has this bad economy trickled down to you yet?

17 years ago

Hi all!

I keep hearing all these tragic stories on the news and I am wondering if any of you are suffering from the bad economy yet?

I haven't noticed a whole lot of changes in my life YET, but then I don't have that much to lose or gain anyway...have always lived a simple life and it is finally seeming more like a 'positive' than a negative!

If you have, how are you handling it?

My mother (in her 80s) has always and is STILL saving everything in case we have another bad Depression like she lived through.

nola_anne

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Comments (27)

monica_pa Grieves
17 years ago
Only in that bank interest rates are so low - cuts down on income.
sjarz
17 years ago
It has, but not to me directly, if that makes any sense. I work in Property Management and we have seen a decline in the numbers of people calling for a rental place. However I just got offered a new job with the same company, so I think I'll weather the downturn just fine.
My brother who has worked at the same mill for 35 years has been layed off. The lumber market in BC has taken a terrible beating with the price of lumber and the pine beetle epidemic. It is unknown whether the mill he works at will open again. He is in good financial shape so can survive for now on his unemployment insurance.
Daughter's boyfriend got layed off from his job too, but that was partly due to his lack of interest and poor attendance. He has not been happy there for some months and I kept telling him to look for a new job while he still has the old one, but he didn't listen and now is finding it very tough to find a job.
I feel very bad for people that have been hit hard by the downturn and feel very blessed that I am insulated from it.
Suzan J
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susan_on
17 years ago
On the personal side, it hasn't affected me yet. I mean, my investments are down, but I wasn't going to withdraw anything at this time anyway. I administer social assistance, so my employment won't be affected. My husband's employment hasn't been affected and neither has my daughter's. My son starts a new job tomorrow. So far, so good, here.

Work-wise, it's a different demographic that I'm seeing. We don't have a higher intake in our office than we did before, but the people we are seeing are definitely people who are applying for social assistance because of the downturn in the economy. People who wouldn't have had to apply if the economy was better. It's very sad.
Jasdip
17 years ago
The city where I live has a lot of automotive-related factories. Hundreds have been laid off and businesses closed. Factories that have been around for decades are now closed or closing.

There is work in the tech industry, but a lot of people are in their 50's who are now without a job, and factory work is all they know. Very hard. Groceries and gas keeps going up. People are going to the food banks and personal bankruptcies are up.
Marilyn Sue
17 years ago
Well, yes, from my investments being down to the price of groceries and work for my son and sons in law is not good. Then there is the price of gas.

Sue
paula_pa
17 years ago
Well certainly, in many ways. The price about just about everything has gone up so there is less money leftover after paying for all the bills and groceries. DH's job is construction related so he hasn't had any overtime lately (used to have a couple hours every day) but he is lucky to still have a job. They let go of a lot of people there.

I work as a contractor for the state gov't and they are in the hole like most other states so who knows how much longer I will have a job.

Fortunately we were living within our means before all of this happened so we don't have any debt besides the mortgage and one car payment (small economical sedan, not an SUV). I wouldn't have bought the new car if I have known about Dan's impending arrival (I found out I was pg right when the first payment was due). We are strapped until Nick goes to kindergarten and then daycare expenses will go down 100/week.

We'll be okay if we can keep our jobs. If only DH loses his job, we're okay because he can get on my insurance for no add'l cost. If I lose my job we will have to pay through the nose to cover me and the kids at DH's job but it would still be cheaper than COBRA or anything else. If we both lose our jobs we are screwed because of health insurance.
monica_pa Grieves
17 years ago
What surprises me is... prices have gone down around here. There is so much competition between supermarket chains, they have really been knocking themselves out with sales.
alisande
17 years ago
Yet? Still!
janemarie5
17 years ago
Sure has, my DH no longer has overtime, they eliminated the 401 match, and they will be going to a 4 day work week. But he still has a job for the moment. I went full time in September @ work and took the health insurance as his was not good. It will be a tight year. At least we only have a mortgage and a student loan for DSD, along with the rest of the bills of course but at least no car loans or credit card debt. If things get worse we will look at our cell phone plans and cable/internet.

But as long we we both have jobs and no major expenses come up we can ride this out. My DD (17) just got a job at a new grocery store that opened so that is a blessing also, she can earn her own money and pay for her own expenses like cell phone and gas money. I realize we are very lucky considering what other people are going through.
marilyn_c
17 years ago
Just that my husband had to change jobs due to NAFTA and the high cost of diesel, but he makes more money than he did before. He's just gone from home so much.
vannie
17 years ago
Sure. The interest on CD's is way down and the dividends on some stocks have been lowered. Groceries, gas, sure. It's hard to believe anyone has NOT been affected by it.
barbara3
17 years ago
The price of everything keeps going up and up but my fixed pension income stays the same. That means there is less money for the little luxuries. I use the library rather than buy books, I don't go to lunch with my friends as often as I did, I have't been to a movie since last fall, etc..
clubm
17 years ago
Ditto........investments down,food,gas and they are cutting
our hours where I work. Although I shouldn't complain I still have a job.
lilliepad
17 years ago
Not really.DH retired last year and we live on our SS.We own our home and property outright and are paying off a small personal loan and our pickup.Other than that we have no debts so we do pretty well.The only differences I can see is in the cost of groceries.While we were in NM last week I paid $1.49 for a gallon of Wal-Mart brand milk.Came home yesterday and paid $3.08 for the same milk at wal-Mart! I tried to get DH to buy several gallons in NM and bring them home and freeze them but he didn't get to the store again before we left.We did buy several packages of London broil steaks that were about half of the regular price and brought them home for the freezer.That helps on the grocery budget.
gneegirl
17 years ago
Silly me racked up huge debt just before the economy downturn went public. Most of it was due to remodeling, and I was going to sell the house. Now I can't sell because I've lost huge amount of equity. Not sure that it will go back up because you can buy a nearly new house for just a little more than mine. That's because they were two darn expensive when they were built - some close to $1M. Now they are in the $400K- $500K range. My house is old. Although my house isn't worth anywhere near that, if someone can get a loan with the lower rates, that is only about $50-$60 a month more, on a newer house, they surely aren't going to pick my house.

I will say that the bad economy came at a good time for me though. When I lost my job, I found the creditors were so much more willing to work with me until I went back to work. They were very pleasant, and even engaged in friendly conversation. I can't tell you how many times they told me stories of people in really bad shape, that had lost all hope. They all had very encouraging words. So even though it was a bad thing, the economic situation I think has brought everyone (decent people, that is,)to their knees.

I will say that crime is up. There is a major uptick in burglaries and bank robberies. My sister used to work in bank - 17 years. She used to tell me all the time, to watch the economy when the bank robberies escalated. Right now, I can say that is so true. I live in a quiet family neighborhood. The police are saying that there have been many burlaries - with people home, right close to my home. People are actually stealing ATM machines - right from the ground!!
okwriter
17 years ago
Nope. Not really...
Jodi_SoCal
17 years ago
No, we're in pretty good shape.

Jodi-
joyfulguy
17 years ago
Live well within a couple of gov't. pensions and a private one, each of them carrying a small inflation escalator ... plus small required annual withdrawal from tax-deferred retirement plan ... and recently they allowed us to re-invest up to 25% of the amount that we withdrew last year, due to the cratered stock market.

Stock prices are down, about 30 - 35% (or slightly more) but I had no intention of withdrawing any, earlier ... and not now.

I'm looking at some oil and gas shares (and other kinds) where they're paying out most of what they make in order to avoid tax ... and they're paying 10 - 20% (some more, but their payout rate may be at risk - those paying lower rates may cut them, as well: who knows?).

Canadian bank shares are paying 5.5 - 8.5% ... and they've been evaluated as the best in the world ... fairly well regulated.

Thinking of buying some of them ... or a pipeline, which, though not paying a high dividend, haven't been hurt too badly in the current downturn.

I don't buy much stuff, so haven't been screaming bloody murder about those expenses.

Frugal does pay, I guess.

Sure is a big difference between getting a paycheque and a pension cheque (as long as the pension carrier doesn't go broke).

I feel for the folks who've been living paycheque to paycheque!

Good wishes for being able to weather the storm without too much of the hair-stand-on-end syndrome.

ole joyful
linda_in_iowa
17 years ago
I lost a part-time job last September. I found I could live nicely on my retirement and Social Security incomes if I was careful with my spending. I don't have any debt other than my mortgage and a small car payment that will be paid off in a few months. Most folks here in Iowa live frugally compared to Californians and it took me a while to change my spending habits.
nicole_ont
17 years ago
We live on just Claude's income, and yes, he has been affected. Over a third of the employees at the company he works for have been laid off, so he's lucky to still have a job. There will be no raises this year. They've cut out the quarterly bonuses. Everyone in the company has to take 3 unpaid weeks off. And he's taken a 5% paycut. BUT, he's still employeed so we're counting our blessings.
rthummer
17 years ago
We have cut back ALOT!! Husband has not been laid off from work, but the money we use to spend for recreation, travel, etc. has gone into another savings account called "just in case." (we need more) We have an emergency fund, 6 months of his salary saved, now we have a "just in case" fund, that is liquid, (available). We went through the Dave Ramsey course and got Out of Debt, completely, including home, land and vehicles. We will drive our vehicles until the wheels fall off, then we will put them back on and drive some more. I do not trust this economy. But, hubs and I have always been savers. It is not what you earn but what you save.
Kathsgrdn
17 years ago
Only that my old bank went out of business here, and was bought by another. I switched banks to one that gave me free checks and pays me back ATM fees taken from other ATMs. So, actually I came out better.
Mystical Manns
17 years ago
Over 48,000 employees laid off from my company since 2001 ... 8,000 of them just in the past month. No raises for two years now, and bonuses are deferred (if we get them at all). Management keeps saying we need to work smarter, but they're sure not authorizing process changes. So we end up just working longer hours to do what those 48,000 other people were also doing. We can't automate functionality, because IT groups were also cut heavily, so there isn't the manpower to do anything more than sustain systems that are already operating ... no new development. The stress of staying employed has become tremendous, as is the stress of losing your job. Physically it's taking it's toll.

Restaurants, shops are closing down because they don't have the clientele needed to stay open. The cafeteria service at work is shutting down several of their stations and cutting back their hours. I live in a metro area, where there are hundreds of jobs available. And thousands upon thousands of people applying for them. The job market is truely saturated here. But, we're better off than communities where the original number of jobs was small to begin with. At least we have possibilities.

Have I quit spending? No. But I hope I'm spending wiser. Can I cut back more than I have? Of course. And if I have to, I will. But not going there if I don't have to. It took us a long time to reach this level of comfort, I'm not giving it up until we have to.
jemdandy
17 years ago
YEP! I been hit on the head. I'm a retiree living on the income from my IRA and that account has lost a bunch since 2007. That wouldn't be so bad since a recovery will gain back most of the losses, but the intereat rate on CDs have fallen so far that it is cutting into the principal. I had about 5/9 of my IRA in CDs before the crash. I have 3 CDs comming due at various times this year. By the end of this year, the income from the CDs will not provide my monthly withdrawal. That is upsetting.

When I retired, I had a choice of lum sum or pension. With the current conditions, the lum sum is not working, and it was supposed to have been equivalent or better than the pension.

The reason I took the lum sum was that if something happened to me, my wife inherits the IRA; If I took the pension, it dies with me and she would be destitute. I could have taken the 50% survivorship option for the pension, but the hit was too much. It would have cost $800 per month to get it, and it was my money in the first place - what a rip.

Grocery prices are creeping upward. The only thing that is keeping the prices in check in our area is high competition. As an example, soda has increased a bunch. A year ago, we could buy a 6 pack of Pepsi, 24 oz bottles, for $2.50 when on sale. One year later today, the best price is $3.33 and the regular price is well over $4.

Gasoline took a flying leap over the past 2 years. It peaked last year and then fell back when the ecomony tanked, but I think that is temporary. During the last week, the price per gallon had risen 26 cents/gal and is expected to go higher as we move into spring.

The only break I have is that heatng cost is reducing at this time of the year.

If I had the need, I might buy a new Ford. The price on a Focus has hit bottom. The base price has fallen under $10,000. We don't need a car this year, but when we do, I expect the bargains will be gone.
rosemaryt
17 years ago
Yes, it's reduced our net worth by 50%. Hubby had everything in stocks (against my advice). Now 50% of it has been washed away. That was his retirement money.

However, he still has a job and I'm still selling books, so that's very good. If he lost his job, I'd wanna sell everything and move to the hills. He's a 57-year-old lawyer. I'd think finding new work at this point in his life and career would be tough.

Rose
nan_nc
17 years ago
Not really, except for the price of gas a groceries. We have no credit card debt, and the house and vehicles are paid for. We are both retired and we live on our SS income. I've always been able to make a nickel do the work of a dime. However, DH's medical expenses (no insurance except for Medicare..he's uninsureable) take a big chunk of what we do get.
Chemocurl zn5b/6a Indiana
17 years ago
No, not really. I have no debt, and just a modest home to heat, cool, pay taxes on and keep up.

Because of having always lived well below my means, I'm feeling secure.

Sue

has this bad economy trickled down to you yet?

Comments (27)

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