How will you fare in this economy?

[GigiBowman]

I was coming home from work and had to stop at the supermarket. I've had a bad month. And with no reserve, living hand to mouth, I'm not doing very well. I'm in Real Estate but I do rentals. People are scared, they aren't making rash decisions. They are taking their time deciding. They are losing rental opportunities because they are taking their time. In the meantime....I still haven't paid all of November's bills and December is coming. Christmas is cancelled and prayers are in abundance.

On the radio on the way home I heard more than once about the 53,000 Citigroup workers to be laid off. 6000 in my general area (tri state - NY, NJ, CT).

I see stores closing down and it's right before Christmas. Stores that say "Good-bye after 32 years", "We are closing after 12 years in business". It's sad. I know it's only the beginning. What will those 6000 people do when they lose their jobs right before the holidays? How many other people will lose their jobs before this year is over.

How quick will the domino effect take place? Will restaurants, movie theaters, malls become the first to be forgotten? Who will survive this? What will remain important when the money stops coming in and the bills start piling up?

At the supermarket I had to really think what to buy. I only bought essentials. I had to make sure there was food for my daugher for lunch and pet food. I had to make sure there was bread, milk, eggs...and not much more.

How quickly my life is feeling the hit.

How is everyone else doing?

My prayers to anyone out there who's already started struggling.

Has anyone figured out a way to make it through this and survive? I used to have ebay for though times....but not anymore....the only one making money on ebay is ebay....

 

[Paulie]

We're not doing the greatest either, Gigi.

The girlfriend is in school to be a Licensed Nurse. She'll grad in June, and probably have a job making good money almost immediately. It's a good field to get into, I recommend it. 1 year of nursing school plus pre-req's, for a good paying recession-proof job.

But I'm a house painter, recently started going into business for myself, and work is tight right now. It's obviously the first of the trades to go, because it can be done by home owners in a lot of cases, and doesn't usually present an emergency to a home owner like plumbing or electrical problems would. I can do those too, but you need a specific license for that in my area that I don't have. I do some on the side on paint jobs though.

I have a couple weeks lined up, but who knows beyond that. Even the unions around here are slow. Most are laid off right now. 2 new casinos are on hold for construction until further notice.

We've got a decent savings that we hope we don't have to tap into for rent, because we're saving for a house in 2 years. But you never know anymore. I wouldn't be surprised if we had to. X-mas will be tight, for sure. We don't go out to dinner, as little as we see each other anyway. She goes right from school to work 5 nights a week. She's a trooper. It's a means to an end though.

I hate knowing we could have prevented this as a society, but we just didn't care enough to.

 

[strollingbones]

i never counted pennies at the supermarket...now i do.....i buy mostly things on sale and try to stock up when i find something i use at a good price...we rarely eat out now.

 

[tigerbob]

Er, lousy I suspect. I quit my job in Britain to move back to the states so my wife could be closer to her family. In addition, I was fed up with the political BS of working for multinationals.

So, we just bought a house, I'm retraining for a new career making high-end custom hardwood furniture and my wife was thinking about going back to school to do a PhD.

No money coming in, loads going out and the biggest employers where I live are about to go bankrupt, which probably means no furniture sales for me, no school for my wife and at least 15 of my friends are going to lose their jobs. Life's a bowl of cherries.

But I suspect many people may be in much worse positions and I feel for them. Certainly plenty of folks to say a prayer for this Christmas.

 

[xsited1]

We are doing okay at the moment. After Bush and Congress authorized the invasion of Iraq, we started spending less. Then when the Democrats took control of Congress, we only spent money on necessities. Christmas will be tight this year. I fear it'll be rough until at least 2011.

 

[Zoomie1980]

I was coming home from work and had to stop at the supermarket. I've had a bad month. And with no reserve, living hand to mouth, I'm not doing very well. I'm in Real Estate but I do rentals. People are scared, they aren't making rash decisions. They are taking their time deciding. They are losing rental opportunities because they are taking their time. In the meantime....I still haven't paid all of November's bills and December is coming. Christmas is cancelled and prayers are in abundance.

On the radio on the way home I heard more than once about the 53,000 Citigroup workers to be laid off. 6000 in my general area (tri state - NY, NJ, CT).

I see stores closing down and it's right before Christmas. Stores that say "Good-bye after 32 years", "We are closing after 12 years in business". It's sad. I know it's only the beginning. What will those 6000 people do when they lose their jobs right before the holidays? How many other people will lose their jobs before this year is over.

How quick will the domino effect take place? Will restaurants, movie theaters, malls become the first to be forgotten? Who will survive this? What will remain important when the money stops coming in and the bills start piling up?

At the supermarket I had to really think what to buy. I only bought essentials. I had to make sure there was food for my daugher for lunch and pet food. I had to make sure there was bread, milk, eggs...and not much more.

How quickly my life is feeling the hit.

How is everyone else doing?

My prayers to anyone out there who's already started struggling.

Has anyone figured out a way to make it through this and survive? I used to have ebay for though times....but not anymore....the only one making money on ebay is ebay....

It's going to depend on your skill set. If you possess skills in demand, even in bad times, you are fine. Essentially if you are a programmer, particularly and enterprise Java programmer or highly skilled in Web technologies, you are still very safe. Nursing, if you are a 4 year RN or even a 2 year LPN you are essentially recession-proof. If you are in energy, especially new technology, alternative energy as an engineer, scientist, or even sales, you are pretty safe. If you are in management at WalMart you are very safe as WalMart is recession proof as they come. If you are a defense contractor on a long term mega-contract like ISPAN for STRATCOM, or SDI you are in good shape. If you are career military you are fine.

If you do something hundreds of thousands or even millions of others do or can do, you may be in trouble.

It's always supply and demand. Skills in high demand are essentially recession proof, those that are not are expendable.

One good thing about offshoring, is that if you are an FTE (Full Time Employee) in a firm that is heavy on off shore contracting you are pretty safe because those companies use their contracting labor pool to shrink and cut costs as well as expand. for the same reasons it can be cheaper to hire contractors it is also far cheaper to lay them off.....

BTW, a pet would be one of the first things to go for me if I were in crisis. Or at least the pet best be able to eat table scraps and survive, but vet bills and 'pet food' would be the first things to go. When I was growing up, if a pet got sick, my dad shot it with a .22 and we pick up another stray to replace it.....

 

[sparky]

well i'm fairly self sufficent, but i must admit handling those post appocolyptic mutants on the lawn might be a chore....

 

[007]

BTW, a pet would be one of the first things to go for me if I were in crisis. Or at least the pet best be able to eat table scraps and survive, but vet bills and 'pet food' would be the first things to go. When I was growing up, if a pet got sick, my dad shot it with a .22 and we pick up another stray to replace it.....

Sorry. Really gotta vehemently disagree with that. I've had the same cat for going on seventeen years. He means as much to me as any other member of my family, maybe more. There is NO WAY I'd turn that guy out or harm him in any way at this point in his life. He's earned every right to be here with his unconditional love, and I'll do everything in my power to see to it that he's taken care of with the ultimate respect and care right down to his last minute.

As far as how am I doing, well, I went from making almost a six digit income to less than half that. Yeah, right now money is really tight where as it wasn't a year ago. Christmas may need to be canceled. Better times ahead though. The money situation is still in part not done and should improve soon. Besides that, I have a plan for making some side money. By this time next year, I should be fine. But that also depends largely on how bad hussein fucks up the economy.

 

[eots]

the masses will storm the crashed bank in a crazed and panicked mob trying to obtain their non existent money...and I will be faced with the moral dilemma of doing my duty or turning and biting the hand that feeds..it will be a defining moment...

 

[indago]

Zoomie1980 wrote:
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a pet would be one of the first things to go for me
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Better keep the pet around. You might need it when you get really hungry...

 

[indago]

Paulitics wrote:
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I hate knowing we could have prevented this as a society, but we just didn't care enough to.
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You are so right!

http://www.usmessageboard.com/620025-post18.html

 

[editec]

My great depression happened so long ago that I'm pretty much used to living on a shoestring by now.

Could go either way for me to be honest.

I'm pessimistic for my nation generally and optimistic for me personally.

I worry about my boy and his chums though.

Basically as his chums find it harder and harder to make it (they're just starting out, after all) I'm discovering that more and more kids are living with me now. Officially there's three of us in the house, but really there's like five living with us now.

It's like feeding a plaugue of locusts, but they're kids and somebody's got to give 'em a place to live and a hot meal once in a while.

Basically, I'm tribing up for harder times.

Now is the time when we've got to take care of each other, folks.

 

[Epsilon Delta]

I'm hoping things are looking better in two years, when I actually have to work.

Until then, uh, good luck guys!

 

[Paulie]

My great depression happened so long ago that I'm pretty much used to living on a shoestring by now.

Could go either way for me to be honest.

I'm pessimistic for my nation generally and optimistic for me personally.

I worry about my boy and his chums though.

Basically as his chums find it harder and harder to make it (they're just starting out, after all) I'm discovering that more and more kids are living with me now. Officially there's three of us in the house, but really there's like five living with us now.

It's like feeding a plaugue of locusts, but they're kids and somebody's got to give 'em a place to live and a hot meal once in a while.

Basically, I'm tribing up for harder times.

Now is the time when we've got to take care of each other, folks.

Much respect, Ed.

 

[editec]

Much respect, Ed.

You'd do the same I expect, Paul.

My gut instict about most people here is they would, too, if it came down to it.

They're good kids. They just need some basic security till something better comes along.

I've known a lot of these kids since..hell, since they were little kids.

Let's face it, it's just harder for young people starting out now, then when I was a young man.

Long as we're all pulling together we'll do just fine.

They look out for each other, too. They get each other to work, they share expenses and so forth.

Kinda beautiful to watch them turning into young men and women who understand the concept of community, to be honest.

 

[Andrew2382]

You lookin for a sugar daddy gigi?

 

[GigiBowman]

You lookin for a sugar daddy gigi?

You're funny Andrew

Actually I'm not looking for anything but spreading prayers to those in need and maybe having someone send some this way.

Pretty soon our middleclass asses will be poor. I just didn't expect it to happen so quickly......

Today at school (I'm a substitute teacher) I was told that NY State is probaby going to cut classes out and make the day a bit shorter to cut cost. They are also going to be cutting elective classes. It's worse than you might even think out there.....

 

[Andrew2382]

Yeah, I hear ya.

Florida they actually talked about a 4 day school week

 

[Zoomie1980]

My great depression happened so long ago that I'm pretty much used to living on a shoestring by now.

Could go either way for me to be honest.

I'm pessimistic for my nation generally and optimistic for me personally.

I worry about my boy and his chums though.

Basically as his chums find it harder and harder to make it (they're just starting out, after all) I'm discovering that more and more kids are living with me now. Officially there's three of us in the house, but really there's like five living with us now.

It's like feeding a plaugue of locusts, but they're kids and somebody's got to give 'em a place to live and a hot meal once in a while.

Basically, I'm tribing up for harder times.

Now is the time when we've got to take care of each other, folks.

Make them all enlist. We need more troops to kill ragheads.

 

[Zoomie1980]

You'd do the same I expect, Paul.

My gut instict about most people here is they would, too, if it came down to it.

They're good kids. They just need some basic security till something better comes along.

I've known a lot of these kids since..hell, since they were little kids.

Let's face it, it's just harder for young people starting out now, then when I was a young man.

Long as we're all pulling together we'll do just fine.

They look out for each other, too. They get each other to work, they share expenses and so forth.

Kinda beautiful to watch them turning into young men and women who understand the concept of community, to be honest.

That's all fine and well, but when you council kids and try and point them in a direction, what direction do you point them too that will actually move them on to self sufficiency.

I have five kids. Two went to college, one of those got a Masters, the other three enlisted because they had no idea what they really wanted to do. The Government is now paying for all three's college educations, all in Computer Science, a degree they can all three feed themselves with.

I've always counseled my kids to obtain skills and education that others actually VALUE, and never wasted time giving them that line of bull about "following your dreams". Daughter majored in Music for a year against my wishes, but I let her do it anyway. She finally figured out what Music majors made and what their employment prospects were, and she changed to international finance, and now does quite well.

I think you have to be honest with kids and tell them that if your job or career was twice as easy they would only pay you half as much because twice as many people could then do your job.