Has the current economy affected you?

[xlayedoutx]

I was talking to a customer a few mins ago and we were talking about how slow things are at work and he was talking about how everybody is worried about the economy, and that you turn on your TV and all they talk about is people losing their jobs and having their houses foreclosed on and how bad the economy is. He said people are so worried about everything that they are scared to death of spending money. I asked him if he's changed because of the current economy and his response was hell no. Said he was still going to spend his money just like he always has, said he's too old to worry about anything else. Said that if he was to lose his job there wouldn't be anything he could do about it and that he would just rather deal with it when it happens then to keep worrying about it.

This conversation got me thinking though. Have I changed anything about myself because of the economy? I'm not in the same situation as most people as I don't own a house or have a family to support so I can't really say that I have changed. I've always been tight with money and I think thats because we never really had much growing up. Of course I complain about high prices on things like gas, fish, coral, and what not but for the most part I still spend like I always have, and I still put alot of my extra money away in savings like I always have. I do worry about being slow at work but I tend to look at it like my customer said, "theres nothing I can do about it". If my company was to shut down I'd have to just deal with it when it happens because theres nothing I could do to prevent it, and I can't spend my life preparing for it, and I'd make myself sick worrying about it all the time.

How do you guys/gals feel about the way things are right now? Are you worried, or do you go on about your life like normal? Have you changed anything because of the economy?

[Witfull]

things are tighter, and i save where i can.

for the job issues, one thing i can say is i have job security. sadly as the economy gets worse, the more security i have.

[aquaticimports]

I own an aquarium store in South Carolina...all I can say for now is things are oddly steady,but I do feel that some hard time are ahead. I also think they will pass soon!

[framerguy]

I have a frame shop and an art supply store and those two things are luxuries to be sure but that hasn't seemed to slow anyone down here. In fact we just had our best January ever in 10 years of business and the framing business is oddly booming. It's supposed to be slow this time of year. We haven't really changed any of our habits except we pool errands because of the cost of gas now.

[boozeman]

Dad used to always tell me ''son, when times are bad..people drink. and when times are good ..people drink better''. I've seen this to be true. Nevertheless, while I grew up into the family business, I went to college and got my degree.
One of the first things I did was to save and buy a house. After saving every penny afterwards, I paid off my entire mortgage in 5 yrs. I think that helped me alot in preparation for these leaner times.
I think that the example you gave is a good example of the way many people feel and live today. Too many people blow their entire paychecks without any thought about the future. They prefer to rent instead of buying the place they live in. People just don't save like they used to and when things get bad they really feel the pinch.
When the current economic stimulus package goes thru I am sure that many people will go out and spend it on luxury items and vices instead of thinking ahead.

[bigfish]

i worked for a produce company in cleveland for 6 years. we were Teamsters union. The company i worked for was in business for 93 years and went out of business just this January.. Things are very hard in Cleveland right now....along with my company another 4 union produce companies also went under putting over 300 people without jobs. They recently opened a new walmart supercenter and i believe that close to ten thousand people applied waiting in lines for like 10 hrs that stretched like a mile ...........no joke!!! i am fortunate enough to find another good job but i just feel for those who cant.

[aquaticimports]

Great Point

[Jurgy64]

I've been effected, and quite a few of my friends as we are all just out of college and purchased our homes within the past 2 years. I've been looking to relocate from south florida to houston, where I have some family and they aren't really effected. So I'm flying out this weekend to look at some property.

[ReefGuy69]

I can say i worry on occasion when i turn on the news or read the paper. I keep telling myself its blown out of porportion in the media, but i still worry a bit. I am a newley wed almost a year. We just purchased our first home about 4 months ago. I feel my job is pretty secure. But i worry that the prices for everything from gas, milk, sugar and other things will sky rocket. I cant really say i live pay check to paycheck, but if something drastic was to happen i dont have anything saved away for a safety blanket or anything. Im kind of hoping all this will pass with no harm to most. Me and my wife i hope are making a smart choice. Were taking our income tax refunds and then the checks from the stimulis package and getting new windows and insulation for our home. Hopefully this will cut down on heating costs next winter and we will be able to save money in the long run. One thing i really think is going to happen in my generation that people do not see yet is this: For some reason i have a bad feeling that things we take for granted today are going to become a luxary in the near future. I think things like sugar, milk, chocolate and anything that has these ingredients in them are going to skyrocket in price and only the rich will be able to afford these things. I know that farmers are facing a crisis and milk is slowly rising. I definatley can see it being 5-6 times more expensive than a gallon of gas soon. Ive read articles on sugar is going to rise in price because the sugar plants are converting over due to energy demands and using it to create energy or something like that. which will lower the supply of sugar over the next few years and eventually may cause a shortage, but the money is in energy so they dont really care. Which will cause the price of chocolate to rise and so on and so on. ok im done rambling. good topic.

[kathywithbirds]

Well, fortunately Mike has really good job security. I don't have to work currently, but I do part time and have done full time when it was needed. We're trying to watch the credit cards, and we'll see where we stand when we get Mike's next set of transfer orders this spring. If we have to move, yeah, we gotta watch it, but we won't be dropping much income to go south, and we'll increase if he gets north (allowances). AFA the price of things, it's piecemeal for me. I won't spend $50 on a coco worm when they were $15 or $20 a couple months ago. I didn't get OJ today because it was $4 instead of the $3 it usually is. Yeah, I'll make "little" decisions like that to stay within what we usually spend for things, which seems to mean getting substitutes for the things we usually get.

[xlayedoutx]

Most people that I know have said that when their economic stimulus package checks come in that its going straight to savings. Me on the other hand I'm putting about half in savings and the other half is going towards credit card debt.

[zy112]

I'm just about to graduate college and am fairly optimistic. Even with jobs being scarce there is endless possibilities for engineers. It has affected me mostly in gas prices. I would be buying a big truck but instead am looking into small cars. I guess being young and getting a decent job will actually benefit me with the housing market right now, although thats pretty sad being its due to others losses.

[BigAl07]

I'm fortunate in that I live in an area that has seen little negative economic effect from the Media Hype. Unfortunately I believe the media is a LOT to blame with our international down-fall. If you hear enough doom & gloom you'll eventually start to believe it and react accordingly. My wife just started a new job with the local college and it seems VERY secure. The best news is that we are so close to being 100% debt FREE it's not even funny.

Have I changed anything? Other than complaining about the high prices of everything not at all. Actually, due to our "Improved Finances" I'm spending more (points to ALL the tanks) now than ever.

[tbittner]

At this point, life is great! I only have 3 years left on the morgtage, no other debt, lots of income, future is looking golden.

Sure, I could be saving more but then I look at some people, like my step-sons grandfather, who worked hard all his life, saved all sorts of money, and quite simply, hasn't enjoyed life to it's fullest imo. He never took vacations to exotic places, rarely ventures out to the mall, he says that a penny saved is a penny earned. I fully agree with that BUT you also can't take it with you. How much is enough?

Nah, I'm going to enjoy myself now while I'm young enough to be able to enjoy life. How does that saying go? "I'm going to slide into the grave dirt poor but all the while yelling 'WOW! What a ride!'.

[BigAl07]

Originally Posted by tbittner

At this point, life is great! I only have 3 years left on the morgtage, no other debt, lots of income, future is looking golden. ...

Believe it or not, if you continue to follow your current path you'll be in a very "Elite" group of people in 3 years. Unfortunately very FEW people get to say that any more.

My hat's off to you buddy! Job well done