How has the Economy effected us Personally

[Lady L]

I hope I post this question in the right place :)

I was wondering about the economy, yea I know we are all tired of hearing about it...but what about this:

How has the economy effected you personally or your family ..if at all...? ( anything you don't mind sharing )

Anything from loss of work, stories you related to, saving money, being more frugal ..? More gardening..? Anything along these lines ....?

Please Share :)

[Skandi]

Nothing yet, except that BG pulled the funding for the PhD I wanted, so I have to try to get some different funding

[Baron Samedi]

I'm a student who lives in a prepaid dorm and I have no car.... So not much.

I'm sure when I get out into "big kids land" it will be rather grim, though.....

[Sol Invictus]

Nothing has effected me yet,
but here's some news down south of the border that the media would rather not cover.

Obamavilles In America

Webster G. Tarpley
Infowars (http://www.sodahead.com/blog/48203/obamavilles-in-america/)
March 8, 2009

http://i42.tinypic.com/15pok76.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/143j8yq.jpg

In the depression of the1890s, the term for a breadline was a Cleveland Cafe, named after the Wall Street puppet who turned the government over to JP Morgan, London, and their cross of gold.

In the 1930s, a shanty town was a Hooverville.

In this depression, the wretched victims of foreclosure by Obama’s pals at Goldman Sachs, Citibank, and JP Morgan live and die in OBAMAVILLES. The arrogant elitist in the White House does not care.

Obama is presiding over a $10 trillion bank bailout, all money down a rat hole. Meanwhile, Obama’s so-called anti-foreclosure program is an incentive payment bonanza for predatory subprime lenders - the Angelo Mozillos of Countrywide and their ilk, who sold subprime Adjustable Rate Mortgages which should have been illegal all along.

Want to stop foreclosures? It’s easy: pass a law making foreclosure on any primary residence, family farm, or business a federal crime — for five years, or for the duration of the depression, whichever is longer. Put a family out on the street, shut down a farm, close a factory, and the banker goes to Leavenworth. Start with the great foreclosers — Dimon of JP Morgan, Pandit the Bandit of Citibank, Lewis of Bank of America, Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, and the other zombie bankers. Don’t let them destroy Detroit, Toledo, Stockton, or any other American city

To get a recovery, wipe out the $1.5 quadrillion of financial derivatives like those of AIG, which have already cost US taxpayers $190 billion on the way to at least $400 billion. Outlaw the hedge fund hyenas that bid up the price of gas in 2008. Re-regulate financial and commodity markets, and bring back the uptick rule and the ban on naked shorts at the SEC.

And for families facing foreclosure, play for time by saying the magic words: “PRODUCE THE NOTE.” To throw you out on the street, the banksters have to show the original piece of paper you signed. In many cases this has been securitized and sent to London or Zurich, and it may take months to find. The predators may even forget about you and go on to more gullible targets - like the dupes who still believe in the inherent justice and infallibility of the non-existent “free market.”

[The Lawspeaker]

Not much yet. Although I am saving up money now and making cutbacks: buying cheaper food, not going out, quitting smoking.
For the remaining: nothing yet.

[SPQR]

How has this not effected any of you yet?

I've had pay cuts in 2 jobs already, which effected every employee including the management. I also lost a job that I was really comfortable with, the place has been serving the good people of my town for 30 years and finally shut down because of financial problems. I have also had extreme difficulty finding a job that pays over minimum wage.. I'm a college student who pays for his own tuition, and if this continues I'm going to be forced to give it up..

It's hit my parents much worse than I though. Since the economy has started to plunge they have been forced to sell their vehicles and downgrade to a cheaper car that they share.. they've been struggling these past few years to pay mortgage and been threatened repeatedly to have the house taken (which they've made steady payments on for nearly 20 years). I try my best to help them out, I'd hate to see good citizens like my parents lose their house because suddenly they can't afford to live.

[Solwyn]

My hours were cut in half in September. By then, I'd already seen the writing on the wall and went back into teaching because I was losing my big money clients for gel nails and Brazilians. They were dropping like flies because of all the large retail businesses going belly up. As much as we like to hate them, big box retailers employed a lot of people.

As far as how it has affected me - I am very flexible. When the cost of fuel skyrocketed, and groceries started to climb, I turned our flower gardens into herb, vegetable, and fruit gardens. I took what money I had and invested it into more solid kitchen appliances so that some of our staples, like pastas and bread, are 100% home made all the time as well. We save a lot in groceries as a result. The other thing we did as a family was to try to put some of the 100 Mile Diet into practice. Most of our food now comes from producers here in Manitoba. It means going without the exotic stuff, but one of the side benefits is that my wannabe-consumptive consumerist child now views lychee fruits as treats and begs for a bag of them instead of designer sneakers.

I'm already a pedestrian, so I don't have to worry about a vehicle, although the SO would probably melt if he had to walk to the corner store.

I already make a lot of my own clothes, so I've just intensified my efforts in that arena. I started the sock blog that everyone makes fun of because I needed to be channeling my energy into something that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg, because I can't afford a lot in the way of yarn right now. It also keeps me off the streets and out of trouble, LOL. Its funny how many people read it, I get letters from all over the world, asking if I've written a pattern book. LOL. So I'm writing a book:D

My big splurge is on heat. I don't skimp on that. At home in NS, I would keep the heat down and we'd put on sweaters, but that was when -40 was an abstract concept that happened to other people. Here, though, winter is a little more intense and when it's -30 to -48 outside the house gets mighty fargin' cold inside. It means we get some frightening heating bills, but I take comfort in the fact that we aren't the only ones in Winnipeg having heart failure when we see that Manitoba Hydro envelope in the mailbox.

If the funds are available, we will be replacing the insulation this year and putting in a couple of new windows. Everyone thinks we should sell this year but I fail to see the wisdom in selling my house so I can turn around and spend that money on another one that will cost twice as much. We may convert the basement to a small apt, though, if it comes to needing some extra $$$ coming in.

[Fortis in Arduis]

I am going to stop going to restaurants which is a near obsession for me in London, but I am not going to skimp on quality, quite the reverse.

I will still wear good quality handmade shoes.

I will go back to wearing only/mostly black, because one can always dye it back to black when it fades and I have nothing to celebrate... my dears... and neither have you.

I am going vegan and organic as far as possible. I want to be part of the solution now more than ever.

I will either buy from Waitrose Online or Whole Foods which is just down the road from me in Camden Town.

I will cut politically hostile or naive people out of my life. Why waste energy when so little time is left?

I am making effort to be a peacemaker within my nation.

[SwordoftheVistula]

I can't find a part time job in my field, nor one after graduation. Nor can many of my classmates. If I could find a place not effected by the current economy, I'd move there.

My parents are alright, my dad is a retired teacher from a state university system with a defined benefit plan indexed to cost of living, if anything the economy bringing gas prices down has helped them, as they like to take long trips in low-mileage vehicles. My Grandma is on Medicare (government medical care program for the elderly), which pays the other half of her nursing home that her private pensions don't cover.

[Absinthe]

.

As far as how it has affected me - I am very flexible. When the cost of fuel skyrocketed, and groceries started to climb, I turned our flower gardens into herb, vegetable, and fruit gardens.

I took what money I had and invested it into more solid kitchen appliances so that some of our staples, like pastas and bread, are 100% home made all the time as well. We save a lot in groceries as a result.
I'm already a pedestrian, so I don't have to worry about a vehicle, although the SO would probably melt if he had to walk to the corner store.

I already make a lot of my own clothes, so I've just intensified my efforts in that arena.

What a woman! :thumbs Instead of whining and feeling helpless she readily adopts survival strategies that are not only effective but also much more natural and healthier! :clap:

I am hoping this crisis shall prove beneficial for us that are really survivors. It will teach us to stop acting like sheep, overconsumming, using the car even when unecessary, being couch potatoes and blissful in the comfort of our material belongings.

It will also single out those who are socially useless: for example, whoever says that the last thing he would give up is his broadband and laptop, doesn't have much chance of survival. Good riddance to lazy vermins ;)

[Loki]

It has affected me in a great deal. Lost all my investments, savings, and my job too.

[SwordoftheVistula]

I am hoping this crisis shall prove beneficial for us that are really survivors. It will teach us to stop acting like sheep, overconsumming, using the car even when unecessary, being couch potatoes and blissful in the comfort of our material belongings.

It will also single out those who are socially useless: for example, whoever says that the last thing he would give up is his broadband and laptop, doesn't have much chance of survival. Good riddance to lazy vermins ;)

That's the purpose of a downturn in the business cycle in a market economy.

However, with Obama and apparently in other countries as well, we are going to get more of this

http://www.theapricity.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2913

As well as more bailouts for institutionally retarded mega-banks and automobile conglomerates.