Prices are rising faster than paychecks are. Jobs are getting scarce. So consumers are pulling back on their spending. That is the topic of Tim Logan’s latest look at the economy.
Are you cutting your discretionary spending? Eating out less? Not going to the movies or shutting down your cable TV service? Tell us what you are doing in this economic downturn.
Yes, we have cut back and will continue to do so. We don’t use the credit card except for occasional gasoline. Cut up and paid off the rest. I know this hurts the big companies but if they didn’t pay there CEO’s bilions of dollars, and close the factories here in the U.S and sent the jobs overseas, we wouldn’t be in this mess. With Bush’s War and the corrupt Congress we have, we wouldn’t be ready to fall from a recession into a finincial Depression that will make 1929 look like a honeymoon. My advise, don’t use your credit cards, don’t buy any car that isn’t made in the U.S., don’t buy products from China, Protest in writing, phone, e-mail or a personal visit to your state and federal politicans and tell them how mad you are about the state of OUR country. 80,000 Americans lost their jobs in March, 76,000 in Jan and Feb, are you next ?
Our government approved 65,000 HB-1 visas in March, is your job the one that is going to be lost to these people?
I used to do a lot of volunteer work but no longer. My husband and I live on a fixed income so we no longer go out. I try to use my car only once a week and get everything done that day The rest of the week it stays parked. I gave up my clubs and events and if gas gets higher then we won’t go out except maybe once a month to run errands. Gas is up, Ameren wants an increase, groceries are thru the roof and going higher. I will run out of medical insurance in 8 months and then will do without because of the expense. This country and it’s economy are going down the tubes fast.
We are taking advantage of this media-driven phony recession to buy a bigger car and maybe even a house. They are practically giving away big SUV’s and it only costs a few more dollars to fill up. Houses that used to be out of our price range are now affordable.
People who think we are headed for another “great depression” are either idiots or are the same people who buy five gallons of milk when the weather forecast calls for snow. In order to have a true “recession” there must be two quarters of negative growth. All we have had is a few quarters of less than the usual robust growth. Unemployment is still lower than the average during the Clinton presidency.
I assume all these people who only drive their cars once a month would also like to see the Bush tax cuts made permanant. Why would they want to give more money to the government? I expect all of them to be voting for McCain in the hopes of being able to not have to walk to the grocery store any more.
it’s a shame that 80,000 people had to lose their jobs last month because of people’s desire to have a democrat elected president.
I am still spending and will continue to do so.
As long as the newspapers and the media tell you that we are in a recession…That makes is all true, right? I for one do not believe them or what they try to MAKE me think. I think for myself. It would be better if all of you did the same. This is the great “Dumbing Down” of America. What happened to people thinking for themselves? Is it not possible that the media is WRONG?
I suggest that every one of you reading this to go out and buy something. Then keep doing it. As long as you are out there spending, there will be no recession.
The real question is this: What are you doing to help the economy and keep it from a recession?
Cutting back? On what? Junk?
We pay things in this order.
1. 11% contribution with an additional 6% company match to 401k for me, 9% for wife
2. House payment.
3. Food -Schucks (using coupons) and occasionally Whole Foods
4. Transportation expenses (I drive 54 miles and wife drives 10 miles round trip)
5. Max contribution to Roth IRA’s per year.
6. Clothing
We are not cutting back on paying ourselves and the basics first. We don’t have a McMansion we can’t afford and are not underwater on our house or on the one car we have a payment for. Our incomes are high but we don’t go out and spend like a drunken sailor on his first shore leave because of it.
We are going to China for our 10 year anniversary and started saving last June. Saved almost $10K for the trip by working extra jobs and not falling for the trappings of marketeers. Our “vote buying stimulus check” will be used for new concrete steps. Not junk like a flat screen or crackberry.
You want to survive this “downturn”? Pay yourselves first, and stop buying junk people. Especially junk on credit. It will more than cover any increases in gas and grocery costs.
What really hacks me off is the government coming in and letting people off the hook for their drunken spending all in the name of the “common good” Let them eat cake….
We aren’t doing things very differently than before. We only drive our cars for necessary trips. We don’t cruise Lindbergh or get in the car to go nowhere.
When I make major purchases, I puchase online from companies that do not charge tax and have free shipping. I research the item beforehand to make sure I am getting the lowest price.
We just bought two flat screen tv’s through Amazon. I can justify the tv’s because they are 60% of the entertainment in our lives. We donated the old tv’s that still worked to charity.
I clip more coupons than usual and cook all our meals. There are only two of us so I cook enough for four and have enough left for another meal. I buy sale items from Dierbergs and everything else at Aldi and Costco. May go out to dinner once a week.
We never charge more than we can pay off monthly. I will not bank at a bank that charges fees for checking or ATM.
We are actually doing the opposite. We both have maxed out our IRS 401(k) contributions and our Roth IRA limits. This IS the time to use the stock market to you advantange. We are putting a lot of our non-emergency funds into the stock market as well as purchasing two new cars at a discount. Also, banks are offering interest rates at 0.99% for 60 months on new cars.
Although there are some indicators that the economy is struggling, it is not enough to force us into a recession. There have been layoffs, decreased consumer spending, decrease in motor vehicle sales, and a higher rate of inflation, but ultimately, this is merely a hiccup, not another Great Depression.
This economy of ours seems to be a vicous cycle
of spend, spend , spend some more,
and keep spending , and borrowing ,
until you are so deep in debt that even
in this so-called “rat race”, with decreasing jobs,
…such that nobody can keep up
with paying anything anymore.
Is this how our once great country of ours
is insidiously being destroyed
from the inside out?
Douglas Wong is the Assistant Business Editor at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Yes, we’re cutting back. Less long car trips, little Schnucks and lots of Aldi, much less dining out, no movies, instead books and videos from the library. The only major expense this year will be a vacation. If the car falls apart, then it will be a second-hand replacement. And only one car for the family.
As others have pointed out, though, this is hardly a recent development. Money saving has been a necessity for many years now with poorly-paying jobs for many of us that do not track inflation. What’s going to hit especially hard this time around will be the increase in unemployment and the removal of a lot of a spending power from the economy.
My only mantra to see me through has been to stay out of debt at all costs - and the costs are the denial of lot of consumer goodies. Still, I sleep well at night and truthfully have all I really need.
Oh, and toss the TV. Nothing more effective to cut out the wants.