Are ya cutting back yet ?

[hey_moe]

Well with everything going up other and our income at a flat line and unable to keep up ...what would ya give up if ya had to cut corners. First for me would be internet service, cable tv, cell phones and home phone, going out to dinner...and last but least, giving up my new toys which for me would be a killer:costumes: Linda said the big boy toys alone would be a huge savings by itself....what she know anyway:mixedsmi:

[Sascha66]

Cable TV is definitely the first thing to go! :applause:

[lifejogger]

I think one of the last things I would give up when be internet service. If I didn't have that how could read all the interesting things on these forums.

[Dangerousdave26]

Can't give up anything already functioning at a bare minimum. Next month I will move to a new apartment 500 yards from where I work so I do not have to drive to work anymore.

Internet would be the last thing I give up

You Can Have My Internet When You Pry it From My....PC

Doesn't sound right but there it is.

[Panther_99FS]

I've cut back....

Now the wife....:censored:

[rpjkw]

We haven't had to cut back yet. But I'm starting to tire of the wife's complaining about this and that. Mostly gas. I'll sure be glad when the elections are over. All the doom and gloom talk to get elected has scared the bejezus out of her. :banghead: I can't convince her it goes on every four years. Come January, it'll suddenly be, "Happy days are here again", as far as the political rhetoric is concerned.

Bob

[Cazzie]

Gents, I've been cutting back for 16 years. At least until I got FS9 and came on board SOH. Then Panther kept throwing all this good :censored: in front of me and I start burning the plastic! :isadizzy: :d

Seriously, I have cut back. My plastic modeling is null and void at this moment, I just cannot afford the hobby anymore and it was priority one to go. next was traveling, no more trips that take any longer than 2 hours and no rush to the corner stop 'n' rob for every little item needed, wait until groceries. Cut back on expensive food items too, no brand names when store brands are available. I have cable internet and I'll never go back to dial-up. DSL is more expensive than cable here. I do have Direct TV and the wife and I have gone to a much lower tier package, but they gave us the sport's package back for only $5. and that's about all I watch anyhow. I can do without TV, but the Internet is my only enjoyable recreation inside my home now. Everything else is outdoors; hiking, cycling, shooting, blowning up things with M-80s. practicing for the upcoming Depression ya know. When ya ain't got money, ya have to take it from those that took it from you, i.e. the filthy rich!

I can remember my dad's stories of the Great depression and being dirt poor, his family were hit hard. His father died in 1928 and when the Depression hit, his mother was stuck with 5 kids and what little compensation Grandpa from WW I got wasn't enough to feed one. Dad would tell me how they would steal coal from the train cars for there Franklin stove. Most had chickens and a veggie garden to supply what they could on their own. He finally had to go to work at age 14 (hard work, roofing) to help support the family. My dad was a special man, I never had a beef with him, he was one of the few whites in his time to help blacks, because a black man named Robert Akins became sort of a serrogate father for him when he went to work roofing. He would never use the N-word and would be quick to shut your mouth if you did.

I don't want a Depression, but unfortunately they are part of a Capitalistic system, there are always cycles, Capitalism will usually lead to some form of Socialism when it fails and then go back to Capitalism as the cycle self-cleans itself. For myself, I do not worry, but for my children, I despise what the greedy corporations have done to their future.

Don't get me started on the inept politicians and corporate management, I am already shooting mad. :sniper:

Caz

[OBIO]

Cut backs aplenty around here. Have scaled back the Cable/Phone/Internet bundle to the basic level (I really miss my 15 meg per second connection, making due with a 768 K per second connection...Oh the Humanity). No more eating out. Store brands on everything unless the big brands are on sale for less than the store brands. No more long pointless drives just because the dogs like seeing the Amish people working in their fields, we used to take drives across four and five counties just to see the scenery and let the dogs smell foreign air. I have switched from normal packs of cigarettes to making my own with bagged tobacco, filter tubes and a neat little stuffer machine...and cutting back from 1.5 packs per day to 1 pack every other day (working on becoming a non-smoker).

The biggest cut backs BY FAR are the two cars that will be getting repossessed. Can no longer afford two car payments and still maintain a roof over our heads. While I was typing this, one of the finance companies called and discussed once again the fact that we have not made the September payment...and I once again stated that we wish to surrender the car. They keep hoping that we will change our minds...but I tell them it's not our minds that say the cars have to go, it's our wallets.

OBIO

[Sascha66]

Same here, cutting back on the eating out as far as possible (gotta keep the wife happy), running the phone bill over the company, fortunately I don't need a car cause I take a train to work and then walk...

IN HARD TIMES, FLIGHTSIMMING IS A REWARDING AND INEXPENSIVE WAY TO RELAX - with all the great freeware you don't even have to fork out cash for new toys :d. And my old rig runs FS9 just fine!

Cheers,
Sascha

[rpjkw]

"I have switched from normal packs of cigarettes to making my own with bagged tobacco, filter tubes and a neat little stuffer machine..."

OBIO, would that be one of those Laredo cigarette machines that came on the market in the 60s? I used to have one and have often wondered why, with the price of smokes these days, I don't see them anywhere.

Good luck with your quitting. It ain't easy, but it can be done. The wife quite a year ago and I quit 31/2 years ago.....right after my third heart attack. I now sport an implanted pace maker/defibrilator, but I'm nicotine free. :wiggle: Best thing is not having the gorilla on my back.

Bob

[Toastmaker]

Congratulations to all of you who have quit smoking. It's a grueling and stressful ordeal.

I'm setting a date for me to quit in about two weeks - preparing for the battle. Again. . .

:banghead:

However, generally a bit of belt tightening won't kill us. America has had to do this to a much deeper level before and survived it. We will too.

[Odie]

If we're in a recession....I refuse to participate. I conduct my life as I normally would, as best I can. Too much doom and gloom being passed around for free. No thanks, I'll pass.

[Henry]

Congratulations to all of you who have quit smoking. It's a grueling and stressful ordeal.

I'm setting a date for me to quit in about two weeks - preparing for the battle. Again. . .

:banghead:

However, generally a bit of belt tightening won't kill us. America has had to do this to a much deeper level before and survived it. We will too.

I have been thinking about Quitting
i have a trip coming up and with long flights and
no smoking rooms
i may not have a choice :isadizzy:
and it couldnt do me any harm
H

[Craig Taylor]

My brother and his wife tried a hypno-therapist to quit smoking about six years ago. It worked for her but he started again a couple of years ago. They told me the key was to break that mental connection to all those things you typically have a smoke with -- a cup of coffee and a cigarette, or after breakfast, or...well, I'm sure you get the idea.

I wish you guys all the support you need in breaking that habit. :applause:

[Dangerousdave26]

I did forget I will be cutting out daily coffees in the morning. Now only the Good Cuban coffee on Fridays and maybe on the weekend. Other than that unless I cut out food I have nothing left to cut.

[cheezyflier]

here in canadia, the economy isn't that bad. on the other hand, being legally restricted from employment, our household (me, the wife and her 2 kids) has to make due with her salary as a floral designer. the only extras we have is the internet, and my medical bills. we already buy "no name" brand for most items. if we had to give up something, i would vote for the kids. :wavey:

i have alot of friends back in delaware, in the construction industry. the banking problems have hit them real hard. i feel bad for them.

[Crusader]

I'll have to think about this one . Two definate exceptions would be the internet and beer !:costumes:

Rich:ernae:
(Retired and fulltime flight simmer)

[MCDesigns]

I've been lean and mean for awhile now (had to due to job switchs and extravagant lifestyle). Got out of debt, got rid of the things I really didn't need (boat, bike, etc) and just focused on the basics.

I have to many friends that live paycheck to paycheck and they refuse to change their lifestyle to compensate, really sad, especially now.

[Willy]

Just got all our stuff paid off so the only bills are utilities and internet (or is that a utility? ;)). We had thought about getting a newer small car, but with all the financial problems going on right now, this don't seem to be a good time to be starting up more credit to be paying off. So, we've decided to put that off until next summer and just try and save enough to buy a used one.

The only other expense we've got are the horses & dogs, but thats mainly feed and we can always use the horses to go to the store and other around town trips if we have to. And the dogs are Min Pins so they don't eat much.

We get most of our meds from the Navy base in Millington, so that's a monthly 4hr round trip, but we come out cheaper that way.

So I guess we're already cut back but with nothing in the way of bills other than the utilities, I think we're looking good so long as we can keep from adding anything else.

[OBIO]

I really feel bad for the working class families....trying to feed, dress, educate and medicate children. Luckily, my wife and I don't have children to care for, so that makes things a bit less scary. We do have 2 dogs (small ones), 2 ferrets and 3 fish tanks. Maintaining those "kids" is a lot cheaper than trying to raise real kids. A 20 pound bag of dog food costs $11, but since the combined weight of the dogs is only 20 pounds, that bag of food will last for months. $20 of ferret food (three kinds mixed together for optimal nutrition levels) will last about 4, maybe 5 months.

OBIO

[Buddha13]

Hi all,
Not had a choice in cutting back.With my wife being made redundant we lost 50% of our income.
Cannot give up the internet though as a lot of jobs in the UK only allow application via the internet.Especially government related ones.

Buddha13

[Willy]

Buddha, that's what I meant by internet service should be considered a utility like the phone is.

[eashouse]

I'm actually contemplating increasing my expenditures - of lottery tickets!

[Buddha13]

Hi Willy,
I have to agree with you one that one wholeheartedly.

Budda13

[hey_moe]

To watch the stock markets around the world keep dropping makes me sick. Peoples retirements are affected and we are taking a huge hit on our 401k. The NTSX has lost 5000 points this year alone and it is still dropping each day. Large employers are starting to make huge cut backs and are also starting to lay off large amounts of employees.:isadizzy: America is stressed out!

[wombat666]

Nothing we need to cut back here, decided long ago what we 'needed' as opposed to what we 'wanted'.
Oddly enough our banking system is well based to withstand the worst effects of the present crisis.
And as long as my lovely wife continues to practice medicine the finances are nice and steady.
:d
BTW: 'Cutting out smoking' is dead simple, you must want to do so and stop altogether, none of that cutting down to 5 per day or 2 per day rubbish.
Just plain cold turkey.
Easy for me to say ....... I stopped smoking in 1962!
:d

[Toastmaker]

Nothing we need to cut back here, decided long ago what we 'needed' as opposed to what we 'wanted'.
Oddly enough our banking system is well based to withstand the worst effects of the present crisis.
And as long as my lovely wife continues to practice medicine the finances are nice and steady.
:d
BTW: 'Cutting out smoking' is dead simple, you must want to do so and stop altogether, none of that cutting down to 5 per day or 2 per day rubbish.
Just plain cold turkey.
Easy for me to say ....... I stopped smoking in 1962!
:d



Yes - correct. Either you are or are not a smoker. You just have to make that choice for yourself.

[Drake]

I'm actually contemplating increasing my expenditures - of lottery tickets!

Same here! :d

[Willy]

Pretty much same with any other addiction. Just make up your mind that you're not going to do it anymore. And it'll take a while for your body to loose the physical cravings. But as long as your mind is made up, the body will eventual follow.

It just boils down to how bad do you want to quit.

[Silver Fox]

Not cutting back at all. Got my eye on a big-screen TV and have the money in the bank.

Being in Canada I haven't really seen anything to suggest that cutting back is needed. I am holding off until after our election next week, but given the apparent outcome I'll then continue as normal.

I do feel for all of you that reside in places where the economy is not so strong. I remember what the last couple of major downturns in Canada were like, it can really rip the guts out.

[Cazzie]

Nothing we need to cut back here, decided long ago what we 'needed' as opposed to what we 'wanted'.
Oddly enough our banking system is well based to withstand the worst effects of the present crisis.
And as long as my lovely wife continues to practice medicine the finances are nice and steady.
:d
BTW: 'Cutting out smoking' is dead simple, you must want to do so and stop altogether, none of that cutting down to 5 per day or 2 per day rubbish.
Just plain cold turkey.
Easy for me to say ....... I stopped smoking in 1962!
:d

And that's when ya started "cooking"! :d

Caz, cold turkey since 1974

[Willy]

Cold turkey on the Copenhagen snuff since 1996

[Kofschip]

Quit smoking cold turkey on 18 August 2006, 4:30 PM. Had my heart attack at 4:35 PM that day. It scared the living you know what out of me.:banghead::banghead:

[VF15_gray]

To watch the stock markets around the world keep dropping makes me sick. Peoples retirements are affected and we are taking a huge hit on our 401k.

I don't understand this. Anybody that invested in the stock market should have fully understood there was RISK. If they didn't want the risk (IE: possible high gain), they should have put their money in a saving account.

My stocks are down but I made the decision a year ago to ride out the coming storm. This is not the time the bail out. Let's just hope it doesn't last 15 yrs!

[Hiede]

Not cutting back either.We put the boat in about 3 weeks ago for a refit and electronics.Also doing some remodeling of the house.

Hiede

[mcjerkyls]

whats a depression? These symptoms sound like a normal life in my small world :costumes: the poor are still poor, i see no change. seems the rich will still be content, you middle-classers need to pick a side haha. I dont mean to offend, all I'm saying is we'll pull through. we can be a tough crowd in more ways than one...

[wombat666]

And that's when ya started "cooking"! :d
Caz, cold turkey since 1974

I discovered very quickly that it was easier to knock off smoking than wheeze my way through a 25 mile Forced March carrying 70+ pounds of kit each time our insrtuctors decided to give us a special 'treat' ......... :d

[eddie]

To watch the stock markets around the world keep dropping makes me sick. Peoples retirements are affected and we are taking a huge hit on our 401k. The NTSX has lost 5000 points this year alone and it is still dropping each day. Large employers are starting to make huge cut backs and are also starting to lay off large amounts of employees.:isadizzy: America is stressed out!

Moe, what are you paying for gas down there in the "Old Dominion"? We are down to $2.67 a gallon up here!