akaryrye

iTrader: (5)

Its strange for me, having grown up in such prosperous times, to see the economy like this. I guess thats a part of the problem though ... people getting a little too comfortable with the state of the economy and making risky decisions.

Anyway so this is how this has affected me so far: I live in a town of >100k people and so far we have lost 2 of about 5 new car dealerships, a retail store, and I hear rumors of other stores on the brink. I have three friends that have been laid off that I can think of. The school district I work for is threatening wage cuts. All business in our town is feeling it, almost everyone is down a little bit, some a lot. Unfortunately, its necessary ... there were too damn many stores here for how many people we have. I hope to got Starbucks at least has to cut back a bit. We have 4 for christ's sake and one is within a block of the other.

ApexOnYou

iTrader: (10)

Got laid off at the dealership just before the holidays, hours got cut at Best Buy. I've just been tight on money lately. TONS of local businesses are closing, places that have been around since my parents were kids. My girlfriends dad has to relocate to Detroit to keep his job. I'm glad that I decided to go back to school when I did though.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

been laid off for 4 months. every other small business is closing. people are going nuts.

zoomin

iTrader: (16)

I try not to judge, but most people can only look in the mirror and blame themselves for our current economy. Yes, part of it is too lenient of a government in allowing so many bad mortgages to have been approved when the buyer couldn't afford it, but the consumers allowed themselves to get into so much debt. Gas prices are my main concern and they have come down a lot, so that has helped our economy a bit. I'm back in school and it's all paid for, so hope to have my marketing degree finished when the economy bounces back. I also plan to buy a few houses this year and rent them out, sell once the market can support it. Overall I'm not too depressed about it, my family is not feeling it too bad. One brother is a corrections officer with enough skills to work for the feds if needed, other brother is a private contractor with enough work to make six figures this year. Parents are about to retire within 5 years with no debt. Our family has always been fairly good with finances and not living on credit, if others were as educated on the subject our country wouldn't be in this damn mess. My tax dollars have to pay for some idiot who couldn't afford to pay a mortgage he shouldn't have been approved for in the first place!!

boardboy330

iTrader: (5)

Zommin...you are correct...that is where the blame starts. America is beautiful and a land I love (and would give my life for...military), but we as Americans look for ways to make easy money and free money instead of working for it...which led us to where we are. I personally lost over half a million in the economy...way I see it though - I'm young and I will have time to make it back. At least I have my health and my family.

SamS

iTrader: (2)

I'm still just a poor full-time college student, waiting for my tax return so I can be less poor. My major still has over a 99% job placement rate, and the place I interned at last summer can't wait to have me back. I guess paying for expensive gas kinda sucked.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

I'm waiting for Barry to discuss mortgage stuffs, primarily interest cuts, and throwing down a grip on a house. Working for the federal government is great in times like this. Two years ago I felt like everyone was making 3x more than me, although I've always made enough to live well like I am today. It hurts me to look around and see people suffer though. I just gave a 1.6 rear end to a local kid who's been laid off and recently blew-up an R&P. I slept in a car for a few weeks, so I try to help when necessary.

mazda/nissan

iTrader: (2)

as someone else has stated I'm just a poor college kid trying to pass enough not to get kicked out. I haven't really seen that much of an effect around here, except for the cheaper gas which is now getting more expensive, does that mean the economy is doing better then?

icantthink4155

iTrader: (12)

We've been losing Dealerships here for years. My hours were cut to 7 a day in October, then the last few weeks we were doing 3 day weeks. Then friday they laid off about 20 people, including me.

But there are still lots of places hiring, which I find odd. Laid off Friday, interviewed Monday, start on Thursday.

Fingers crosses Obama knows what he's doing.

y8s

iTrader: (8)

economy hasn't affected me directly yet at all.

my work is indirectly paid for by military spending so all the lockheed martins are looking at placing significant orders with us. we will probably be adding employees and office space over the next several months if that goes through.

i got a relatively good deal on my house and a relatively low interest rate (fixed--because I'm not a moron) in a stable area listed by a few media outlets as one of the top two places to be in a recession.

and I hope to benefit from some economic stimulation from my friend Barry.

sure my 401k and IRA are down and my apple stock is dropping at the same rate as Steve Jobs weight, but i'm not retiring for 25 years and Steve's health is unrelated to the economy.

otherwise, the only direct effect is that my gf didn't get a raise this year.

could be worse!

Newbsauce

iTrader: (2)

My 401k and mutuals are down, as are my stocks, but I'm 25. I basically am biding time until I can buy a house in this market (probably in the winter).

Vashthestampede

iTrader: (17)

I'd say the economy taking a dive like this has helped me more than hurt. Foundation companies are going out of business left and right around us and 75% of the Brazilian population here have already gone back to Brazil. Right now we have so much work we have to work 6 days a week (7 for a couple guys) just to get the jobs done. But our local competition is practically gone and theres still lots of work to be done, from our already loyal builders and now some new ones.

I have a question though. If the economy is so bad, then why are the stores around me packed all the time? Best buy, target, walmart, chillis, grocery stores, movies, etc. Seems to me like if there's less jobs there would be less people out shopping and traffic on the way to and from work.....and that's certainly not the case that I can see.

On a side note: Anyone see that fuckface Daschle on the news apologizing about $120k back taxes! And now our Treasury secretary also has had some problems paying his taxes and medicare? What a joke.....

Vash-

96rdstr

iTrader: (4)

Where's Hustler and what did you do with him?

hustler

iTrader: (6)

lol, oops. I'm also contemplating track membership initiation fees right now.

jayc72

iTrader: (14)

This is a short sighted statement. Things aren't this simple.

It all depends where you live. I'm lucky in that my job is not overly influenced by the change in oil prices, but a lot of the economy in my region is. Oil gets down to a level where the oil companies stop pulling it out of the ground, massive layoffs occur. I'd rather pay more for my fuel than loose my job. The other side effect is environment. When gas prices were crazy high people cut back in their usage, either buying more fuel efficient vehicles or by a change in driving patterns. Once gas got down to a level where it was perceived as being affordable, people started wasting again.

What is good for you in a small personal way may not be good for the economy. I cautioned all of my Canadian brothers when they mocked the US when the things started to go in the *******. What happens in the US will eventually happen here to some degree ... and it did. Now you have a president that has voiced concern about buying "dirty oil" from Canada, specifically our oil sands in Alberta. Things are going to get much worse here before they get better.

On the selfish side of things, the down turn of the Economy is probably going to be a good thing for me. My government wage is not likely to change but goods and services should get cheaper. I've already noticed building materials are much cheaper now that the house building frenzy has slowed somewhat.

96rdstr

iTrader: (4)

So far, my 401K took a major hit. However, I don't loose money unless I take it out or move it. My business is slow, but January we saw a 28% increase in revenue over 1/08. That is a good thing. I am seriously considering going back to school to be a nurse. Yeah, yeah, heard them all, but when we had home health care 24/7 for my son 8 years ago, the best nurses we had were the males. One was a former over the road truck driver, married with a daughter, and the other was ex Military, kids in college. Good guys.
That is a recession and depression proof industry. There will be other higher paying positions available. But, you can get a job ANYWHERE, the starting pay of 40-50k to start isn't too bad, and the medical benefits alone are worth the weight in gold. My sister in-law is a nurse, 4 years now in pediatrics, and she is now assistant charge making 70+. All that with a 2 year degree. Think about it. The industry needs help.

96rdstr

iTrader: (4)

Its all good brother, everyone has a soft side.

messiahx

iTrader: (2)

I haven't been so far. The company I work for manufactures gambling machines (slots, roulette, etc.) and I guess that a bad economy doesn't stop people with gambling addictions stop gambling, well, not yet anyways. I am still concerned, though, because if this place were to go under, I'm not in a position to last more than a couple months w/o income. And soon my college loans come out of deferment. It's scary, the local economy here is pretty rooted big manufacturers (paper), and they're hurting bad.

96rdstr

iTrader: (4)

Are you in Green Bay? I have heard that GB is a huge paper manufacturing town. That is where my brother is currently living. Apparently he lives across the street from the Packers' QB, Aaron Rodgers, in Suamico.

naarleven

iTrader: (2)

I couldn't get anymore student loans for my recent semester. So I had to take a private loan from my father. Otherwise I just keep going to school on Daddy's penny apparently. I can't find a job anywhere though, and things get pretty tight on my current budget. My money for the Miata turbo project has long since been wasted. I need a job.

Also, the recession has convinced me to change my focus to bankruptcy law.