How Has the Economy Affected You?

Thankfully it didn't affect us much, at least when it came down to our way of life. Our company did put on a wage freeze and a hiring freeze which were both recently lifted and they also cut back on a lot of different benefits and incentive plans, but again, most of that has now been brought back. We've never really lived too extravegantly anyway, so the economy problems never really hurt us.

Thats a great question.

We never did go out very much. Like we never go to movies or anything like that. So, I don't miss what I didn't do anyway,.

We will do a day trip now and then, but haven't in a while due to the weather. I don't go out very much...my truck sits here day after day. The price of gas is just unacceptable.

I didn't refill a vitamin prescription I was supposed to take. Maybe down the road I will.

I make soups and stews and sometimes just have scrambled eggs for dinner. I use Care Credit at the vets when I have a large bill...like Buddys dental or Arthur's deal with his loosing wt. But I always get them paid off before interest starts.

We have always lived pretty simply. I have the same pair of sneakers that I bought 3 years ago. I don't fancy jewelry, or get my hair or nails done or anything like that. DH likes to go fishing and sometimes gets things regarding that. I like flowers, so my annual trip to the garden center is coming up. But last year, I only planted a few things. Will do the same this year.

Our kids usually give us gift certificates for Christmas and birthdays.

Yep, this economy sure is putting a stop to a lot of things people want to do.

DH's company reduced everyone's wages by 5% in 2008, and that stayed in effect until this January. My job hasn't been affected, so I know we are more fortunate than many and I'm thankful for that.

We live pretty far beneath our means because I'm a worrywart and am afraid to be overextended. When we bought our house, we made sure we could afford it on one salary just in case something happens. We bought a car in 2009 and the other one is a 1994 Honda Accord. We will drive it until it dies.

I'm not one who has to have fancy things. We like to travel but we've cut back on that over the past couple of years both due to the economy and to the fact that we have to start paying for DS's college in a year.

im not in america but the economy here has screwed us over royally here to the point where we had to ive up out flat, cars and move in with parents again and im with out my cats

we have a three day break away because we now sort of can, blaines been made redundant 3 times and i had to leave my full time job due to health issues

fuel is a struggle when its £1.40ish a litre so its £6.40 a gallon which in US dollars is roughly $10 :-0 we cant afford to go anywhere i uess its just as well the car packed up today and is now undrivable

Yep pretty rubbish here too due to the "recession" even though our country manages to give away millions of pounds and the top dogs of the government get all the perks.My hubbys hours have been cut to minimum, we have lost £200 a week and so I have had to budget our shopping and get basics food which is actually ok, just the toilet roll isn't as good
I pay my bills first and the budget what we have got left, kids have school dinners which is £19 a week but I worked it out that packed lunches would cost me more and they are having a better meal. We used to have a tkeaway once a week, that's stopped and so have really all luxuries, we basically get paid, pay bills, shopping, fuel for the car and then its all gone and I hate living like this, we used to have a bit spare so we could have a few luxuries and put money towards doing the house up but at the minute we can't. I hope things improve soon as we are surviving not living.x

My DH's whole company went under. Later the company where I was employed was forced to go under to the economy. We are both working now but not as high as our previous salary. I also volunteer. Volunteering is sometimes hard to justify because the gas costs.
We have made countless cut backs too numerous to list from food to cable and everything but never on the care of our animals, they are the last thing on our minds to do "cut backs". We live simply and have also sold a lot of things and downsized in so many ways.

I have been out of work for 2 years now. We are paying the bills on my husband's salary alone but that is all we are able to do. Hopefully I can find some sort of employment soon to supplement things, and we will be doing better.

To cut back:

I do all of our grocery shopping off of a meal plan to eliminate extra spending. I make casserole style meals to stretch to budget and meats. I cook once per week, 3 meals all at once, and package it up into single serve containers and we eat from those. Most of the recipes are double or triple everything except the meat, so it makes 10-12 servings out of around 1lb of lean chicken or beef. This has been the most effective at eliminating wasted food almost completely. We don't keep any snack foods in the house anymore because they tend to be more expensive. We go out to eat only very rarely.

I bought the cat food in bulk in Atlanta at Costco when I went to visit my parents for Christmas. I use their Kirkland brand as my boys thrive on it. I have had to cut out most of their canned for now except as treats, which they have been doing well on. They had exams and blood work in September, so I took them to a well-care clinic for shots instead of a full exam when those were due since they weren't having any problems at the time.

We installed a programmable thermostat in our house last year and keep it very cool in the winter and use extra blankets to keep warm and save energy. In the spring we open the windows, and in the summer we keep the house pretty warm and run fans to keep cool and conserve energy costs.

We just got back from Vacation where we went on a cruise to the Caribbean, but DH's parents paid for that. We are fortunate that our parents want to see us bad enough that they send us money to come visit every couple of months. Other than that, we don't go on any trips or vacations.

I drive my 1996 Nissan Sentra which is paid off and we will be paying off my husband's car this year. We plan to continue driving the Sentra until it gives up the ghost completely before buying another car.

I used to eat out almost all the time. Now I make meals that I take over to my parent's house and eat with them. I usually double the recipe, and freeze one for later. It serves two purposes...I'm eating much healthier, and I'm enjoying my parents company. It also helps them, as they spend a lot of time away from home with my mom's chemo/radiation treatments. I've discovered that I'm really not too bad of a cook!

A couple of years ago I tried to make my home as energy efficient as I could. More insulation in the attic, new windows and doors, a programmable thermostat. I've switched over to the compact fluorescent bulbs in a lot of my lights. I haven't been able to make the switch in the lamp that I use when I read. The regular incandescent bulb is just so much more comfortable to read by.

I still drive my old Honda ('91 Accord) because it gets great gas mileage, no car payments and PL/PD insurance.

Also buying groceries at Walmart. Not happy about that.

Not much in sense cause we were never ones to overly eat out or what not. Only place I see more money is taking in cats but haven't taken any new ones since pudge back in october. But we lost her and Noah and Ben got sick so ALOT of big vet bills(oh like about 3 k since november, as dogs going in for exam/shots and need to get refill of rx in addition to what was already done) in such a short period. I refuse to self incriminate at this point so been telling husband I bought stuff for mom or got stuff for half the price.

We seemed to stable out but have a high risk neuter now to do(going regular vet as more high tech/monitoring) make appt monday....i keep saying it but i really got to(hey everyone else is fixed so hes more annoying with the smell and the mating blankets....but starting to "mate" the others and has yet to spray want to keep it there.

Our good thing is we are trying to concentrate on loans and doing well again(yeah till the next er run:S)

I've not been able to find regular work since I live in a rural area. Though I admit I'm picky - I refuse to do anything that will lead to a surgery I can't afford much sooner than I'd prefer. In other words, I won't do heavy lifting and constant bending over. (my last job made my back worse and left me barely able to walk after work. Luckily the pain and weakness is predominantly left sided otherwise I would have wrecked one of those nights trying to drive myself home.)

Otherwise we haven't had to cut back much. We didn't really spend much to begin with or go anywhere (thanks to a house full of cats ). Now we go out to eat even less since I can't eat 99% of the food. Meals are a bit trickier now because I have to spend more on things I took for granted before and can't go with cheaper store brands as often: ie - flours, broth/stock, bouillon, and even canned goods.

The biggest way the economy has affected my family is my son had to take a job somewhere else. My hubby and I live very thrifty. We have four vehicles, and the newest one is a 2003. We have living expenses and insurance to keep up with. Everything else is paid for. We keep our thermostat on 69 in winter and usually 70 - 72 in summer. We cook at home and eat here most of the time. My husband worked hard for what we have and I try to be careful in spending, I cut coupons from the Sunday paper and I shop in thrift stores. I trade coupons with my friends. We use one credit card and pay everything with it. When the bill comes, we pay it off every month. The rewards earn us up to $300 a year. My friend and I take turns driving to do our shopping, groceries, drug store, any other errands we have to do. I live thirty minutes away from the nearest town. We save up to have a list of things when we do go there. I still take my cats for a yearly check up and their shots. Muffin has to eat food from the vet because of urinary issues in the past. I grunt every time I have to buy that stuff, but I won't stop that as long as I can pay for it. I quit coloring my hair with two chemical processes which was costing me between $500 to $600 a year to keep it up. My natural color is grown out now and It is a pretty silver color.
I pray for ones who have lost their jobs and homes. Compared to that, we are doing well and I am very thankful.

For about the past 7 years, we've been doing the Dave Ramsey thing, so when the recession hit, we had no debt other than our home and utilities. What hurt us worse was my husband injuring himself and subsequently being unable to return to his job. That was in 2007, then after his long-term disability ran out, he was laid off officially. However, due to the length of time between his accident and when his long term disability ended, he was unable to collect unemployment. Now that he's able to work again, he's not been able to find a job. Thankfully, we had a nice emergency fund already in place to help us the past 3 years.

We seldom eat out and I always cook from scratch. We don't buy a lot of pre-packaged or pre-made foods and we pretty much eat what we make and don't waste it. We also grow lots of our own veggies and such during the spring/summer so that helps cut down on the grocery bill. We set the thermostat at 78º during the warmer months and run fans. The heater is set at 66º and we have an electric blanket on our bed and we dress in layers.

We don't travel unless it's to see family and then we stay with relatives. We've changed vets so that we spend less yet still receive great treatment and much more personal service.

I do a lot of looking on Freecycle for 'stuff' and we also check out thrift stores and consignment places.

We only have one cell phone and it's a pre-paid one with no frills. I can text, but no web access, no picture taking capabilities. It makes a call if I need it to in an emergency or whatever and that's really all I "need" it for!

We drive older vehicles that are PAID FOR, so no car payment. We paid cash for the truck I just got and that was made up of money from the insurance company plus some from my dad and my mother in law to cover tax, title, license, inspection and the bump up of the insurance premium.

Most repairs and such we do ourselves. Thankfully, my husband is a handy-man type and enjoys fixing things. We also do our own yard work.

We live by the mantra, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without."

DH and I still have both of our jobs, thankfully, but DH's job is hanging in the balance....again. We're not starting our kitchen addition this year as everything is just too unknown and I hate the thought of going back into debt at this time. We're still putting money aside toward the kitchen, but that's not easy either.

I cook from scratch as much as possible, but I always did, so that's not really changed. If we go to a restaurant, it's for a special treat. I try to be conscious of what I spend for groceries; well, we really try to be cognizant of spending period.

We've been combining errands as much as we can, so that we're not splurging on gas. DH has been traveling for work and he gets compensated for that. But, other than our annual CT trip this fall, we probably won't go much of anymore. Maybe a few day trips, but that's pretty much it, if that.

Whisper is eating Hills KD canned food for chronic renal failure...I wish we could find a cheaper place to buy that. The other kids all seem to be in good health. We have to take Mollipop, Ms. Pepe to the vet for check-ups and Whisper is going along for a follow-up visit to check her levels. We won't skimp on things for them.

I've been trying to talk myself into coloring my own hair again....years ago, I used to do my own. But I'm so messy with hair color and it doesn't come out as nice as when she does it. But it's expensive.

I've been putting money aside here and there for DH's surprise 60th birthday party later on this spring. I'm not giving up on that, although I've been looking at ways of cutting a few corners. I plan to do all the cooking for the party, which is really nothing for me.....I'm so used to cooking that it will be fine.

I lost my job in 2009 and although I finally found a job last November, I only earn about 10% of what I used to make. I was the primary bread winner in our family so our joint income is down by about 65%. We're surviving only because our house and cars are paid off, and we had a stash of cash for bad times. I'm still looking for a higher paying job.

I've always cooked from scratch and that hasn't changed. What has changed is that we buy cheaper foods and stock up on things when they are on sale. Stews and soups are great with low cost meats. I've found Ramen Noodles to be an easy and really cheap lunch. I never thought I'd be excited to find Ramen Noodles on sale at 10 for $1.00. We've gone out to dinner maybe 3 times in the last year, and always for a special occasion. We both bring lunches to work rather than going out to lunch.

I do all shopping on my way to and from work to save gas.

I've gotten 2 haircuts since I lost my job and both times were at the beauty school who only charges $10 for a cut.

I've kept my TV satelite service because it is cheap entertainment. We haven't been out to a movie for 18 months. For that matter, we haven't been out for any entertainment during that time.

We no longer hire anyone to do work around our home, unless it's something that we can't do ourselves. Our hot water heater is about to die and we're saving money for a new one - we can't do plumbing or electrical so have to hire for installation, which is going to be as much as the heater itself.

We don't use our air conditioner unless it gets way above 90F or is raining. Ceiling fans work great. Our thermostat is turned off in the summer.

Shopping for personal items is for must-have items only. I did have to buy some clothes for my new job, but shopped around so that I could find tops for $5 or less. I found shoes for $20 (those had to be decent since I'm on my feet all day). I used to drop hundreds of dollars on clothes without thinking about it and have some pride that I've spent under $100 in the last year for all of our clothing. Torn items can be repaired.

We've lost 4 cats in the last 6 months. We can't afford to care for anymore so we've stopped all rescuing. We haven't cut back on anything for the animals, as they've got enough health issues that we have to keep some of them on medications and prescription foods. Our pet bills are our biggest expense. We pay more for them than we do for food for ourselves. Go figure.

Things aren't as easy as they used to be, but we still have a roof over our heads and we are never hungry.

We have always lived within our means. Never over bought anything, and have always paid cash for stuff. If we didn't have the money, we don't buy it. So right now, we are just cutting out going out to eat and not driving (wasting gas) carelessly. I make sure I have my day planned out to the mile with these gas prices. And our house needs some repairs, but we are having to put that off at the moment. although, we might be needing a new furnace and air conditioning unit. We are just saving as much as we can.

I now shop for groceries at HEB: not only because I detest Wal-Mart so much, but also because you get real meat there - not that crap that Wal-Mart claims to be meat. The value of HEB's meat is not only good health wise, but also budget wise - along with just about all their other food items. And you don't have to worry about just what the heck you're actually eating

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You must live in South or Central Texas! I love HEB, but they don't have any up near me, except in Burleson, which is a 30 - 45 min drive depending on the traffic. I grew up in San Antonio and there was an HEB on almost every corner it seems. I really learned to love HEB when I lived in Kerrville for 5 years and that was the ONLY grocery store in town!

Originally Posted by Feralvr

And our house needs some repairs, but we are having to put that off at the moment. although, we might be needing a new furnace and air conditioning unit. We are just saving as much as we can.

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Depending on what repairs/improvements need to be done, look into grants. Save as much info as you can on new appliances. A new furnace and ac units would both be energy star complient, you'd get tax credit for this. There are a few other this you may be able to do to get more back next year, too. I found out that if I spend enough on food, because it's medically required for me to eat, that I can put it on my taxes.

We got the bad news about our lateral line needing to be replaced soon. So we'll be looking into options to help offset the costs of that.