I'll be frank here guys... compensation in the financial services are reaching and breaching 2007 levels. Profits are back up, and there are 25% less people to pay, so the leverage on the upswing is huge.
I sold my profitable business TWO years ago, just before the real effects of the downturn.
I have been unemployed since then, turned down for being "overqualified" for every job I've applied to.
Deep depression, like I didn't know existed.
But...I start my new job, back at my old employer (rhymes with snapple) next week and couldn't be happier. Things are turning around in this area and it's known as a canary in the mine.....keeping my fingers crossed for the rest of you :)
I too have a Netspend account, that I didn"t ask for...but LOVE! The bank I previously had my checks direct deposited to, was constantly charging me $35 for an over draft fee, with purchases of less than $10. I called all the time to only hear, "Oh we apologize...but the checks you wrote came in after 12:00, so your deposit didn't cover it!" I'm like...but you didn't pay the damn bill!!I wouldn't be as upset if they had just paid the bill. So now, not only is my bill not paid, now thats a fee from that company, a bank fee, and God forbid it goes back again electronic, oh this is the best, after five days, that's another $39 fee for not putting the money in fast enough. Netspend charges fee's for ATM use, or debit or credit use. I pay a monthly fee, use my card at a store that offer's cash back to avoid the atm fee, and if I go over $2-$50.00, it is deducted from my direct deposit. NO FEE'S. I've spent hundred's of dollars on my bank acct because of simple mistakes that come when more than one person having a debit card linked to the same account. My husband and daughter (in college) both have their own card number linked to the same account, which comes with a checking acct. You can also use this card to pay bills for several companies with bill pay...no fee's. I don't think these companies would participate with a company that was illeagal or trying to scam people. Try it, add up the fee's they charge, and I bet it is still less than a bank. I'm done with banks for now, as long as Netspend stays the same.
I raise chickens so I have lots of eggs to give away. My neighbor would like a steady supply each week and so I am bartering with her for loaves of her scrumptious home baked bread for a dozen eggs each week.
I think that you dont know what your talking about. Have you ever actually been to Horizon farms? They probably do let their cows out in the grass. Why else would they have all that land? And they didnt say that it was hormone free, they said that there were no ADDED growth hormones. So the next time you post a negative blog, get your facts straight plz. Thank you :)
I like to buy food by the case from Amazon. They have good deals with the subscribe and save program plus I use an Amazon credit card for a 3 per cent cash back. I buy soups, dried fruit, sardines, etc.
...in this job market. With so many folks out of work, employers *are* finding that left-handed Mandarin-speaking Product Manager who did his doctoral thesis on Inuit family dynamics. Also, number 5 is key to remember. Never found an employer who was working on my employment schedule. Great info.
I miss the farmer's market(s) we had in Madison, WI. Where I currently live, I have yet to find one that is decent. A few of the best ones only have hours in the middle of the week in the middle of the day. (And I can't sneak out to one on my lunch hour, unfortunately). That is something I don't get-why would you alienate a huge portion of your market by having such limited hours? The nearest farmer's market on a Saturday is a 40 minute drive-kind of defeats the eating local thing.
I keep a garden, so that helps significantly for my household of 2. I'm not sure we have enough of us and enough time to process a box of CSA foods every week, although we might consider it next summer.
We have a large garden and I can vegetables and freeze vegetables for the winter months when the local stores have a limited or too costly supply of veggies. I do have about 1 week worth of canned food that can be either eaten out of the can, or cooked on the propane BBQ. Since we live in an area with snow, and the power goes out several times each winter, we think it's not a bad idea. Our area is also earthquake prone, and we like to have an accessible emergency kit with food and water.
In the winter, my husband and I each have an emergency pack in each of our trucks- extra clothes, blanket, water and food for 3 days.
We also have two cases of bottled water in the garage in the event of an earthquake. They don't happen too often here, but the last couple were doozies.
I don't think I've ever had a problem with motivation... it took two years of hard work to get to the point where suddenly all our bills add up to less than half of our take-home pay. Looking back it seems like that time flew by, and the freedom we have now to do what we want to do is all the motivation I need for the next several years.
For some people it's best to go for small victories first, even if paying off the small things don't give you the 100% optimal end result. If you need that extra push of motivation, that can really help. One less bill to pay is a gift to yourself. Each victory motivates you for the next one, and right now I'm actually filled with joy of what we've achieved.
Getting started can be hard, but the will to stick with it really comes easily afterwards (at least for me). I have one more loan to pay off over the next year or two, then it's all going into the mortgage. These days I actually look forward to the end of the month when I can divide up all my extra money to the house or to savings. It's a great feeling.
Now if I could get my husband to feel the same way, the remainder of this path would be about 40% easier ;)
My husband and I have a small pantry in our kitchen (2 mos. supply) and just recently decided to invest in an "emergency/catastrophic conditions" food storage area in our basement that will last for a couple of years.
The reasons for this are threefold:
The dollar has been devaluing slowly, but surely for the last few decades - and is now worth only about 70% of its value. That fact, coupled with double digit inflation that will hit in a few months as a result of our humongous national debt, leads us to believe that the more food we can stockpile now, the better.
Food shortages may occur in the coming months or years, as a result of decline in agricultural production worldwide and/or fuel shortages interrupting the distribution chain.
We are no longer living in the country we knew as children. Look forward to supply interruptions (fuel and food) - possibly even shortages and taxes on particular items. And one very big tax that could really hit us all in the wallet - the V.A.T.(value added tax)- which is basically a consumption tax!!!
My husband felt very strongly about this and researched the shelf life for all foods and necessities exclusive of fresh meats, poultry fish,fruits and vegetables from a spreadsheet he downloaded from the Internet. He also purchased special 5 gal containers that can be sealed airtight with an additive that eliminates any oxygen that is left in the container. The containers are solid and also vermin-proof.
Consequently, with an extensive checklist in hand, including the shelf-life of 95% of products we consume, we have been building up our supplies slowly this summer. The longer the shelf life, the larger the quantity i.e. --white rice - 20lbs, brown rice - 10 lbs, sugar - 20 lbs, flour - 10 lbs, assorted spices - by the pound,etc...all the way down the line to oils and those with a shorter shelf life.
Remember, our plan is to have enough to last us for at least 2 years. Assuming prices increase at least 15-20%, we will have saved at least that much annually.On an annual grocery budget of about $ 8000 and household supplies/pet food/cosmetics -- we are talking possibly $10,000 total and what is 20% of that? That sure isn't "chump change" to us.
Wake up before it's too late - stop SNORING and start STORING!
I usually don't go too crazy on most essentials in the pantry- except for when it comes to cereal. I live by myself, yet have no problem with having 8-10 boxes on hand. I stock up whenever there's a sale because I refuse to pay over $2.50 for a box of it (even Kashi!).
I try to use the pantry stocking method of shopping: when items that I use regularly are on sale, I buy several depending on the shelf life. I try to keep at least one extra week of all essential items on hand and several months work of food in general.
I got a great deal on a new brand of organic soup once so I bought several. After I tried a few, I decided I didn't care for the soup, but I kept the extra cans for three more years because I figured if I really needed something to eat in an emergency, the yucky soups would at least keep me alive.
I went to the farmer's market in Holland, Michigan last weekend and the prices were good. We got a heaping pint of Stanley plums for $3 and 5 large Ginger Gold apples for $3. Conventionally grown Ginger Golds are 88cents/pound here in Massachusetts this week, so the price is comparable. The Stanleys (prune plums) are only occasionally available and even then almost never on sale in the grocery store, the usual price I see is $3/pound.
We have been in to the Cambridge farmer's market, where I bought a heaping pint of "italian plums" - they looked like Stanleys, but smaller and green inside. That was $5. The produce at the Cambridge and my hometown of Chelmsford, Massachsuetts farmer's markets are above the cost at the grocery store while Michigan is below. This may be because there are just more farmer's in Michigan, I'm not sure.
My family (myself, wife, and 2 children) flew from Det to Ft. Lauderdale last month on Spirit Air, and yes we got the $9 fare both ways. Total cost $199 USD for the 4 of us including taxed; and yes I did sign up for their $9 club.
Living in Canada, half way between Detroit and Toronto, I looked online at Air Canada and the same dates would have cost $2,100 CDN for the flight.
Found Spirit Air to be fine, clean and the staff helpful at both Det and Ft. Lauderdale.
That's an informative piece Jabulani! The state of being broke is indeed taste like even worse than bitter gourds and smells worse than the Rafflesia.
The unexpected changes in the economy wipe out many assets, money and value, leaving millions affected, thousands broke and drove hundreds to suicides.
I've a friend who became suicidal around a year ago when the crisis started because he lost his house, job and assets, resulting in his family breaking up as well...
For this recession, we need to look at it more deeper. Although many are affected but some are not really affected at all, and yes, I am not referring to the rich.
In Singapore, during the Great Singapore Sales period, people are still spending well. I realise that it is about certain sectors especially the finance and real estate that are heavily affected. Those who are working in other sectors arent really affected.
Another problem that I see is that money is never really the issue, people themselves are the issue. I've written a on this subject on my blog at http://www.diaslu.com/the-psychology-of-money/
Guest said "I think it's nuts to buy that much food!!! I've heard all the arugments on how it saves money, but I disagree we shop 1 time per week for 1 weeks worth of groceries."
My wife and I are on exactly a $250/month budget, we try to buy and cook with one ingredient foods. Our breads are: flour, sugar, salt, water. I know that because and we bake them at home. We eat mostly fruits and veggies. BUT IN ADDITION we try to keep a few months of the basic staples on hand. What exactly is "nuts" about keeping extra flour, rice, beans, pasta, etc. on hand? In fact we'd love to do more, but we just don't have the room as we are currently renting. Oh well, to each their own - as for me it's back to the booby hatch...
I personally think just because the stock market went back up a bit doesn't mean the recession is over. Unemployment needs to go down before everything recovers. There is a lot of government intervention now that is causing some numbers to look better than they really are. So the double dip scenario is likely, but we will see.
Look, this thing isn't over yet. Not by a longshot. The problem is debt saturation - people have taken on too much debt over the last 20 years or so and their incomes have been pretty much flat in that period (adjusted for inflation). That's the difference between now and the early 80's. We can't have the people take on more debt because they're pretty much tapped out - they don't have the ability to service more debt now.
Don't believe all this talk of "green shoots" - the only thing that's led to an improvement in the economy (and actually, it's not an improvement yet, just a slowing in the rate of how bad things are getting) is a huge amount of government spending. And guess what? We're on the hook for that spending and we're going to be paying higher taxes in the future to service that debt as well... and that will dampen growth as well.
So stay prudent with your money. Keep growing that emergency fund - The unemployed are having a lot tougher time finding work now than they have in the past. It's not unusual for it to take six months to over a year to find something. Even if we didn't lose another job between now and the end of the year we'd still hit 10% unemployment in December according to calculations by the Calculated Risk blog. That's because our economy needs to create 130K jobs/month just to tread water due to population increases. I don't think we're going to see unemployment under 8% again for several years. Plan accordingly.
One way to eat cheaper wasn't yet mentioned in the article or previous comments. Cook from scratch, as much as possible. Last week I bought an organic chicken at our expensive health food store. It cost me $7.66 on sale. My family got two whole main meals and one lunch sandwich from this chicken. With better planning, I could have made both those meals cheaper- made stuffing from home-made bread instead of store-bought (my husband finished up the bread a few hours earlier), used dried beans instead of canned, etc. I was lazy and didn't make soup for a third meal this time. I still feel that I got good value for my money. Obviously not all people have kitchens, time, etc. But always eat as close to scratch as possible and eat better.
There are plenty of used car dealers in our neightborhood. But the one who really goes the extra mile stands out. Play straight, don't pressure, and give extra. (Driving you home after dropping off the car for servicing, for example.) As you said, they don't need to advertize. Word of mouth does it.
I have to agree that farmer's markets are not always cheaper and, in some cases, are considerably more expensive. My wife and I just moved from the Canadian prairies to the west coast. Prior to the move, shopping at farmer's markets was an indulgence; now, shopping smaller markets, farmer's markets, fruit stands, etc. is a real money saver. We can buy two giant bags of produce for less than the cost of one bag back home.
I guess the lesson here is that no piece of advice is universal.
Randall: you pay $3.99/lb for hamburger? You should shop around more, dude.
And living standards have not declined since the 60's. Total compensation (not just wages) has roughly increased along with productivity growth.
I'll be frank here guys... compensation in the financial services are reaching and breaching 2007 levels. Profits are back up, and there are 25% less people to pay, so the leverage on the upswing is huge.
I sold my profitable business TWO years ago, just before the real effects of the downturn.
I have been unemployed since then, turned down for being "overqualified" for every job I've applied to.
Deep depression, like I didn't know existed.
But...I start my new job, back at my old employer (rhymes with snapple) next week and couldn't be happier. Things are turning around in this area and it's known as a canary in the mine.....keeping my fingers crossed for the rest of you :)
Don't send a resume. Reply only to the requirements.
I too have a Netspend account, that I didn"t ask for...but LOVE! The bank I previously had my checks direct deposited to, was constantly charging me $35 for an over draft fee, with purchases of less than $10. I called all the time to only hear, "Oh we apologize...but the checks you wrote came in after 12:00, so your deposit didn't cover it!" I'm like...but you didn't pay the damn bill!!I wouldn't be as upset if they had just paid the bill. So now, not only is my bill not paid, now thats a fee from that company, a bank fee, and God forbid it goes back again electronic, oh this is the best, after five days, that's another $39 fee for not putting the money in fast enough. Netspend charges fee's for ATM use, or debit or credit use. I pay a monthly fee, use my card at a store that offer's cash back to avoid the atm fee, and if I go over $2-$50.00, it is deducted from my direct deposit. NO FEE'S. I've spent hundred's of dollars on my bank acct because of simple mistakes that come when more than one person having a debit card linked to the same account. My husband and daughter (in college) both have their own card number linked to the same account, which comes with a checking acct. You can also use this card to pay bills for several companies with bill pay...no fee's. I don't think these companies would participate with a company that was illeagal or trying to scam people. Try it, add up the fee's they charge, and I bet it is still less than a bank. I'm done with banks for now, as long as Netspend stays the same.
I raise chickens so I have lots of eggs to give away. My neighbor would like a steady supply each week and so I am bartering with her for loaves of her scrumptious home baked bread for a dozen eggs each week.
I think that you dont know what your talking about. Have you ever actually been to Horizon farms? They probably do let their cows out in the grass. Why else would they have all that land? And they didnt say that it was hormone free, they said that there were no ADDED growth hormones. So the next time you post a negative blog, get your facts straight plz. Thank you :)
I like to buy food by the case from Amazon. They have good deals with the subscribe and save program plus I use an Amazon credit card for a 3 per cent cash back. I buy soups, dried fruit, sardines, etc.
...in this job market. With so many folks out of work, employers *are* finding that left-handed Mandarin-speaking Product Manager who did his doctoral thesis on Inuit family dynamics. Also, number 5 is key to remember. Never found an employer who was working on my employment schedule. Great info.
I miss the farmer's market(s) we had in Madison, WI. Where I currently live, I have yet to find one that is decent. A few of the best ones only have hours in the middle of the week in the middle of the day. (And I can't sneak out to one on my lunch hour, unfortunately). That is something I don't get-why would you alienate a huge portion of your market by having such limited hours? The nearest farmer's market on a Saturday is a 40 minute drive-kind of defeats the eating local thing.
I keep a garden, so that helps significantly for my household of 2. I'm not sure we have enough of us and enough time to process a box of CSA foods every week, although we might consider it next summer.
We have a large garden and I can vegetables and freeze vegetables for the winter months when the local stores have a limited or too costly supply of veggies. I do have about 1 week worth of canned food that can be either eaten out of the can, or cooked on the propane BBQ. Since we live in an area with snow, and the power goes out several times each winter, we think it's not a bad idea. Our area is also earthquake prone, and we like to have an accessible emergency kit with food and water.
In the winter, my husband and I each have an emergency pack in each of our trucks- extra clothes, blanket, water and food for 3 days.
We also have two cases of bottled water in the garage in the event of an earthquake. They don't happen too often here, but the last couple were doozies.
I don't think I've ever had a problem with motivation... it took two years of hard work to get to the point where suddenly all our bills add up to less than half of our take-home pay. Looking back it seems like that time flew by, and the freedom we have now to do what we want to do is all the motivation I need for the next several years.
For some people it's best to go for small victories first, even if paying off the small things don't give you the 100% optimal end result. If you need that extra push of motivation, that can really help. One less bill to pay is a gift to yourself. Each victory motivates you for the next one, and right now I'm actually filled with joy of what we've achieved.
Getting started can be hard, but the will to stick with it really comes easily afterwards (at least for me). I have one more loan to pay off over the next year or two, then it's all going into the mortgage. These days I actually look forward to the end of the month when I can divide up all my extra money to the house or to savings. It's a great feeling.
Now if I could get my husband to feel the same way, the remainder of this path would be about 40% easier ;)
My husband and I have a small pantry in our kitchen (2 mos. supply) and just recently decided to invest in an "emergency/catastrophic conditions" food storage area in our basement that will last for a couple of years.
The reasons for this are threefold:
The dollar has been devaluing slowly, but surely for the last few decades - and is now worth only about 70% of its value. That fact, coupled with double digit inflation that will hit in a few months as a result of our humongous national debt, leads us to believe that the more food we can stockpile now, the better.
Food shortages may occur in the coming months or years, as a result of decline in agricultural production worldwide and/or fuel shortages interrupting the distribution chain.
We are no longer living in the country we knew as children. Look forward to supply interruptions (fuel and food) - possibly even shortages and taxes on particular items. And one very big tax that could really hit us all in the wallet - the V.A.T.(value added tax)- which is basically a consumption tax!!!
My husband felt very strongly about this and researched the shelf life for all foods and necessities exclusive of fresh meats, poultry fish,fruits and vegetables from a spreadsheet he downloaded from the Internet. He also purchased special 5 gal containers that can be sealed airtight with an additive that eliminates any oxygen that is left in the container. The containers are solid and also vermin-proof.
Consequently, with an extensive checklist in hand, including the shelf-life of 95% of products we consume, we have been building up our supplies slowly this summer. The longer the shelf life, the larger the quantity i.e. --white rice - 20lbs, brown rice - 10 lbs, sugar - 20 lbs, flour - 10 lbs, assorted spices - by the pound,etc...all the way down the line to oils and those with a shorter shelf life.
Remember, our plan is to have enough to last us for at least 2 years. Assuming prices increase at least 15-20%, we will have saved at least that much annually.On an annual grocery budget of about $ 8000 and household supplies/pet food/cosmetics -- we are talking possibly $10,000 total and what is 20% of that? That sure isn't "chump change" to us.
Wake up before it's too late - stop SNORING and start STORING!
Jane
I usually don't go too crazy on most essentials in the pantry- except for when it comes to cereal. I live by myself, yet have no problem with having 8-10 boxes on hand. I stock up whenever there's a sale because I refuse to pay over $2.50 for a box of it (even Kashi!).
I try to use the pantry stocking method of shopping: when items that I use regularly are on sale, I buy several depending on the shelf life. I try to keep at least one extra week of all essential items on hand and several months work of food in general.
I got a great deal on a new brand of organic soup once so I bought several. After I tried a few, I decided I didn't care for the soup, but I kept the extra cans for three more years because I figured if I really needed something to eat in an emergency, the yucky soups would at least keep me alive.
I went to the farmer's market in Holland, Michigan last weekend and the prices were good. We got a heaping pint of Stanley plums for $3 and 5 large Ginger Gold apples for $3. Conventionally grown Ginger Golds are 88cents/pound here in Massachusetts this week, so the price is comparable. The Stanleys (prune plums) are only occasionally available and even then almost never on sale in the grocery store, the usual price I see is $3/pound.
We have been in to the Cambridge farmer's market, where I bought a heaping pint of "italian plums" - they looked like Stanleys, but smaller and green inside. That was $5. The produce at the Cambridge and my hometown of Chelmsford, Massachsuetts farmer's markets are above the cost at the grocery store while Michigan is below. This may be because there are just more farmer's in Michigan, I'm not sure.
My family (myself, wife, and 2 children) flew from Det to Ft. Lauderdale last month on Spirit Air, and yes we got the $9 fare both ways. Total cost $199 USD for the 4 of us including taxed; and yes I did sign up for their $9 club.
Living in Canada, half way between Detroit and Toronto, I looked online at Air Canada and the same dates would have cost $2,100 CDN for the flight.
Found Spirit Air to be fine, clean and the staff helpful at both Det and Ft. Lauderdale.
That's an informative piece Jabulani! The state of being broke is indeed taste like even worse than bitter gourds and smells worse than the Rafflesia.
The unexpected changes in the economy wipe out many assets, money and value, leaving millions affected, thousands broke and drove hundreds to suicides.
I've a friend who became suicidal around a year ago when the crisis started because he lost his house, job and assets, resulting in his family breaking up as well...
For this recession, we need to look at it more deeper. Although many are affected but some are not really affected at all, and yes, I am not referring to the rich.
In Singapore, during the Great Singapore Sales period, people are still spending well. I realise that it is about certain sectors especially the finance and real estate that are heavily affected. Those who are working in other sectors arent really affected.
Another problem that I see is that money is never really the issue, people themselves are the issue. I've written a on this subject on my blog at http://www.diaslu.com/the-psychology-of-money/
Guest said "I think it's nuts to buy that much food!!! I've heard all the arugments on how it saves money, but I disagree we shop 1 time per week for 1 weeks worth of groceries."
My wife and I are on exactly a $250/month budget, we try to buy and cook with one ingredient foods. Our breads are: flour, sugar, salt, water. I know that because and we bake them at home. We eat mostly fruits and veggies. BUT IN ADDITION we try to keep a few months of the basic staples on hand. What exactly is "nuts" about keeping extra flour, rice, beans, pasta, etc. on hand? In fact we'd love to do more, but we just don't have the room as we are currently renting. Oh well, to each their own - as for me it's back to the booby hatch...
I personally think just because the stock market went back up a bit doesn't mean the recession is over. Unemployment needs to go down before everything recovers. There is a lot of government intervention now that is causing some numbers to look better than they really are. So the double dip scenario is likely, but we will see.
Look, this thing isn't over yet. Not by a longshot. The problem is debt saturation - people have taken on too much debt over the last 20 years or so and their incomes have been pretty much flat in that period (adjusted for inflation). That's the difference between now and the early 80's. We can't have the people take on more debt because they're pretty much tapped out - they don't have the ability to service more debt now.
Don't believe all this talk of "green shoots" - the only thing that's led to an improvement in the economy (and actually, it's not an improvement yet, just a slowing in the rate of how bad things are getting) is a huge amount of government spending. And guess what? We're on the hook for that spending and we're going to be paying higher taxes in the future to service that debt as well... and that will dampen growth as well.
So stay prudent with your money. Keep growing that emergency fund - The unemployed are having a lot tougher time finding work now than they have in the past. It's not unusual for it to take six months to over a year to find something. Even if we didn't lose another job between now and the end of the year we'd still hit 10% unemployment in December according to calculations by the Calculated Risk blog. That's because our economy needs to create 130K jobs/month just to tread water due to population increases. I don't think we're going to see unemployment under 8% again for several years. Plan accordingly.
One way to eat cheaper wasn't yet mentioned in the article or previous comments. Cook from scratch, as much as possible. Last week I bought an organic chicken at our expensive health food store. It cost me $7.66 on sale. My family got two whole main meals and one lunch sandwich from this chicken. With better planning, I could have made both those meals cheaper- made stuffing from home-made bread instead of store-bought (my husband finished up the bread a few hours earlier), used dried beans instead of canned, etc. I was lazy and didn't make soup for a third meal this time. I still feel that I got good value for my money. Obviously not all people have kitchens, time, etc. But always eat as close to scratch as possible and eat better.
There are plenty of used car dealers in our neightborhood. But the one who really goes the extra mile stands out. Play straight, don't pressure, and give extra. (Driving you home after dropping off the car for servicing, for example.) As you said, they don't need to advertize. Word of mouth does it.
Just for fun, notice the pun in paragraph 3?
I do food storage just when good deals come around and to save money by stocking up, not for emergency issues.
I have to agree that farmer's markets are not always cheaper and, in some cases, are considerably more expensive. My wife and I just moved from the Canadian prairies to the west coast. Prior to the move, shopping at farmer's markets was an indulgence; now, shopping smaller markets, farmer's markets, fruit stands, etc. is a real money saver. We can buy two giant bags of produce for less than the cost of one bag back home.
I guess the lesson here is that no piece of advice is universal.