QUESTION: ANYBODY HURTING OUT THERE IN THIS ECONOMY???

[batman_fan]

I have been unaffected by the downturn from a job perspective. The company I work for just had its third record quarter and paid out bonuses at 160% of the target which equates to a nice car. My wife on the other hand has had her business completely killed. She is a child photographer which is 100% avoidable spending and folks just aren't willing to spend the money anymore.

[piper]

The economy in Alberta is still booming thanks to all the oil development. Lots of great paying jobs and insane wages if you are willing to go up to Ft McMurray. Talked to a guy working on a oil rig who was clearing $10,000 per month. Everyone seems to be driving Hummers, sports cars and Harleys.

 

Best wishes to those looking for work and hope things turn around soon.

 

I'm doing fine as well, if not driving a Hummer or BMW. For that matter H.T where's your sports car too?

[supapimp]

for the people that have been unaffected by the recession, it must like be living in the lifestyle of the rich & famous. everything is so cheap and there are deals to be had everywhere.

[VintageComics]

for the people that have been unaffected by the recession, it must like be living in the lifestyle of the rich & famous. everything is so cheap and there are deals to be had everywhere.

 

There are cities where you can buy entire neighborhoods for the price of what a house used to cost. If someone can afford to buy and hold they might be set for future generations.

 

The Canadian economy is not doing too poorly except the cities that are heavily dependent on US industry (like Windsor relying on Detroit) are hurting badly.

 

When I was working in Toronto at a Mercedes dealer (2007- late 2009) we just couldn't keep up with demand and had record month after record month. I don't know where the money came from but I was really shocked. It may have been that people leaving Detroit cars and Toyota (because of safety issues) increased Mercedes market share on these shores. I think dealers closer to the border (like Kitchener which is closer to Detroit) were not as busy.

 

Hopefully people can continue to find work out there.

 

 

 

[MagnetoWasRight]

Lucky for my wife and I that she works in college admissions and I work for the federal government. As of right now, we are fine. We've been saving as much as we can to buy our first home before we have our first child. We are walking a fine line though, between saving as much as we can while holding off on starting a family but we aren't getting any younger. I have a lot of friends who are still looking for a jobs...its a mess out there.

[Jaymole]

Definitely affected me. Lost my job last year due to outsourcing and was out of work for awhile until my company hired me back but at a lower wage. My wife is having a hard time finding work as a house cleaner and is only working part time. We are struggling right now, which is why the only way I can spend money on comics is by selling my own.

 

I have a few friends who are out of work, so I guess I should be happy that I at least have a job...but we seem to be going backwards instead of forwards.

[Logan510]

My wife and I are doing fine. I'm in IT and our parent company keeps buying "bolt on" companies for us without adding to our IT staff so I think my job is secure. My wife works for an effects company doing CGI for TV commercials and they're doing surprisingly well. We don't have as much disposable income since we bought our house and I guess that's the price of being a new home owner. I do kind of miss being able to just buy stuff and not even think about it

[Comicdey]

Doing ok

 

medical bills are a killer though

 

Alaska is behind the recession curve but ib is slowing down

[Shadow]

I took a hit in pay just because we stopped paying bonuses in 2008. But, I can't complain a lot because they raised my salary instead. On top of that, I sold my stake in the company to the new owners in 2007. Turned out to be a opportune time to sell part of a lumberyard in hindsight. My wife and I were debt free but we took a small loan out for grad school. Very, very manageable and could be paid off tomorrow.

 

For me, it's been good news lately. I will be starting a new job in a week and the pay increase was 50% along with better benefits. The company I've been at for 19 years has been great but it's time for a change.

 

But, that being said, it's much rougher out there than portrayed I think. It's as if our economy is like a superhero movie franchise; it's gotten re-booted. In the long run, I liitle bit more focus on thrift may be a good thing for the US consumer. (Not too much though, the economy won't revive with everyone saving a lot.)

[delekkerste]

I'm not exactly "hurting", per se, but things are definitely not what they used to be, not even close. I'm convinced that the past 30 years or so will be looked at as an aberration in history that followed about a decade after we did away with Bretton Woods and cut our last ties to the gold standard. That allowed people and governments to go on a multi-decade, debt-fueled orgy, living beyond their means and accumulating debts which have no chance of ever being repaid in sound money (that's not to say that debts will simply be inflated away; more likely than not we will be forced by the discipline of the markets, as well as our creditors, to suffer through years of deflation, austerity and an inevitable debt restructuring).

 

It went on for so long (for most of us, this was a period encompassing our entire lifespans) that people incorrectly assumed this was both "normal" and sustainable. I think those of us who are intellectually honest now realize that we've hit an inflection point in history, and that this cycle of infinite borrowing has, after several decades, finally come to an end (it really started in the 1960s, which led to Bretton Woods being abandoned in 1971). That said, it may take a while longer for things to really unravel, but it's already started the past few years.

 

The implications of this are enormous. It means that we have likely just experienced, from the 1980s-mid-2000s, a Golden Age of economic growth and prosperity which will likely not be repeated again in our lifetimes. Does anyone who is intellectually objective really believe that we can enjoy the kind of income growth, asset price appreciation, low tax rates, government deregulation, easy credit, American hegemony, etc. again in our lifetimes given the balance sheet issues that we have? Obviously people will be affected to different degrees but, overall, I think standards of living have peaked in this country and will actually fall in the years to come.

 

Anyone who thinks this is just a temporary and cyclical downturn is deluding themselves. Just look at what is happening across the pond in Europe - they were guilty of many of the same excesses and now they're all imposing austerity measures to deal with it. Here in the U.S., nobody has any appetite for austerity, but it will eventually be forced on us. I know there are many who remain optimistic, whether because that is the only experience they have ever known or they are wedded to certain political ideologies, but the really savvy people out there are becoming more and more accepting of this scenario, are anticipating how things will unfold, and are taking measures to preserve all aspects of their livelihoods.

[Shadow]

Well said.

[paleontol99-migration]

Just looking at a cross section of everyones response, it seems we are all over the place in how our jobs are.

As for me, Im a bit of an oddball cause I got hit in the last small recession back in late 1980s. Became a Chiropractor in 1982 great practice and then I bit off more than I could handle by buying a big house in 1985. I spend 5 years laying out $ 3500 a month on mortgage before finally selling and making a whole $ 4000 grand in profit when all was said and done. I learned from that lesson that my health was more important that my house. So, i developed a different strategy of no longer having a mortgage. For those of you who are finding it hard at the moment, you may find this a help if you like the lifestyle. I purchased a ford truck and over a period of 2 years saved enough to buy a nice 40 foot 5th wheel for 8 grand. I decided that working in an office took up much too much time in my life and if I continued to do it, I would be dead by 55. I also figured what good would it be if I retired at 65 so I could life the rest of my life as an old person. Went back to school and took one course at a time and became a Geologist. Saving money was easy, only cause remember I no longer had a mortage. I bought a second smaller camper to put on top of my ford truck. I used this for expeditions and after heading to California I started getting involved in taking pictures of celebrities and eventually started doing red carpet photography. I like LA but found it a bit too crowded so I head out once every 3 months on geology expeditions and finding minerals in the field. Selling the minerals is what supplied my comic book collecting cause the minerals cost me nothing but gas and the knowledge allowed me to know where to look where others would not know. .

Too all those that are having problems. Remember those words, when one door closes, another one opens. Also, remember the words, The ability of the organism to survive is in its ability to ADAPT to any given situtation at any time. The doors opened for me in that I now live a full rv lifestyle. It allows me very low bills, so no stress in that area anymore. My costs are food, insurance, gas, and a sprint phone with internet.. Some of you may wish to try this lifestyle if you have no kids. Trust me, the money you will save will allow you to buy as many comics as you wish. One of the nice rv parks I stay in only costs $ 1400 a year if you pay upfront. I used to pay $ 1400 a month on an apartment years ago before owning a house. Its the equivalent of paying one month and getting the other 11 months free. If any of you have any questions about this lifestyle just ask and I will help.

[VintageComics]

That was a great post.

 

(thumbs u

[catrick339]

Not really hurtin', but not gettintg ahead any more. My company, and industrial/commercial plumbing supply house, located in Michigan, has had a few bumps, and my branch (Jackson, MI) has just been shut down and consolidated with Lansing's branch. Fortunately I caught on with Lansing, unfortunately that means a 70 mile a day round trip commute. Glad to have a job, sorry that I'm out 75 bucks a week gas money. Other austerity measures by the company in the last couple years include wage freezes, loss of all corporate perks up to and including coffee service (For the customers, but we got a cuppa joe free that way too) to cutting any matching 401K allotments. All fair enough in a downsizing economy, and they never cut wages or insurance, so I'm pretty well okay that way. At 56 I would've hated hitting the job market, at least in midMichigan. I have friends that are lots worse off than me, and I'm counting my modest blessings.

 

So, anyone want to go buy a few five buck comics in my sales thread?

[Bruce1971]

I'm not exactly "hurting", per se, but things are definitely not what they used to be, not even close. I'm convinced that the past 30 years or so will be looked at as an aberration in history that followed about a decade after we did away with Bretton Woods and cut our last ties to the gold standard. That allowed people and governments to go on a multi-decade, debt-fueled orgy, living beyond their means and accumulating debts which have no chance of ever being repaid in sound money (that's not to say that debts will simply be inflated away; more likely than not we will be forced by the discipline of the markets, as well as our creditors, to suffer through years of deflation, austerity and an inevitable debt restructuring).

 

It went on for so long (for most of us, this was a period encompassing our entire lifespans) that people incorrectly assumed this was both "normal" and sustainable. I think those of us who are intellectually honest now realize that we've hit an inflection point in history, and that this cycle of infinite borrowing has, after several decades, finally come to an end (it really started in the 1960s, which led to Bretton Woods being abandoned in 1971). That said, it may take a while longer for things to really unravel, but it's already started the past few years.

 

The implications of this are enormous. It means that we have likely just experienced, from the 1980s-mid-2000s, a Golden Age of economic growth and prosperity which will likely not be repeated again in our lifetimes. Does anyone who is intellectually objective really believe that we can enjoy the kind of income growth, asset price appreciation, low tax rates, government deregulation, easy credit, American hegemony, etc. again in our lifetimes given the balance sheet issues that we have? Obviously people will be affected to different degrees but, overall, I think standards of living have peaked in this country and will actually fall in the years to come.

 

Anyone who thinks this is just a temporary and cyclical downturn is deluding themselves. Just look at what is happening across the pond in Europe - they were guilty of many of the same excesses and now they're all imposing austerity measures to deal with it. Here in the U.S., nobody has any appetite for austerity, but it will eventually be forced on us. I know there are many who remain optimistic, whether because that is the only experience they have ever known or they are wedded to certain political ideologies, but the really savvy people out there are becoming more and more accepting of this scenario, are anticipating how things will unfold, and are taking measures to preserve all aspects of their livelihoods.

 

Good post. Here is an article a few might want to read about how governments have altered stats and what the true numbers would be in 1980's terms. The article is from 2008.

 

http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2008/Pollyanna-Creep-Economy1may08.htm

 

 

My work is down a bit, but still pretty good. I am moving to Japan next year and am a bit worried about that. My girlfriend just started a job there so she can support me for a bit. Hopefully we don't have to move back to Canada, at least to quickly.

 

 

 

 

[paleontol99-migration]

but the really savvy people out there are becoming more and more accepting of this scenario, are anticipating how things will unfold, and are taking measures to preserve all aspects of their livelihoods.

 

Absolutely true. I think people are forced into adapting and in many cases for the better in order to bring their ducks into alignment and finally get away from all the stress that debt can cause.

 

Hello Delekkerste, Im sure you dont remember me but we used to converse about the comic market back in 2003. Even then we talked about books in general slowly going down and no one seemed to believe us. We talked about Bubbles as well. My Id back then was NoImSpartacus I havent been back to this forum in about 6 years until a couple of months ago. Interesting how things have changed since then.

 

 

[rjrjr]

I'm hurting from buying all the books others are dumping.

 

Funny, but true in my case as well. I'm having a hard time scraping up the money every week to buy all the sweet deals that keep popping up.

 

It is definitely a very strange time to be a collector.

[namisgr]

I'm in academic biomedical research, and while the past year and this one have been excellent in terms of government and private support for this research, the tide will be turning in the coming years.

 

The stimulus package in the form of the ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) added a lot of money to support temporarily expansion of academic biomedical research. This two year flood of research dollars from the ARRA has meant that jobs have been plentiful, research infrastructure and construction have been booming, and acquiring grants to support ones research has been a bit easier than in the immediate past. This is about to come to an end, and in its wake there will be a finite pool of researchers who will need to compete for shrinking funds. We know the inevitable consequences from prior experience, since the pie shrank in the recent past in the Bush/Cheney years - fewer dollars per laboratory, fewer laboratories with any funding at all, fewer jobs and more layoffs, and fewer advances in translating biological knowledge into biomedical progress.

 

The times have been good in this profession of late, but are about to get much tougher.

[moonlite]

I work for the fed gov. by day and work is booming thanks to the stimulus package. Our office has lost one or two positions over the last two years (by moving them to other states offices) but our workload has doubled because of ARRA. Still I am overpaid probably for what I do. Wife works in a hospital and a lot of hospitals here have laid people off or cut back staffing. Patients tend to put off elective surgeries (ones that are just from desire) until the money situation gets better...so work is down.

 

I also own a LCS and business has been ok there, steady or a little down. With DC and Marvel pushing their digital books more, I am anxious to see what awaits the floppy book market. Seems like they are not out to do us any favors.

 

Our locale has lost quite a number of businesses and industry in the last two years and I know quite a few people on unemployment. It agitates me when they say, "I could get a job, but I would bring home less than unemployment pays me". Yeah I know that is the rule that you don't have to take an offered job if it is less than what the insurance gives you but still bothersome to me.

 

I also know quite a few people who have moved back into or living with their parents or friends. Another sore point is that they contribute nothing from what they make to the homeowner. Seems like people are adapting however they can or need to.

[RockMyAmadeus]

WHAT...?