I have been seeing an incredible amount of changes where I live due to the high gas prices and the economic downturn. For example, I have been seeing more and more people trading in their cars for fuel efficient ones. There are about 30 in the parking lot where I work, and I have noticed that at least 4-5 in the past few days have been traded in for smaller ones. Also, there are quite a few coworkers who have been walking to and from work lately to save money. You can tell who walks because they are sunburnt, fried to the bone (it's about 95 degrees here during the day). For me the biggest effect has been on how far my money seems to go. The grocery bill has doubled, and that leads to less money to spend elsewhere on clothes, video games, etc. I still have leftover money to spend, I just need to be more careful how I spend it. What effects are you seeing in your area? What changes, if any, are you making?
Economy and i have no connection. I have more money and luxuries than ever before when the global economies and oil prices were in good shape. It goes to show that YOU and the way you think and do stuff is just as important as the condition of economy. I think that there are always opportunities for the enterprising, no matter the condition of the economy. A financial expert i know, is making money advising people on how they and their businesses can survive in this deteriorating economy.
Luckily, I have gotten cost of living raises. However, I can tell you that despite having more on my paycheck, I don't feel as though I make anymore. In fact, I probably feel like I am making a bit less due to gas and food prices increasing. Sadly, I moved about 40 miles from work about 6 years ago, when gas wasn't a problem.
I'm actually making more from my primary businesses currently because of the current economy and gas prices.
No effect here. Lots of "doom and gloomers" out there. The economy grew at 1.2 percent. Not much to jump up and down about, but at the same time, it's not going backwards either. The Subprime fiasco created an enormous mess that has halted current growth.
I operate some businesses. One is sucking wind big time. One is doing great. One is going to feel brutal competition. I got a partner on that one as the others. He is slow to react and he is responsible for dealing w/the new competition. UGH. I hate higher prices. I like to grocery shop. Its astonishing to see certain products go up up up. I'm living in a micro area that hasn't been hit hard by the housing crisis although if I travel around this metro area there are some ugly areas with a lot of foreclosure signs on them. The biggest thing I've seen is the steady increase in costs. Its very visable, it really sucks. I can afford it....but I don't like it. From the businesses in this micro area, everyone is talking about the problems but I'm not seeing fallout.
I'm doing fine. I've seen a lot of people in my industry get the ax though. Mia, that 1.6% is bullshit, they will most definitely revise it later at least once if not more, like they always do. The GDP price index fell, a lot, from 2.4% to 1.1%. That gave, at least, a 1.3% "bonus" to the GDP. Then you get revisions which will most likely take it into the red, mark my words. We also get to tack on another consecutive month of job declines, this is the 7th. Seems dandy.
Costs of living escalated quite a lot because of the inflation. Economy does affect our daily lives in a sense due to for eg unemployment rate increases may cause some families especially those with mortgage to pay to run into difficulties. For me transportation costs skyrocket and food and even daily necessities prices have increased substantially.
Having to feed a large family you notice how much food has climbed over the last 3 years. Much of the climb is do to energy costs, since everything has to be shipped some distance. Our garden is big and we will be eating a lot of zucchini. It makes a great apple cobbler I am still working on trying to come up with one idea that will take advantage or benefit from skyrocketing energy costs. Anything that can help someone save on their energy would be cool.
I am actually slightly better off now, and making a little more money, than I have been in the last couple of years. The gas prices aren't really a big deal because I have a Toyota Corolla, and I only have to fill the tank about once every 1-2 weeks. We all complain about the gas prices, but when you think about it, it is just a little more than we are used to paying. I've noticed groceries are a little higher, but you can totally get around that if you are a careful shopper. Tonight I went grocery shopping and I bought fresh bunches of celery, carrots, broccoli, parsley, spinach and a cantelope. In addition, I bought 2 whole chickens (to cook for my dog), 24 eggs, and 20 lbs of rice. The grand total came out to $27 something, I'm am very good at shopping. It is strange, but I really wouldn't even know we were having a problem, if I hadn't read about it in the news.
Here in Mexico food is still cheap, especially what they grow here. I can get about 25 mangoes for $3. The gas is nationalized, per gallon I think its somewhere around $2.
Crazily enough, and coming from me, the economy looks good around here. I might be working 2 jobs soon, 1 at UPS (recession proof job) and my uncle's machine shop, or another machine shop around here. There's so many "now hiring" signs I don't understand it, and my friends don't understand either. If the economy's so bad, why's everyone hiring? Well in any case i'm still preparing for the worst, as this may be only the calm before the storm.
It's not uncommon for local areas to be 'doing good' could even be something as simple as a good chunk from your area being active in the military and currently active. As a whole the nation is not hiring. I 'believe' another home owner in my neighborhood is losing their house, don't know the specifics but they just moved in not even a year ago, yet yesterday they were busy moving everything out.
I'm doing better than last year. I'm seeing some price increases. My rent was raised 6%. Tolls for bridges, tunnels and highways have increased 45% I figure 'dp' type people will do better at the start of a recession because they are better positioned. Howver when money gets tight it may be another story. Some areas of the US have lower unemployment. The unemployment for PA is 5.2% but Ohio and California are both 6.6%+ Pennsylvania National Guard has 19,000 members and has large deployments in Iraq. That's not including the reserves.
That's great. Being self sufficient and being a do-it-yourself guy helps. Higher travel costs may force people to work nearer to or from home, if they evaluate things so as to have maximum profits and minimum costs that is
I quit my part time job months ago and I just work from home now. I make more money selling sites then I would be working retail.
I bet some people still work where they work even though the travel costs make that job unprofitable compared to other options available to them. Some people won't change, some forget to change and others are too dumb to change.