Has the financial mess affected you?

[ironchef]

Personally, it hasn't affected me at all except for cheaper gas prices lol. No one I know is having any issues either, knock on wood. Anyone got any stories?

[Jbauer]

your not affected at all by the current economy?
Consider yourself blessed my friend. And pray for those who aren't as fortunate.

[X-Runner]

Lost my job because of it... hard to find another one too.

[redrumracer]

the only way it has affected me was the ability to get a student loan. other than that it hasnt affected me at all.

[Julio]

Ive been affected .. Sorda..

But in reality this has been a totally fucked up year for me.. im ready for 09!

[STRteg]

Lost my job because of it... hard to find another one too.

hell yeah im still looking for a job

[umairejaz]

Business is extremely slow, commissions cut and just an overall depressing gloom.

[tdurr]

Lost my job because of it... hard to find another one too.

I lost 2 jobs. Was working 2 during the summer, quit one cuz of shitty hours, then the other was cutting hours and let me go.
6 months later i still have no job.

[X-Runner]

I lost 2 jobs. Was working 2 during the summer, quit one cuz of shitty hours, then the other was cutting hours and let me go.
6 months later i still have no job.

Been almost 3 for me. McDonalds here isnt even hiring :???: And I cant get unemployment either.

[Vteckidd]

not for me, at least not yet, but im pretty frugal and have planned for this

[tdurr]

Been almost 3 for me. McDonalds here isnt even hiring :???: And I cant get unemployment either.

yea. here the McDonalds has ppl in their 30's working the place instead of teens like it use/should be. Shits crazy man.

[toxxxic]

all i have to say is thank god i kept all 3 of my jobs .....

and my parents kept telling me "YOU NEED TO GET ONE FULL TIME JOB & QUIT ALL THOSE BULLSHIT JOBS!"

... i'm actually not doing TOO bad right now. I moved back home - so no rent. But I'm only getting like 20-30 hours a week between 3 jobs. It's enough to pay my bills & have a little left over.

[Vteckidd]

all i have to say is thank god i kept all 3 of my jobs .....

and my parents kept telling me "YOU NEED TO GET ONE FULL TIME JOB & QUIT ALL THOSE BULLSHIT JOBS!"

... i'm actually not doing TOO bad right now. I moved back home - so no rent. But I'm only getting like 20-30 hours a week between 3 jobs. It's enough to pay my bills & have a little left over.
what jobs do you work and how old are you? just curious.

I have been worried for the last few months since my business is a WANT and not a NEED. but for the most part my sales have stayed the same. It slowed slightly in DEC but has picked up pretty good in the last 2 weeks.

Money wise i have been fine because my overhead is low, and my bills are cheap. I drive a car that costs me $150 a month, my rent an bills are $650 a month. So i dont need alot to survive. Ive been saving and reinvesting like crazy but still staying smart.

So far so good

[Atlblkz06]

2008 has been a shitty year for me.

I lost my job and I'm still looking. Earlier this year it took me 1 week to find a job. This time its been months. Looking forward to getting a job in Jan though.

Many industries have yet to see rock bottom. We will see some recovery in 09 as we all learn how to cope with the bad econ but many companies will hit rock bottom and others will die in 09. I dont see heavy signs of recovery in the market till 2010.

But thats cool - I still plan to purchase a track car and a crotch rocket in 09. I'm thinkin GSX-R600 or an R6. We'll see how it goes.

[X-Runner]

^ Right there with you. Dec. last year the dealership I was at closed up, the next day I had another job.

[Terror]

hell naw! i work in the belly of the beast.

[HeLLo iM iZzY]

It hasn't affected me much either. I had one job, got another one and kept this one, now I'm back at the one I was before I got the second one. I still have the second one but its more of a "whenever you wanna work, we got work for you" type of job. So whenever I need quick cash, I just go get some work done.

[toxxxic]

what jobs do you work and how old are you? just curious.



i'm 20...

and i work at Pizza Slut, Abercrombie & Fitch, & a tanning bed.

[Vteckidd]

godamn!

Thats alot of jobs. I hear the tanning business can make decent money if you own one

Im sure Retail sales sucks though specially right now

[Atlblkz06]

Dont they require you to wear A&F while you work and make you pay full price for the crap you buy or something?

If its hourly, I guess now is a good time to work there - no many people will come around so less work to do!

[Revmaynard]

I work a a restaurant and a Gamestop and I have almost no hours at the restaurant and Gamestop is busier every day it seems. Problem is Gamestop pay is TERRIBLE. Unless you're a manager I don't see how someone could support themselves working even 40 hours a week there. My girlfriends business shut down on the 21st. So it's not looking too good, hoping she can find something.

[SicStang03]

economy hasn't hit me yet...Thank God

Same job the last 3 years and it's pretty good job security. Hopefully the economy will pick back up by the time I get out of school

[umairejaz]

Should be a poll.

[Kevykev]

^ True

Took advantage of the market in buying another home so that was good. Quit my job back in Dec of '07 and have been 100% self-employed with my company I launched back in '04.

2008 has been a very good purchasing year and up until August, when my primary client was wiped out of their products, was a very good sales year.

I have seen a slight resistance in consumer spending since people are worried about their future, but when overhead is low and planning is accurate "the hit" is manageable.

I do get people that use "the economy" as a bargaining tool but hey, that's business.

[umairejaz]

I do get people that use "the economy" as a bargaining tool .

:D

[civic95]

40% of my 401k was wiped out, and I only got a 1.5% one time bonus instead of a raise this year. But I guess it could be worse.

[Sammich]

I'VE BEEN AFFECTED BIG TIME.

FOR ME, I CAN ONLY GET 32 HRS A WEEK, NO MORE AND I HAVENT GOT A RAISE IN 2 YEARS. I WONT GET A BONUS CHECK THIS YEAR.

ALSO MY WIFE LOST HER JOB, AND SHE CANT FIND A JOB

SO THERE IS ONLY ONE CHECK COMING IN...ONE CHECK...

[4dmin]

this year has been great for us honestly but it is pretty hard not to see how economy is affecting you somehow... high gas prices, very difficult to consolidate school loans, etc.

[AirMax95]

This year for me has been great, minus my own mistakes. I left a dead end job (for my position) and went back to corporate america. The industry my company is in, coupled with the scope of my job, are awesome. I may get a fiscal year-end bonus, but if not I am blessed to be here.

The only kickers for me this year were gas and RENT. Moving to Duluth for my job is stabbing my pockets, lol. I am looking for a PT on the weekends to accelerate my debt payoff and then its smooth sailing.

[Friggintitsman]

Hell yeah it has. I just finished college and I am now looking for a job in the worst market in 30 years.

Anyone in need of a male stripper?

[tony]

Lost thousands in the stock market but that is how it works I guess.

State of the economy hasnt effected my job but I'm sure it may in the future. Other than that things are good, I can't complain.

[JohnnyC.]

I'm with Civic95, my 401K had TANKED hard in the last 6 months.
Otherwise, it has not hit me too hard.
I have had several friends in my industry (commercial construction) that have had more trouble, so best of luck to those of you who are not as fortunate.

[Ran]

Nope, life is pretty good for me right now. Prices are down but I'm still getting paid the same. :)

[SouthrnStyle]

It has just now started to effect me these last two months the construction indusrty is very slow right now so ive just been doing side jobs an whatever i can.

[Stormhammer]

Job hours are cut back. That's about it really.

Looking for a 2nd part time job though.

[B18c1Turboed]

I cant complain. It hasnt affected my wallet one bit.Its actually been helping it alot more. i do feel sorry for the people loosing their jobs and houses tough~!!

It makes me grateful for the stuff i have,when people are loosing so much!!!

[Elbow]

Sucks trying to find a job.

That's all for me.

[AirMax95]

I cant complain. It hasnt affected my wallet one bit.Its actually been helping it alot more. i do feel sorry for the people loosing their jobs and houses tough~!!

It makes me grateful for the stuff i have,when people are loosing so much!!!

That is my mindset going into 2009 :goodjob:

[BABY J]

I haven't seen the effects reach my wallet, only my thought-process. Nearly every1 that I know in Canton is a business-owner and they are seeing the effects in major fashion. For me and my career it's business as usual.

[Atlblkz06]

If anyone says "It hasn't affected me at all", they're either in a niche market that caters to the rich (like high end car audio) or they must live under a rock!

And "I can only get 32 hours and not 40" is hardly as bad as "My 401k is down 60% and I'm about to retire soon." Count your blessings!

[OneSlow5pt0]

my dad had to lay off 15 workers aweek before xmas,and he didnt get his bonus this year,i mean i know thier people lot worse off than us...and if my grand parents didnt have rental houses,idk how they could live on just SS income.

and im having trouble finding a job.

[voca164e]

hardly as bad as "My 401k is down 60% and I'm about to retire soon." Count your blessings!

Damn, if someone is that close to retirement, how would they lose 60%? at that age they should be in something stable like government bonds, not stocks. Hell I'm in some volatile stuff, and I'm only down 36% overall. I've got some individual holding that are down 60%, but those are totally spectulative stocks.

[amandDA]

fukin economy sucks! i cant find a dam job!