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ready for bad times?

DjArcadianDjArcadian 3,633 Posts
edited September 2008 in Strut Central
Is anyone preparing for bad times? I think my company is ready to sink and with the bankruptcy of Lehman's and a lot of other banks I think people's disposable income is drying up or they're holding onto it. I've been saving up cash and living pretty frugal for the last year. Sort of preparing for this.
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  Comments

  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    What industry do you work in??
  • twoplytwoply Only Built 4 Manzanita Links 2,917 Posts
    My girlfriend reconciles sub-prime loan packages, or something to that effect. Her company is laying off people left and right. While we're a little worried, I'd like to see her get into a different line of work anyway.
  • DjArcadianDjArcadian 3,633 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121What industry do you work in?? b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121It's just a small tree service company. I'm the office manager. Our client base is primarily the wealthy people in the Berkeley and Oakland hills. Our phone just isn't ringing now and it's got me worried. I'll be fine if I lose my job but I'm concerned for our employees. A lot of them have kids and live paycheck to paycheck.
  • DjArcadianDjArcadian 3,633 Posts
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/14/greenspan-this-is-the-wor_n_126274.html/a1b,121b,121Greenspan saying this is the worst economy he's seen.
  • funky16cornersfunky16corners 7,175 Posts
    Yes. I've been in the newspaper industry (production and IT) for 23 years, and the last year or so has felt like circling the drain. We've lost over 200 people in the last year, about 50/50 layoffs/buyouts, and I'm positive there are more to come.b,121I have to call my brother and sister tonight, who have both been with Merrill for years. My other brother works for Chase/Mellon (which just got swallowed by another company, maybe BOA) so I wonder how secure he is these days.b,121I'm fortunate that we're all on my wife's benefits, so if something drastic happens health care won't be an issue...
  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121/font1Quote:/font1h,121b,121What industry do you work in?? b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121It's just a small tree service company. I'm the office manager. Our client base is primarily the wealthy people in the Berkeley and Oakland hills. Our phone just isn't ringing now and it's got me worried. I'll be fine if I lose my job but I'm concerned for our employees. A lot of them have kids and live paycheck to paycheck. b,121b,121h,121font class="post"1b,121b,121Gotcha.......on Friday while driving home I saw an army of trucks from a Tree Service in Iowa!! It was apparent that these guys travel the country to wherever storms are going to hit, chasing after business on the fly.....that may be what's needed to stay profitable in that business these days....gas has got to be killing them though!b,121b,121Best of luck.
  • GaryGary 3,982 Posts
    Working for the government does have its benefits even if I do hate my boss (Bush).
  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121Yes. I've been in the newspaper industry (production and IT) for 23 years, and the last year or so has felt like circling the drain. We've lost over 200 people in the last year, about 50/50 layoffs/buyouts, and I'm positive there are more to come.b,121I have to call my brother and sister tonight, who have both been with Merrill for years. My other brother works for Chase/Mellon (which just got swallowed by another company, maybe BOA) so I wonder how secure he is these days.b,121I'm fortunate that we're all on my wife's benefits, so if something drastic happens health care won't be an issue... b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121Do you think the Newspaper business is more effected by the current economy or is it on it's way to becoming obsolete like door to door Encyclopedia salesman as people get their news from other, higher tech, sources?
  • PATXPATX 2,820 Posts
    For small business owners it's been bad times for a while.
  • DjArcadianDjArcadian 3,633 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121/font1Quote:/font1h,121b,121/font1Quote:/font1h,121b,121What industry do you work in?? b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121It's just a small tree service company. I'm the office manager. Our client base is primarily the wealthy people in the Berkeley and Oakland hills. Our phone just isn't ringing now and it's got me worried. I'll be fine if I lose my job but I'm concerned for our employees. A lot of them have kids and live paycheck to paycheck. b,121b,121h,121font class="post"1b,121b,121Gotcha.......on Friday while driving home I saw an army of trucks from a Tree Service in Iowa!! It was apparent that these guys travel the country to wherever storms are going to hit, chasing after business on the fly.....that may be what's needed to stay profitable in that business these days....gas has got to be killing them though!b,121b,121Best of luck. b,121b,121h,121font class="post"1b,121b,121You're in the Bay Area? More likely that some local company bought their trucks and haven't changed the decals/plates yet. Tree industry is full of jokers. People with a truck and a chainsaw who think they can cut trees and rope in suckers with their low prices. b,121b,121Storms don't bring in as much business as you might think. A fallen tree and broken branch here and there isn't much when spread out among the dozens of tree companies in the Bay Area.
  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121/font1Quote:/font1h,121b,121/font1Quote:/font1h,121b,121/font1Quote:/font1h,121b,121What industry do you work in?? b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121It's just a small tree service company. I'm the office manager. Our client base is primarily the wealthy people in the Berkeley and Oakland hills. Our phone just isn't ringing now and it's got me worried. I'll be fine if I lose my job but I'm concerned for our employees. A lot of them have kids and live paycheck to paycheck. b,121b,121h,121font class="post"1b,121b,121Gotcha.......on Friday while driving home I saw an army of trucks from a Tree Service in Iowa!! It was apparent that these guys travel the country to wherever storms are going to hit, chasing after business on the fly.....that may be what's needed to stay profitable in that business these days....gas has got to be killing them though!b,121b,121Best of luck. b,121b,121h,121font class="post"1b,121b,121You're in the Bay Area? More likely that some local company bought their trucks and haven't changed the decals/plates yet. Tree industry is full of jokers. People with a truck and a chainsaw who think they can cut trees and rope in suckers with their low prices. b,121b,121Storms don't bring in as much business as you might think. A fallen tree and broken branch here and there isn't much when spread out among the dozens of tree companies in the Bay Area. b,121b,121h,121font class="post"1b,121b,121I'm in Texas...and they were definitely here in anticipation of Ike damage....we see it everytime there is a hurricane or tornados.
  • funky16cornersfunky16corners 7,175 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121/font1Quote:/font1h,121b,121Yes. I've been in the newspaper industry (production and IT) for 23 years, and the last year or so has felt like circling the drain. We've lost over 200 people in the last year, about 50/50 layoffs/buyouts, and I'm positive there are more to come.b,121I have to call my brother and sister tonight, who have both been with Merrill for years. My other brother works for Chase/Mellon (which just got swallowed by another company, maybe BOA) so I wonder how secure he is these days.b,121I'm fortunate that we're all on my wife's benefits, so if something drastic happens health care won't be an issue... b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121Do you think the Newspaper business is more effected by the current economy or is it on it's way to becoming obsolete like door to door Encyclopedia salesman as people get their news from other, higher tech, sources? b,121b,121h,121font class="post"1b,121b,121b,121It's kind of a chicken/egg situation. Newspaper readership had been a slow, steady decline for a long time. What's killing us is not the drop in readership, but rather a huge drop in ad revenue, combined with increases in the costs of paper and fuel. When I started at my paper it was privately owned. About 12 years in we were sold to a huge multinational conglomerate (whose name starts with a "G"). Their reaction to declining market share is to attempt to make their dime on the internet, which is insane, and a poor substitute for an actual newspaper. I realize that younger generations have little use for an actual paper, but there's still a whole world out there that actually uses the paper, for information, entertainment, coupons etc.b,121It wouldn't be so sad if the actual institution of print journalism wasn't dying as well.
  • coffinjoecoffinjoe 1,743 Posts
    try to get a student loan now a days, shit is insaneb,121(big drop in availability )
  • PlantweedPlantweed 394 Posts
    I'm glad I got a nice state gov't job this year.
  • DjArcadianDjArcadian 3,633 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121/font1Quote:/font1h,121b,121/font1Quote:/font1h,121b,121/font1Quote:/font1h,121b,121/font1Quote:/font1h,121b,121What industry do you work in?? b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121It's just a small tree service company. I'm the office manager. Our client base is primarily the wealthy people in the Berkeley and Oakland hills. Our phone just isn't ringing now and it's got me worried. I'll be fine if I lose my job but I'm concerned for our employees. A lot of them have kids and live paycheck to paycheck. b,121b,121h,121font class="post"1b,121b,121Gotcha.......on Friday while driving home I saw an army of trucks from a Tree Service in Iowa!! It was apparent that these guys travel the country to wherever storms are going to hit, chasing after business on the fly.....that may be what's needed to stay profitable in that business these days....gas has got to be killing them though!b,121b,121Best of luck. b,121b,121h,121font class="post"1b,121b,121You're in the Bay Area? More likely that some local company bought their trucks and haven't changed the decals/plates yet. Tree industry is full of jokers. People with a truck and a chainsaw who think they can cut trees and rope in suckers with their low prices. b,121b,121Storms don't bring in as much business as you might think. A fallen tree and broken branch here and there isn't much when spread out among the dozens of tree companies in the Bay Area. b,121b,121h,121font class="post"1b,121b,121I'm in Texas...and they were definitely here in anticipation of Ike damage....we see it everytime there is a hurricane or tornados. b,121b,121h,121font class="post"1b,121b,121Right, hurricane damage has got to be severe.
  • phongonephongone 1,652 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121My girlfriend reconciles sub-prime loan packages, or something to that effect. Her company is laying off people left and right. While we're a little worried, I'd like to see her get into a different line of work anyway. b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121Therein lies the problem. All these hallowed financial institutions like Bear Stearns, Lehman and Merrill Lynch had their assets tied up in sub-prime mortgage-backed securities. And when the real estate market tanked, so did they.b,121b,121But hey, according to McCain, the "fundamentals" of our economy are still sound. b,121b,121Probably good time to break that recordcollecting habit and save, save and more save.
  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121try to get a student loan now a days, shit is insaneb,121(big drop in availability ) b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121Just did it.....we weren't looking for mega-bucks so it wasn't too bad....but I've heard differently from others.
  • SLurgSLurg 446 Posts
    Today was my first day ever with no job. I've had various jobs in the music industry for 8 years, and the company I was working at for the last four years is going bankrupt.
  • coffinjoecoffinjoe 1,743 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121/font1Quote:/font1h,121b,121try to get a student loan now a days, shit is insaneb,121(big drop in availability ) b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121Just did it.....we weren't looking for mega-bucks so it wasn't too bad....but I've heard differently from others. b,121b,121h,121font class="post"1b,121b,121BofA just got the boot as UVA's preferred lender, b,121of course F.Aid dept sent the notification out after the semester began & are of no helpb,121b,121when will it endb,121b,121b/wb,121b,121if the locals have a run on the banks like they did @ the gas pumps on fridayb,121even the most solvent local banks will have to close
  • yuichiyuichi Urban sprawl 11,332 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121It wouldn't be so sad if the actual institution of print journalism wasn't dying as well. b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1 b,121b,121Funky16corners, I personally am still a strong supporter of print journalism. I hate reading shit online. I think the market will shrink but there will always be a need for it, imho.b,121b,121Oh and concerning this Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, I haven't been paying attention to the news but this one definitely caught my attention. If Alan Greenspan is saying "it's the worst he's seen by far", things are probably gonna get much worse before they get better.
  • The-gafflerThe-gaffler 2,190 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121What industry do you work in??b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121"There are four kinds of business. Tourism. Food service. Railroads. And sales. And hospitals/manufacturing. And air travel."
  • DjArcadianDjArcadian 3,633 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121 /font1Quote:/font1h,121b,121It wouldn't be so sad if the actual institution of print journalism wasn't dying as well. b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1 b,121b,121Funky16corners, I personally am still a strong supporter of print journalism. I hate reading shit online. I think the market will shrink but there will always be a need for it, imho.b,121b,121Oh and concerning this Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, I haven't been paying attention to the news but this one definitely caught my attention. If Alan Greenspan is saying "it's the worst he's seen by far", things are probably gonna get much worse before they get better. b,121b,121h,121font class="post"1b,121b,121My economic knowledge is pretty weak but crazy dude Jim Cramer is saying to wait a year before buying property.b,121b,121object width="425" height="344"1param name="movie" value=""1/param1param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"1/param1embed src=""1type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"1/embed1/object1
  • SPlDEYSPlDEY Vegas 3,375 Posts
    I just got woken up to a cute Jehovah's witness girl telling me that it was the end of days.b,121b,121- spidey
  • DB_CooperDB_Cooper Manhatin' 7,823 Posts
    I'm going to say here what I said in the other thread on the exact same topic: maelstrom. b,121b,121There were other words too, but that was the best one.
  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    If the US monetary system is going down the tubes (as it is), it won't do much good to only save money for bad times to come. You gotta transfer that money into tangible items that will help you survive when the shit really does hit the fan. Water purifiers, camping stove and hella fuel, flashlights and hella batteries, knives, rifle/shotgun, etc. Not sure if America is really ready for it, but it's definitely teaching-the-horse-HOW-to-fish time right now.
  • GaryGary 3,982 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121If the US monetary system is going down the tubes (as it is), it won't do much good to only save money for bad times to come. You gotta transfer that money into tangible items that will help you survive when the shit really does hit the fan. Water purifiers, camping stove and hella fuel, flashlights and hella batteries, knives, rifle/shotgun, etc. Not sure if America is really ready for it, but it's definitely teaching-the-horse-HOW-to-fish time right now. b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • DjArcadianDjArcadian 3,633 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121If the US monetary system is going down the tubes (as it is), it won't do much good to only save money for bad times to come. You gotta transfer that money into tangible items that will help you survive when the shit really does hit the fan. Water purifiers, camping stove and hella fuel, flashlights and hella batteries, knives, rifle/shotgun, etc. Not sure if America is really ready for it, but it's definitely teaching-the-horse-HOW-to-fish time right now. b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121I think you would be must better off investing your money in gold than water purifiers.
  • tripledoubletripledouble 7,636 Posts
    what about land?
  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121/font1Quote:/font1h,121b,121If the US monetary system is going down the tubes (as it is), it won't do much good to only save money for bad times to come. You gotta transfer that money into tangible items that will help you survive when the shit really does hit the fan. Water purifiers, camping stove and hella fuel, flashlights and hella batteries, knives, rifle/shotgun, etc. Not sure if America is really ready for it, but it's definitely teaching-the-horse-HOW-to-fish time right now. b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121I think you would be must better off investing your money in gold than water purifiers. b,121b,121h,121font class="post"1b,121b,121Yes and no...yes in that gold has held its value for thousands of years. No in that when the shit hits the fan, to who and how are you going to sell your gold?b,121b,121And what are you going to get for it? In a best case scenario, a water purifier if you don't already have one.
  • Birdman9Birdman9 5,417 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121I just got woken up to a cute Jehovah's witness girl telling me that it was the end of days.b,121b,121- spidey b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121Was it Serena Williams?b,121b,121img src="http://www.eurweb.com/images/articles/200708/serena_williams(005-headshot-med).jpg"1b,121b,121On the serious tip, time to scale back and tread lightly.
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