How is the economy affecting you?

[StL FinFan]

It's hanging right around $3.50 here.

[MaineDolFan]

I think my family is okay.  Like me, my wife is an MSRN.  She works in a clinical setting and those generally weather most economic storms quite well.  Hospitals will certainly go into hiring freeze situations but those hiring freezes generally have loop holes in hiring nurses and / or medical providers.

The company I work for is 110 years old and uses very sound business practices.  They thrived in the great depression and has never had waves of layoffs due to economy driven reasons.  That doesn't make me feel any more secure because - as we all know - there is a first time for everything.

My wife and I talked about this before - if anything happened and one of us lost our job (which would be me before her), she would carry the load of working.  In times like these, if worst case senario came down, the three most important bills in our world are the mortgage, food and heating oil.  We could make those bills easily on one salary.

That doesn't mean I am not flipping the freaking hell out by the economy, because I am.

[CF DolFan]

the three most important bills in our world are the mortgage, food and heating oil.  We could make those bills easily on one salary.

Funny.  We were playing this game too.  The first thing I would do is change my home phone number and prioritize my bills. I don't need to hear from creditors if I don't have too!   Replace power with heating oil and you and I are in sinc.   

[GUATARICCAN]

Not affecting me at all. Everything is honky doory.

[Dave Gray]

I'm getting concerned about my job.  I made a post about how business had picked up for me a little while back.  It has since gone the other way.  People are afraid to spend money, which doesn't hurt me, but my clients are suffering across the board.  We're seeing conversion rates on websites go down for everyone.

Some clients see this as a need to continue marketing, others see it as a reason to stop spending themselves.

I'm hanging in there, and am okay for now, but pretty concerned that if this downslide continues, things will get bad for me really fast.

[ethurst2]

Dave, I hope that you pull through this economic storm.

I think that what's wrong with American business is being reflected in the financial crisis. Most businesses are not committed to excellence and customer service but want the big bucks. Corporations are not investing in communities like they use to and want to use cheap labor somewhere else and not pay an American worker what they are worth. That also affects the economy.

We have a workforce that is clearly not educated in common sense decisions and that's a product of of eroding educational system which really started showing in school curriculums some 30 years ago. That's another issue because the government and corporations don't want "bright" people unless they can recruit then and use their brains for something that would hurt rather than assist others.

So people have become "devalued" but most of it is their fault. Excess and greed have taken their toll.

Even though I am into communications, my clients are overseas. I stopped dealing with American based clients last year because most of them didn't have any ethics or some sense of morality and it was hurting my business. You bust your a** providing a quality product and get hassles. I have had more success with clients from other countries than I have my own fellow Americans. I had reputable companies trying to "skip" out on paying invoices when they had the money in hand to pay the bill.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that we no longer can only conduct business within the 50 states that we live in. If you're a business owner that is small, you have to think global expansion just to make a living.

[MaineDolFan]

I'm hanging in there, and am okay for now, but pretty concerned that if this downslide continues, things will get bad for me really fast.

Hang in there, bub.  If something were to happen you are so talented it's not even funny, another company would scoop you up in a heart beat.  Something a self employed person doesn't want to hear, I know, but your talents would be well appreciated (and compensated) if you had to go "back out there."

[run_to_win]

Most businesses are not committed to excellence and customer service but want the big bucks. Corporations are not investing in communities like they use to and want to use cheap labor somewhere else and not pay an American worker what they are worth. That also affects the economy.

Could part of the problem be that we have the 2nd highest tax on business in the world?  Could corporations afford to pay more if those taxes were reduced ... or would that just cause more "tax cuts for the rich" rhetoric. 

We have a workforce that is clearly not educated in common sense decisions and that's a product of of eroding educational system which really started showing in school curriculums some 30 years ago. That's another issue because the government and corporations don't want "bright" people unless they can recruit then and use their brains for something that would hurt rather than assist others.

Hey, you're treading awfully close to my "trademarked" conspiracy theory that schools have a direct financial interest in NOT educating us. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that we no longer can only conduct business within the 50 states that we live in.

That sucks.

[ethurst2]

Could part of the problem be that we have the 2nd highest tax on business in the world?  Could corporations afford to pay more if those taxes were reduced ... or would that just cause more "tax cuts for the rich" rhetoric. 
Hey, you're treading awfully close to my "trademarked" conspiracy theory that schools have a direct financial interest in NOT educating us. 
That sucks.

I'll start another thread because I don't want to hijack this one.

[Dave Gray]

I appreciate everyone's kind words.  I don't want to paint the picture that I'm about to lose my job -- I'm not.

I just meant to say that in my line of work, self-employment, that there is no line of defense when things go sour other than me, and it can happen really fast.  Also, one good thing about my job is that we have money owed to us at all times, since part of bills are paid upon completion.  So, even if I closed the doors on my business, I'd still have some sort of salary for a few months, to get settled in a new job.

[pintofguinness14]

Thankfully, job security isn't a problem for us. We're pretty insulated from economic down turns. On the negative side of things, my retirement account lost about 17% of its value this year. I'd like to refinance my condo, but the down turn in the housing market has made that impossible. I'm not upside down on the mortgage (thank God!), but my equity has dipped below 20%. I'll need to come up with about $20k if I want to refinance. With the new baby on the way, cutting back on expenses will be difficult.

I'm going to play the Lotto and hope for the best.