[tnokie]

I am just not seeing the "crunch" taking place here like they say it is. There is still a lot of building going on here,two brand new subdivisions going in,Acouple of business buildings. I went to do the grocery shopping saturday and Wally world was just absoutely packed.My DW went into the Mall areas and said the same was going on there.We turn on the tv and and they say the economy has dropped so much and people are in such dire shape.Maybe we are in a safe area but I'm just not seeing the dire cutbacks everyone is talking about!The national news was talking about how the major credit cards were reporting over 20% loses on spending,one example was jewerly, expenditures on over a $1000 items was 21% down by average people. Maybe thats the problem,"average" people around here don't spend $1000 on jewerly purchases here. If you can afford that you don't fit into our "average" citizen group!By the way our gas went down to $1.57 this weekend,a month ago it was $4.35!

 

[seedspreader]

That's great, you should feel thankful! Anytime there is a recession (or even a depression) there are places that feel it more or (in you case) less.

I think we will see where we stand as a nation better in January. I know WE were at the mall last weekend, but we weren't there to spend money, we were there to walk around. And it was busy, jam-packed actually.

I see that Citibank is getting bailed out this morning, having lost 80% of it's value. So I don't think it's just people's imagination.

 

[ginnie5]

there's still tons of building going on here too. Dh was laid off on October and still hasn't found work so the economy is bad for us at least. The stores are packed though.....guess everyone else has money.

 

[marvella]

during the last depression, my little corner of tn couldn't tell any difference. they had always been poor, and still were.

still building here too. to beat it all, watching tv last night, there was an ad offering reverse mortgages to senior citizens!! that is the kind of bad lending that got us into this mess in the first place! bunch of financial barracudas!

 

[CJ]

We're not seeing much evidence of it here either, that I can tell. Builders are swamped, stores and restaurants are packed.

 

[chris30523]

My little town has been hit pretty hard.Alot of our buisness are tourist based and people just are not traveling like they were.I am sure with the price of gas going down it will pick up but too little to late for some of the shops and restraunts here that lost most all of their summer and fall buisness.We were in Savannah this weekend and you couldn't tell it has hurt anyone down there. The malls ,grocery stores,walmart were all packed. I think it really depends on the income base for the area you are in.

 

[mammabooh]

We've not seen it here either. We don't know anyone who has lost their jobs. Several factories have closed in town, but we don't know anyone who worked in them. Everyone we know has a job and has enough money to pay their bills and feed their families (as far as they've cared to let us know, that is). The only people who I have talked to who are really scared are the ones who watch the news all the time.

People are still building new houses, buying new cars, and Christmas shopping. I truly believe that so much of the fear is media-induced and I simply refuse to succomb to it.

 

[whinnyninny]

there's still tons of building going on here too. Dh was laid off on October and still hasn't found work so the economy is bad for us at least. The stores are packed though.....guess everyone else has money.

No, they have credit cards. When things get bad some people really do try to make themselves feel "better" by shopping! :stars:

 

[mdharris68]

I personally think those affected the most will be those living beyond thier means. For us, we have always lived at or above poverty level, and the thing that was hurting us the most was the price of fuel. Now that it's back down, I feel rich. We are saving about a hundred dollors every couple of weeks at the pump since the price came down to 1.57. Our little town (pop. 10,000) has 4 grocery stores and we have always shopped at the cheapest one. They are now the busy one too. We actually just installed 40 feet of new meat merchandisers in this store because the owner needed a tax writeoff before the end of the year. 3 teenagers in our house have jobs. One full time and two part time.

One of our larger industries in town has started laying people off though, mainly because of huge looses due to high grain prices and high fuel prices early in the year. Part of it could be a change in the way they do business as well. Time will tell.

 

[sancraft]

My daughter is the front desk manager for Best Western. Their restaurant has slowed downed so much they reduced it to weekends and banquets only. The hotel has been so slow, everyone is working only 2 days a week for the month of Dec. to avoid lay offs. There are only 6 restaurants in my small town and 2 have closed. You can feel the crunch here for sure.

 

[Beaners]

My husband's restaurant had a 40 minute from 5 to close on Saturday night, and that was with a complete serving staff working. So they had every table in use, and there was still a 40 minute wait. They have been busy throughout the week, for both dinner and lunch, also.

The Texas Roadhouse down the road was on a 75 minute wait.

That said, Aldis has been absolutely packed with people who had obviously never been there before. Walmart's shelves were nearly bare when we walked though, especially the less expensive stuff. And the stuff people were buying wasn't the Thanksgiving sale stuff, so I don't know what to think about that. (Although it started snowing last week, and apparently people do some panic buying when that happens, so that may have been some of it.)

I don't think that the media is making this up, if anything, I think they are downplaying the worst of the news. But I do think that a lot of people aren't worried. I bet my blood pressure has risen more in the last six months than most people's, but I'd rather see it coming from the beginning than be blindsided later on.

Kayleigh

 

[MariaAZ]

I personally think those affected the most will be those living beyond thier means.

I agree completely, but one needs to keep in mind that "living below one's means" is different for different people. A person making $200,000/yr and living below their means has the capacity to have a LOT different lifestyle than someone who makes $40,000/yr. The former can still afford things that the latter can't. In my opinion, there is a certain hazard in assuming that everyone's "below their means" lifestyle should be the same. I feel this can cause an "us against them" mentality that is absolutely not necessary in times when people should be coming together.

 

[mammabooh]

I don't think that the media is making this up, if anything, I think they are downplaying the worst of the news. But I do think that a lot of people aren't worried. Kayleigh

I don't think they are making it up, but I think watching it and hearing about it constantly on the news does nothing but bad things for your mental health.

 

[Beeman]

I guess TN is a big state. Around here the majority of factories are automotive related so many are laying off. They built subdivisions but there's only 1 or 2 houses and the rest was auctioned when the developer went bust. Knoxville has been auctioning whole subdivisions of spec houses. Retailers are slow, my son works at WM and has had hours cut.

 

[Nevada]

That's great, you should feel thankful! Anytime there is a recession (or even a depression) there are places that feel it more or (in you case) less.

That's for sure. Las Vegas & Reno are getting hit really hard, but things are doing pretty well around Elko.

We have an artificially good economy here in Elko during tough times because of the Barrick Gold Corporation mine west of town. Barrick Gold is the largest gold mining company in the world, and the local mine is the largest gold mine in the country, producing some $2 billion/year worth of gold at today's prices. They've actually stepped-up mining operations lately.

 

[marvella]

I guess TN is a big state. Around here the majority of factories are automotive related so many are laying off. They built subdivisions but there's only 1 or 2 houses and the rest was auctioned when the developer went bust. Knoxville has been auctioning whole subdivisions of spec houses. Retailers are slow, my son works at WM and has had hours cut.

you always post the most interesting topics!

according to the news, walmart is swamped with people expecting to save money, that aren't usual shoppers. msn had an article last week that said they are posting record profits because of the slow down. we dont have any factories to speak of sas most work out of town and commute back here to live. gatlinburg and pigeon forge are laying off because of slower business, but the news this morning said myrtle beach is doing the same as other years from northerners looking for some vacation warmth.

i don't think we have actually seen the effects quite yet.

 

[PrincessFerf]

We have done some cutbacks in our spending and have begun to notice a difference in the money we have at the end of the month. We have gone to "all cash" unless its an absolute emergency.

My husband and I both have good paying jobs (we work in IT) and neither of us are seeing a slowdown in our work. If anything the next year will be very busy for both of us. For that I am very grateful.

We are taking this downturn to change the way we spend and to "live like we did when we were first starting out". What a difference that makes.

I agree with mammabooh that the more you read about the economy, the more it impacts your mental health. I would never suggest that someone doesn't read what's going on... (ignorance is irresponsible), but there is a "happy medium".

 

[Nevada]

i don't think we have actually seen the effects quite yet.

It doesn't have to be in your backyard for you to feel the effects. In our case, while the local economy is pretty good the overall state is hurting from the severe slowdown in tourism in Las Vegas & Reno. Nevada is like a lot of other states in respect to lower revenues being collected. Therefore, the state can't do as much as it used to do, so economic problems in Las Vegas & Reno are reaching us here in Elko.

If you really think about how the slowdown is effecting your state and federal services you'll see how it reaches everyone.

 

[wyld thang]

Just reading the website for my town's newspaper--a long time huge RV dealership is closing, not because it is bankrupt, but they're getting out because they will be. We have a trailer/manufactured home factory--there is nothing in the lots waiting to be shipped out. The steel mill is cutting hours. I don't even want to think about the saw mills. Building was declared at a complete standstill for the county because they got one permit for a single family home last month. Lots of new and old storefronts are empty. Our town has seen a lot of growth and has been pegged for a lot more, we are supposed to get a Target and a Costco, but that is probably on the back burner now. A lot of new storefront stuff was built because of this growth projection, but at least half is still empty, unleased. The high school is in the middle of a giant renovation project(doubling the capacity), fortunately. A furniture store went out of biz. Foreclosures have doubled for the county. However, one big employer for the county that has international customers making dental chairs and equipment is still doing well. Food banks are swampedswampedswamped.

SO yeah, things are slowing down. Good thing is there is a lot of varied agriculture here(dairy, wheat, hay, row crops, orchards, vineyards, nuts, lamb, eggs, beef).

 

[clovis]

I personally think this economy is in a situation that no one can categorize.

Here in central Indiana, houses don't seem to be selling. Indiana is dependent on the auto industry, and I know several that have gotten laid off. You don't see many new home starts here either. I am getting my clock cleaned on ebay. I am down about 2/3 on what I was selling just a few months ago.

But judging by what I call the 'parking lot meter' or the 'interstate meter', you would never guess in a million years that we are in a recession. The parking lots of retailers and restaraunts are full!

But on the other hand, I don't think people are spending as much money as they were. I have a cousin that works at Chilis, and she says that tips are way down, and that people are not spending what they were.

I personally believe that the newspaper headlines about the bank bailouts have caused much of the loss in consumer spending, even though there are real problems in the economy.

Clove