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How has this recession affected you personally?
outfctrl
Member UncommonPosts: 3,619
Global or the US, doesnt matter. All differences aside, no blames on either party or why.
For me? Well, I have seen my company go from 45 employees down to 17. I work for a construction company. Two of my close friends are losing their house. Many more of my friends have no work and are struggling on unemployment. I dont sleep at night, worrying if my pay will be cut or I am let go. I am now doing the job of three people, since the lay-offs and working longer hours.
I have a new SUV, house payments, child support and many other bills. I lose my job, the prospect of another job is zero to nill. I couldnt live on unemployment. I am single and have no other income to rely on.
I watch the stocks drop and my 401K dwindle by the day. I have taken a 30% loss and wonder if my retirement is just vanishing.
I drink and smoke more (cigarettes) ;-)
I dont know, I keep looking for a break in this economy and dont see it anytime soon.
Comments
Not one bit. My house is bought mortgage free and i work in healthcare as a Respiratory Therapist. Something there will always be a need for recession or no recession. I learned my lesson during the first recession and changed careers to something much more job secure.
I moved from SoCal to Texas earning quite a bit of money on my house. I was able to buy my house here in Texas mortgage free. That and my job is going to get me and the family smoothly through this recession.
I feel bad for people having it much worse than us.
It is refreshing that you are making it through these tough times. I rarely hear good news. I am at the age that switching a career is almost impossible. I have been in construction for 40 years. It is what I do best.
Over half my pension has disappeared. Most of it was in bank stocks.
The rent I charge has reduced and the overheads increased. My property assets have reduced, my major one, a luxury market home, is possibly worth only a 1/4 of what it has been. I'm not selling, but now I don't feel I have the option to if wanted.
Some of my bank stock has folded. Some of it has been temporarily nationalised so that I receive no income from it for the forseeable future. Perhaps 5-10 years. Hopefully less.
All of it has greatly devalued, all the dividends from all my bank stock is much reduced.
In about 10-20 years I expect to be back to where I was 2 years ago, and since I bought a lot of collapsing bank stock it might even net me an extra million. (Counted in Uzbeki Roubles of course!).
On paper at least, I used to be a multi-millionaire, now I am not. Even if I wasn't exactly rich, if it was more in my mind than in my wallet, I always had that little fantasy that I was to boost my ego. It's gone. I think twice about servicing my car, let alone replacing it. I no longer spend £15 a week on flowers for the girls. I don't eat as well as I did.
I used to always know that if things turned for the worse I could cash out and head out to New Zealand or someother remote place and live an enviable life in the wilderness somewhere. Now I'm stuck here for the next decade or two. Escape fantasy denied. Trapped.
In real terms not much has changed. I spend less money but I live the same way I did before. Pschologically, I'm worried about my future and the things I took for granted no longer seem very certain. I'm not out of the woods yet, I am acutely aware that I still have more to lose. I have adopted bunker mentality.
I'm not sure what employment options are available to me at this stage of my life and in the present climate. If i had to go back to work I had planned on starting a little business, but I've gambled my reserve I had to front that on cheap stock. I coudl always grow my own food I expect.
My local town is predominantly state sector employed so most of my immediate community are not feeling the effects of the recession here. I don't see any signs of it on the streets.
Mrs Baff works in travel. I'm hoping this won't affect the amount of times she will be in my country. But it might.
If so, the recession will have turned me into a porn addict.
It is refreshing that you are making it through these tough times. I rarely hear good news. I am at the age that switching a career is almost impossible. I have been in construction for 40 years. It is what I do best.
Ouch... construction and any kind of work that involves building houses will be hit hard. No new houses will be built while this is going on. It's all stagnated or will be pretty soon. We are thinking about investing in gold and gold mines since the dollar will be worth squat now that Obama will be printing billions of dollar bills without the backup of the gold reserves. Might not be a bad idea for anyone to consider since it seems to be a safe bet these days.
Yea baff, its all relative. The more you have the more you have to lose. I havent had a raise in 6 years and with the cost of living going up, I have to spend less. I no longer eat out for lunch every day. I bring mine now.
I stopped partying on the weekends and mostly stay at home. I cancelled cable TV and went to Direct TV and am saving 40.00 a month, maybe more. I ride my motorcycle to work more to save on gas.
The list goes on.
A raise!
Luxury.
I had a raise once.
Paid holiday, that's my fantasy. That would be smart.
Everything I've lost was profit. That's the way I like to look it at.
Look into eco homes. The building trade here is also bottomed out, but my mate Mr Pig, has government contracts to build eco towns. He is booming. Obama will pay you.
Sell him Strammit. It's like plasterboard made of compressed straw. Which mean it is a carbon negative material. If you ride the gravey train you can do very well out the eco boom that's coming your way.
Solar panels, Geothermic heating for schools and government buildings. They have construction money to throw around to anyone who speaks their language.
Honestly you can sell them horse shit if you like. Tell them it traps the methane and they will pay you. They are thick as a brick and it's not their money.
Just recently, my company cut all paid holidays and cut my vacation time from 4 weeks to 2 weeks and are thinking of cutting vacation out completely.
On top of that, now I have to pay 20% of my health insurance, where once it was a benefit. You know what the funny thing is?
Once they cut all your benefits, you will never get them back, even if business picks up and we are doing well. They will keep pocketing the money.
I am working on my resume' for better times, then quit and move on if we dont get some of our benefits back.
The only negative I have seen is my 403(b) dwindle. Other than that it's been fine. In fact, I am looking at a near $12,000 raise in about two months.
While my job is safe, the stimulus package has actually added money to our budget, I have seen my 401K lose over 40% of it's value. Also my wife was laid off 2 months ago and has not found a job yet. She has 11 more weeks of severance to find a job before we run into trouble.
My income, though reduced , I will still be fine. My father on the other hand was layed off from TI during the mass lay offs here in North Texas. He at least still has hobbies to fall back on, though they are more likely to become "his job" than a hobby due to the lack of demand for overqualified computer technical electrical engineers. He is over qualifiied for most jobs and has health conditions which make him an "undesireable prospect" . My family is pulling together to make sure he does not lose his home during this, and has the medical treatment he needs.Though I think what needs to be happening is already starting to happen, people are not sitting around waiting on jobs, they are doing for themselves again. They are creating their own jobs, and that is the best thing you can do in this economy. I hope to see a huge boom in the self employeed .For example:
finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/106619/From-Wall-Street-to-Main-Street
It would be nice if people were more proactive, but I have a suspicion that the more vocal will just sit around and blame others and then try to collect a check.
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Originally posted by javac
well i'm 35 and have a PhD in science, and then 10 years experience in bioinformatics... you?
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/218865/page/8
So far I've managed to survive. I'm pulling 7 days a week now to suppliment my income doing landscaping on the weekend. My funds are extremely low though due to some personal issues. Low enough I cringe when the job I've had for 10 years is looking sketchy. This has been my one and only job since I started to work. Scary thought trying to figure out a new life.
Ah but on the bright side, the girl of my dreams, my princess and queen! Ah that lovely girl is about to take her cgfns and then not to long after that her nclex. Making her a bonifide RN nurse. Thats a golden job in my region. Starting pay is 65,000 up to 127,000. Considering the cost of living here with normal food, ultilies, rent and fun money is 9k, we would be ROCKING!
As far as Im concerned if I lose my job once shes a nurse ill go part time landscaper and enjoy the free time
I haven't been affected directly yet but I've seen friends of friends getting layed off. I know a few people who got into some really nice housing cheap but I don't know anyone who was forced out of their houses just yet.
Im getting about the same amount I got last year back in taxes because I'm single and have a mortgage. If I was renting I would probably be paying.
Don't be terrorized! You're more likely to die of a car accident, drowning, fire, or murder! More people die every year from prescription drugs than terrorism LOL!
I am doing fine. I have always been frugal in good times and bad. With the price of food I will be enlarging my garden this year. I moved all my 401 out of stock and into income when Obama was nominated so, I wasn't hit so hard there. My personal stocks have been smacked though. First time in at least 25 years I am getting taxes back. Luckily, I have have never had any expensive hobbies.
Your age makes it tough. Do you have credit card debt? That would be the first thing I would concentrate on paying off. Sell the SUV and buy a cheap used vehicle. Can you re due your mortgage? Interest rates are way down. Stop watching your 401 every day! If you are still putting money in your 401, then you are buying more for less money. Start a garden. It is relaxing. I never seen myself gardening when I was in the military. I would say stop drinking and smoking but I know how it is.
I was watching Glenn Beck the other day on Fox News. He said something that struck home. He talked about personal responsibility. He must have emphasized it a dozen times. You know? He is absolutely right.
We wouldnt be in this mess if everyone took responsibility for their actions.
Example: If people didnt want something for nothing or read the fine print and made sure the loans they were getting were safe, problem solved.
When I bought my house in 1998, they tried to talk me into an ARM. No way. I found a house I could AFFORD, small as it is, and bought it at a fixed rate. I could have gotten a huge house with an ARM loan with a ridiculous low interest rate, but settled for less with a higher fixed rate. Now I thank God I did that or I would be a foreclosure statistic.
I am doing fine. I have always been frugal in good times and bad. With the price of food I will be enlarging my garden this year. I moved all my 401 out of stock and into income when Obama was nominated so, I wasn't hit so hard there. My personal stocks have been smacked though. First time in at least 25 years I am getting taxes back. Luckily, I have have never had any expensive hobbies.
Your age makes it tough. Do you have credit card debt? That would be the first thing I would concentrate on paying off. Sell the SUV and buy a cheap used vehicle. Can you re due your mortgage? Interest rates are way down. Stop watching your 401 every day! If you are still putting money in your 401, then you are buying more for less money. Start a garden. It is relaxing. I never seen myself gardening when I was in the military. I would say stop drinking and smoking but I know how it is.
I know my age makes it tough. I will be 58 soon. I have no credit card debt. My only large payment is my SUV, about 400/month. My 401K? I dont open the statements anymore...LOL
I tried starting an herb garden, but everything died. I used to be good at it. I even had a sprinkler system installed in the garden. Its a small one. Its 12 foot by 12 foot. Havent tried vegetables yet, but have been thinking of it. Its funny, I did grow a ********* plant during the summer and it got like 5 feet high....LOL. Cut it down because it was getting too big.
You know with you being in construction and all, you could easily make some money on the side. Making useful things such as furniture and household objects and selling them on ebay/ or craigslist to start. It isn't hard to create a website either, or if your community has a local forums where you could post pics of the things you make.
One thing I know the US doesn't have a large competition with is European style furniture and cabinets, huge market for it but nowhere to buy it in alot of places. It is very expensive to have shipped to the US, so making things along those lines could be very profitable in the US. Also most of the furniture in the US being sold is "too big and bulky" creating more functional space saving furniture could be good business. Maybe even design some wall mounting surrounds for flat screens since the majority of the stores are still trying to sell the old style entertainment centers that defeat the entire purpose of mounting your tv on the wall in the first place .. It is hobbies like this that make all the difference in the world when jobs are scarce.
Budget cuts at my work, but nothing that has lost me my job, some reduced hours, that's about it....actually my school is lowering tuition costs, so that'll be nice to pay 500 dollars less a year.
Your argument is like a two legged dog with an eating disorder...weak and unbalanced.
In the short term im hurting. I will be losing my present job April 1st. The company that under-bid us is interested in bringing us on and I meet with them Thursday. It is almost certain I will take a pay cut if I want to keep working. My other option is to collect unemployment and hope my present employer finds more work for me elsewhere before the bills stack up.
In the long run I think I will be doing well. I've sunk every spare dollar I've earned recently into bottomed out US steel stocks set to benefit by the stimulus plan, companies that survived the great depression. It's a great time to buy sounds stocks at huge discounts- and real estate too. I will hopefully get in on that action before the end of the year assuming I don't get totally screwed April 1st. I could get promoted in the new company and come out ahead, who knows.
Hope you got your things together. Hope you are quite prepared to die. Looks like we're in for nasty weather. ... There's a bad moon on the rise.
AH! A garden! Something I look forward to this summer. Id recommend squash, beans, lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes and peppers. Youd be amazed how well these plants grow even in bad conditions. I had lettuce growing in my garden for years when I let some go to seed once. Lol the plants would pop up on there own in the weirdest spots.
I got laid off a few months ago. I was offered a new position for about $.20 more per mile, but didn't follow through because I wanted to get a better career since I had a degree and could probably work over minimum wage. =/ the job market is really slim right now.
I had to cut back on lobster and I can only use my limo every other day due to the recession. And can you imagine that? My limo driver has to double as a gardener on top of it. Hard times I tell you.
A friend is not him who provides support during your failures.A friend is the one that cheers you during your successes.
Funny part is, even the rich people really are feeling the crunch. Most of my landscaping clients have started to plant things like petunias and daisies?! Which considering 2 years ago hey were planting italian roses and grass orchids, shows the desperation.
Its all perspective really.
Ive actually had t omake alot of changes, mainly because I was one of the ones that ended up losing my job.......Overall though it isnt too bad just had to make some compromises and put off some of the hobbies and traveling.........Also instead of eating out all the time I settle for lesser meals at home......