Are you feeling the economic crunch?

[kamikat]

LD, I completely agree with you. We lived within our means. We paid off our credit cards (run up during college and shortly after) well over 10 years ago. The only debt we have is our mortgage and one car, originally bought used. We bought our house before the real estate boom and paid half of what our neighbor across the street did 6 months later. It has nothing to do with living within our means. My husband was laid off and the only job he could get paid $20,000 a year less. MY secondary income has almost dried up. We used to be able to count on $500 a month from my hair styling customers. People have eliminated costly highlights and perms. I'm now bringing half of what I used to. We always lived within our means, but our means have been taken away from us.

 

[LizzieMaine]

within the income you are making. If that drastically changes after a consistent routine, its not as easy as people think to recover. I know so many friends and family who make up that scenario. They werent buying new cars or vacation homes. They were not maxing out credit cards or buying a new flat screen TV, they were living within a 2 income home that was snatched away in less than 3 months when both people lost their jobs.

Exactly so. I'm about the cheapest, most frugal person I know -- in a state where cheapness is a virtue. I own no real estate, no stocks, a twelve-year-old car, and no furniture or household goods that aren't extremely second-hand. My food budget is rarely more than $50 a week, and I sew all my own clothes. There's nothing the least bit lavish about my life.

So why am I $7000 in debt? The Unexpected, that's why. Medical and dental bills. Car emergencies. The kinds of things that happen when you can least afford them, but you can't ignore. It's very easy to say "Well, you're living beyond your means and that's why you're broke," but if the alternative is being sick, toothless, and without transportation, what else are you going to do?

 

[John in Covina]

Good times don't last forever whether it's a industry wide, national or global downturn or personal problems that make life difficult, you can count on those things happening. When things are okay or even halfway good it's best to save for a rainy day.

 

[tempestbella42]

im with Kamikat, Lizzie and Lady day..ive never lived "beyond my means", its just when your income is reduced due to reasons beyond your control (illness being a big one in my case) theres still the same bills.
i got rid of my car, and havent been able to afford one since..which is a bit of a minus with future employers as now im lookin for work...most are awkward shifts and remote places..:eusa_doh:
i dont have a credit card, have been out 3 times in the last yr, make/alter my clothes my "treat" is the internet" and as i live on my own miles from friends and family it actually is a life line to me....
Its everyday taxes,fuel, food etc that all my money just covers as you point out girls, you manage to cover then something ALWAYS happens..[huh]
i have/still trying to get a move nearer family at least then i have some support i can trust, but that itself is worrying as it costs to move...

The big plus to this is i now manage my money better and know how little i actually need! How much i can do, i.e sew, decorate, and adapt my lifestyle ( and all on my own!) i had nothing two yrs ago when i moved in to this empty flat, slept on the floor for 2weeks till i got my army camp bed for another 6mths......its decorted and furnished now and i only owe for the washing machine...
So ive a confidence in myself i didnt have before...and a knowledge i can survive most things now and WHEN im earning again i wont take anything for granted or waste anything!!:eusa_clap

 

[kamikat]

Good times don't last forever whether it's a industry wide, national or global downturn or personal problems that make life difficult, you can count on those things happening. When things are okay or even halfway good it's best to save for a rainy day.

I'm so glad that we saved for a rainy day! That day came last fall. Because my husband's severance ran out before his first paycheck, we lived on savings. Right now, we trying to rebuild that savings while living on significantly less. If we didn't have that savings, we'd be in much bigger trouble now.

 

[Paisley]

"I take issue with people who seem to say 'Im doing fine, I live in my means. This wouldnt have happened to you if you lived in your means'." -Lady Day

I say the following having landed on my feet after many layoffs with nobody to support me. I've spent all my savings a few times, scraped together mortgage payments with two jobs, and abandoned a shaky engineering career to be a secretary for a CPA firm. I've written this to help others avoid or get out of a bad situation.

Debt
There's good debt and bad debt. The key is to think more about repaying than borrowing. Good debt includes student loans for an education that will significantly improve your income. It's taking out a fixed mortgage no more than two to three times your annual income. It's financing a car if you need one and can afford the payments along with all your other bills. It's buying a money-making business. In taking on debt (other than student loans or medical debt), you have to consider whether you could get another job at a similar wage. You also have to think about whether you could pay all your bills if you had to take a significant pay cut.

Living within your Means
It's not enough to live within your means. That can mean you're living paycheck to paycheck. You need to put something away every month in a savings account so that you have something to fall back on when something goes wrong. It not only helps you hang on during hard times, but it puts you in the habit of living on a smaller income.

Your Employer
If you work for someone else, you need to look at what their prospects are. Is work slow? Do they have a lot of debt? (Look at the balance sheet of the financial statements for publicly traded companies. A lot is more than three or four times net income.) Is the phone not ringing? Do they tell you not to cash your paycheck for a few days? Do they have only a few major clients? Have they cut benefits? Have they stopped supplying employees with things like feminine hygiene products? Has management stopped talking to employees about the company's prospects? Is the project you're assigned to faltering? If your part is almost finished, is there nothing else in the pipeline? Does your boss not like you very well? These are all signs that you or your company may be on shaky ground. There are businesses and entire industries that are often in that state of affairs (i.e., they're "cyclical" or "boom and bust").

Finding Work
If you're laid off, I suggest you take any honest work you can get. There's nothing dishonorable about washing dishes or moving furniture. It's good for your confidence, it may lead to something better, and it looks better on your application. (I don't know if this is a common attitude, but my brother wouldn't hire anyone who hadn't worked in six months.)

Every so often, someone starts a thread trying to justify wearing vintage clothing to a job interview. Unless you're applying at a vintage-oriented business, don't. Dress a few notches above what the employees are wearing--something that will make the employer comfortable with you. A partner told me last week about a teenager who got a job right after she started looking. Two things that helped her: she applied in person wearing a nice dress. She was also involved in a lot of activities. The manager said kids with a lot of activities had fewer problems with absenteeism.

My employer just put together a handout to help candidates get a job. There are too many pointers to list here, but a few ways that people have shot themselves in the foot include a candidate RSVPing for a baseball game for himself, his wife and five kids; complaining about being tired of interviewing, talking badly about a former employer; knowing nothing about our company; having no questions about our company; and dressing inappropriately. A few ways I've seen people ruin their chances: applying for jobs they aren't qualified for (just a waste of time); lying during the interview; having misspelled words on their resume; ending the interview to go to another interview; and not seeming interested in the job.

 

[Lady Day]

Good times don't last forever whether it's a industry wide, national or global downturn or personal problems that make life difficult, you can count on those things happening. When things are okay or even halfway good it's best to save for a rainy day.

This is so easy to say, but its different if that rainy day turns out to be a year and a half.

LD

 

[Lady Day]

Finding Work
If you're laid off, I suggest you take any honest work you can get. There's nothing dishonorable about washing dishes or moving furniture. It's good for your confidence, it may lead to something better, and it looks better on your application.

There is nothing wrong with washing dishes at all. At all. Its just when you are one of 70+ applying for a job to wash dishes, it becomes about not what kind of job you get, but about getting a job at all. CA is reaching 12% unemployment and Ive been amongst that percentage for a long time.

Ive applied online, sent out resumes, walked the pavement, asked friends, done everything, and still people seem to think Im not savvy enough, or havent thought of that one thing that I should try, because that will be the fixer. Oh, if they had only told me that valuable information 6 months ago! Gee, I wish I had thought of that*. :eusa_doh:

*sarcasm train heading out

Opportunity is seldom made, its few and far between, and right now its all but dried up.

The whole situation is frustrating, and I would just think people would have more empathy for people who are in dire straights instead of the 'pick yourself up and make your way' drool I hear everywhere.

Just me grumbling.
LD

 

[Carlisle Blues]

The whole situation is frustrating, and I would just think people would have more empathy for people who are in dire straights instead of the 'pick yourself up and make your way' drool I hear everywhere.

LD

Sometimes that is people's fear talking. They may be thinking they could be next.

I do my best not to compare my insides with another person's outsides. In other words talk is cheap.

 

[Foofoogal]

I honestly cannot think that one person has been unscathed by this last year.
I was sitting in Hannover Germany one year today when AIG fell.
From an American who has watched war shows and such over the years and getting just a bit of BBC and German channels in German I had no clue what was happening to my homeland. It scared the bajeeebies out of me and I seriously considered not being able to get back home or something like during wartime.
We did come home 2 weeks later but to end results of a hurricane and cleanup and then moving 3 times. It is one year later and we are just now sort of getting settled. Alot has been lost besides monetary things this year.
I think everyone is unsettled and it is in the air.
I am actually finding myself not even wanting to decorate for Fall and have always loved to do that. This tells me I have not taken it as well as I would think I had.
The best thing I can say is to find very small pleasures one hour at a time.
I started a thread somewhere like that.
For what it is worth, I am praying for all of the FL and the ones that have posted on this thread needing jobs and such.

 

[Paisley]

The whole situation is frustrating, and I would just think people would have more empathy for people who are in dire straights instead of the 'pick yourself up and make your way' drool I hear everywhere.

Just me grumbling.
LD

OK. California is a tough place to make it. Colorado has a lot of California transplants who couldn't afford to live there, but are doing fine here. Just as there are entire industries where you'll always be struggling, there are cities and states like that, too.

In case anyone is interested in moving to find job opportunities, Denver's unemployment rate was 7.8% as of June and July this year. Not great, but there probably aren't 70 applicants per dishwasher job, either.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

OK. California is a tough place to make it. Colorado has a lot of California transplants who couldn't afford to live there, but are doing fine here. Just as there are entire industries where you'll always be struggling, there are cities and states like that, too.

In case anyone is interested in moving to find job opportunities, Denver's unemployment rate was 7.8% as of June and July this year. Not great, but there probably aren't 70 applicants per dishwasher job, either.

I think you have an excellent point. If a person is amenable to relocation the opportunities can grow exponentially. In this, as any, economy flexibility is key to success.

 

[babs]

I'm feeling it....

My consumer confidence level is zero.
My disposable income budget I've reduced to darn near zero.
My perception of income security is zero.
Rumors of opportunity.. zero.
Confidence in advancement with current company.. zero
Tolerance for any Risk-taking ideas or career moves.. zero

... So I'm hanging on, hunting for a life-jacket, and hoping to stay afloat during the ride. Party's over.. Band's bill is due.

 

[Lady Day]

In case anyone is interested in moving to find job opportunities, Denver's unemployment rate was 7.8% as of June and July this year. Not great, but there probably aren't 70 applicants per dishwasher job, either.

I never thought of uprooting my life to be one of only 20 applicants for a dishwashing job in another state. Ill keep that in mind. But first I would have to find the money to move, and think of who would take over my lease, and the myrad of other hassles that come with relocating. But for nearly 8% unemployment, and a potential min wage job, I think it would be worth the risk.*

*sarcasm train leaving station

LD

 

[Carlisle Blues]

I never thought of uprooting my life to be one of only 20 applicants for a dishwashing job in another state. Ill keep that in mind. But first I would have to find the money to move, and think of who would take over my lease, and the myrad of other hassles that come with relocating. But for nearly 8% unemployment, and a potential min wage job, I think it would be worth the risk.*

*sarcasm train leaving station

LD

How about a position for an illustrator for children's books??

 

[Foofoogal]

LD, another factor among many to think about is cost of living. Insurance, housing etc.
http://www.payscale.com/cost-of-living-comparison.html
http://www.cityrating.com/costofliving.asp
http://www.city-data.com/
I do not know anything about first 2 links but the city data is great and I use it alot to check out different places.
I do understand about the cost of moving and the factors that play into that though.

 

[Lady Day]

How about a position for an illustrator for children's books??

Go away.

LD

 

[cupcake]

I'm feeling it.
Unemployed for months now since the cafe I got work at closed down.
I'm currently homeless also. It's a terrible cycle to get stuck in. Hard to find a stable job without a stable "home base" and it's near impossible to find a house when you don't have that income coming in! :eusa_doh:

 

[Paisley]

In this, as any, economy flexibility is key to success.

Agreed. Many years ago, once I stopped being picky about hours, days and type of work, and was willing to pick up and go where the work was, I didn't have any trouble finding a job. The rest of my family--same thing, even in the Depression. At that time, my dad's father, a blacksmith, got a job paving roads and eventually runways. He'd be gone for weeks at a time. Some of my dad's cousins moved from Wyoming to Washington to get jobs picking apples--and some of their descendants still work for those orchards. But Dad's cousin John eventually bought a McDonald's franchise there.

After my father was grown (this was in the 50s), he was an itinerant construction worker for years. My brothers and sisters were born all over the West. I think he always kept an eye out for better wages, and he eventually ended up at Coors. That was one of a few things that really helped us move up: he wasn't working any harder at Coors, I don't think, it's just that he was working in a good industry: beer brewing.

So yes, Carlisle, I think flexibility, along with directing your search at companies, industries and places that are consistently profitable, is a good strategy.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

Go away.

LD

I will not. I was not being flippant in my post. Obviously you are very talented and qualified.