How Bad Is It???

[BigFish]

One of the other guys on here mentioned to me on the phone that he thinks its not as bad out there as folks are making it out to be?? (Which makes sense if all is good at home). I replied it is just as bad if not worse?? So I am curious.....how bad is it at your house?? Are you all working?? Are things tight?? Have you had to cut out alot of things to save money??? My feeling is its gonna get alot worse....before it gets any better!

[BigFish]

Things are tight here! I am thankfully starting a new job working in the lumber dept. at Lowes the end of the month! That will help....plugs don't pay the bills here thats for sure! My wife has a great job and we are thankful for that! To help with the holidays she has taken a seasonal part time job at Crate and Barrel! (She loves that store) A mortgage, 2 car payments, my child support and all the other expenses......man its tight! We have cut cable somewhat! At the supermarket the other day I found a great way to save some money! They were selling cake/brownie mix for $1.00 each.....so I bought a bunch! Figure why buy all the pre-made crap that costs an arm and a leg when for $1.00, a couple eggs, some water and veg oil we can bake a cake that will last a few days or a bunch of brownies!!! Figure out how much a package of Chips Ahoy, Oreos, or Entenmans cake costs for a week???? Its silly when you think about it! Remember your Mom would always be baking when you were a kid?? Anyway.....its a killer out there so any way we can save a buck we are!

[luds]

I think it depends on who you are. If I was 65 and relying on investmment return in the market I would say that it is pretty bad.

[justplugit]

Our family is only buying gifts this Christmas for the children.

My fear is the credit card defaults next, as more people lose their jobs.

[FishermanTim]

As Luds stated, if you are living off of your retirement savings, you are the ones most affected.
I remember a radio money show host saying that when you are young, you want to be investing for "growth", and when you are nearing retirement, you want your investments leaning towards "returns"
Growth = stock price goes up (or down, as it may be) so that your "shares" are worth more.
"Return" = your shares don't fluctuate much (or at all in mutual funds) so you are looking at dividends and cap gains.

everyone receiving a distribution from their retirement plan is getting whacked because they HAVE to take the money or pay a penalty.

I am not hurting right now, but fortunately I live at home with an elderly parent, and the house is paid off. We are not hurting, and are in the process of finishing the basement. It's amazing what a little insulation does to warm up a room.
What I believe will happen will be like Bigfish was saying.
More people will "make it at home" instead of just paying out of pocket. I prefer any "homemade" creation because it shows that the creator cared enough about the quality of the goods (as well as their skills) and it saves $$ in the long run.

[BigFish]

Funny you mention that Dave! We got notification from Amex freezing our limit at $10,000.00 less than what we had approval for???? I am guessing they are either looking out for themselves....which is one theory.....or they were trying to screw us into a higher rate of interest because they froze it at $100.00 more than we owe them which means if we go over the limit our interest rate goes through the roof??? Think this was intentional??? I do!!!

[BigFish]

Hey! If you build a better brownie.....sell it!

[Crafty Angler]

Larry, be very wary of the CC people - believe me they are not your friends and they'll put ya in a financial death spiral quicker than you know. If ya can't pay cash, ya can't afford it.

Just duck and cover - it's gonna wash over us but it's gonna take longer than everyone expects and the worst is yet to come.

Sounds like you and the Mrs are doing all the right things - extra jobs, cutting back on non-essentials, hopefully watching personal expenses etc.

Hey did I mention -

GET RID OF THE CREDIT CARD DEBT ASAP



There isn't one single thing you can do that is more important to the financial future of you and your bride. Trust me, I'm an old fart and I've been there - if you can do that alone it's gonna make a big difference in what you'll be able to do once this crap is over...

Treat that AmEx card in your pocket like a rattler - don't touch it. If you can't pay cash, don't buy it. Period.

Sorry, Larr, and yeah, I am lecturing - but it's just tough love, brother

Good luck - you and your bride just keep doing the right thing - sounds like you guys are already on the right track

[BigFish]

Already working on it Chuck...thanks! Paying it off with all my brownie money!

[Nebe]

Im a self employed artist.... need I say more?

[Love-da-Surf]

Originally Posted by justplugit

Our family is only buying gifts this Christmas for the children.

My fear is the credit card defaults next, as more people lose their jobs.

same here. my entire family had a talk and everyone agreed- no presents for the adults just grandchildren. my aunts and uncles arent wealthy, but they certainly arent poor. things are tight and only going to get worse. how much worse is the question.

[RIROCKHOUND]

You don't look starving though

I have to give credit to my wife; while I call her a money Nazi, her frugalness pays off... we live cheap most of the time, carry no credit card debt we do not pay off at the end of the month (Gas card w/ rebates is most of that expense)

Of course working 1/2 time in academia and going to grad school half time makes me semi-recession proof; although if you didn't make much money before the recession, you don't feel that much different!

[Slingah]

I am sure here at my house we will weather the storm. We are frugal people and do not carry much debt. As far as my buisness, thing are not as busy as I'd like, but I have managed to squirrel away more nuts than previous winters. If things do get worse...then we will do what it takes to survive...I try not to listen to the media and work on looking at the glass as being half full...

[ProfessorM]

Pretty steady here. Thank god for a workaholic wife. I am very frugal,cheap, as she would say but you need at least one of those in your household to keep on course. Luckily no credit card debt here. Like my mom always said there is always someone worse off than you so count your blessings.

[FishermanTim]

Keep this in mind:
Credit card companies are ALLOWED to use ANY OTHER bill you pay late as a reason to up your interest rate. So if you are late on your electric, phone, car or insurance payment they equate that as to being late on your credit card payment regardless of whether you have ever had a late card payment or not!
With the de-regulation of the credit industry we are pretty much screwed. If the credit card industry ever jumps on the "government bail-out bus", I would tell them to go pound sand!

[BigFish]

How do credit cards and utility bills/car payments have anything to do with one another??

[Raven]

one day at a time

[FishermanTim]

Originally Posted by BigFish

How do credit cards and utility bills/car payments have anything to do with one another??

I any world EXCEPT the credit world, they don't, but the credit card industry created this rule that allows them to use ANY OTHER bill that is paid late as reason to jack up interest rates.
Their theory is that if you're late on a car payment, or gas bill, or phone bill then you'll be late on a credit card bill.

I believe it's something like "mutually assumed risk", so that there is the "likelihood" that you "might" be late on a credit card bill "at some point" and that (to them) means the same as "you are NOW late"!

It's assinine, but when they were de-regulated it basically gave them "carte blanche" to do whatever they wanted to us.

[BigFish]

With all due respect I do not think that is the case. Can anyone else back that up??

[FishermanTim]

Simply call your credit card company and ask them why your interest rate is what it is.
(As for the rates, this has been going on for a few years now, but they didn't announce it as a "breaking story", they sent out yet another insert with the monthly bill explaining (in legalise) the new process.)

[striperman36]

I'll be forced to make my own copies of Salties kits.

[justplugit]

Originally Posted by Karl F

the level of debt, is a factor, in your credit rating, and effects the interest rate as well.

Karl nailed it.
You can get a free credit check every year on the web where you are rated by points as to your credit worthiness. They take into account all your timely or untimely payments on debt.

The credit card companies have done everything possible to get younger people
into their grasp. The average credit card debt is something like $15,000-$20,000.

Even when you pay your card in full each month, which can be a good thing as some cards offer 5% on gas, groceries and drugstores, watch the due date as they will change it from time to time and unless you see it and pay it on time they love hitting you with the late fee.

Most important thing anyone who has credit debt is pay it down ASAP, the interest rates are outrageous. Then back to economics 101, don't buy anything unless you can pay for it in cash.

[Striperknight]

Last weekend we collected food donations for the Cub Scouts. Let me say between last year and this year it was a huge difference.
Not many people gave food this year. I was disappointed in my fellow townsfolk.

[striperman36]

I'll be interested to see what happens in Mansfield on Saturday, Last year we prepared holiday meals, with turkeys for over 1500 familes. Filled almost 2/3 of the St Mary's gym floor with baskets of goods to be delivered the following Wednesday.

[Joe]

I'm stealing more stuff than normal.

[FishermanTim]

Originally Posted by justplugit

...
Even when you pay your card in full each month, which can be a good thing as some cards offer 5% on gas, groceries and drugstores, watch the due date as they will change it from time to time and unless you see it and pay it on time they love hitting you with the late fee.

Most important thing anyone who has credit debt is pay it down ASAP, the interest rates are outrageous. Then back to economics 101, don't buy anything unless you can pay for it in cash.

They have a sneaky habit of ALWAYS making the due date on weekends. If you read their "fine print" regarding payment processing, you see that if your payment is received after a certain time of a Friday, they won't process it until Monday.
Note - that time is ususally in the early afternoon!

Also note that paying the balance down will decrease your monthly payment, but the ONLY way to have your rate decreased would be to threaten to close your account.
They will bump up your rate, even if it's their fault, but aren't as quick to drop the rate unless YOU take action.
Credit card companies, as a whole, SUCK!

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by BigFish

With all due respect I do not think that is the case. Can anyone else back that up??

It depends on your user agreement. When they change it, they send you a notice of change, and most folks just throw it in the garbage without reading it.

It's also not every company that does it.

All of our credit cards are in my name, and all of the utilities are in the wife's name. The only other thing in my name is the mortgage, and that gets paid on time.

[FishermanTim]

If you pay your credit card bill on time and haven't been late (I don't know how many months/years back they give you as a "grace period") and your credit card interest rate is 14% or higher, then they are either doing it or are a real lousy company.

Of course there's the option of transferring your balance to another card with a low transfer balance rate. If they check any other bill that you pay, and you are late, than your rate will typically jump to around 24%.

I've been OVERpaying my card bills (balances are $20-30 per month)
so that when I get my bill, I see "No payment required" AND they have to pay interest for any positive balance that they carry to next month.
(Keep in mind that I only overpay by paying $100.00, so I'm not giving them a lot to hold onto.)

[Swimmer]

Ijust left my barber in Hanson. He said his last four customers all got laid off today. One was a carpenter, and the others were in the trades but he didn't say where.

[Crafty Angler]

Originally Posted by BigFish

Already working on it Chuck...thanks! Paying it off with all my brownie money!

Attaboy, BF - I knew you was a smart guy all along