Re: Anyone feeling the pinch?
 

I assure you I do believe it.

Re: Anyone feeling the pinch?
 

Food prices have gone up.
OH is self employed, the amount of people asking for estimates and then saying they don't have the money has increased. Pisses you off after you invest time and gas into giving them the estimate.
Basically people are not doing home repairs unless they really have to and those required for real estate transactions are down.
On top of that the work van seems to be intent on suicide.
I'm feeling pinched, punched and shat upon.

I sound so mean, sorry.

Re: Anyone feeling the pinch?
 

That's the way I was brought up too and I'm trying hard to instill it into my kids. I can't believe how many of our friends have a bunch of credit cards all used up to the max and think nothing of it...it would scare me to death :ohmy:

Re: Anyone feeling the pinch?
 

nope, no probs here thank goodness but i fear the poor CEO of WaMu maybe as he's just lost his job



:sneaky:

Re: Anyone feeling the pinch?
 

Same here ..Oh silly us ... we could have all that extra crap

Re: Anyone feeling the pinch?
 

ohhhh i love using my credit cards aka other peeps money however i clear my bills each month and don't owe a penny......love it!

Re: Anyone feeling the pinch?
 

The only way I'll carry a balance on a card is if it's an X months no interest, no payments deal and the money to pay it off is sitting in our savings account. Then it stays as a balance for X -1 months!

Re: Anyone feeling the pinch?
 

Also in Georgia so we just have the queueing for the petrol - which is always fun - of course thats when you actually find a garage that has some!!!

Re: Anyone feeling the pinch?
 

Looks like most of the western World is experiencing a downturn. The BBC reported today that the fall in house prices in the UK is accelerating.

However, a recession is just a part of the normal business cycle and a fact of life. We have been there before and we will will eventually come through it.

Do you remember the stock market crash of 1987? I am in Canada and the Canadian press reported that more millionaires were created in Canada by this crash than any other event. That is, those who had the foresight to buy at the bottom of course because, less than 2 years later, the markets were at record highs.

Re: Anyone feeling the pinch?
 

My housemate made a good point last night.

We are all in our late twenties. Provided we all keep our jobs, this is all actually good news for us.

Over the next years we can invest in shares at comparatively low prices, and you would have to expect that, say, 10 years from now, we would all do very well out of that.

Additionally, house prices were getting out of range for young, single first-time buyers. If the housemarket crashes, that gives us a fairer shot at owning a house someday.

Selfish, you may think, but investing in property in the hope of equity usually assumes someone younger will in the future suck it up financially on your behalf. It's nice that the shoe might be on the other foot for a change!

So, times may be hard but overall I'm content to sit it out.

Re: Anyone feeling the pinch?
 

I agree. I feel awful for homeowners who are getting a raw deal, but my OH and I are finally in a position to buy come Jan/Feb and we're thinking it's gonna be an excellent deal. If we'd stayed in the UK I don't think we'd have considered even looking to buy until our 30s - as is, we're 24 and 25 and about to become homeowners. Let's just hope neither of us loses our jobs... :unsure:

Re: Anyone feeling the pinch?
 

Work is slowing down (we serve financial services/insurance companies mostly) and we're not hiring any more. People (directors) are gloomy. We think that we will do better than most because we won't "shrink too much".

My cousins are finding it tough to find work (they left their old employers earlier in the summer) and a couple have been laid off from where they were before.

Considering we're in the recession in the middle of a two-fronted (at least) war and the federal government is borrowing massive amounts of money - there hasn't been enough belt-tightening.

Re: Anyone feeling the pinch?
 

I'm 28, and had similar thoughts before coming here at the beginning of the year (moving to the US for a second time!). People were concerned we were moving over during a recession. But I couldn't see the problem... I was moving FOR A JOB, so no problems with employment. The dollar was nice and weak against the pound, so I transferred my savings over at $2.10. And house prices had dropped in the US. We were renting in the UK, so very few complications.

With the exchange rate I could put together a good downpayment and am currently living in a house I can afford, and paying a mortgage at some of the lowest rates in years. I also got a home of reasonable size so am in a position currently where I can ride out the housing crisis since I have no immediate need to move, unlike many of my UK friends who bought 1-bed flats at the price peak, with the assumption they could sell at a profit in a couple of years and get something bigger. Now they're stuck, and hardly relish entering their 30's in a 1-bed flat...

I've held off contributing to my company 401K until now, partly due to the move and new house, I wanted every penny I could get. But while many of my colleagues have lost money since the beginning of the year, I am just starting to contribute now when everything appears to be very low.

Could all go tits up tomorrow of course (would only take one pink slip for this to crumble apart), but so far, this recession is turning out well for me.

EDIT: Oh, gas prices have sucked though... doh! :unsure:

Re: Anyone feeling the pinch?
 

Its going to be interesting now that credit card companies are capping and cutting their limits - (is it a sign of trouble ahead or a saving grace for all?) But, what I foresee will happen is that people will go and try and open up other accounts elsewhere and spread their debt even further.

Re: Anyone feeling the pinch?
 

Yep noticing it here. It's costing me well over $300 a month just to go to and from work.
The house is worth thousands less than what we paid for it and we have spent a fortune doing it up, which is frustrating.
The food bill is sky high.
Pay check doesn't go anywhere near as far as it did as that hasn't gone up enough to match everything else that's increased.
The only thing that's gone down is the 401k;)

Oh to be one of the idle and rich.

Sod it, I'd just settle for idle. Then I could sit and think about being rich.