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

[ComicConnoisseur]

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. free. If any of you have any questions about this lifestyle just ask and I will help.

That might be some of the best advice I ever heard on these boards.

(thumbs u

[RockMyAmadeus]

Just looking at a cross section of everyones response, it seems we are all over the place in how our jobs are....If any of you have any questions about this lifestyle just ask and I will help.

 

With the internet....the greatest invention of the latter half of the 20th century...people can live literally anywhere, and still conduct many forms of business.

 

So, it's now possible to live in a place with a very, very low cost of living...say, Montana, Mississippi, or New Mexico...and still do what they've done, without having to "be close to a metropolitan area."

 

Land is cheap, housing is cheap, cost of living is cheap cheap cheap.

 

If I didn't own my home, I'd never live in LA.

[Old Fashion PB and J]

I work, wife doesnt. Live in NJ, Jersey is expensive. Hurting sounds about right.

[Rawhide]

I am part owner of a construction company, so yes the economy is definitely applying some pain to me and my company right now.

 

Next year will be worse for commercial development and construction according to all the reports I have been seeing.

[keldog]

I work, wife doesnt. Live in NJ, Jersey is expensive. Hurting sounds about right.

Sounds like me but I move from NJ to Chicago IL and my wife had to move back in because she lost her job because she worked better then the other people and they couldn't afford to keep her because she would have all her work plus other people's work done before 10 o'clock. So they hired two lazy girls that played Bejewel all day on the computer instead of working. Now my daughter and wife live in my over priced tiny 1 bedroom apt. with me. Well I see my daughter all the time and my wife can see I'm not like how she thought I was and I was right about her so-called friends were just users and not true friends and Oprah don't know SHEET about marriage or how couples do act.

[G.A.tor]

I am happy to report that the economy has not affected my consumption of coke zero's one bit... (thumbs u

[oakman29]

I am happy to report that the economy has not affected my consumption of coke zero's one bit... (thumbs u

 

Rick,it's good to see your keeping the economy afloat.

[Bosco685]

I attend bi-weekly and monthly job network events where people help each other gain access to manager at companies they are targetting for employment.

 

Compared to last year, where it was a nightmare to even engage with a company for any work, this year folks are having two-four opportunities available, on average. A huge difference. And many attending these events are now employed, though it took them 9-12 months before they found anything.

 

But companies are still treading lightly on hiring, and taking much longer to choose a candidate compared to previous years. It's not surprising some will take 2-5 months to finally choose a final candidate.

 

So the pain still continues out here, but better than last year.

[johnenock]

I'm a PA working trauma week on/week off and working for an orthopedic surgeon specializing in joint replacement during the days. For the first time in 2 years the hospital I work for gave raises (3%) and started matching our 403b again even though the number of surgeries seem to be down around here. The docs I work for have always been generous and that hasn't changed.

 

My wife is a nurse by trade, but just finished a her masters in Nursing Informatics just in time to get a great wage increase due to Obama's paperless charting mandate. Instead of working for managers, she is a manager now. So, while my career is rather static and hum drum, my wifes is fairly new and exciting with plenty of room for future growth.

 

Despite all this, we have cut back on extraneous spending, including comic books. We basically pay our mortgage and car payments and go on a few vacations with the kids. Otherwise, we are trying to save, save, save so I can retire by the time I'm 50.

[JuliusSeizure]

Just looking at a cross section of everyones response, it seems we are all over the place in how our jobs are....If any of you have any questions about this lifestyle just ask and I will help.

 

With the internet....the greatest invention of the latter half of the 20th century...people can live literally anywhere, and still conduct many forms of business.

 

So, it's now possible to live in a place with a very, very low cost of living...say, Montana, Mississippi, or New Mexico...and still do what they've done, without having to "be close to a metropolitan area."

 

The catch is that if you can do it from Montana, you can do it from India, China, or the Philippines. Even in the low-cost US states, it's hard to compete.

[whisp]

Been looking for work for last 2 years in a city with 2nd highest unemployment rate. Many of the businesses in my field are leaving thus more people are being added to the job pool. Interviews consist of 180 applicants roughly for many jobs I have applied for. A few interviews here and there but while I have the paper I don't have enough hands on experience and have had problems getting into the work force as an entry level when most places are looking for senior experienced workers.

 

Hoping getting my G2 drivers license will open a few doors for me in September.

 

 

Seems many people I run into in my city are facing the same issues.

[JuliusSeizure]

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.

 

Already happening. My standard of living is lower with an master's degree from a prestigious school than my parents' was having gone to night school for BAs. Ditto for my siblings, I would say, and we all have "good" white-collar professional jobs.

 

It's hard to complain too much because I'm not hurting - I've remained employed, have a side job/business with all the work I can handle (with two little kids, not that much), and we're OK financially. Just very, very little left over for extras.

 

Anecdotally, I will say that hiring seems to have picked up a little bit in my industry/area. I know a person who was laid off but ended up with several offers to choose from, and people have been leaving my company for other opportunities left and right lately.

[Mark 1]

Just looking at a cross section of everyones response, it seems we are all over the place in how our jobs are....If any of you have any questions about this lifestyle just ask and I will help.

 

With the internet....the greatest invention of the latter half of the 20th century...people can live literally anywhere, and still conduct many forms of business.

 

So, it's now possible to live in a place with a very, very low cost of living...say, Montana, Mississippi, or New Mexico...and still do what they've done, without having to "be close to a metropolitan area."

 

Land is cheap, housing is cheap, cost of living is cheap cheap cheap.

 

If I didn't own my home, I'd never live in LA.

 

This is exactly true for what I do. My company is based in NYC. I work remotely in Fl. I fly back and forth to the NE for my work and to see clients. I get to live wherever I want and (thankfully) have a great job.

 

The traveling sucks but at times it can be fun. I think times are especially rough for those who were already hurting before the recession. Many people out there are in dire situations and I feel for them.

 

 

 

 

[lizards2]

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.

 

It is a time of unbridled opportunity.

 

I look at what I paid for certain books two years ago, and I think

 

I should have banked those bucks and bought now...., or maybe next year.

 

However, I think I sold the bulk of my more valuable dupes at the peak

[Silver]

Not really hurting, but scared to death of potentail pain!

 

I am somewhat obsessed by thoughts of financial planning and retirement security.

 

Needless to say, every comic I buy is "value" priced, I will not spend silly money on old newsprint. Well, mayne a couple I am looking for

[CKB]

picture yourself owning 500 Valiant Turok # 1s

 

[CKB]

I work in the information security arena as a government contrator - there's more work than we can keep up with. Crypto-modernization is here and it is being taken seriously.

 

I hear lots of talk about "deflation" and while I am not blind to dropping prices on collectibles I have noticed the opposite trend in essentials. My view is that my grocery and other bills for essentials have risen noticably over the last two years. Anyone else seeing this? It looks like inflation to me - I have a limited view on this stuff - I don't buy groceries on eBay. Could be a regional thing.

 

[shadroch]

I sunk much of my lifes savings into a casino just before the economy tanked.Lost most of the investment, but it turned out the previous owners conspired to cook the books and it looks like I'll get a healthy chunk back.

For most of the last year and a half I've worked as a manager for the US Census but thats winding down.

Thanks to having stop- losses on my portfolio, I was largely unaffected by the stock markets decline, and have done pretty well picking up the scraps. Ford and GE have been homeruns for me, and Sunrise Assisted Living was close to a triple.

All in all, I weathered the great economic downturn fairly well.

 

[paleontol99-migration]

 

So, it's now possible to live in a place with a very, very low cost of living...say, Montana, Mississippi, or New Mexico...and still do what they've done, without having to "be close to a metropolitan area."

 

The catch is that if you can do it from Montana, you can do it from India, China, or the Philippines. Even in the low-cost US states, it's hard to compete.

 

What Ive done on my end is set up a number of outposts across the US. One in Florida, one in CA, and one in Arizona. I use the truck with Lance 835 camper to go back and forth between those states where I pull into my larger rvs. Traveling with the camper allows me to pay no hotel bills and stop at comic, coin, mineral, militaria, craft and other shows in while traveling. The key is to bed down in an area for a week or so, as this way you do not go thru a ton of gas. The only bigger bills, once insurance and the rv spots are taken care of is gas and food so I figure those are up to me. The next part of the plan is to have property in two of the upper states and drop down two other small rvs as outposts so other shows can be brought into play. If I had to say anything about the lifestyle, I like it cause its under your own control and you can pretty much hop from one spot to another and see the US at the same time while conducting business. What do hotels cost these days, minimum $ 50. 5 hotel days just saved

$ 250 I figure minimum. It works for me and I would not have been able to build the lifestyle if it wasnt for running into tremendous adversity in the late 1980s with having to make such large payments each month on my house at that time. Coming up with large mortgage payments each month became and on going saga of terror each month. Blood pressure sky high at the time, headaches, etc.Without that adversity I would not have been able to adapt and have a better lifestyle now. Remember the 1st line in Conan- "Beaten into Wisdom on the Anvil of Will". It pretty much sums it up. You have to take the knocks in order to adapt and make it better and what may seem bad at the moment can be changed into much better if you come up with a plan. Sometimes that plan may require shedding monsterous weight such as a big house or gas guzzling car and lower the bills to eventually become debt free. For those in trouble, I take comfort in what a friend told me years ago when gong thru my mess. He said "Dont focus on what you may lose but focus on what you still have". For what its worth, those words kick started a new period of growth for me. i hope it does for you too.

[supapimp]

I sunk much of my lifes savings into a casino just before the economy tanked.Lost most of the investment, but it turned out the previous owners conspired to cook the books and it looks like I'll get a healthy chunk back.

For most of the last year and a half I've worked as a manager for the US Census but thats winding down.

Thanks to having stop- losses on my portfolio, I was largely unaffected by the stock markets decline, and have done pretty well picking up the scraps. Ford and GE have been homeruns for me, and Sunrise Assisted Living was close to a triple.

All in all, I weathered the great economic downturn fairly well.

 

WOW! glad everything might work out.