Has the economic crisis affected you personally?
 

I would especially like to hear from those outside of the US. I'm just curious if it's more of an issue here or is the rest of the world feeling the affects. I'll start by tossing out my personal observations.

It really hasn't affected me, my family or my friends that much. My day to day life really hasn't changed much. Although probably the wrong thing to do, I find myself being a lot more cautious with purchases and make an even better effort at saving rather than spending. I even bough domestic beer yesterday. Gawd I hate American beer, it's one thing we don't excel at.

I do know some people who ended up in a bad situation. Mainly because they were overextended to begin with. The parking lot where I used to work (in Houston) looked like a luxury car lot full of BMW's, Lexus, and the like. At the end of the row, my 10 year old pickup. Some of them even asked me for help. Sorry, I have no sympathy for those who don't think ahead or put more emphasis on image than responsibility.

Basically just curious if it's really as bad as the media claims or are we just being duped once again while the upper 1% benefit from the situation they created.

Work for me is booming. We're getting a lot more students but having a much tougher time placing them.

That's why I'm drinking German beer, right now :()1:

On a more serious sidenote though: A friend of mine is currently faced with the perspective of unemployment. They phoned him during the holidays and told him that if the economic situation does not improve until the end of September, they'll sack him. Since they did it on too short notice, it could be that he does not receive unemployment pay (you need to tell the employment agency 3 months in advance before your contract expires).

Fortunately, both of my parents are employed in the public sector and thus their jobs aren't affected by the crisis. I'm really glad of that.

I was working during the current semester break, which in itself is a good thing because finding vacation jobs has also become increasingly difficult, but since I've done it a couple of times before and have always done a good job, I was lucky enough. However, a colleague of mine who was also working there just graduated as an engineer and couldn't find a job because the company he was working for during his studies has just imposed a hiring freeze about two months before he finished.
So bottom line: I'm not affected personally, but I know a couple of people who are.

Yes

yes, no, maby so... err yes... lots of stuff, not alot of money...

Since the economic crisis has started i have completed all of the following

1. Purchased a new vehicle with great financing options
2. Purchased an airplane
3. Opened a flight school which is doing relatively well (paying for itself with profit)
4. Moved into a nicer area of town

I think that the "crisis" is highly localized to specific areas.

Not me personally, no, my income actually went up and inflation is at 0%. Overall buying power is up, but so is unemployment. Gonna be a treasury deficit, though not as bad as predicted. Budget cuts are nescesary, but won't be made next year, instead they'll wait to recover from the depression.

I still think that if the media hadn't stirred up a storm, nobody would have been the wiser and people would have just spend as normal, greatly reducing the impact of it all. But that's another matter. :hmmm:

GR, great post! See, most people don't realize that, while a "crisis" is indeed a crisis for some, it is an opportunity for others. For instance, the housing collapse sucked ... unless you were in the market to buy your first home.

As for me, the economic situation really hasn't impacted too badly. Sure, I've lost value on my home like everyone else but considering that it's free-and-clear and I have no interest in selling, who cares? I work for an organization that prepares forecasting reports and position pieces for government bodies so work isn't an issue. The only real impact I've noticed is that my teenage daughter is having a difficult time replacing her current job.

Nothing wrong here either, I have actually never had more money than I have now.:woot:

That's the right question right there. What exactly is the recession, where did it come from, who created it and most importantly, who benefits from it? I'm not a specialist in economic affairs, a lot of it goes over my powers of comprehension, but I do know that there is a lot of scheming going on on the wing of the 'recession'.

I heard somewhere...

"No matter how bad the media makes a recession out to be... Someone, somewhere is doing something to make money."

I find this to be an undeniable truth :yep:

Yea the goverment there 'making' money everyday :rotfl:

The work hours has been reduce,(imagine that) wish means less money. Now the situation is better and i have less time to sit in front of PC.:D

Yep. Even during the Great Depression the unemployment percentage never got beyond 23% (in the US). That means over 3/4ths of workers were still able to earn a living in far worse economic times than these.

A year ago, some people have already warned that this crisis would become the worst one since the Great Depression :hmmm:
I'm glad most people didn't buy it. If they had, it would have been another case of a self-fulfilling prophecy. No one denies that there have been severe problems, and it's not over yet. But it's not the season for scaremongering.