What Have You Stopped Doing Since The Economy Got Really Bad?

I sold my car and take the bus. Me and my wife now have only one car in the driveway. I cut in restaurants, theater and things I dont really need. Almost all my money goes to pay the house, they're so expensive these days

The funny thing is that I have decided to use my years of frugal living/savings & am currently taking full advantage of the lower prices on certain things.

For instance,

-we're taking a vacation in February that was way out of our budget until now. Our rate is about a 1/5 of the price just a year ago. (This was our only family frill for the entire year.)

-we have done some needed home improvements to make our energy consumtion even lower. (insulation, natural lighting, inline water heater, etc.) We also are currently in the process of installing a pantry as well as converting a sun porch into a heated space for a winter garden. (fresh veggies year round)

-we sold both of our un-used furnances (oil & gas) & will use the money for a corn stove in March. (when the end of season sales hit) We have a very cheap supplier of the corn about a mile away.

What we have cut:

-we sold our second car. Even though it had no car payments & the insurance was low, it made little sense to keep up with maintiance on it when one car was enough.

-we no longer eat out at all. Before, we would every couple of weeks, but now our family members take turns making one big meal on Sundays & inviting everyone over. It actually is way more fun than any resturant & one of us still gets out of cooking.

-we no longer buy the used dvd's from Hollywood Video/Blockbuster. We either rent it from redbox ($1.00 a night) or we watch what we have. We have completely cut out the cinema visits & cable tv as well.

-entertainment now consists almost entirely of free things. (outdoors stuff, board games with the kids, card games, etc.)


Basically we are on a no frills budget. No extras at all, not even the rare ones we did indulge in before. All money is either used for what we absolutely need or it gets socked away in savings. In just the last three months, we have managed to double our savings even with the home improvements & the vacation expense. It feels good to know we could live the same way we do now for well over a year if my husband were to loose his job.

reply to post by dantrav
I do the opposite of what the bimbos&experts have asked us to do...i've stopped spending..fuel consupsion down atleast 80%..eating out down 80%..cancelled landline phone..satellite tv is next...only wife has cell phone...paying off as much debt as possible...cancelled saving acct. keeping extra cash at home...no more creditcard debits..sick of the slavery..i spend xtra cash on stuff that wiil keep me alive during the harsh times ahead..i do everything i can to make the elite cry.. soon the asians will get pissed at the elite for failure to pay countries debt..then i'll kick back and enjoy the ass-whoopin they deserve!!!!

1. We don't go get our hair cut once a month like we used to. My husband now cuts both his hair and mine.

2. We stopped buying organic food on a regular basis like we used to. Now it's just the occasional purchase.

3. We're stopped running our electricity all the time. This winter we're either turning the heat off while we're not home, or while it's extremely cold like it is now, we're setting the thermostat at 60 degrees. When we're at home, the thermostat is set at 65 degrees instead of 75 or 80 degrees like it used to be in winters past.

4. Instead of going to the video store every week and renting movies, now we're going maybe once every 4-6 weeks.

5. We've stopped eating out once a week like we used to.

6. We stopped investing in our 401K.

If our hours get cut and we need to cut back our expenses further, we'll drop our cable down to just the basic package. We'll cut the service on one of our cells phones. We'll cut way back on what we buy at the grocery store and eat a lot of beans and cornbread.

Originally posted by marg6043
reply to post by amari

 

I agree that the proposed spending by Obama to "rescue the nation" will put us into a depression finally, like you said we are not going to find a lot of nations out there that will be willing to keep buying our debt, but as you know now US is to target the rich oil Arab nations for our everyday needs, so if this is to happen do not expect any technology backed government programs to take a big turn in the future, we have to keep our lenders happy.

I am not trying to be pessimistic for the symptoms for our nations economic woes and the cure proposes doesn't make any sense to me.

The sad part of this economic situation is our representatives have not represented We the People's interests. It would be nice to get new technologies under way but in the real world oil and gas are still King. Hopefully Obamas administration will not tax coal out of existance like so many fear. New technologies are coming to the forefront on burning coal clean and as you know 50% of all electicity generated in the U.S. uses coal. The U.S. has 400 years of coal still in the ground that can be used for energy sources so lets pray they do the right thing.

Absolutely nothing. I have always lived and spent within my means and don't let the "ups and downs" in the economy impact that. I was laid off for about 4 months too, but I have a 2 year emergency fund (which I am now rebuilding).

I know its not popular here - its far more popular to act like I'm having to cut back and things are horrible, but its the truth. And honestly, its the same story for everyone I know. And I'm not rich.

[edit on 16-1-2009 by LowLevelMason]

I cannot say I have cut back, just come back from a great time in the South of France as we have been spending each newyear there. No its still plenty of holidays and treating ourselves as we work hard. One has to feel fine clothes next to ones skin, why has something happened that I have missed?

I bought a house, and I spent $7000.00 improving it, and I bought a Smart car and sold a couple of other cars. Nothing has changed.

reply to post by ravenshadow13


I have stopped watching TV. It's been almost 5 months now. Once I freed up so much time, I went and visited the homeless shelters to help pass out food to the needy, and haven't regretted that decision since.

Originally posted by ravenshadow13
I was just thinking of some things I haven't done since before the fall because of the economy, feel free to add to my list! Most of these things I haven't done because I've been cutting back money-

Ive had to stop riding prostitutes, because i didnt have enough for my friday big mac

i had to get the gas cut of last week cos i cant aford to pay it,internet will be the next thing to go,cos i have no gas cant cook food any more its takeing all my time just to have the elctric running for heat and light.and i only use that after 6 pm but its nice to see our goverment not doing anything about it and so they get away with it time and time again we live in a world of take take and take but never give it back

I like this thread and all of the common sense approaches to dealing with the adverse financial situations that was sure to occur. My life has always been a financial roller coaster ride, so being able to cut corners and save is a second nature thing for me. Some people are being critical of those that that have made changes in their spending habits, due to the impact it will have on the economy. I am thinking that an economy that can only prosper if consumers are living beyond their means, is already broken.

Hmm let me see...

30 year fix mortgage at 4.9%. Two new cars at 5 years zero interest loans and 10k off each. New 60” plasma, great return on investments, but I am going to pay a lot of taxes so that kind of sucks. Along with being a great year to get everything you want a low prices, I must say it has been one of the best years of my life.


Edit to add I did up my quality of Fine Scotch from 15 years to 18 years old, and my cigars are much better than what I bought in the past.



[edit on 16-1-2009 by Xtrozero]

Originally posted by ravenshadow13
What about you guys?

We haven't stopped doing anything. We were very frugal before this so we haven't really been impacted much at all.

well i stoped working.
anyone need a master electrician..lol

We have cut back alot also, but have tried not to..the more everyone cuts back, the worse the economy will get..

Ebay is hurting. Come buy my stuff please! LOL not spam just kidding. I have quit drinking so much beer, going to the movies, going out to eat, buying organic produce for the most part in winter, etc etc etc. I am really hurting. It sucks but once spring starts (april-may) I have work lined up. Seriously, half off good stuff.

I havent stopped using money at all.. in fact, now im eating out more (1-2 times a week) Im using money recklessly.. (not using money is the problem isnt it? Thats why companies go bankrupt?) My bank account is getting bigger than ever, and im livin the life.

I got a nice job some months ago, and everything is fine... in fact my aunt also got a new job a few days ago.. Now im looking for an apartment, there are some nice prizes nowadays..

My friend is buying a car.

Statistics show that people have never used so much money on stuff as this christmas..

Welcome to Norway. I didnt see that failing economy when i was out last time. (but we are told its pretty bad) Maybe its just out there.. in the good old world somewhere.. I'll just take your word for it.

For those of you who have sold your cars, how are you getting around?

If you are doing well, what industries are you in?

How many of you go on vacation through Travelocity or Orbitz?

For those of you who have lost your employment, how long do you expect to be out of work?

Has anybody cut back on newspaper/magazine subscriptions?

Oh, a lot of things I've noticed in my neck of the woods is people are clutching coupons a lot more than ever now. Also seem to be making unwise choices, when I say unwise I mean taking trips that aren't really needed. As a lady came into the store I worked at a few days ago and asked if we had any TV Guides. Apparently she had been driving about looking for them.

I'm dirt poor so I've always lived like it's a depression. Never go out to eat, even fast food. Value shop at cheap grocery store. Don't "buy" games or music...there are other ways. No girlfriend so that saves a lot. My current car is a small gas sipping coupe but it's a good reliable car that looks fine and that's all that matters. I got it for a great price because I was patience and looked everywhere. Go to flea markets or yard sales, you can get neat stuff there for not much dough.

One thing I will always buy even if I have to put it on credit is the internet, I am addicted. It's free at the university but I only go two days a week and that won't do. And I need a guilty pleasure to indulge in every so often or I'll lose it.
'Like bullets for my sks and targets (any old junk that's free) that I pretend are bankers and politicians. Or a decent bottle of vodka. I have to go to a game once a year but it's starting to look like it's not happening this time (now that the caps are awesome, just my luck). Watching at home isn't so bad I guess. At least hanging out with friends is free but it sucks not being able to do anything or go anywhere.