has your personal economy begun to meltdown yet?

i'm just wondering how you're all holding up in these tough times?
has the bad economy hit home yet?
are you actually doing better now than you have in the past?
personally for me it's sucked big time lately.
mostly i just buy and sell, set up at flea markets, different shows etc.
my income has basically dropped by half this year.
the markets i've been doing have had no shortage of browsers, but as far as actual customers,
there's a real shortage of people actually buying things.
when they do i have noticed a switch from people just buying stuff, to people buying only things they need.
i always hang a sign,'buy,sell, trade'.
people have been bringing me boxes of stuff just trying to get a few bucks together.
usually i actually feel bad because the stuff they bring is not anything i want, too junky, chinese plastic, stuff that's just not in good enough condition to re-sell.
it's sad really, i think in my line of work i get to see the economy first hand.
so, how are you holding up?

Well thankfully I have a full time job and it pays decent (at least over 15 an hour). Many people would say that is not good enough, however it is enough for a single man with child. I am not complaining here. I wouldn't say it isn't without its problems though. I tend to stay at home more and I certainly didn't frequent as many concerts as I would have this past year. Im holding my head high no matter what happens.

Mine never started at the age of 19, even though I have a part time job. I'm happy to have family at the moment.

I feel terrible posting this, but I am doing great. i am a network engineer. It seems that there are a very select few job types that dont take a hit.

I complain about not having enough money ALL the time when i know damn well the guy next door to me is getting kicked out next month. I do however, donate money and clothes to anything i feel needs it.

I've been self employed for 13 years made an alright living including my wife's income. Over the past 1.5 years she has lost her career job because electronic manufacturing came to a hault in our area and all she can find now is crappy minimum wage, part time, seasonal type jobs. During 2010 I have lost several customers due to decreased budgets and my service is not even close to a nessesity so im the first to go. Recenlty(July 1st) our province introduced the HST which made my expenses increase, my fee's increased by 7%(not my income as all that goes to gov), hence my income has gone down as I have lost even more customers. So 4 months after the HST I am now looking for a job as my 13 year old business is no longer. Anyone want to take over my mortgage?? Good luck all, I sure hope hyperinflation doesn't set in anytime soon.

reply to post by quest4info


Good luck to you and your family. It always pains me to see small businesses fail. It pisses me off knowing the big corporations suck more and more life out of the American Dream. God speed.

reply to post by The Endtime Warrior

(at least over 15 an hour)

actually, that's not a bad wage these days.
i have friends who would love to get that right now.
one buddy has been a self employees plumber for 20 years.
he can't find much work at all.
he's basically gone from 40-50 bucks an hour to 10 to 15 just
trying to make ends meet.

Originally posted by Juggernutty
I feel terrible posting this, but I am doing great. i am a network engineer. It seems that there are a very select few job types that dont take a hit.

I complain about not having enough money ALL the time when i know damn well the guy next door to me is getting kicked out next month. I do however, donate money and clothes to anything i feel needs it.

Hey I was thinking of becoming a Network Engineer or Network Administrator, as I am very good with computers, I don't want to get off topic, so I'll send you a U2U.

reply to post by Juggernutty

I feel terrible posting this, but I am doing great.

don't, i'd love to be able to say things are going great.
be proud, just cause others may struggle, your doing well may benefit some of those folks.
sounds like you already know that.

reply to post by rubbertramp


I actually make more than that, but I figure saying over 10 an hour and most people might think that wasn't enough. It is tough if you are used to a certain way of living and then having to cut back which in the past I have had to do.

Inflation is killing me. I now pay $3.50 for beef jerky when I used to pay $2.98

the 25% jump in the price of vitamin water isnt helping either.

reply to post by The Endtime Warrior


similar for me in ways.
last weekends market was only fair. after expenses i walked away with about 175 bucks.
markets for me used to bring in anywhere from 500 to a grand a weekend on average.
those days seem to be long gone, although i still have good weekends at times, the slow ones just
knock that average down drastically.

Great here just got a decent pay raise. I make more than the average at my job and my campground is doing the best it ever had in 50 years it's been open. Our company is spending over a BILLION on new factories in the US and 90 mill here for a new corporate HQ. The last 2 years our division has set sales and profit records. Things look good in the midwest. Our stock is down about half a buck but the market is taking a beating all over.

reply to post by mikellmikell

Our company is spending over a BILLION on new factories in the US and 90 mill here for a new corporate HQ.

wow, that's unexpected good news.
mind me asking what type of factories?

I'm from the UK. I graduated last year with a degree in Computer Games Design, I've since then been working hard on my portfolio and applied for countless jobs in the games industry, I must have applied for at least 250 vacancies and job enquiries since graduating and haven't even got an interview.
I've been on jobseekers allowance for just over a year now and I have been applying for pretty much any job I can find, from working in warehouses to shop assistants. Still can't get a job.
I got an email from a games job recruitment company I applied to a while back, here's what it said:

"Thanks for your interest. I am afraid that I do not have a suitable opening for you right now.
At present 4 studios have closed in the UK in the last 3 months. Therefore, many experienced artist are taking roles lower than there skills in order to get back to work.
It's hard to get a junior post as it is - however in this market it has got extra tough.
Feel free to keep checking our links and posts
best regards,
matt"

I am currently on a 13 week work placement for 30 hours per week litter picking for an extra £15 a week and if I refuse I have my jobseekers allowance taken away.

reply to post by rubbertramp


i know what you mean.. in a way.. i am a paralegal at a bankruptcy firm so i see how bad it truly is... it's not getting better, neither is the housing market so don't believe anything you hear on the news... trust me, it's not going to get better for at least another 5 to 10 years... although my job requires me not to think positively on this, i DO wish to see it get better sooner than that, but i can't when i walk in to work everyday and break records every month... i've been doing this for 3 years and the 1st year everything stayed about the same, but in the past 2 years, it has been getting worse and it's looking like there is a bottom and we've reached it.. how long we will have to remain here is uncertain... and also, i can sympathize since i have my very own debts, mostly medical from an accident... but i say if this is happening to you, first things first, drop your current cell phone provider and get a prepaid phone... at least that will stop 99% of the harassing phone calls... good luck to you all!!! and good luck to myself...

reply to post by rubbertramp


I have never had a personal economy as uk gov and police never let me goto work, and i have no other way of making money. So i have zilch money and i am glad in a way, as long as i have some food i am ok.

But thanks to uk gov and police they made sure i could not do anything in my life period.

Has your personal economy begun to melt down yet?

Honestly, yes and no.

My husbands job is stable. We were able to refi the house and will be able to pay it off more quickly, and knock wood, cars are running well, same with the house and we have our health.

But.. (isn't there always a but..) other things come into play. Our health insurance premiums have risen, food costs are rising and just about everything else seems more expensive. Thankfully we don't carry much debt, and on paper we look pretty darn good, but it is the accumulative increases are really starting to add up and make a huge dent in our finances.

It seems harder and harder to bookmark monies for savings and we did take a hit in our 401ks and other investments.

It just seems no matter what we do to cut costs, it just seems harder and harder to stretch our our money.

Things here are OK in NC. Could be better, have been worse. I remember my older aunts and uncles all saying that the Depression was not too bad if you had a job. Fortunately, my wife and I have jobs.

What really helps us is that for the last few years we have been living really tight... my wife says cheap, I say budget minded... but really tight. So now that things really are tight, we don't really notive a difference. We have a small farm where we grow a large portion of our own food, giant garden, chickens, hogs, goats, eggs...etc.

We burn firewood for heat and my goal this winter is to never use the gas heat pump... I have cut plenty of firewood for the winter and if it stops raining today, I will cut some more for next spring.

Something we have been doing and plan for this Xmas...and I suggest many of you do the same if possible...is to have an "old fashioned" Thanksgiving and Christmas. We will cook food we raised and put up, we will cut our own Xmas Tree and decorate, cut our own greenery, make our own bows and decorations, recycle most of our old ones, and make many of our own gifts...give away home-made sausage, containers filled with home-made fuges, cookies, and candies... maybe some home-made wine.

If you are lucky enough to have grand parents or aunts and uncles that lived through the Depression and WWII, seek advice and any info you can from them.... they are a living reference book of info.

If you haven't gotten ready, get ready, I fear that things will only get worse for the next few years. Good Luck.

thanx to all for the replies.
personally, as far as ats goes i'm far more interested in threads like this than most of what is on this board. i always try to put up threads that get us to talk about our personal lives instead of just others.
my sympathy goes out to those struggling, it's tough and i do believe it will still get much tougher.
to those doing well, kudos, use your money to prepare for tougher times.
one thing i have noticed this year is that many people who used to claim that their jobs were recession proof are finding out there really is no such thing.
one thing that i should have thought about in the past, yet did not, is my parents.
now that my mom passed away, i always figured that my dad would be ok financially.
very far from the truth actually.
much of my income is going to help him, and to help pay off hospital bills from my mom.
in no way am i complaining, i'm very thankful i am in a position to help.
i just wish i had some forethought on the subject and prepared myself.
luckily, i owe nothing personally and am down to vehicle insurance and living expenses. if i was paying a mortgage or something similar i would be seriously on my ass.
i've even begun to sell of some of my stash, gold, silver and other collectibles.
i'm even listing my hot rod for sale.
sad day for me considering i built it back in the early 80's.
i realize it's nothing but a personal possession that i truly do not need, but it's a symbol of hard times none the less.
having been self employed for most of my adult life, i'm 46, i never figured i'd need to look for a job to supplement my income, but that is exactly where i am right now.
a personal bummer, for sure.