Has the Recession affected you?

[Avid6eek]

Is there anyone in here who has been directly affected by the recent economic downturn? How have you made changes to your lifestyle?

My girlfriend and I both still have our jobs, and they are fairly stable. We have changed our spending habits. We no longer buy very much, and all money that isn't used for bills is either saved or used to pay down debt. This is the first recession to hit during my adult life, so it is making a big impact on how I view my finances.

The governement is encouraging spending, but taking on debt is what got us here in the first place. At least personally, even if I am fortunate enough to keep my job, the next year or so is going to be tough until all debt (except for the mortgage) is paid in full.

[Nataku]

I still have my job. There were a couple of months last year when this first started getting bad that we didn't have a lot of work to be done. We cut ties with all of our contractors to keep everything in house.

However interestingly enough January was almost a record month for us. People are starting to realize that spending money on advertising is still necessary for their business.

I have started using Mint.com so I can keep a better eye on my spending and it's been extremely helpful! :thumb:

[Nova]

I cut my weekly groceries by a lot. I eat meat a lot less, incorporated rice into my diet since a month's worth of rice (eaten daily) costs me like $6. I used to buy the fresh bakery bread but now at just under $5 a piece I don't buy that stuff anymore. Went from spending about $100 a week (back when I got a sh1t ton of food for that money in 2007) to under $50 a week.

I also don't go out as much anymore or buy beer/drink at clubs, maybe 1 but no more.

As for my computer habits, I used to buy games regularly, probably at least one per month. Last games I spent my money on were L4D and Fallout 3.

As for jobs, I tried getting one but no luck. A friend of mine has been jobless for a few months and he's still having no luck finding one and another guy I know lost his job at Circuit City. I still make enough to meet my needs by fixing peoples PC's so I haven't panicked yet, but it's getting there.

Oh and I'm really happy gas is cheaper now. Went from spending around $150-200 a month on gas to under $80.