Is all this negative economy talk affecting your spending habits? (1 Viewer)

[Drew Bethel]

When I saw the DOW dip below 10000 I became quite concerned. Not to mention everytime I go online some company is slashing thousands of jobs. I'm in the UK until Feb '02 and getting paid in £s...maybe I need to extend my contract because the ripple effect from the US will likely hit Europe much later.

 

[andrew markworthy]

I don't know what to make of the current shift in the economy. I'm wondering whether it will hit some sectors far more than others. From the UK viewpoint, service industries seem to be experiencing a surge, whilst the IT-related companies are taking a tumble. Certainly I'd be wary about buying a house with property prices peaking as they are (at least in the UK). The first thing to take a mighty tumble will be house prices, and if you have a large loan on your house, and you need to move, you are in the dreaded world of negative equity. I've been there, and trust me, you don't want to go.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

Yes, it's affecting me. I'm spending as much as possible while I have it.

 

[MikeAlletto]

The company I work for is already on a skeleton crew. As far as my spending, I think it has. Either that or I just own everything I want already
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Michael Alletto
Mike's DVD List

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

I don't need talk to tell me that my economy has gone on the skidder. Purchases are down 99% in this household.
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Link Removed | Burt Lancaster is Link Removed | dOc

 

[Craig Robertson]

it's affecting my spending. i was going to sell some company stock and buy an FP, but the stock has gone in the crapper and i can't afford what i want.

 

[brian a]

I'm trying not to add to the vicious circle of lowering consumer spending which cuts into retail pockets which drops stock prices which lowers consumer spending.
I want to make every effort to not be a part of the problem.
brianca...

 

[Ryan_B]

I just don't understand all of this negative economy stuff. I still buy everything I want when I want it. I still make good $$ for what I do. The only thing I see is all these people out there that a living their lives on credit taking a downfall. IMHO that is what you get for buying a $400K house with a BMW for the husband and a new Lexus SUV for the wife, along with the new Explorer and Honda for your kids when you only make about $95k per year! This may not be the case where some of you live, but I live in Mississippi. Madison, MS to be exact, this is the place where all the people that think they have money (or want to look like they do) move to, blow everything they have, and end up in a apartment in 2 years. This is just my rant, if someone can show me where this "economic downfall" if effecting the average family ($65K/yr not trying to "Keep up with the Jones'") that is truly effected by this, I'll be glad to re-think my opinion. But right now I think it is great that the Jones' are going broke.
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We are living in a mental transformation space; that is, an omnidimensional halo expanding toward infinity in all directions. And the electronic center of this halo of mentation is possibly everywhere. It is all available to you right where you are sitting now. Just plug in a terminal. The machine doesn't care who or what you are.
-Robert Anton Wilson
From the book: Right Where You Are Sitting Now

 

[Don Black]

Ryan:
Where is the dowturn affecting average families? That's an easy one. Jobs. Something like 200k jobs have been lost in the last year. Most of those aren't executives. Or if they are, they are the ones if severance packages .. not the laypeople.
I too continue to spend. Like someone mentioned above, it's the only thing keeping us from a bad recession.

 

[Todd Hochard]

I just don't understand all of this negative economy stuff.

Really? Come to my place of employment, where nearly 1000 (out of 2000) have been let go in the past FOUR months. A few of my associates were given the pink slip in May.
I agree with you on the "Jones" mentality, though- you reap what you sow. If you live a "borrowed" life, eventually the "loaner" will want it back.
Yes, I've slowed down my discretionary spending quite a bit. If we have a recession, so be it- I look at it as a "right-sizing" of our overconsumption. I could use about a year off, anyway. Luckily for my family, we're prepared, if need be.
Todd

 

[Ryan_B]

I was not aware that Unemployment was so bad, I work in a call center for a nationwide ISP (a pretty bad one at that), and we are struggling to find more people to work here. Albiet I am nowhere in the 200k range, I am in the 40-50K range and I am not worried about my job in the least. I know my company laid-off alot of accounting people, but that was just so they could move that office from one state to another. Maybe I'm just young (i'm only 20) and i'm just not used to this whole "real life" thing.

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We are living in a mental transformation space; that is, an omnidimensional halo expanding toward infinity in all directions. And the electronic center of this halo of mentation is possibly everywhere. It is all available to you right where you are sitting now. Just plug in a terminal. The machine doesn't care who or what you are.
-Robert Anton Wilson
From the book: Right Where You Are Sitting Now

 

[Eric Scott]

Ryan
I have spent a lot of time in factories in Mississippi and as you know in some towns the economy relies heavily on one major company/employer. But so far your state hasn't taken a taken many big hits. Layoffs hurt many good people, who are hard working and can set them back for years.
You are fortunate to be doing so well at your age.
Reuters released a story on mass layoffs that said, in part:
Companies announced 101,731 layoffs in February, down 28 percent from January’s total of 142,208 — the highest number of planned job cuts ever reported for one month in the survey’s eight year history, the report said.
February’s planned job cuts were nearly triple the 35,415 planned job cuts announced in February last year, the report said. Since the start of December 2000, job cuts have totaled 377,652 compared to 130,752 during the same three-month period a year ago.
'The extraordinary three-month job cutting binge is hard evidence that a slowdown is occurring,’ said John Challenger, chief executive at Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “Even during the heavy 1990s corporate downsizing, we did not see monthly figures like this.
The U.S. automobile industry was laying off 57,656 people according to the Mass Layoff Statistics site of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
My total debt is less than $300. (But I have 2 sons in college) so I spend with restraint.
My overall financial philosophy is simple, never be broke and to die with an empty bank account.