The economy stinks here...

[chicknmania]

The job market is the problem here in Ohio too. There are SO MANY manufacturers here who have closed their doors completely, consolidated operations elsewhere to cut corners, or gone overseas. And we really primarily on manufacturers to support our business. I guess we should count our blessings for what we do have. I have to say that despite the way it looks I can usually tell before the media says anything whether the economy is getting better or worse, just by how often our phone rings....and occasionally I do see, hear, or read about something that gives me a faint sign of hope that things might be getting just a teeny bit better. Let's hope so. God bless my parents for leaving us a decent inheritance...they both died recently. I hate to tap into it, but basically that's what we're getting down to....

 

[Meesh]

DH & I have almost no debt, and do OK. He has his own company, and has had the same salary for several years. What used to be plenty of money to eat out and splurge on a few things now just covers the bills. I don't know how the younger couples with kids, a nice house, and two car payments are making it... We have cut back, and are cutting back more.

I feel that a huge part of the mess has been the investment market trying to figure out how to get the money or credit-money out of everyone in the country. In the 90's, everyone with a little extra money in the bank or retirement account was suckered into the tech stocks (which have still not recovered). In 2000, many people bought new cars and/or bigger houses on credit. Now all the money is going to the insurance and oil companies. CEO's get richer, and the middle class is sinking under the load. People don't even think about taking another line of credit to get the things they want.

It seems to me like a return to indentured servitude, via credit and corporations. Yes, you can live on the land, but it will never be yours. You can live in the house, but it will belong to the bank. You can afford your food if you have credit to pay for everything else, but you'll be working for it for the rest of your life.

I am planting a nice garden this year, and getting my chickens going. I am going to learn to can things from the garden. And if I am lucky, people will start getting hungry enough to eat deer.

Cheers,
Michelle

 

[Cheekon]

Grab your apple carts cuz i feel a (grate) depression coming on!

 

[runamuck]

UGH!!!! I feel for all of you! I'm in Michigan, Do I need to say more

The economy is soooooo horribly bad here that this lil quaint town I live in dies a bit everyday. 1/2 The homes are for sale and empty since people have left and many others are in forclosure. My hubby has to work 4 hours away all week so we can survive . I raise chickens and ducks to sell and eat and do alright with it. 3 Yrs ago we were doing ok but with everything going up in cost and hubby not making anymore money ( feed cost is 60.00 a week ) Life is really tough and everyone wants money . I hate having to tell my kidz that they cant do something fun due to the lack of funds "sigh" The good news is there is a light at the end of the tunnel my hubby is going to school to be a turbine tech. and it looks like he will have an awesome job that will double what we bring in now. We just have to hold on till june

 

[PurpleChicken]

Here in Connecticut things are fine. Many businesses have slowed down. This
is a normal cyclical process. I don't let it ge me down.

People need to stay positive. I have found that 1/3 of the people always think
the economy is bad, 1/3 are actually affected by the economy, and 1/3 just go
to work and treasure their lives.

Sorry for all of you that got hurt by the foreclosure rates increasing. Our home value
will lose 50k this month, mostly because a forclosed house on our block. It will come
back. It always does. Reality is that most, not all, of the foreclosures are because
people overextended themselves or bought when the market was WAY overvalued.
This financial recklessness only created more of a sellers market that drove prices up
more. It's a vicious cycle.

The price of gas is having an affect on both our minds and wallets. The weak dollar
isn't helping much either. A weak dollar is good to stimulate foreign investment.
Trouble is those foreigners are looking at our overinflated real estate and stock markets
and saying "no thanks".

This is a BIG ADJUSTMENT. Just like all the adjustments in the past. Call it
a recession or a bad economy. It's an election year too. Once we get beyond
that, regardless of the winner, things will stabilize.


To those who live in areas, like Ohio, whose local economies are being ravaged
I sympathize. It's not that easy to just get up and move. I understand that.

 

[Pelican49]

All this makes me want to get moved to my new place all the more. But selling my current house, I'm afraid, is going to be very difficult.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Pelican49 - It's true that it is a buyer's market, and you may not get as much as you would like for your house if you sell. But there are still regular folk out there who are moving, and buying and selling, who are not really part of the whole foreclosure fiasco. We finally ended up with two decent bids on our house. But we also got spammed with a lot of ridiculous low-ball offers.

See, there are people and companies who just shoot out a bunch of really low offers, sometimes offering to close in just ten days. They're hoping to catch the desperate people who have no options. Unfortunately, there are people who take those offers, and then that drives the housing prices down even further.

When we were looking for a new home up in Northern Cal, our realtor steered us away from short sales and foreclosures, saying it can take weeks or months to hear back after making an offer. So we just looked at the homes being sold by regular folk, and found some nice ones.

Just trying to say, please don't get caught up in the fear and frenzy the media keeps throwing at us. It sure raised my blood pressure. But i think things are going to be okay. Still keeping these fingers crossed until everything is a done deal, though.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
Good advice. That was a very reasonable and well thought out post.

 

[chicknmania]

You know, I really don't think there's going to be a depression. Even though it's horrible here (Michigan and Ohio are on the bottom of the barrel, according to the last statistics I read) I have had some inquiries from other businesses, we are actually busy with matchmaking activities through different functions, the government is showing more interest in helping us little guys....I mean, I don't know, but I don't feel like we're going down the toilet. I'm just so tired of being broke tho..we can't even afford clothes.

 

[swampducks]

I can vouch for MIchigan, we're not only at the bottom of the barrel but drilling a hole through it I think. DH and I are definitely stuck in our current house until further notice. Fortunately for us, we aren't under any pressure to move, it just means the retirement home will have to wait.

My neighbor's son, in the AF, has been trying to sell his house in Lansing for 2 years now. They're stuck renting at his current base and can't have their dog (my neighbor is keeping it for them) because most places big enough for a family of 5 won't take dogs. Lots of houses around here are just vacant.