Is the Economy hurting you? Tell me. UPDATED!

no more ot. hours rearranged. still have a job but moral is at an alltime low. hiring freeze except for nurses

I have owned my business for 20 years now.. it has never been like this.. I used to do 50 to 80 houses per month now down to 5-10... the housing industry has been in DEPRESSION now for 3 years.. it isn't coming out.
My family has done this type of work since 1951... it has never been this bad..

"When governments fear the people there is liberty. When the people fear the government there is tyranny."
-Thomas Jefferson

I am more concerned about the return of my money than the return on my money. --Mark Twain

My daughters girlfriends husband a salesman with the big house, affluent suburb, two cabin cruiser Lake Michigan boats, two gas guzzlers, and expensive private school was recently laid off. They lived for the day (mortgaged), not tomorrow. Rich parents, maybe they will get through this ? Good people, I like them. Sad

This is what happened to the Japanese when their stock market crashed 1990's.

Listening to Alex Jones surfing. Thought I'd chime in... Well here in central NC we haven't seen the effects other than the budget woes. My Bro-in-law's dad got laid off President of Serchie. Didn't let him clean out his desk. And my bro-in-law's father in law on my wifes side got dropped as some kind of computer guru.. Both had high paying jobs. My job at a biopharm plant.. Well we're selling everything we are making.. No hints at anything. Well other than the penny pinching which is good for us all. Still doing research on everything and getting prepared. I can't say for sure anything is off. i.e. 9/11, fema camps, etc. I'm hoping and praying they are not, but from what I've seen I'm getting ready. Lets see. Went to Builders Discount (doing remodeling) and the girl said they are having their best year ever. From homeowners not contractors. Guess people are remodeling instead of upgrading at the moment. A local subway is cutting back. We're plagued here with too much crap in a confined area. I have no idea why we need 3 or 4 walmarts in a 10 mile radius.. But they'll learn.

My employer just announced last week that they are suspending our bonus plan due to the global economic crisis.. My bonus was my lifeline. I waited six months living paycheck to paycheck so that I could get a few thousand dollars extra to handle things like overdue bills and automobile repairs. Now I can't pay my taxes and have no way even to pay a bankruptcy attorney. I will probably be in jail within a year for non-payment of income taxes.

Mark

Well, I'm 21, there is currently no one hiring and businesses being shutdown pretty often. I had plans to be able to afford an apartment in a few months for me and my lady. So now I'm basically at a real crappy place and it feels like i'm stuck at times. Maybe it will get better in 10 years though, then I can have a midlife crisis =]

Well, we just achieved a record month - and my business is in the packaged/bottled/canned food industry. We have high-quality products at mid-range cost. No government stimulus here - I am in Thailand.

“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.” -- John Quincy Adams

as a district sales manager. More hours and travel then ever. My company is a trow back to the 70"s, they pay all of your health insurance. Adding to income, shorting bank shocks after false rallies..... will short fertilizers soon.. Wifey down 30% in commissions, retail shoes.. can not get anyone to take the credit card bait... which is good!!!!

for the fact that the government has decided to take 1/3 of my income, and a considerable amount of my assets, and give them to my ex-wife, who decided that she wanted to be "free", and yet, still not have to work for a living in order to sustain herself. Although we are divorced, she feels that she should still be able to continue living off of me, and my income. And the government agrees. They don't want to give any kind of assistance to any woman, who doesn't feel like working, if there is a man that they can 'steal' the money from.

But I'm OK ! I will survive .... and thrive, in spite of everything !

My husband works for a waste collection company many of you would know the name of...anyway, the last 2 years, the last 6 months especially, he has seen a large drop in the tonnage of trash that gets picked up. We work from a skeleton crew now and in order for someone not to get laid off they kind of rotate who gets a day off or leaves early here and there.

He picked up Friday's residential route in 4 hours. That is amazing, picking up 1/4 of the towns trash in 4 hours. He went from working overtime each week to being fortuate if he gets 35-40. People are obviously buying less and have less to throw away. Many houses in town are vacant too.

"People demand freedom only when they have no power. "
--Henry Longfellow

(February rate well above the nation's 8.1 percent rate). We are treading water but somehow are above the surface. We just want our tax return as this will be used to get us caught up with mortgage/printers/etc..
I have a lot of friends out of work, but yet most are still employed. I just wish we could get out of this, I want my life back and my "American Dream" given an opportunity to see fruition. I don't mind working hard, I would just like to see the rewards of my hard work. It gets so discouraging and depressing...

work the other day past all of the vacant manufacturing buildings and through the town where so many impoverished people have just given up. (SC was already pretty impoverished before this mess) There seems to be alot of trash along the roadways. I see alot more people riding bikes and walking. I worry about the elderly who can no longer participate in the work world and must get by with whatever they were able to save up during their productive years. I see the defeated faces of the baby boomers who were once looking forward to retirement and now are praying that they can hold on to their jobs long enough to put together a new plan to replace the dream that was wiped out along with their 401Ks. Our state ranks 3rd or 4th in unemployment. My husband was "laid off" from his product development position back in October but was able to land a national sales job by March. I used to work contract jobs in accounting but have taken a permanant position with a manufacturing company. Their sales have dropped considerably and their is no guarantee as to how long it wil last. My husband is asleep with one eye open. But, ya know, that's OK with me because we need ALL types of personalities to keep us grounded. My day has become more of a continual conversation with God. My heart goes out to everyone who is struggling right now.

~Your perception becomes your reality~

We shouldn't fall into the simplistic media trap of thinking that "all businesses are doing badly".

The fact is that some enterprises are positively booming right now while others are going to the wall. Not all of the successful ones rely on government patronage either!

I live in Britain and my girlfriend is constantly saying things like "what credit crunch?", "what recession?" and "all the shops I go to are f*****g packed!".

Last week she dragged me into the Liverpool branch of the "Build-A-Bear Workshop". It was standing room only. Apparently, over-priced designer teddy bears are an absolute must in this wintry economic climate.

http://brits4ronpaul.blogspot.com/

http://lpuk.blogspot.com/

http://northwestlibertarians.blogspot.com/

The company I work for and own stock in is actually growing right now in Northern California. We provide rural wireless broadband internet.

I've been with the company for six years. 25 employees. I'm one of two VP's. No salary reductions right now.

My company has a recurring revenue model. Retail has gone downhill in the area and there are so many vacant retail fronts.

Furniture, Car lots and expensive dining, electronics stores don't have a chance in hell of surviving right now.

Dollar stores, fast food, cheap pizza, auto parts stores and smaller grocery stores stay busy.

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“It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds” - Sam Adams

We were doing okay most of last year as I just started a new business and my wife had a seemingly stable job. I also had some investments which then began to drop dramatically so I pulled out of the market and have the remainder in cash.

Things are more difficult now though. My wife just got laid off and my company is likely much less viable because of the economy.

My wife is a teacher and has been laid off twice in the last 4 years. She was one of several teachers to go, and just before they announced the lay-offs the administrators all gave themselves raises. Yet another insult added to injury amid the current financial fiasco.

My savings will last us a little while but not forever, and we'll probably have to move to a new city. With any luck (and diligence) my wife will find a new job and I'll be able to get my new company off the ground so we can gain some momentum.

What bothers me about the current situation is that we Americans have been sold out. I've always been a do-it-yourself kind of guy and am looking for no hand-outs. I just want to have some stable ground on which to build my life. I pay my taxes and I expect my Government to use those funds to provide a safe and open environment in which I can prosper, not to squander those funds and abuse my rights.

It seems our Government is intent on establishing itself as a middleman with a hand in everything we do and at every stage of life, and when they have their foot in the door the steps they take from then on appear to be to extort money from us and limit our ability to bring about the full potential of our lives. They routinely use American finances, resources, and military to spread their toxicity throughout the world which is damaging on too many levels to mention.

Is it any wonder our Nation is crumbling?

I really can't describe how irritated I am about the narrow-minded focus on Wall Street and banks throughout this crisis. Not only because it's misguided, but because at the heart of their actions they're stealing from the people who had nothing to do with the cause of the economic devastation with the hopes that it will recreate the facade, but it won't work.

The simple fact is that I'm a small businessman with a little capital, my wife is an unemployed teacher, and my child is going to have to move away from her friends yet again. How can we consider ourselves a part of any community when we're constantly displaced? It's families like ours that are the backbone of this country, and so many of us are suffering through both the faltering economy, and through the nefarious actions of our Government and the Fed. If they want to help the economy they need to provide us with a means to rebuild rather than try to prop up the broken down debt machine we've become.

We have only one life and I'm a little tired of being told how and in what way I can progress through mine. That I regularly have portions of my income taken by those in power so they can create new and underhanded ways to infiltrate and inhibit my pursuit of happiness is even more frustrating.

To top it all off my area gets sprayed with chemtrails on a weekly basis. I know a lot a people avoid the chemtrail issue and view it as a conspiracy theory, but the conspiracy theory aspect only comes into play when you speculate on why certain things are being done. There is no way anyone could refute that planes are spraying the skies when they live in an area where it occurs. I'm out several times a day, every day, and can see the planes, the spraying, and the results. As I bear witness to such an insidious spectacle I can't help but feel angry, saddened, and repulsed.

I'm developing a great deal of concern for the welfare of my child in a world where powerful people so willfully corrupt much of what is beautiful about our planet and the life we've been given. Their actions inhibit the possibilities for evolutionary growth that we humans possess and they stand as examples of the lowly depths to which human integrity can sink.

What we have now is really no different than what we had back in primitive times, though it's become much more efficient and it's so easy to dismiss our situation by busying ourselves with more frivolous considerations and distractions.

Those in control of the force of law abuse the masses as they've always done. Can we come up with no other system?

I suppose we did and we founded this country on it, but we've grown used to "leaders" who choose to ignore the Constitution they swore to uphold.

Those in positions of power simply do not have the right to do most of the things they do. It's time to enforce the limitations on their reach in accordance with the Constitution and set to work restructuring and rebuilding the Nation we love.

My small stock investment has taken a hit, but I have been able to buy down at these low levels.

I am in the Army so am immune to the business cycle. Also getting an extra $700 a month for being in Iraq, plus $500 extra a month for being stopp lossed.

The service is not for everyone but I did it to get back all the tax money I would pay thoughout my life and get this amazing experience and the GI Bill.

Bash the military all you want, but it is one part of the Fed govt that is legitimate and needed.

ahead of disaster, and haven't lost anything. But, if there is another round of layoffs in the company Husband works for, he will be taking a 40% pay cut.

I am doing good on my end. I actually have 2 jobs and both are relatively busy. I think the economy doesn't affect me because I have always been a minimalist along the lines of living and spending. Now, a majority of higher income people I know $80K+ (mother,uncle, dad) have been laid off or are the last one left in their department. All the larger outfits were geared to be so fat and now they are paying the price. I wish the best to everyone that is having problems.

everything is late - no sales coming in. credit companies breathing heavy over the phone. I just laugh. I need to be happy right? ___________________________________________________
"the foxes and the coyotes are arguing about how to fix the hen house"

knows our story. No need to go into the details but the short version is:

Parking lot maintenance in the Memphis area has been slow for two years. We had $100,000 worth of work cancel on us last year.

Our house went up for auction on March 16th. We are renting now
(BTW we went back to get a few things because we had a friend tell us that no one had been there yet...someone came and took anything that was worth anything. Child seats, Italian tile & tumbled travertine I had purchased and was going to sell...etc...all gone...)

Turned to soap making. It's going alright. It's been very slow in the last few weeks. I haven't really had many orders in the last 3 weeks or so.

I have someone that we did a striping job for over a month ago that owes us $900 and hasn't been paid their draw so they won't pay us. I'm not sure if we will be able to pay the rent for April in the new place now.

We have been dramatically effected by this down turn and I just hope we can hang on...

www.urbannaturals.net

Unemployment around 8% at the state level. Florida's growing industry is:
1. Education
2. IT
3. Health Care
forgot the 4th but people in the medical field here are pretty much job secure. Real estate for investors or shoppers is OK, there are many deals out there.
Florida does NOT have an income tax but their fees can be excessive on some things.
It really depends on where in the state you are. The northern part of the state including the panhandle tend to be more conservative and the southern east coast is very liberal. Many areas on the southern west coast are conservative and the central part of the state can go either way. That famous I-4 corridor. Daytona Beach through Orlando and into Tampa target tourists and that is down. North central Florida is more horse country, farms, and of coarse Florida Gator country.

If you're into the marine business or services for cleaning or computers you have good opportunities. Summertime is hot and the landscape business does well because most people don't like being out there in the heat to mow.

Detective Krum Investigates:
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http://v1-p.com/

I'm retired and only can speak for the economic activity I see around me. It seems like most are working, there are a few houses that been on the market for awhile. If I had to guesstimate in my area, I'd say things are a little slow, but not enough to really notice. There is an over supply of new strip malls that are begging for tenant's, new restaurants opening as fast as the ones closing. We have ton's of grocery stores and big box clubs competing for our business. When I go out I usually plan my trip so I can cherry pick all the sales rather than shop at one place. The non-union grocery stores are doing a land-office business and the union stores are doing okay.

At a Lutheran Church, I did pick up free '08 holiday groceries for a family that couldn't make it. It was very Interesting seeing Lutherans and their abundant generosity to families from every color, nationality and religion. The place was packed with long lines and they gave everyone a free breakfast. I passed the breakfast up.

I'm personally doing fine.

I'm really glad to hear that your business is doing better.

My business is primarily based on online advertising sales, but things have been a bit slow for a while. I think maybe I spend too much time here at the DP ;-)

I recently started selling used goods. I had low expectations because I figure that the constant bad news about the economy would cause people to curb their spending. I'm happy to say I was wrong and have been making more money than I expected to at this point. It never occurred to me that the bad economy caused people to become more open to buying used in order to save cash. I have a lot of customers who were buying used for the first time and had never considered it until now.

However, due to me becoming aware of Peter Schiff and Ron Paul in fall '08 I decided to foregoing paying any wages and instead pay off all debt and amass capital in the bank. So, since Sept 08 I've only paid wages once. We're now in the position that I can start paying wages again and we have all our dept gone and we have amassed a large amount of capital in the biz. I figure we could do 1 year with 0 sales and still make it. It's a small family biz and we all agreed it was in the best interest of the company to do this. I was selling extra stuff I have around the house that I didn't need in order to pay mortgage. Gotta do what you gotta do.

I have been living a depression for 3 years now. went from 40 employees to 7! still a little work but nothing like it used to be. I laid off people for the first time in 20 years last Christmas time.

"When governments fear the people there is liberty. When the people fear the government there is tyranny."
-Thomas Jefferson

I am more concerned about the return of my money than the return on my money. --Mark Twain

Since we are swimming in debt, exactly who do we owe all this money to?

If our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren come into the world already owing X ,000 dollars, I want to know who they owe it to, because, if the lenders happen to be crooks and shysters, there may be an easier, cheaper, more just solution that could be instituted right now ... like putting them in jail and ripping up the notes.

Can anybody tell me who the beneficiaries of our debt payments are? The Fed? Foreign banks? I just can't get too worked up about the necessity of paying those fellows back. So, erase the debt, start a new monetary system, and offer the bankers a one way trip to some maximum security prison.

If we owe foreign investors (because they bought shady American investments that went south) well I say, tough ... you took a stupid risk and lost!

After that, we should ban large Chinese outlets on American soil and start making the things we need again ... that should keep everybody employed and busy.