The economy and you……..

[JoB]

charlabob..

the number of disposable things in my house has gone way down too..

and i thought i was an old hippy to begin with:)

and i think we cold fit all our books into three very stuffed bookcases again:) we use the library a lot! we even have library night.. which sometimes becomes date night at the luna:)

i have loved my slow cooker option this year.

but i bought a roaster instead of the traditional slow cooker because it lets me know what the temps are… and is easier to control. it actually heats up before i forget i am cooking:)

the downside is that i use a lot of tomato slow cooking and the insert’s teflon is disintegrating. So far i haven’t been able to find replacement inserts… AARG!

i may simply have to use it without the insert.

i wasn’t happy with the bread from my bread machine.. it was one of those vertical ones. i keep thinking i should try again with a horizontal one… especially as i am standing in the grocery aisle reading ingredient lists…

i do know how to do it the good old fashioned way and did years ago… but even though i am home all day most days… we won’t tell hubby. and if someone does.. i am going to use my hands as an excuse:)

i don’t really like to bake… and that is a bit of a drawback to baking bread.. even in a machine:)

Gina..

i could live without the instant communications.. tho i would find this one hard to give up since i don’t go to work where i have access and hate using library computers… they frown on me coming in pjs:)

and i would say that i could live without the dish.. but it turns out that most of what we actually watch is not on the basic plans. i would miss amy goodman and democracy now. (i know, i could watch it on my computer… but the comfort level isn’t the same)

i could do without network tv.. i seldom watch it unless i am really not doing well.

but i have to say.. my hand held phone with computer access works for me. i use it for note taking, the calendar (synced with outlook), addresses (tho i carry an old fashioned paper backup for when my brain isn’t so agile;)), information, maps, a decent camera in a pinch for snaps… and i even found myself reading the west seattle blog on it on the ferry the other day ;->

new resident..

friends and i have done home shopping parties in the past for the clothes fix. No, not the kind where someone comes to your home and sells you clothes.. but the kind where everyone goes through their closet and takes out the good clothes they thought they would wear and didn’t.. and brings them to the party…

we try things on.. model a bit .. this gets better after a couple of glasses of wine… and ultimately go home with a few new things…

anything left over goes to charity.

of course.. it wouldn’t work for you and I.. LOL… you wouldn’t look good in my clothing and i don’t think i could even get a thigh into yours… but with a large enough group of clothes hounds… or a group of friends your same size… it works great.

and there is the sale at dress for success every year…

spending less can be a lot of fun:)

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[JoB]

i broke this into two posts because i just didn’t stop when i started thinking about all of this:(

i am currently working on cutting down on paper and packaging.. both difficult for me since i shop in the big boxes where everything is double and triple packaged.

i was reminded of that when i got home from shopping yesterday. What a lot of cardboard and plastic!

i already gave up most paper and plastic disposables except zip lock bags.. i use those and haven’t found a good alternative when it comes to freezing and microwaving. Hubby takes a frozen lunch (in a container), and at least one frozen baked item for breakfast and snacks every day.. and i buy meat in bulk and freeze it in bags.

i know.. i could use butcher paper for that.. but if i can’t actually see the meat… some days i don’t know it’s there.

i tried reusable plastic containers.. but am not that comfortable reusing plastic when it comes to raw meat.

I keep looking for creative ways around the bags and reusable plastic containers… i am moving away from microwaving in plastic even tho it performs better….

any ideas?

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[Anonymous]

Lol, JoB. My friends are constantly trying to give me jeans they don’t wear anymore and when I put them on, I look like I’m expecting a flood!

Actually, that is the one article of clothing I do have to splurge on… jeans. It’s only because unless I spend a lot of money on them, they are way too short! This is why I only have a few pair. And nice dress pants? Impossible to find!

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[JoB]

New resident..

i used t be 3 inches taller in my teens.. pregnancy shortened the spaces in my joints:)

the family joke is that short jeans are how i became a hippy… i would buy jeans and then put banding on the bottom.. and eventually layers of ruffles:)

what else could i be after that?

until i got shorter… i made all my own clothes.. i couldn’t buy them to fit.

now i have the opposite problem. i am shorter and wider and i wear flat shoes… and i am not proportionately petite.

All pants and jeans are too long and must be shortened:(

be very very careful what you wish for… wishes often materialize in very awkward packages:)

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[JimmyG]

Knock on wood, so far no changes for us.

But we have no debt and no children. We are still spending (and saving) at the same rate as we have in years past. Our main costs are food, our dogs, and travel. We don’t buy much of anything else.

I’m not worried about our house value as we bought here in 1992, and while the price was high it wasn’t the inflated (IMO) house prices I’ve seen over the past 5 years in my neighborhood.

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[Anonymous]

Do jeans really fit anyone. I have the german/polish/mutt *genes* that gave me a nice plump rectangle(no hips) shape to begin with. Add 40# from chronic illness and another 30# from the medication. The picture just gets lovelier every day:)

But on topic. I would say everything has changed in our household. The kids are grown and gone but somehow still managed to be on our cell plan and gas card. To their dismay they’ve had to get their own. Dinner out is maybe once a month. I do splurge on internet access and satellite because of immobility issues and going crazy if I couldn’t read and watch something.

We don’t do any therapy shopping anymore. Necessities only for food/clothing/etc. Stopped the daily lattes and make them at home. Turn the heat down and lights off in every room but the one we’re in. No more random wandering car drives.

However, even though finances are tough, I have NO complaints. I love my girl,kids,pets,and house. I feel so fortunate to live in this community and the city of my choice. I don’t feel good physically, but all this other stuff is just that. Stuff. I’m not contributing to the economy and we go without things we think we want, but everything that matters is good.

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[Jerald]

We’ve pretty much given up renting or buying dvd’s, it’s so easy (and free!) to get them from the library. I often place holds on ones I especially want. Even the latest ones (with the longest wait lists) become available fairly quickly.

When I give into the occasional People magazine urge, I always get it at Costco where it’s discounted.

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[JoB]

jerald..

we spend at least an hour in the library every week… and i try to get my entire magazine fix there.

i may have to start going midday as well to keep up.. but it sure beats buying them.

i have a stack of magazines from the last six months that i hate to recycle.. but don’t know what else to do…

magazines are my worst impulse buy. and i kick myself when i get home..

i could have bought a book for what i spent on a magazine… and i know what to do with those:)

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[Sue]

I’ve been trying to live below my means for quite some time now, and always making adjustments, so the current economy isn’t really troubling me too much right now.

My husband was out of work for 18 months after 9/11 (in the NYC area), and we learned that we could live off a hell of a lot less money than we thought we could. I never would’ve thought we could live off one salary. It wasn’t comfortable or fun sometimes, but we did it. So we learned a lot from that.

In Nov. 2006 I sold my car – I was averaging 4,000 miles a year when we moved to WS, and most of that was me being bored and wanting to go out (which usually cost $ somewhere). Now, if I need to walk there or bus, I get to think about how badly I need to go, and most of the time I don’t. So that’s saved money both in terms of the car and the spending. My husband’s car rarely gets used – he works from home, I bus to work (and many other places, he bikes anywhere he can (all year round).

I get all my DVDs and books from the library. We cut down to the $12.50 comcast “limited basic” service that they don’t even advertise – you have to know it exists. We do have cable internet, but he needs it for his working from home. We have local service only on our phone, and use our cell phones for all our long distance (on basic plans – no internet). A majority of our LD calls are on weekends and evenings when it’s free.

We do eat out too much, and that’s probably the first place we could cut if we needed/wanted to.

Thermostat goes off during the day (even when he works from home – he’s a glutton for punishment :) and it’s lower at night than I’d like it, but it’s a sacrifice I make so I can have cash for other things I want.

It helps to keep spending in check since I’m often spending my “extra” cash on medical stuff – $2,000 out of pocket so far this year. Fun … not!

I’ve realized over the years that it’s simply a matter of priorities – if things are tight financially, you can either find a way to earn more money (better job, second job, selling your extras on eBay, etc.), you can cut back on spending, or a combination of the two. I’d rather cut back, but everybody’s got to make that decision for themselves.

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[Anonymous]

Sue – Thank you for that post about Comcast! We have really, really wanted to cut back on our plan because we just don’t watch T.V., however it’s nice to have SOME channels when my daughter is here. I’ve continually asked them about very basic plans and they have never told me about that. I’m really glad you shared that!

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[Sue]

As for the jeans discussion and difficulty fitting, I highly recommend the Lands End custom jeans. They cost about $90 or so with shipping/tax, but I’ve got a heck of a time finding jeans in the store that fit, so it was worth every penny. Pretty good quality too – I’ve had one pair since 11/05 and another since 6/06 and they’re only now starting to look ratty around the seams :) They’re also returnable if you don’t like them, so no risk like with some custom orders. http://www.landsend.com/ix/index.html?store=le&action=newSearch&search=custom

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[Sue]

New Resident, glad I could help. The limited basic is all channels below #30, a handful of public access channels in the upper numbers, the Weather Channel and 99 (canadian broadcasting). I do sometimes miss the “fun” channels, but I figure that with the money I save on cable, I can go out and buy a DVD set of a series I’ve missed if I absolutely need it, and still save money. So far I haven’t even done that.

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[Aim]

Also on the comcast topic: almost everything you can get on cable, you can get on the internet. We watch Project Runway and Top Chef and all the others on the respective channels’ websites.

JT: Are you coming to the meeting tomorrow? You and I have a ridiculous amount in common and I want to meet you. (Bring the HotWheels! My partner and I will play with them while we meet, because we’re a couple of 5 year olds at heart!)

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[Anonymous]

Sue – Thank you for the tips about the jeans! I have a hard time ordering, only because I don’t know what they will actually look like on, but being able to return is a great plus! I will definitely look into that!

There is a store in Phoenix called Tall Girl, and I used to get a lot of things there (including shirts and sweaters since I have abnormally long arms as well), I really miss that store! And my friends loved to make fun of the fact that I shopped there!

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[jissy]

JoB — someone may have mentioned this already, I didn’t get a chance to read all the posts, but I just rec’d the newest issue of Seattle Woman magazine yesterday and they have a great article on Consignment Shops with a pretty thorough list, too.

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[JoB]

JT..

i second the request that you come out tomorrow… and bring your partner…

and maybe some pics of her art… i was impressed!

We won’t be a huge group..

we have a definate purpose…

i think we will have to have a little more controlled meeting this time because we will have a lot of ground to cover…

it should be a really low stress way to meet us all.

and.. you would get to participate!

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[JoB]

jissy..

i saw the list.. and am going to visit those i haven’t been to soon.

if you are smaller.. there is an incredible high end consignment store between the junctions on California.. up by shoo fly pie.

there isn’t much in my size (14/16) and up.. but my daughter, sister-in-law and niece all had a ball when i took them in there.

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[jissy]

Sue — I too have worn Land’s End jeans — I really liked the ones that came unfinished/unhemmed and I’d have my mom do them. You can also take anything ordered from Land’s End back to Sears these days!

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[CougarJoe]

While I think we’ve had a definite slowdown, I think the technical definition of a recession has not been reached (two consecutive quarters of negative GDP). In fact, since the 4th quarter of 2007 came in at a (sluggish) .6% growth rate, we won;t really know if we’re in a recession until late July when they repot 2nd quarter.

That said, I think the media is causing people to “sit on their wallets” a little bit. While most people have not been affected they keep hearing/reading and watching the media reporting on it – so everyone thinks their neighbors must be in one, even if they don’t feel it!

Self-fulfilling prophecy type stuff.

As for the housing market, you really need to watch the statistics closely. The latest report showed a year/year dip of 1% for Seattle homes. Not good news, but in in all reality that is nothing compared to the “compounded” growth most of us have seen over the last 5-6 years. Basically, you are stil WAY above water unless you bought in January of 2007, plain and simple.

Bottom line: The economy has certainly slowed down, but nowhere near as much as the media likes to make you believe.

Still at historically high home prices, historically low unemployment and fairly tame inflation.

DOW 16,000 be end of 2009 – just watch.

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[beachdrivegirl]

The media lies about the economy too…wierd!

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[JoB]

cougar joe..

if you have a credit card, you have been affected.. very few of mine are still at the same rate they were a few months ago.

if you buy groceries.. you have been affected.

if you buy gas,you have been affected…

i don’t think the media is causing people to “sit on their wallets”.

The truth is that our wages aren’t keeping up with our expenses…

the wallet is opening just as often..

just not as often for anything that isn’t necessary.

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[Anonymous]

Also, the one income at my house has been affected drastically. Whether it’s a real or imagined slowdown, when people don’t show up for a service there’s no pay.

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[Anonymous]

JT – So now you’ve got me curious what services you provide. Sounds like you are self employed.

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[JoB]

JT is right.. the service industries get hit first by a slowdown.. anything that seems a luxury is the first to go…

we aren’t going in for fine dining these days… unless i prepare it at home.

hamburgers and innovative and inexpensive small restaurants are getting our dollars when i don’t cook.

My haircuts are fewer and further between and not at an expensive salon… nails aren’t getting done… and i am bathing my own dogs.

i miss the half day off when the dogs where in for their bath… miss the luxury of a pedicure… and would love to have another signature haircut… but in the short run… these are things i can do without.

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[Anonymous]

NewRes, I’m not able to work but I used to be a professional baker. The GF wants online privacy, but I can talk about her behind her back tomorrow. And if you ever got my email from JoB, you can write to that anytime too.

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[Author]

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