Just how close has the current economy hit to home?

[kanaloa]

Given a global slumping economy, especially here in the U.S., I thought it'd be enlightening (perhaps eye opening) to see how many of us are affected in one form or another here on PRO. No doubt some of us have had harder times than others - I'm sure some have even had their situation improve. This is meant to provide a well rounded view of our own "micro-economy" amongst our members.

I'd encourage you to read all the poll options and vote for UP TO the THREE best options that best represents your own unique situation; I know there is room for overlap, so vote wisely with your 1-3 votes.

This of course is completely anonymous as to what you vote for. You may opt to change your vote after the fact (until the poll is closed).

[kanaloa]

I won't lock this thread so that discussion, if you all would like, may ensue.

Obviously more votes at the top of the scale are a sign of a bad economic situation (in our micro-economy) - whereas more at the bottom represent a good economy.

[kd1966]

Where I work, over the past 6 months or so, when people leave for other employment or retire or whatnot, they are NOT being replaced and nearly all the temp workers were not rehired after the new year..........

[rippinchikkin]

Things are tight, of my two jobs one is taking a header, the other we pray will start going up. I work for a consulting firm during the days, we have seen significant downturn.. folks are holding off on plans, while our area has not see any major problems (well we have had a couple of plant closing, one being GM right down the road) people are nervous.
The other job (I work nights at a technology training school) and we are expecting things to pick up... but we have been feeling the pain also. This type of economy is inherently good for training and schools, methods of furthering ones self, or getting a new job, we hope. During the recession in 01 and 02 we saw booming rise in enrollment.. and we are anxiously awaiting this one.. we shall see.

[augie]

I just got hit by a 'midnight move' by a 5 year tenant who paid well though late at times. At least they left a relatively clean apartment. Lost a few G's there.

BTW John, there's a few dups in your poll.

[kanaloa]

Where I work (for state Government) we've had a 15% budget cut in the 2008-2009 fiscal year. We had to make up that 15% in half a year since the fiscal year ends in June 2009. That resulted in approximately 45+ layoffs (in an agency that had only 200 people working for it), including all temp, grant, etc employees (who's combined services was over 100 years). We expect to face another 14% or more next year. Three mandatory furlough days for the entire agency, which is low compared to other agencies in the state - some as high as 7 days. It was a 2.3% reduction in pay for us. My wife's professional situation is similar, newspapers aren't exactly making big bucks anymore. My job is secure due to the nature of it (web related), but it doesn't mean much as far as career paths go right now - there's a freeze on everything.

Personally the economy has also put a major pinch on my home businesses, especially since the major one relates to tourism. It's stable, but it's not what it was a year or two ago when we were starting it off. I am looking to start another local home-based small business this spring and work with it until the economy improves. At this point my goal is to net twice at home what I do professionally - and save the bulk of it or use it to pay off any remaining debts.

Overall I think my personal situation has improved slightly in the past two full years. Mainly because I've paid off nearly all of my debts excluding the house. But I haven't started saving significantly for retirement because of the market uncertainty. I'm afraid to invest in anything and interest rates in the bank are horrible. Right now I see this as a very uncertain time for my future, but I also want to look at it as an opportunity to try and keep my businesses alive so that when the economic situation improves, they are already well established and have weathered a brutal storm. At that time I'd like to work for myself, and just pray the last few years have been a once in a life time occurrence. Of course, reality is - my grandparents have now seen this situation twice. So I won't get my hopes too high this is the last time it happens.

[kanaloa]

BTW John, there's a few dups in your poll.

They are similar, but shouldn't be any duplicates. The wording should be different, even if minuscule in nature.

[mnemonicj]

I work for a supplier to all of the major automotive companies in the US (foreign and domestic). Luckily, my company has not had layoffs, but many of our customers have, especially the customer that I work with. If my company does layoffs it will be in the next 3 months and I am not certain that I will not be part of the layoffs.

If you want to help my specific situation, buy a GM car or truck. Almost any new car purchase would help my company, but new GM vehicles would impact my specific job.

[imnuts]

I work for an auto parts manufacturer and our business has been running way under the targeted levels the past year, though they won't be as bad this year hopefully as at least they know things will be bad when making the new budget. There have been several union layoffs in the past year, some permanent, some temporary, and as far as I know, only one major round of salaried employee layoffs, though others have been fired/laid off. Mostly, positions just aren't getting filled when they open up, or they will be filled from within in some manner. Personally though, I feel that I have done a better job than some of my co-workers and feel like my position is more secure than others in the same position that I work with.

On the other front, most of my friends that I know and talk to are doing fine, some are likely not to get raises/bonuses though, just due to the economy. I'm guessing that I'll get a raise, just no bonus. I also know of one person that lost their job due to the economy. They were relatively new (2-3 years maybe) and working for one of the divisions that got most of the layoffs for the company (as far as I'm aware).

One thing that has impacted me the most though is that I've been trying to find other jobs and there is really nothing out there for my field/degree without having at least 5 years of experience, though it's more for 10+ years. I'm sure that they'll be back eventually, but by then I may have moved up at my current employer. I have talked to several people that are in the same situation where they find positions and apply for them and then the position gets cut.

I've been impacted minimally financially. I have more on my credit card than I would like, but that is due to increasing my 401(k) contributions to much and also getting a lot of repairs done on my car shortly before doing so. I'm in the process of paying it off now. I do like the fact that house prices have fallen significantly as I would like to purchase a home this spring rather than continue renting.

As for not saving money, right now would be the best time to save in a 401(k) as it should be based mostly in stocks if your under 30 (even early 30s should still be mostly stock), and given that the markets and stocks are relatively cheap right now, one will get massive returns when the market rebounds. If you would like to save money in a savings account, look into ING Direct's online savings account or HSBC's online savings account as both are offering ~2.5-3% or so. Much better than I've seen for most other savings accounts and even better than my money market account at my credit union.

[kanaloa]

Thanks Mark. We'll definitely look into some of those savings ideas. I know I really need to get the ball rolling on that - me and Tash both do. I keep thinking we have tons of time since I'll only be 29 this year, but it's never too soon I guess to start saving up.