How are you Affected by the Economy?

Byrdie714 said:
Oh that sucks! I would've have you and your friend come stay on the coast for free!
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That would have been great, and to be honest, I had already thought that it would be a good opportunity to meet you in person. But the airfare alone is outrageous!

But I think my best friend from the Obama rally pic is still planning to go! And he signs. As does Wendy.
 
My father just had to take out a bank loan to keep afloat and I will be moving back to Virgina in the next few weeks as where I live is rather expensive.
 
jillio said:
That would have been great, and to be honest, I had already thought that it would be a good opportunity to meet you in person. But the airfare alone is outrageous!

But I think my best friend from the Obama rally pic is still planning to go! And he signs. As does Wendy.
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Did you check with Southwest?
 
Oh Gosh!!! You re not alone...

I got a letter and couldn't believe that large $$$$ took out of my investments too!! :squint:
 
jillio said:
Wow! I am sorry to hear about your family's troubles, Shel and Gemma. It is a sad time for so many in this country right now. People have worked hard, achieved the American Dream, and then have had it jerked out from under them. This country needs to be turned around big time.

How does it affect me? I'm broke! My income covers my basic neccessities. Housing, food, clothing, books, and tuition. A friend of mine wanted me to come visit her in Seattle where she is in a Ph.D. program over winter break. I'd love to go. I can't afford it.
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In the bold -

I agree, It is time that this country needs a BIG change. It isn't really fair for some people who have worked 20, 30, 40+ years to save up for their retirement and yet, their retirement savings are already being eaten up. :(

I just pray that the worse will be over soon, hopefully, but it will take YEARS and YEARS before this country is ever to be able to get on the right track.
 
sorry to hear that shel, hope it all works out for your family.

as for me strangley and embarrassingly it seems to be getting better for me, I run my own landscape business, and do alot of work for letting agencies, as the crunch hits no one can oafford to buy, so alot more people are renting, and when they do my company gets called in to maintain their gardens, so this year its all been going mad, to the point i will have to employ new staff next year for start of season, I admit it's very sad though, it's hard to feel good about growth when it's directly linked to recession:|
 
  • Cut back on spending. No more dinners out for a while. No buying unless absolutely neccessary.
  • Stayed at home over the last vacation instead of going somewhere and worked on the business.
  • Not going up to the farm again this year. Staying here for Thanksgiving AND Christmas.
  • Less meat in fridge. More veggies/fruits/grains
  • Booking more festivals (and $$$ to enter business into them in less time than normal with cut back paychecks) so money's often tight at times.
  • my guy working less hours. But as long as I keep finding him festivals, we are okay.

But the best thing about all this, the bills are getting paid regularly. Trying to cut debt down some more.
 
Jolie77 said:
In the bold -

I agree, It is time that this country needs a BIG change. It isn't really fair for some people who have worked 20, 30, 40+ years to save up for their retirement and yet, their retirement savings are already being eaten up. :(

I just pray that the worse will be over soon, hopefully, but it will take YEARS and YEARS before this country is ever to be able to get on the right track.[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately, I have to agree with you, Jolie. This country didn't get in this shape overnight, and the problems will not be solved over night.
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Wow, many are affected. Macian, dont feel guilty that you are doing well when many are not. I wouldnt wish for anyone to suffer. My husband just finished 2 job interviews and will have one more. If he gets any of those jobs, it will be a 20K increase in his salary so I had mixed feelings that day I found out about my dad. It was the day that my hubby had one of his interviews...I was happy and excited for him but then I got the news about my dad so it was like a huge roller coaster drop. If my hubby gets one of the jobs, I probably will feel a little guilty for doing better than so many of my friends.

My friend told me yesterday that her friend's heater is not working and they cant afford to fix it. They have 3 children and they live in PA. I asked her what are they going to do. She said she doesnt know but they have been freezing inside their home for the past two weeks.
 
I have finally gotten the official notice that my company will be closing its doors on January 31st 2009.

I have no idea what I will do for the spring semester as far as school goes, as I am eligible for a Pell Grant but I have no idea if I will actually receive it or how much I will get.

If I do get my spring semester tuition covered by the Pell Grant than I can probably start the process to get on disability to give myself income while I am in school. (yes Im using Shel's idea). I do qualify for unemployment but there would be no way I could make ends meet on unemployment.

If I do not receive the Pell Grant then I will be interviewing at ConAgra in January and hoping to land on 3rd shift so I can work at night and go to class during the day. I would likely drop off the AD.com radar completely as I would be working 13 days on and one off. I want to finish my degree but at the same time I dont want to be in debt up to my eyeballs in student loans when I finish.

I busted my ass off for my truck, and I am not about to lose it! Its the first 'property' Ive owned and its a building block for every thing else. Without it, I couldnt go to work, without that I couldnt go to school.

Shel, I am sorry to hear about your dad losing his buisness and the loss of his retirement. He's probably at a loss as to what to do as everything he's ever known is now gone.
 
Dixie,

Is the company you are working for right now the one that just got fined $10 million in fines for illegal immigrant hires and whose CEO that just got arrested for "promoting" immigrant hire fraud? Or is it ConAgra? I can't remmy which company but it was in the news recently.

Shel, DON'T be feeling guilty about your hubby possibly making more money. He worked hard to get where he is at, and going for better jobs. So when he gets that job--go out to dinner and celebrate! He deserves this. I don't know what he does for a living.....? Everyone's time will come at all different points in life.

After a year trying to land good festivals, I finally landed a GOOD four day medieval festival for November--we built a good rep that we got in without a menu, $$$ and photos. I have NOT met the director yet! The director is pushing all deadlines to have us in so we could build a permanent business relationship in Sarasota County. So I'm busting my butt to make sure we do well----including paying a surprise health inspection fee of $102 but it will be well worth it. I also have to get my guy and the booth outfitted in 'medieval' attaire to make a good impression. Never mind catering my first wedding next Saturday. The Bride finally ate our crepes last weekend! She booked us without eating our crepes or asking our prices. Crazy but it will work out just fine then I can start advertising ourselves as a wedding caterer.

The moral to this, if anyone keeps working hard to get where they want to be, then they deserve the good things, including $20K increase in pay. You Go!
 
I am sorry many people had gone thru but I am used to it. My husband lost his job because of his back and shoulder problem so he lives on SSDI with less than 4 thousand dollars per month he used to earn with his old job. Now I work at PO to make up the difference. Yes it effects my job, more businesses went out and my paycheck is getting less now than it was last year. Still many more homes will gone into forecloures this month and I had to go their homes with certification letters knowing this meaning they had to forced to leave their houses. Also we already lost 401K from my husband's old job. So we will be poorer when we reach old age. I am trying to save money for my son's wedding which they wanted to get married in 2010 but they also have hard time with earning and borrow money from me to help them with dentist and credit to keep up. I am no hurry for them to pay me back.. I also knowing if I do not go out and buy stuffs or go out to eat to help those workers then they are the one who suffer by laying off. Two weeks ago we went to restuarant for lunch and there were few customers. Two days later they closed the restuarant for good. It is bad everywhere. Sad.

I am so happy for my oldest son who has a good job, if he gets fired or laid off union will find him another job. His union is one of the best. He is very lucky. He said alot people called him and wanted him to work for them but he is happy where he is now. His union is for Obama because He believes workers should be come from here not oversea.

I forgot to tell you, at PO the hiring is very short on list now than it was 4 years ago. Unbelivable.
 
Wow. That's sucks. Im very sorry.

My mom have a high chance that she could get lay off from her job since this year might will be her last year to work before she becomes retire in May 2009. And, it sort of force my dad to looking for a job to back up for in case if my mom gets lay off. My dad got reitred in 2007. Nothing happenes to my sisters and brothers lately, only happen to my parents plus my grandma pay some of the bills for my family since she's living with us(my house is two houses) which my family can't afford some of bills due to my daughter since I am living on SS and can't afford some for her like, some of medicine that SSI's insurance dont cover or whatever that she need for food or clothes or whatever since Im focus on my bills to paying off include car loan. It's very diffcult for me and my family. :(
 
You're right, everthing is bad and it is going to take years if not decades to fully repair the damage that has been done. I don't believe we can blame one single person for this mess, but we can safely blame Bush for turning a blind eye to it and letting it get ridiculous. I also blame the banks for giving loans out to people they knew were unable to repay them, thus the many many defaulted loans that banks had to buy and sell to try and get rid of the debt.

I have been told that the government may be doing away with FHA-HUD due to the ridiculous amounts of defaulted loans in that program. What the basically means is, people who are not able to get a private home loan, will end up living in rental properties until they can otherwise prove that they are able to repay the loan plus the interest. This also means you will need near perfect credit to even consider purchasing a home.
 
WhisperHorse said:
Wow. my family can't afford some of bills due to my daughter since I am living on SS and can't afford some for her like, some of medicine that SSI's insurance dont cover or whatever that she need for food or clothes or whatever since Im focus on my bills to paying off include car loan. It's very diffcult for me and my family. :(
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Have you looked into WIC (Women, Infants and Children). If you meet the income guidelines, they will give you checks for free milk, cheese, cereal, etc. The catch is that you have to go every 6 months or so to recertify. It helps a lot of people living paycheck to paycheck.

Have you looked into programs that can help single moms? Is your baby covered by Medicaid? If she is, then she should be fine unless you are stuck with "medically needy" (pay up to a high deductible before medicaid kicks in each month) Are you able to go to the food banks so you can put the money towards bills instead of food?

Is there some kind of health insurance program with the state you can apply for your child? for you? Have you looked into Ameriplan (discount health and dental program)?

Kimberly
 
Also check into thrift, consignment shops, even Goodwill for lower cost clothing for your child. Let people know you are open to curbside shopping, bags of free clothing. Some neighbors and I pass around clothing. I keep an eye out for bulk dumping in neighborhood and see if it's decent enough to pick up.

We're on our 3rd FREE GRILL. First two were dumped. My guy needed only a $52 part and installed it. It worked like a charm. Third one was given to us few weeks after the last grill gave out. Neighbor was moving back up north. Lucky me....
 
IslandBreeze07 said:
Have you looked into WIC (Women, Infants and Children). If you meet the income guidelines, they will give you checks for free milk, cheese, cereal, etc. The catch is that you have to go every 6 months or so to recertify. It helps a lot of people living paycheck to paycheck.
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I do have WIC, but its help a bit BUT i need more food than just cheese, milk and etc. I'm planning to try to get food stamp if it's possible with my daughter's and my income plus we live with my parents.

IslandBreeze07 said:
Have you looked into programs that can help single moms? Is your baby covered by Medicaid? If she is, then she should be fine unless you are stuck with "medically needy" (pay up to a high deductible before medicaid kicks in each month) Are you able to go to the food banks so you can put the money towards bills instead of food?
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Didn't check on the programs about help single moms but just one place for deaf single mom/deaf parents but need to go there three fridays every month but, GAS and MONEY ugh... Yes, she do have Medicaid but sometime at drug store that isn't cover with that insurance for medicine so have to pay from the pocket.

About food banks, Michigan dont have food banks and it's seems dangerous to having food bank in Michigan due to Detroit. :dunno: don't know why. I never know about Food Bank until I moved to Washington State and I learned about them.

IslandBreeze07 said:
Is there some kind of health insurance program with the state you can apply for your child? for you? Have you looked into Ameriplan (discount health and dental program)?

Kimberly
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Only Medicaid from SSI for my daughter, I'm under my mom's insurance. It's very hard to getting help in Michigan because Michigan have BAD economy tho.
 
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