (PTD) by the end of 2011 and that figure will continue to rise throughout 2012.

PKF predict a rise due to further cuts on the household budget; public sector cut backs, hours being cut and wages being frozen and no sign of an upturn in the economy.

The firm also warned that any increase in the base rate of interest would cause an alarming increase in the amount of homeowners going bankrupt.
A spokesperson for PKF said: “The dramatic rise in the number of more affluent Scots being made bankrupt is a further sign that the after effects of the recession are spreading among all sectors of society with the result that I believe all personal insolvencies will continue to rise and remain at high levels for several years to come.”

He also said since LILA came out in 2008 Scottish bankruptcies have steadily increased as many struggling Scots have taken advantage of this cheap way into bankruptcies when they have low assets and low income.

However recently these numbers have fallen and there is an increase in people entering a Protected Trust Deed .This they predict would peak in 2012 as job losses, overtime bans, no increase in wages and personnel circumstances all take their toll on the middle class in Scotland.

“People entering a Protected Trust Deed are more affluent as they have a disposable income and are able to pay something towards their debt“.

“Before the recession if these people were struggling with their debt they would release equity on the ever increasing property they owned , However nowadays property prices are stagnant and banks have a great reluctance to lend at such a volatile time“. This leaves many with little option.

Where To Turn When Debts Get Out Of Control

Hundreds of Scots are expected to face insolvency each week and we would like to look at their options.

As household finances continue to take a cut with more job losses and the public sector cuts more Scots than ever will be made bankrupt. If one of these could be you we recommend that you seek out your options as early on as possible this could mean there are more options available to you.

There are many reason people enter an insolvency some of which include divorce, illness, redundancy and overspending.

More and more Scots in middle incomes are entering a solution – quickest growing bankruptcy arrangements are designed for those with jobs.

If you reside in Scotland there are various options if you can no longer cope financially. The options vary depending on your own financial situation, so choosing the correct one is very important so that you should not incur any further difficulty.

Debt arrangement scheme

(DAS) this is where you commit to a debt payment plan, this allows you to repay your debt on one affordable monthly payment.
The length of time this last for varies depending on the amount of debt, and what you can reasonably pay towards it on a monthly basis.
If you are approved for a (DAS) all interest fees and charges are frozen and the creditors can take no further action against you. Your one monthly payment is taken then distributed amongst your creditors.

Protected Trust Deed

(PTDs) are on the rise, they are often used by the more affluent people with jobs and assets. This indicates that society is being affected on all levels.

A PTD allows you to repay as much as your debt as you are able with your assets, it is a formal arrangement made between you and your creditors. It lasts for approximately three years. A licensed insolvency practitioner will become the trustee and put a proposal forward to all your creditors, this will be based on all information you provide income, expenditure and level of debt, also any assets you may have.

To enter a PTD you must be able to prove you have disposable income and are able to contribute monthly something towards your debt.

It is the creditors decision as to accept your proposal and they are given five weeks to consider it. If enough creditors agree your trust deed will become protected and no creditor can take legal action to recover the debt. As long as you comply to repay the amount required within the agreed time any remaining amount will be written off.

Sequestration

The equivalent name for bankruptcy. There are two ways to enter this solution: a creditor can take you to court, if they are owed more than £3,000 this way they can raise bankruptcy proceedings against you, or for the cost of £100 you can make your own application thus avoiding any court action.

To do this yourself you must prove you are insolvent meet the Low Income, Low Assets (Lila) criteria or have a Certificate for Sequestration. Apparent insolvency will mean a creditor has started action over a debt and has served a charge for payment or a statutory demand.

After you have been awarded bankruptcy, a trustee will be appointed they will look after your insolvent estate. You will have to show all your assets and liabilities and you will have to prove your full income and expenditure. If you have assets they will be sold for your creditors; if you have any disposable income you may also be asked to make contributions. Some assets do not have to be sold for your bankruptcy and trustees have a guideline on how to deal with this.
As long as you co-operate with your trustee, you should be discharged from your bankruptcy after one year.

Low Income, Low Assets

(Low Income, Low Assets bankruptcy) Lila was introduced to help people who need debt relief but are unable to establish apparent insolvency.
It is suitable for people on very low incomes with few or no assets. In the last three years around 20,000 Scots have gone for this solution. This can provide short term relief from debt, however it stops many getting credit in the future and means for some there is no choice but to re enter bankruptcy.

Sequestration certificate

This is the newest kind of personal insolvency legislation; this was introduced for people not suitable for a Lila or a Ptd.
A Certificate for Sequestration is given by a money adviser or an insolvency practitioner, after gathering all information on an income and expenditure and receiving documentation (statements, pay slips, etc), they will certify that you are unable to pay your debt.

When you go this way into bankruptcy, you must sign the application within 30 days of signing the application pack.

Consequences

Sequestrations, PTDs and DASs all have a serious effect on your credit rating this normally lasts for up to six years.

Sequestration or a PTD should be entered as a last resort. They should not be entered lightly as they have a serious impact on your credit rating. For some with huge debt that they will never be able to clear they chose this route. Some creditors put so much pressure on people that they can suffer with stress because of their debt.

If you are having debt problems and are finding it difficult to repay your debt it is crucial that you seek debt advice as soon as possible.

December UK inflation rate falls to 4.2%

At long last there was some good news for the Bank of England to reinforce its forecast that inflation would fall back sharply in 2012. The main reason for the 0.6% drop from Novembers 4.8% figure was due to reductions at the fuel pump and high street clothing companies discounting their goods in order to woe customers. The downward trend has continued since its 3 year high of 5.2% in September 2011.
Whilst inflation is still above the Bank of England’s target of 2% inflation they will be reassured that inflation will be below their target rate by the end of 2012,with the continued downturn in the economy forcing prices to be kept in check supported by reducing energy prices.

With the probability that energy suppliers will continue to reduce their prices for electricity and gas this should help in the war against inflation ,adding support to the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee’s to continue with its policy of quantitative easing asset purchases.
The Office of National Statistics who released the data said that December’s reduction to a six month low was attributed to a reversal in factors that forced up inflation in 2010.

Surprisingly The Office for National Statistics revealed that there was little evidence to show supermarkets heavily discounting food in December, however the cost of alcohol had a record monthly drop.

Analyst for Jefferies International, Marchel Alexandrovich said “The figure was bang in line with expectations. This is a beginning of a downward trend that will see inflation fall back towards 3% by springtime as the VAT rise drops out and energy prices fall.

He continued: "The inflation back drop will improve going forward which will make it easier for the Bank of England to do more quantitative easing in the next couple of months.

Debt Help Solutions

Debt help solutions for people in debt includes a debt management plan, trust deed or for people with serious debt problems an IVA.

Financial advisor jailed

Ryan Burnside, 35, has been jailed for a period of 2 years and 4 months for defrauding grandmother, Margaret Gallivan of her life savings using the pretext he was investing the money in a Lithuanian bank according to the Stirling Observer.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) had banned Burnside working as a financial advisor prior to him obtaining £150,000 by fraud.

While Mrs Gallivan believed her money was being wisely invested the reality was Burnside was spending the money feeding his gambling addiction in casinos.
Whilst working for Investment firm Albannach in 2008, he was assigned Mrs Gallivan as a client of the firm. However Burnside was dismissed shortly after by Albannach and was no longer eligible for registration with the FSA, despite this he purported to still be employed in a financial advice capacity.
In order to alert people to the fact that Burnside was no longer authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 a statement was released by the body in August 2010 to that effect. Unfortunately for Mrs Gallivan, she was unaware of this and was conned into giving Burnside more cash as Burnside told her some of her initial investments were under performing.

Mrs Gallivants reported Burnside after her son discovered he was no longer registered with the FSA to give financial advice. Burnside was subsequently arrested where he pled guilty to obtaining 150,000 by fraud whilst pretending to be a financial advisor.

At court, solicitor Frazer McCready explained, although Burnside had previously enjoyed a basic salary of approximately £75,000 per annum he had accrued debts of £40,000 after starting to gamble in 2005.

As noted in the Stirling Observer, Sheriff William Gilchrist told Burnside: “This was a gross breach of trust. Imprisonment is inevitable and the only issue is the duration. I have taken account of the amount, which was substantial , the period over which this offence was committed and the effect on the victim who has effectively been defrauded of her savings.”

Jeremy Hunt admits Government is reviewing cut in child benefit

The Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt stated the government was looking at ways to make unpopular plans surrounding the cut in child benefit fairer. However the treasury have commented there has been no change in policy at this stage.

David Cameron has admitted there was an issue with the proposed thresholds in the wake of increased criticism that single earning families were being unfairly hit.

Under the new proposals some parents could lose around £2500 if one parent earned over £44,000 whilst a family with 2 working parents earning £40,000 each would enjoy a total household income of £80,000 and retain all their benefits. With the 40% threshold due to fall in 2013 to around £42,000 more families affected further still.

Chris Leslie, Shadow Treasury minister hit out: “The government’s current plans to cut child benefit are unfair and highly bureaucratic.”

David Cameron commented in an interview with House Magazine that he had concerns the structure of some of the proposed changes. He said:”Some people say that’s the unfairness of it, that you lose the child benefit if you have a higher rate taxpayer in the family but 2 people below the level keep the benefit”

He continued: “So there’s a threshold, a cliff edge issue. We always said we would look at the steepness of the curve, we always said we would look at the way it’s implemented and that remains the case. But again, I don’t want to impinge on the chancellor’s Budget.
Quoting Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt from an interview with BBC Radio Surrey he said: “We are looking to make things fairer.” “Particularly, there’s this sort of cliff edge effect that if someone gets over the top rate limit they lose child benefit, but there could be two people who are just under the limit in a household and have a combined income of much, much more than that who continue to claim it. So we want to look at the fairness issue there and see if there’s anything we can do to improve it.”

Chris Grayling, Employment Minister stated on BBC Newsnight however that he would be “surprised if there was a major U turn on child benefit”.

If you are in need of child benefit advice you should contact a free debt charity such as Debt Support Trust or Citizens Advice Bureau.

Is a trust deed appropriate for my circumstances?

Many more people than ever before are finding themselves caught out with mounting debts caused by unemployment within the family, cost of living outstripping increases in wages, pay freezes or overtime that was once assured and had been factored into everyday living costs is now a thing of the past.

For many, the reason they have found themselves in financial difficulty was unforeseeable and therefore to a large extent unavoidable. People handle the stress and pressure of debt in different ways, some will react immediately, seek advice and be proactive about their situation and, if the change in circumstances is only likely to be temporary then it may be that a period of moratorium is all that’s required in order to stabilize the situation. A period of moratorium means a request is made to the creditors explaining the change of circumstances and requesting token payments are made usually for a period of 6 months to give the debtor time to regain control of their finances.

For others however they struggle to deal with creditors resulting in avoidance of telephone calls and generally being non responsive to requests for payments they are unable to make. If a person’s financial position has became untenable with no prospect of this changing in the near future there are solutions to help.

If a person lives in Scotland there is a solution available called a trust deed or (once approved by creditors) a protected trust deed. This solution is not suitable for everyone and advice should be taken before entering a solution such as this. A trust deed will typically last 3yrs and has the benefit of collecting all your debts into one central pot. An insolvency practitioner’s services are required as this is a legally binding arrangement between yourself and your creditors.

Once the insolvency practitioner has completed an income and expenditure the IP will have a full understanding of the financial position .If there is disposable income after reasonable living expenses have been deducted then this sum of money would be included in a proposal to the creditors.

If the creditors accept the proposal then, 5 weeks after the meeting of the creditors and the IP the trust deed takes on a “protected” status. This means it has been accepted and is legally binding. At this point the IP is generally referred to as the trustee and it is there job to manage the case for the duration of the solution. Part of this process will involve full disclosure of all monies received during the length of the trust deed , in some instances this can mean paying more into the solution however it may also mean paying less dependent on circumstances.

Once the trust deed becomes protected the creditors are no longer allowed to contact the debtor directly which means all harassing telephone calls or countless demand letters must stop. If they continue then the trustee should be informed immediately as the creditors are acting illegally.

If you own a property with equity in the home a trust deed may not be appropriate however as dependant on the amount of equity you may have to sell the property in order to pay this money to your creditors.

It will also have a negative impact on your credit rating for at least 6 yrs and whilst a person is in the trust deed they are not permitted to seek further credit .The reality however is many people’s credit ratings are already badly damaged through defaults being put on the credit file by the time they have addressed the situation. In addition, the fact a person can once again answer the telephone knowing it will not be a creditor chasing money or get a good night’s sleep generally outweighs the negatives.