# How has the economic slow-down affected you?



## gil_ong (Apr 15, 2008)

been announced that we won't getting a raise for "next year," i.e., in the fall.

other than that.... things are pretty much normal for us. not buying as much frivolous stuff at the grocery store and other shopping, putting off a tune i was going to get, putting a little more into savings, still paying off debt (car loans, student loans, mortgage, some credit card)......

the only real change is that i'm cancelling a trip to FL in April. my wife is still going, since it's our nephew's baptism and she's the godmother, but i figure we can save $400 on my ticket.

beats the hell out of the last time the economy took a dive in 2002 and i was laid off.


how is everyone else coping?


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

our store used to do about $18,000 or so a week..now we are lucky to do $12,000..that is a huge loss in business.and our stuff is strictly non-essential..(kinda)..but yet the company overall is doing quite well as they have just bought a chain of stores on the west coast,several toy manufacturers and film production companies.and what they don't own outright;they are major stockholders.
but for me..i can't do much of anything anyhow.i only take home about $116 a week.


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

Still in college, don't really buy much of anything. Tuition's going up though... :\


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## gil_ong (Apr 15, 2008)

look into your student loans if you have them. i've heard that some bank's aren't renewing them or accepting new applications.


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

Personally it has hindered all progress on my tanks besides what I get for free or gifts. Business wise, we are still doing okay but not hiring


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## gil_ong (Apr 15, 2008)

how/why is it affecting your tanks? what are you doing with them?


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## redpaulhus (Jan 18, 2005)

No raise this year on Job #1 - even though my review was top notch, nobody above a certain pay scale is getting anything no matter how good their review.
I had already dropped my hours down from 19 a week to 10 a week on job #2 - still got a raise there but things do seem a little slower than last year this time (fewer customers and they are spending less).

Personally - we're trying to be more frugal, but we had already made some decisions (adding a second vehicle, my reduced hours, etc) that kinda required that anyway.

I was hoping to make it to more out-of-state fish club meetings now that I have wheels again (NH and RI are not that far away, and both have good clubs with good relationships with our club in Boston) but now I'm not so sure.


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

It hinders all projects such as plumbing, the aquisition of a sump, aquisition of a new canopy etc.


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## aspects (Feb 1, 2009)

our 401k match is temporarily on hold. and because my line of business is in the "excessive spending" department, lol, business has slowed down reasonably.


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## aspects (Feb 1, 2009)

nice. its always good to hear stories about those that arent getting hit too hard by it all. i know we downsized our staff by quite a bit, so there are a lot of people out there that arent so lucky


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## 207lauras (Jan 28, 2009)

Hubby and I own a small hotel on the southern coast of Maine. Thankfully it is seasonal so we have been closed since last October to re-open again in April. Our business was down over xmas (for gift certs and the like) but our advanced reservations are looking quite good. We are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that with the combination of only 30 rooms and loyal guests, that all will turn out ok!


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## fishboy (Feb 26, 2005)

Well my summer job(s) are still in tact I believe but I'm just getting off a hard first half of high school so I haven't been looking for a job(not with AP Newtonian Mechanics, calc, and honors chem). Though my dad managed to find a new job in this mess so it hasn't been all bad


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## waynside (Aug 21, 2005)

i'm in the automotive business and the economy is killing us. not as many people doing modifications to cars these days. january is the first in the last 5 months that business has been picking up...hopefully a good sign!


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

Well, I got offered a buyout deal at my job back in September and took it thinking that another job that I had almost in the bucket was good. Unfortunately a few days later the new job had some bad earnings and suspended hiring. Since then I have gotten some freelance consulting work.

Two weeks ago my mom was let go from her job, but that is just a part of working in publishing. She got another job last week.

I have decided to go back to school to get my MBA and I am planning on going to Europe. At the same time there is a strong possibility that I may get a really cool job here in New York.


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## Nagy07 (Jan 11, 2009)

i got laid off, working for the automotive industries isnt a good idea


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## FlatLine (Dec 30, 2008)

Here in Maine, we're always in a recession, so not much is different here. But all if the talk about it has made me come up with some more aggressive strategies for paying my small debt off.


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## aspects (Feb 1, 2009)

Nagy07 said:


> i got laid off, working for the automotive industries isnt a good idea


ouch. sorry to hear that nagy. hope things work out for you


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## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

Nagy07 said:


> i got laid off, working for the automotive industries isnt a good idea


No arguments there. Take a look at this. This is located about 40 minutes west of me. Does not look too hot if the UAW workers reject the contract.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/uaw_workers_given_a_50_million.html


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

i just quit my job and got a job at the LFS. im good for now.


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

Fortunately, I don't have any loans...I don't really want to be in financial bondage to pay for my education for the rest of my life...

My parents are paying for college, but with the tuition hikes, they've had to start resorting to cashing out not-yet-mature savings bonds and the like :\


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## gil_ong (Apr 15, 2008)

trashion said:


> My parents are paying for college, but with the tuition hikes, they've had to start resorting to cashing out not-yet-mature savings bonds and the like :\


tuition hikes are inevitable. ours increase by 3 - 5% yearly.


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## gil_ong (Apr 15, 2008)

Ice said:


> No arguments there. Take a look at this. This is located about 40 minutes west of me. Does not look too hot if the UAW workers reject the contract.
> 
> http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/uaw_workers_given_a_50_million.html


that's a tough one. they're screwed either way.

there needs to be a radical revamp of the US auto industry, top to bottom. the current model just cannot work.

there's also lots wrong with the larger picture of course, but i don't feel like writing a paper right now.


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

Ice said:


> No arguments there. Take a look at this. This is located about 40 minutes west of me. Does not look too hot if the UAW workers reject the contract.
> 
> http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/uaw_workers_given_a_50_million.html


Ice must live around Utica, I suppose.

New Process is screwed. They make transfer cases for Jeeps and Durangos. Uh-oh. It is a wonder that they have made it this long without bringing in any new product lines.

I hate to see a story that tells me that people will be losing their jobs, but this is a terrific example of the stupidity of the auto industry, globally.


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## aspects (Feb 1, 2009)

another small layoff today. hopefully the lasy one


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## sarahbellum (Feb 28, 2008)

I work for Starbucks, and we're closing another 200 stores here in the US and 100 others not in the US and that means almost 6700 people will be without their Starbucks jobs. My store is safe because we are the only one in a small town and are still crazy busy. Hours have been cut back though, because corporate is hurting. I normally get about 30 hours a week and next week I have 8. Money is getting tighter but luckily I have a lot in savings. Honestly, I'm just happy to still have a job. My fiance` works as a welder and the shop he works for has just cut back to five guys altogether (he is one of the five) but they've also cut back to four days a week, so 32 hours a week. Again though, we're lucky he still has a job, especially considering that his boss had to let 13 go.


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

Yesterday the announced that they will be closing one of our facilities in China and our facility in Indiana. That will be about 65 jobs. Then there will be the fallout jobs. Since our facility supplies parts for the plant in Indiana that may end up being another 4 or 5 in our building when all is done. 
Monday we got rid of 6 of our janitorial staff.


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## gil_ong (Apr 15, 2008)

here's a list of places who have downsized.

http://layoffdaily.com/


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## Againsthecurent (Jan 22, 2009)

I hope things turn around for everyone for the good!! 

We have been lucky here in North Dakota. Our state doesn't have to big economic ups and downs as others do and we have had a few great years when it comes to agriculture and oil. The state legislature is right now trying to decide what to do with a +1 billion dollar surplus. As typical I am sure they will put a large part of towards a "rainy day fund" as they usually do, but there is also a talk of lowering property taxes around the state. So far our unemployment is low, but there aren’t as many job listings as there has been in previous years. Thankfully car and home sales are still doing ok and as long a development continues my job should be ok. ND has a state run bank where most home loans are made and sub-prime and risky loans are not allowed. For that part our local home market is growing.


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## Kurtfr0 (Nov 2, 2008)

was in a house, now an apartment, soon to be in my 150G sitting in my walk in closet.


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