Things are getting bad.

I just needed to post something. I’m just sitting here shaking my head in disbelief and frustration. For those that know a little about me I’m a manager in a construction company and I have to lay off another 4 people today. It’s getting really hard out there and I can’t take it.

I’m getting tired of these economic time, I know it’s not going to get any better. It seems like I’m laying people off every month now and our sales number are dropping. I see this whole stupid debt limit mess in Washington and they just don’t get it. They need to cut 1.6 Trillion now! Not 4 trillion over 10 years. Don’t these guys understand compounding interest and debt. It’s never going to get paid off.

I can barely cope any more but I must stay strong for my family. I’m the anchor and if they see me depressed or drained it’s going to scare them. It’s so hard to come home happy anymore with all the bad news. But I want them to live a “normal life” as long as they can because we don’t know when this “normal” will be taken away from us. That’s why I like to get it all out here.

I know what’s coming, an all out economic collapse. I just thought I could emotionally make it through better than I am. I can’t imagine how I would feel if I never started preparing like I did 7 months ago. How are the rest of you on ATS holding up? I would like to make this thread a lean on me type of thread. One where we can all come together, shear our stores and help each other through them. I need an outlet and I don’t want to start scaring my family but things look bleak for the United States and its economy.

reply to post by camaro68ss


Greetings!

Things not so good in the UK either! Just a bad all round vibe created by the big pay off to the bankers. People did not believe it properly when it was said that we would all have to pay. Indeed, we are all having to pay big time.

Stay strong, Sir! You coping well I think. Very good to read of your sensitivity of heart. You just got to do what you got to do.

Keep surviving and stay as strong as you can possibly be. It is the only course of action, the alternatives are that people cave in to hopelessness. It is never hopeless, dear friend!

I know how you feel and letting people go is awful knowing there is nothing out there for them..

I got really bitter recently almost to point of being anti just about everyone and everything. while craving the crash to come now just to get this pain over with...

But I sat down with my partner and talked things through.. went for a long walk beside the river. and it really helped getting the feelings off my chest...

I hope you find some way if getting the things that are dragging you down off your chest..

regards and best wishes from across the pond.

reply to post by camaro68ss

As I read your post , it made me so sad to think of how many Americans are trying to stay strong for their families , while realizing what is around the corner.

It's a great idea to start a support thread... It must be hard to hold those feelings inside. Please don't be afraid to show your family how you feel. It's often seeing the vulnerability in the ones we love, that inspires strength and compassion.

I wish you ,your family, and all families the strength and compassion to get through these difficult times.

Originally posted by thoughtsfull
I know how you feel and letting people go is awful knowing there is nothing out there for them..

I got really bitter recently almost to point of being anti just about everyone and everything. while craving the crash to come now just to get this pain over with...

But I sat down with my partner and talked things through.. went for a long walk beside the river. and it really helped getting the feelings off my chest...

I hope you find some way if getting the things that are dragging you down off your chest..

regards and best wishes from across the pond.

edit on 27/7/11 by thoughtsfull because: (no reason given)

I workout alot and run. two days ago i lost track of time and ran for 4 miles, thats long for me. Its scary and i feel bad for all those without jobs and are hopeless

Originally posted by gabby2011
reply to post by camaro68ss

 

As I read your post , it made me so sad to think of how many Americans are trying to stay strong for their families , while realizing what is around the corner.

It's a great idea to start a support thread... It must be hard to hold those feelings inside. Please don't be afraid to show your family how you feel. It's often seeing the vulnerability in the ones we love, that inspires strength and compassion.

I wish you ,your family, and all families the strength and compassion to get through these difficult times.

I would really like this to be a support thread. i know i will be on it all the time.

I've told my family and they know whats coming down the line. Its just i dont want them to have to worry about it until the day we most leave. I feel its best for them the less they know, the less they will have to worry like me and have normal lives.

I'm single, nearly 60 and have a widowed father in assisted living (to the tune of $2000 a month). At this rate, he will be completely out of money and so will I (savings, CD, everything) in a year (that is, if the economy doesn't completely melt down...if it does we're both basically SCREWED). I'm trying to sell his house (where I am currently living) but with the market as it is even if I do manage to find a buyer, I won't get nearly what it's worth. When I do sell...where will I go? I've tried to prepare as best I can...food storage, water, firearms and ammunition...but the SHTF scenario is a pretty scary proposition for someone like me. I've always joked that my Emergency Preparedness Plan is to NOT survive...and hey, maybe that's what'll happen.

I try to stay positive, try to maintain a semblance of normalcy...and of course need to stay upbeat for my dad because he still "gets" stuff and would worry endlessly, and fruitlessly, since he can't do anything.

I know that getting a handle on the economy and the completely out-of-sight spend-a-thon that the Government's been running for decades, won't be easy by any means...but don't those guys GET ANYTHING??? Are they living in some kind of fool's paradise, where they think they can just keep on doing what they've been doing and have nothing happen??? (Of course, no one in government really has to WORRY about the things that most of us "little people" have to worry about, do they?? Paycheck always on time - even if SS gets cut, or the military's checks get held up...no problems with healthcare, it's all paid for with OUR tax dollars...retirement a piece of cake - they're on the gravy train for life. (Unless, of course, if the gravy train derails...which seems pretty danged likely lately.)

Okay, sorry, rant over. I'll go back to reading up on medicinal herbs and how to purify gutter water...

reply to post by Revolution9


Hi, I'm also in the UK.

We can no longer use the car, do not own our home, have no savings, no real assets and struggle to find two meagre meals per day, we mustn't loose internet because hubby needs it for work. It is getting harder week on week. Our debts were manageable before we were made to pay gov debts which we had no say in, didn't even benefit from their extravagance. Our kids are truly great, they understand and are beginning to accept the things we cannot do. It isn't a great feeling knowing that things will not get better, Yet. We are getting through it for now. If we lose our income, I don't know what we'll do, The soil around here is awful, it's basically stones, glass, sand and pet cack. We need to befriend a farmer and work for him I think.

I can relate to your distress and frustration. Nothing is more difficult to accept than being forced to just deal with whatever or government decides to heap on us. It leaves me feeling that I have worked my entire life for nothing, because I cannot survive in this economy.

After hearing about the possibility that my social security check would stop, I gave up my part time job and went to work full time in hopes of avoiding being kicked out of my apartment or starving. I was extremely fortunate to have a relative who could give an old lady like me a job! My heart goes out to those who are not as lucky, especially those who have children.

This whole sham our government is orchestrating now is destroying the quality of life for millions of people and we will certainly need all the kindness, understanding and support that we can get. Thank you for this thread, OP. I will visit regularly to see how everyone is coping.

Chins up everyone. At some point, we will find a way to take back our rights and our lives.

I just got layed off on Monday. Im busy this week with making resume's and looking for side jobs to get me through. There's money to be made if your creative enough and willing to humble yourself to work your not use to. What makes it hard is when you have 3 kids, wife, credit card debt and a morgage.

reply to post by Jansy


Your not the only one. I’ve been suggesting to family and friends to start bunking up, two families in one home, to save on costs. It might have been looked down on in the past but it’s what people did in the great depression. I’ve been thinking about it myself. Sell my house and move in with my brother or visa versa. I think its something we are going to see more of in the future.

For the past two years I have felt like Indiana Jones reaching back to grab my hat before the boulder squishes me. But my "holy grail" is the attemt to remain firmly rooted in the middle class before the wall springs up that makes movement impossible. And that wall, as it is built, is pushing people out of that class. My mom's folks were self made wealthy. My Dad's were working class. We were poor when I was little. My Dad was a self made man and we were very upper middle class by the peak of his career. And me, I am just trying to hold onto it.
I don't have a whole ton of materialistic needs. But I do like security. My heart is breaking for so many who don't have that security right now.
20 percent of U.S. children live in poverty. That is just wrong.

So, I work very hard, and I work every angle. When my focus slips I remind myself that I think the stakes are long term. And then I get back to it.

On the up side.
I think how bad it gets can be up to us to some degree.
Offer a drink to the men working on your road when it's hot.
Smile at your neighbor.
Help and old lady cross the street.

I know it sounds so silly and light right? But it is how it used to be. We used to take that stuff for granted because everyone knew everyone and if you didn't do that stuff people would think less of you. But now everyone has moved from where they were born. They fear their neighbors instead of asking them to pick up their mail if they are going to be away. These are the changes we can make that don't cost money. These are the ways that we can reconnect to the world of our grandparents. These things will make us better people. Better citizens. They will make us happier. And, they will make us more united. And it is harder to take down anything that is united.
My best to all of you as you find your way through these times.

Get your house ready. But be open to helping others. Together is how we will make it through to another golden age.

This is the case all over I think. We moved out to Mexico a couple of years ago for a "better standard of living" as the ork I had (self employed) was constant and promised long into the future.

Shortly after we arrived, the work started drying up, and became patchy. Now I have had to retake work in Europe while the family is in the Americas which leads to longs stints away from home, which isn't good mentally for any of us. But at the moment it is all I can do to keep the boats floating and to still try and achive what we set out to do.

But things down there cost wise are getting mental also. easily now 1:1 if not more expensive than in the US. We went to a street market the other day to get some fruit and veg, the guy on the stall was asking 35 pesos for a curly lettuce. that around $3.00 of 1.90 GBP in a STREET MARKET. it get worse when you go to the local Walmart!!

So the survival bin keeps getting topped up with rice and pulses, canned and long life food. Just for the times when we can't afford to buy fresh, or, its just not available.

If things really go down the swanny next week, i don't know what will happen, but it will be worse than 2008, but the good news is. It can;t last forever. but IMO it;s then up to use to reject whatever fiat rubbish they propose. and I just hope it all back together again by the time my son wants to start looking for a job.

The last time this crap happened it took the second world war to kick start everything. But would that work now in this saturated market? I don't think so. but would it stop then from trying? hmmmm

reply to post by Jansy


My disabled brother and I, both in our sixties, and him still recovering from major surgery, are having to leave the home we've rented for the last 14 years in just a few more days because we've run out of saleable resources, and our incomes have steadily shrunk while expenses have risen.

The final straw was the sudden loss of a roommate because the business he worked for was sold and his job eliminated, combined with my landlady's desire to remodel and up the rent. It wasn't a great job, and paid under the table (therefore no unemployment), so the loss was immediate and irreplaceable. Living paycheck to paycheck and falling slowly behind each month leads to where we are now:

Too poor to stay and too poor to pay for a move.

We've lots of stuff, but it's fairly worthless in today's economy: no one who would want it has money to buy it, and anyone with money can get better. So we're stuck with the options of paying to store it, paying to throw it away, giving it away, or selling it for literally pennies.

Cuts aren't the answer: we've had years of them. What is needed is JOBS.

More cuts = fewer jobs, fewer jobs = less tax revenues = more cuts = fewer jobs....

How the hell does that help?

What is needed is a return to the tax rates of the the era Republicans are so fond of: the '50's.

That will solve most of the problems we're having with the deficits.

reply to post by apacheman


sorry to hear. is there anywhere you can double up with family or friends? Not to be a downer but i dont think its going to get better

reply to post by camaro68ss


Thanks for sharing! I too have had my days where I feel like it is hopeless. I sit back and think about my childrens future and wonder......

I am thankful that I have been preparing too, and have a bad feeling for many who have not. However, as much as I have prepared, I still feel unprepared.

What do you do when hyperinflation reaches the point when a loaf of bread or a can of beans cost 100 dollars?? I really hope that doesn't happen! Right now I wish I would have paid more attention in my college economics class, then maybe I would understand it all a little bit better.

Originally posted by Starwise
reply to post by camaro68ss

 

Thanks for sharing! I too have had my days where I feel like it is hopeless. I sit back and think about my childrens future and wonder......

I am thankful that I have been preparing too, and have a bad feeling for many who have not. However, as much as I have prepared, I still feel unprepared.

What do you do when hyperinflation reaches the point when a loaf of bread or a can of beans cost 100 dollars?? I really hope that doesn't happen! Right now I wish I would have paid more attention in my college economics class, then maybe I would understand it all a little bit better.

I know what you mean. I bought alot of pre 1965 silver US coins if that happens but by the time it cost that much im going to be out and gone to the family ranch where we will be growing are own wheat and ranching cattle. Im sad to say most people arnt as luck to have a place to run to when TSHTF like i do

reply to post by camaro68ss


Have a few offers from friends who are close to being in the same boat, but no family support available.

We are the last of our family and neither of us has children.

You're right, things aren't getting better any time soon.

reply to post by camaro68ss


I'm sorry to hear of your misfortune. Is relocation an option for you and your family? The construction industry down here in Texas is gaining a lot of strength and momentum - financial articles be damned. One simply has to look around and notice the re-emergence of sub's vehicles and work trucks.

Good luck

reply to post by camaro68ss


I am deeply worried for everyone that is not the elite right now. Even making preparations seems like an overwhelming feat. One of the most frustrating things is that my husband does not see the severity of what is to come and lives like every day is just another day. No sense of 'something is badly out of balance' or internal anxiety because things are falling apart all over. So, I feel quite isolated in even making an attempt to prepare because it all feels impossible.

I sense there is an urgency to move away from the West Coast to begin with, not to mention survival supplies, food, water etc but he refuses to see the writing on the wall and take a leap in believing me. More and more we are surrounded by homeless people and a level of depravity and desperation. I am running out of ways to communicate just how bad it really is, to my husband who refuses to see the obvious. And, this too scares me.

I feel utterly alone in all of this and what is worse, can only see us perishing as a result. We are not giving ourselves a chance to survive without some acceptance and co-operation from him. I am at a loss as to what to do or how to reach him, so that we can give ourselves that one chance that right now we do not have.