How is the recession affecting you?

[vbhoutex]

I haven't seen much on this in OT so I thought I would bring it up since it was really brought home even harder to our family today.

Some of you know, but not all do, that I have been without a job since July 22 of last year. I have been receiving unemployment, which is helpful, but sure doesn't take care of everything. Fortunately for us my wife has a decent job and we have some emergency funds. We have learned after living what I consider a very comfortable lifestyle for a while, that we can get by on a lot less. That is a good thing and a we will continue to do that whether I find a job or not.

What really made me post about this is that our daughter, who has a 3 1/2 month old baby, found out today that she will work one week before being laid off after returning from maternity leave next week. Even though she knew this was a real possibility she is taking it very hard.

Please say a little prayer or whatever you do for our family as we work through these difficult times along with millions of others.

What is your story?

[Miss Mary]

It's hit us hard.

I'm looking for full time work now, currently employed part time. My husband works for a small company, he and his sister run it and they didn't bring home paychecks a few times. To meet payroll. We've had to pay our bills with savings. We canceled our newspaper and will be canceling cable as soon as the current TV season is finished (we have a DVR thru cable and are quite spoiled....LOL). I haven't been shopping in so long, I think I've forgotten how to! We haven't eaten out in a restaurant in ages too......last time was xmas eve and that bill was outrageous. So we are eating at home, never carrying out food, of course not eating out, not shopping unless it's something we really ~need~ and paying bills. We also have two daughters in college. Need I say more?

I miss the old days.......of on a whim, just saying - I'm sick to death of cooking, let's have pizza tonight. Even if I picked it up, that's $10 - $12 we don't have. Or can't justify using savings to pay for. We're also not going to the bakery as much or picking up fresh bagels from Panera. We are buying groceries once a week and eating only these foods each week. I used to stop at so many shops during the week and we had treats several times a week. Not anymore. I am also back to baking myself, from scratch. LOL

It's just a scary time!

We're not taking a weeklong vacation either this summer. Just a 3 day trip to a state park in KY and staying in a lodge room.

Good luck in the job search David.

[wyq614]

Almost nothing at that time except that our transport is limited because of the short of petroleum and our food that offered by the Cubans are a little worse than months ago.

However, it may affect us deeply later because, as you may have heard, nowadays it becomes harder and harder for a university graduate to find a job in China. But fortunately, for the Spanish-learning student like me, the options are various but to some degree depends on the situation of foreign trade. Now we see the foreign trade between China and Latin America somewhat reducing due to the global recession, we may see fewer job offers in the near future as I´m to graduate from university in the year of 2010.

[Yankeegirl]

My sister in law and her hubby lost their jobs back in December.... they still haven't gotten a job yet, they have lost their house and moved back in with parents... I am working and so is my hubby, thank god, but we did let our 4 runner get repoed... we are getting ready to file Ch 7 to save the house and what we have left.... Life sucks... It only gets better, right??

[coriolis]

Your stories are sobering in that the bad times are more than some number that the gov't throws out. It's actually affecting people around me.

So far we're keeping an even keel but it's been tough sailing. The Obama bucks are benefiting a number of our clients, so I think that we'll be ok for a while. Having 4 teenagers still at home and only one income keeps us perpetually on the edge and only one setback from disaster.

[Stephanie]

I'm sorry to hear about your daughter David and your sister Yankeegirl!

*Knocks on wood*, so far so good for me. There's a salary freeze, so there won't be any pay increase this year. They've taken away the matching 401k, which would've been lost in the market anyway up until a month ago. I've also cut in half what I've been investing in my 401K on my own for now, but I may raise it in a little bit. I've REALLY cut back on my shopping and I'm not a big shopper to begin with. Marty's business is doing alright though it has decreased a bit as every business looks to cut costs. I have definitely been blessed so far.

[DanKellFla]

Unemployed for a month now. I have had one decent interview and some calls from rude and desparate recruiters. I only got 2 weeks of severance after 6+ years of working, so that doesn't last long. My wife is working for now. So, some bills just aren't getting paid. I found a temporary job, but it keeps on getting the start date pushed back. So, I am not holding my breath on that one.
I am not cut out to be Mr. Mom.

[somethingfunny]

I still have a job, thank God. Business has been slow, and since nobody feels comfortable quitting their job right now, overstaffing has canibalized everybody's hours. But thanks to the loyalty and generosity of Pizza Hut customers I still make enough money per shift to get by on 20 hours a week. Thanks to Pell Grants I'm going to school part time as well- Hopefully the economy will be rebounding by the time I graduate.

My mom hasn't been so lucky; she hasn't been able to find work since being laid off in October and she can't collect unemployment because she hadn't been at that job long enough to qualify. She and my younger brothers were evicted in March, but thankfully my aunt and uncle are letting my family live with them for the time being. She's on food stamps and hopefully will get a job with Frisco I.S.D. as a special education teacher this summer. I'm slowly paying off her backlog of car payments.... I wish there were more I could do for her but I'm barely making my own rent as it is. I don't think it's fair that I should have to drop out of school to work full time so that I can support my mother, but when I think about what she's sacrificed for me over the last twenty years....

I hope that employment picks up very soon.

[Miss Mary]

Recession + holidays do not mix......

We didn't celebrate Easter the way we have done so in the past - buying candy, small gift items that fit into Easter baskets for our daughters (I would spend at least $50 on each of them, CD's and/or DVD's, etc.) We also didn't go out to dinner with my mom. She didn't understand at first (got so upset that she hung up on me) but finally realized going into debt to dine out at an expensive restaurant is just not something you do in a recession.

So now I'm facing Mother's Day. I just don't know what to do!

Watch a rerun of that old TV show Everybody Loves Raymond sometime. The character of Marie Barone? Fits my mom to a T. So now you know my dilemma. If I go over to visit her she'll try and make me feel guilty because we are not celebrating as you usually do - taking your mom out for a meal. Somehow I don't think she'd go for the value meal at Wendy's. LOL

I wished her a Happy Easter and said we'd celebrate E. in 2010. I think I may have to do that same for MD!

I'm just glad it's not xmas. I sure hope things improve by xmas!

[azskyman]

Although we have been affected in very real ways, we consider ourselves as fortunate.

We may live in "snooty" Scottsdale, but by all measurements here our lifestyle is modest. Our home value has dropped 40% in recent years, and it has taken our two full-time jobs to sustain and continue to plan for my retirement in 2-3 years. We both put in near 50 hours a week in spite of being on salary. At nearly 63, I miss my afternoon nap.

As manager of a busy 24/7 printing facility, our workload is down a bit but holding. We recently installed a $4 million press that offers a big advantage over our Arizona competitors. Our staff has dropped by about 20% in one year, and we all took pay cuts to help us sustain. My remaining employees, some of whom have young children, clearly appreciate the opportunities we have and the full time work. They look around and see where they could be. 401k matches are gone. Our share of insurance premiums have risen.

Still, they are believers that who we are as a whole is something much more than each of us is individually. It's a joy watching them work and pitch in and make good things happen. As a manager, that culture at work does not come around very often. They refuse to give in and are out selling and producing quality products and working odd hours to make it happen. Failure is not something they will accept. My job as GM is to coach and mentor, to encourage and push, and to remind them that we really can do some very good things in a very difficult economy. They are doing those things, and I couldn't be more proud.

My wife is office manager at an OB/GYN office. In down times more babies start coming along. Mommy and daddy spend too much time together, and with no money to spend, well, those new babies start showing up. The practice is booked and growing. April was a record month. In spite of that, they are discussing staff cuts and ways to save money. Insurances are paying slower and less. It is no easy thing to make a busy medical office work. Doctors no longer make the big bucks without ungodly hours and specialty skills.

We continue to concentrate on finishing off our debt, surrounding ourselves with people who smile and remain hopeful, and reminding others that down times can bring out the best in us. I have not forgotten that very lesson I learned in a place called Vietnam.

I am saddened to read of your challenges and sacrifice. The human spirit can be resourceful and resilient. What we see as bad times can be looked back upon as those days when we became something we never knew we could be; someone better and stronger. We grow during those times, and we may not even realize it.

I wish you all the best...and believe in each of you. There are some better days ahead, and you will come to realize just what an inspiring role something as simple as looking up at the sky...and really seeing it for all it has to offer, can bring. It brought us together here.

That's a very good thing in the troubling moments of our lives.

[Dionne]

We would have been okay through this recession if our funds had not been depleted by medical costs associated with breast cancer. We lost (surrender to co-owner) our second home and had to borrow money against our primary home which had been free and clear. Cancer is big business. Aggressive treatment can cost thousands of dollars each day. The good news is that my wife (Bec) is a Survivor.

Some of the things we have done to compensate for depleted savings and slower income;

We cut up all but one credit card.

We no longer dine out.

We no longer hop a quick flight to St Kitts for what we used to call a short R&R.

I doubled the size of our vegetable garden.

Competitive bidding. Something I have not had to do in a long time. Illegal workers are clearly snatching up jobs we would normally acquire. I've cut labor bids by 30%.

Buying in bulk. We shop Sams Club for our food staples. It's a lot cheaper in the long run to buy 50# sacks of flour, etc.

Barter. I regularly trade our home grown vegetables for fish and venison.

Central HVAC is not turned down during the day.....it is turned off. Huge savings.

When we visit our daughter in Memphis we take the train. It costs less than fuel and is rather enjoyable......only a 5 hour ride.

We changed out all of our light bulbs to CFC's. Reducing our electric bill has been the easiest savings method so far.

I didn't get my new riding mower as planned. Just gonna make the old one last at least another year.

[olddude]

I don't even want to talk about the reduction in stock dividend income.

We drastically cut back on dining out.

Closely monitor A/C useage.

Shut down water heater during the day.

Shutdown extra fidge and freezer.

Reduced cable channel lineup.

Shutdown hot tub.

Replaced gym membership with biking and walking.

Cutback on mini vacations

[OpieStorm]

I'm very blessed that the recession hasn't affected me that much. I recently got promoted to department manager at a grocery store so things are actually going quite well. But we've been really having to cut hours from our associates because of slow business, it's really tough. My thoughts and prayers go out to yall who are not so fortunate.

[Miss Mary]

It is nice to see that for some the recession hasn't affected them as much as it has others. For example several coworkers of mine are remodeling, going out to dinner still, etc. They are the ones keeping the economy going! A neighbor down the street is having new windows installed too. We sorely need new ones as well (ours are wood, inside and out, rotting and 20 years old now....) but that huge expense has to be put off. We also could use a new roof too! So many things have been put on hold - just paying the mortgage, bills, buying groceries and not much else. I keep receiving all these online catalog email sales. By this point (May) I would have been purchasing winter clearance clothing. I've done this for years. But not this year. I haven't even glanced at Lands' End or Eddie Bauer's latest clearance sales. I know there are bargains but our budget is so tight, we decided months ago - no new clothes.

Funny thing is when we moved to this house we had an incredibly tight budget (1 child at that point). I joke now I couldn't even afford a new mop. LOL Well, I could but we had a more expensive mortgage payment and had to adjust to that. Spending was out.

But now I'd love to have that 1989 budget!

Sigh.....things will get better. They just have to.

I have said if we win the lotto or something, I'm going up and down my community's mail street/business district and supporting small companies. They're really hurting right now.....one local furniture store hadn't had one customer walk in the door in 3 weeks. They were interviewed on the news. 3 weeks!

[TYNI]

All of your stories are heartfelt to me, and to those battling day to day, hang in there, it HAS to get better, After living comfortably for the past 16 years, my family has found themselves in the same boat as many of you. I work in IT as a project manager, and I have been both a full time and contract employee for years. I have not worked since November, and every time I apply for a position, it ends up being cancelled or the project is "put on hold" until further notice. While my wife has a good job, we have made the necessary adjustments as well - not eating out much, sending the kids to school with lunches, instead of lunch money, and being frugal with our now defunct disposable income. My kids have temporarily scaled back their high level sports activities (hockey - both on travel teams), to help us.

We all find a way, somehow, and through the support of friends and family, we get through it.

Keep the faith.

[Pburgh]

The steel industry is really, really suffering. We slit steel and have three slitting lines. We were running 3 shifts, 5 days a week.
At the present time we are down to one shift on one line.
Production from this does not cover expenses. Our hospitalization rates went up 42% this year!! Gas, electric and everything else is sky high - it's tough.

We have one owner that has been covering most of the debt but I don't know how much longer he will do this. I've been with this company for 20 years and NEVER has it been this bad.

Prayer go out to all those who are suffering right now. We have about 30 people on layoff and I feel for their families.

[DanKellFla]

If you income has been reduced but the house still has some income try this:
http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/

Your first call will be about an hour. It can help reduce your monthly mortgage payments.