I am 45 years old, I live in central Pennsylvania and I own my own home, a half of a duplex, a 125 year old coal mining company house.
I bought this house from my grandparents estate for $5000 and I have put $35,000 into it so far. That is doing all the work myself and hiring private contractors to do the rest of the work.
I have had 65 employers in my life. Some people say I cannot hold onto a job. The only reason I have any money is because I was hurt while working, where a logging truck ran into the back of my car while I was employed changing electric meters as a subcontractor for a electric co/op locally.
The electric company pays their linemen about $60,000 - $80,000 a year and union rules states that there has to be two people in the truck at all times. I was doing the same job they would have had to do - by myself with no phone or radio for $8.50 a hour.
The logging truck that hit me was owned by a large timber company that had a saw mill 20 miles down the road that employed over 100 people directly and another 200 indirectly.
Taking a settlement out of court for a lifetime of pain and suffering, the insurance company gave me $99,000 and told me to move on with my life.
That was how I got the money to buy my own home and live since then 6 years since the settlement.
I have been willing to work most any job and I have traveled as far as 120 miles one way each way every day for as little as minimum wage - wearing out many vehicles in the 25 years that I have worked.
I am not a bum and I am willing to work!
3 years ago I worked for a corporation called Siemens as a temporary worker through a employment agency. They told me I had to work 65 hours a week for the next 9 months before they would even hire me and give me any benefits. By that time, they easily could have found a reason why to get rid of me or not hire me and they would have their work done for nothing and have paid me nothing for doing it.
I made a stink and they called the agency I worked for and told them to tell me not to come back. I had found a job down the road at a machine shop - working for .16 cents less a hour that had no minimum amount of hours that you had to work and hired me directly on the spot.
It was almost 70 miles one way from my home, and at that time I was renting a identical half a house for $350 a month and could not afford to move to the city of Pittsburgh. So I had to drive it every day and it cost me $26 a day in gasoline.
The shop was union and they charged $500 to join the union.
The shop was located in a town that had a ambulance service that was out of money and so every person working in that town was charged a $100 a year ambulance fee.
The town also charged a $80 a year - right to work in that town fee.
It was going to cost me $450 a month to have some type of crappy insurance that didn't cover anything and didn't pay for anything, due to the fact that it was through UPMC and I lived so far away that I would have had to drive to Pittsburgh if I got hurt or sick and was at home.
I found that I could not make a go of it working 40 hours a week, so I increased my work to 50 hours a week. When I found that I could not make a go of it working 50 hours a week, I started working 60 hours a week. When I found out that I could not make a go of it working 60 hours a week, I increased my work to 70 hours a week.
I am a single person, living alone with almost no bills and no credit cards. Just that after all the deductions from my pay - I was not making $60 a week.
Finally the transmission in my truck went out and I had to buy a used vehicle $3800.00 I also had to pay $1200 to get the transmission repaired, which took 3 transmissions at the garages and 3 months to get repaired the right way.
1 - used transmission lasted 3 days and cost $500 just to have it put in. 1 - rebuilt transmission went 12 miles before the line fell off and all the fluid pumped out and I had to drive it back to the garage and they had to rebuild it a second time.
I ended up quitting my job and I didn't even go in the last day of work. The other employees were so jealous of me because I owned my own tools and I had a nice vehicle and I was working all kinds of overtime that they complained to the employer and he cut my hours back down to 40 - so I would not have been able to make a go of it anyways.
That was 3 years ago and I have not since found any type of gainful employment. I look for work 4 hours on average a day and last year while getting my car inspected - after the windshield was broke by a stone chip, a 98 year old woman with Alzheimer's ran into the back of my car and my back was re injured and the insurance company said I had a pre existing condition and offered me $500 as a settlement and my lawyer said that he thought that I should take it.
I am not, nor have I ever been able to get any public assistance because I have some money left in the bank from the settlement 6 years ago from the first automobile accident.
I signed off on all benefits and rights from the first accident and I pay for my pain medications out of my own pocket along with office visits for my doctor.
If it was not for Deer meat and hunting in the wintertime and a vegetable garden in the summertime, I would not be able to afford food. Right now my budget is about $40 a week for milk and day old bread and eggs and crackers and soup. I cannot afford to buy even meat other then hot dogs or occasionally ground meat. I cannot afford to go out to eat. I cannot afford to buy my family members Christmas presents.
I feel like a real bum.
Twice a month, I round up all my bills and I get out my checkbook and I pay everything off. About every month, I have to remove $1000 from my saving and put it into my checking account to cover my bills.
Slowly buy surely every month I deplete more and more of my savings. The annalists say that this recession will be a long one and not to expect any relief for at least the next 6 years.
Even when the government gave out free money with the stimulus checks, I was not eligible because I had no income to declare.
I couldn't explain to the people that I worked with - who all had wives or girlfriends that they lived with - that a person cannot live on a one income family when that person is not making even the minimum amount of money necessary to live on - which in Pittsburgh is way more than $11 a hour.
The employer was charging thousands of dollars to get the steel mills repair work done in this shop and he was paying me a couple of hundred dollars a week. The amount of money I made him in 4 hours paid my whole weeks salary.
I do not have a family - because I do not make enough money to support a family. I do not have a girlfriend because I do not make enough money to be able to take a woman out on a date or show her a good time and I do not know any women that would just want to sit around my house and look at my computer and watch tv and scrimp and save all day. Surely they would leave and find themselves a man that would take them out and show them a good time and maybe even hire a maid so they wouldn't have to cook or clean and so they could get a part time job so they wouldn't have to ask me for spending money.
The way I see it, as long as women work and people depends on a two income family to make ends meet, we are never going to get ahead in this world. Basically what has to happen is for the men folk to tell the women to stay home and keep them barefoot and pregnant. Force the employers to raise the wages of the men and force the employers to give Blue Cross / Blue Shield insurance with no co pay as a standard form of insurance.
Make men work to the age of 70 and make people save a small portion of the money they make. If you take the women out of the workforce, you will have 50% more jobs for the men to work at.
At the same time, once you force the women to stay home, and you take that easy spending money away from them. You will get rid of 99% of the lesbianism because women won't have money to take each other out and show each other a good time and provide for each other - so they will need a man to take care of them.
If you want to live in the 1950's - you have to have the same workforce as in the 1950's. If a woman is a school teacher and she becomes pregnant or gets married, you force her to stay at home and give up her job. Give the job to the man - who now has to work and provide for the family.
All of a sudden you will get rid of single parent families, because when women cannot get public assistance, they will not spread their legs to every Tom, Dick and Harry and they will not let themselves get pregnant and they will hold onto a man - once they do get married and get pregnant - because there will be no security net for them to fall back on if things gets hard or things don't work out the way they think that they should.
When women have too many options, they can come and go as they please and they can pick and choose who they want to be with and when they are done they can break up with that guy and move on and ruin someone Else's life.
My way of thinking, if you cannot afford to leave, where are you going to go? If you cannot afford to have kids - then how are you going to take care of the ones that you already have.
It is the crazy women in this world that has this world all messed up!
Go back to the 40's and 50's and see how many women were single parents and how many of the women were forced to find husbands to take care of them, even if the man in their life left them.
We can straighten this country out - but it isn't going to be easy.
The DOW is falling again, after a short rally, and will only continue to fall.
More people continue to lose their jobs and those jobs aren't coming back. Unemployment benefits are already running out for many that were given extensions, and then what?
The good ol' American dollar is on the verge of collapse and the global community is looking for another alternative for a world currency. China is sick of us borrowing and not paying back. So major players are starting to dump the American dollar as the world reserve currency.
And our wonderful Federal Reserve keeps printing currency, when we no longer have the gold to back it up. Hyperinflation coming? I think it's what Zimbabwe did.
The cash for clunkers stimulus has created an even worse situation for the car dealerships, not to mention many who took the credit and are now in all kinds of new debt.
And remember the last time we got a stimulus check the gas prices went through the roof? We had to spend that money for gas!
I hate to sound like a messenger of death, but I'm trying to be realistic.
This is the way I see it: My husband, who is 50 and was laid off in January 2009, is still not working. I work for a university in California and we have been told that layoffs will occur beginning January 2010. The recession over? I think not! The important question to ask is WHEN is the MEDIA going to start reporting the TRUTH? And, then of course, the follow up question is WHY is the MEDIA feeding us LIES? With the overall absolute ultimate question being WHERE are the new JOBS that were PROMISED?
Your site claims you have converse for 8.99, I know if something is too good to be true then it probably is. but you shouldn't claim it if it isn't true. I can buy converse for the same price at the converse website.
yay! the recession is over! my bank account has instantly been filled and everyone who has lost a job has it back. also, all forclosed houses have been returned to their previous owners! yay! you are right...the recession is over! yay!
I have the same problems with CDS always getting scratched or damaged. I usually use car wax. I haven't really tried anything else other than toothpaste, but that's a waste of time. My friends always tell me shaving cream. I don't know if it works or are they just trying to get me to scratch the CDS more as a joke? Anyone know if it could work?
When you are poor and drugs are flowing and illegal activity and whatever you are not aware of, buona fortunata a bon voyage- I hear gun fire out here 2 days in a row and arguments and pitbulls barking loudly, no one does anything, I hate the Bronx and some of these people are worse than the animals they own. I feel this is the worst place to live with my wife, I am trapped with no car and no hope of a better life what a terrible place this is.Taxi drivers shot dead in the past couple months, one teenage girl abducted with her poster put up on the way to the train last week, I see kids beat up and down people standing around til one kid runs away with both eyes swollen shut. The police do not come in time to help the kids. I travel each day on the subway with criminals peddling pirated movies and watch mothers hit their kids, I see alot of troubling behavior, a week ago on 174th st a 17 year old was shot dead, 2 wks earlier I was buying groceries in harlem and 2 kids got killed. i am really troubled and most people here do not even care, if they do they do not respond in a normal way, i feel penalized for being unable to earn the 147k to get me into a decent neighborhood. Survival and exsistance are out of my control it is disturbing living in New York.How does my education help me, I went to college and the only jobs they have do not pay my mta fare for the week. What can be done if your ethics tell you to leave but not to be homeless and hasty. what a mistake,i am miserable.The building owners here is are crooks they serve the purpose of keeping us down even farther with all the illegal practices they allow in their buildings, this place is not safe or sane. Don't believe me? Ask the mayor is he would want to live here.
In the old days, our economy was more-or-less like a big thermos bottle, where any economic activity was bound to reinforce the overall economy.
Globalisation has opened up the thermos, and if a company outsources a call center to Bangalore, it's glowing profit sheet is helping the Indian economy, NOT America's.
Today's corporate profits are largely due to cost cutting, such as reducing salary and/or benefits, and layoffs.
Reducing salaries, freezing pensions and cutting matches on 401k plans only prolongs a bad economy, or at best defers the effect until employees reach retirement age without enough savings.
America's roughly 10% unemployment rate hides the fact that many laid off people have taken new jobs with lower salaries and reduced benefits, if they have any benefits at all.
I'm not a "real" economist, but put aside all the grand theories for one moment, and ask this simple question: Do you think we would be in a recession if Americans could afford to pay their bills?
That sounds like an amazing idea. I'm living in France now though--does anyone know of any clothes swaps here?
Also, it's not 'ewww' to wear used clothes! Think about it, you eat off of used plates all the time. Do you ever stay in a hotel? If you do, you sleep in used sheets, on used pillows etc. Most people aren't giving away their underwear, and I'd say everything else is free game! You could always WASH things.
What's ewwww is trashing our planet with a bunch of extra textiles that don't need to be around.
Your comment rang true for our family. We are living on about 60% of our income and getting out of the debt trap. The hardest part is feeling like the odd family out, because our life-style is not typical of people with our income. We are trading the feeling of fitting in, for peace of mind.
Try mixing your cold cereal half and half! Buy 2 bags, one national brand, one generic, mix em up, and we can't tell the difference! Also, my Hubby works at a sugar manufacturing plant, they bag over 100 different lables off the same production lines. There is absolutely no difference in the product, only in your mind, and wallet.
How about saving enough money to qualify as a "part time job?" If you are saving $100 a week by shopping sales and cutting back expenses, by the time you factor in taxes, etc. that's the same as earning around $130/week, about the same as a part time job!
Before someone yell at me again. Do you know how GDP is measured? What if I told you, they are currently inaccurate? Lots of laws have been changed throughout the world and we still use the same method for many years. Many asset locations of globalizations aren't counted for in the USA. That means numbers are far less than you assume. I would like to learn about the money saving tips.
As Everyday Minimalist said, Simple living is about priorities (to me, at least). With less material stuff to hold you down, the more you can focus on what is truly worth focusing on in life. I admit that I'm only beginning this whole simple living "lifestyle", it's certainly freeing to the small degree that I've taken it.
i love to laugh at people who constantly go GDP this GDP that without knowing what is actually going on right now. wiki does help. please look up "phantom GDP." This site really isn't good for any economic news. i'm here for the coupons and money saving tips.
Bless your heart - it is obvious you are distrought over your milk drying up - and if you choose to supplement with formula, like the dr. recommended, I'm sure your sweet baby will turn out just fine - how many adults do we all know that were fed formula as babies - and they're ok... so please don't worry yourself over this. I just wanted to mention to you though, that if your milk is drying up and you really want to try to give it a boost instead of going to formula-only, you might consult a lactation specialist about a prescription medication to boost your milk supply - I've heard this really works for a lot of moms - also lots of pumping (increasing demand) can sometimes increase your supply... but of course, depending on your particular circumstance this may not work for you - I know sometimes milk supply decreases because of stress or for no known reason... but I just wanted to give you words of encouragement :0)
If I have a mop and Murphy's Oil Soap don't I then have to rinse with a separate clean mop? I thought that any soapy water formula needs to be rinsed with clean water and or vinegar. Have been I avoiding the old-fashioned method due to misinformation?
Stress and spending are directly proportional in my opinion! A good plan/time management is a great way to fight against it....I am still working on this skill for myself! =)
Well, wall street and the markets are in fact leading indicators since the market builds into its prices an expectation of what's going to happen. However, there's nothing that says this expectation is correct. So yes, they're leading indicators but they're not reliable ones.
"I ask these things because it’s finally over, technically, officially — the recession is over.
For any of those still feeling the personal blues and responding to this jargon with a resounding ‘whaaaaa,’ any positive gross domestic product growth after consecutive quarters of contraction or negative GDP, signals a technical, if not literal, end to the recession."
Is incorrect. The various definitions of a recessions used in popular media (such as two quarters of negative economic growth) are not what the US government uses. The correct definition of a recession is "any period of time which the NBER in retrospect declares is a recession". That's why it takes a while for the US government to declare whether or not we're in a recession even after GDP numbers are known.
The NBER users a variety of measures to see if we're in a recession, some of which incorporate GDP numbers while others don't.
In all other ways your article was spot on though. I just wanted to make sure people realize that since it explains the lag in government announcements versus GDP numbers.
"You guys can hate Wall St. all you want, but the stock market, and Wall St. pay are LEADING indicators for the economy."
Someone failed economics. Yea, finance guys really suck at economics. Nothing new to know.
The economic recovery is like a child in a play. The first couple days, the ticket sales are dismal, so the parent (govt) steps in and buys all the empty seats. "Wow the play must be excellent because all tickets sold out." So the play gets extended and the parents eventually run out of resources to pay for all the empty seats.
I am 45 years old, I live in central Pennsylvania and I own my own home, a half of a duplex, a 125 year old coal mining company house.
I bought this house from my grandparents estate for $5000 and I have put $35,000 into it so far. That is doing all the work myself and hiring private contractors to do the rest of the work.
I have had 65 employers in my life. Some people say I cannot hold onto a job. The only reason I have any money is because I was hurt while working, where a logging truck ran into the back of my car while I was employed changing electric meters as a subcontractor for a electric co/op locally.
The electric company pays their linemen about $60,000 - $80,000 a year and union rules states that there has to be two people in the truck at all times. I was doing the same job they would have had to do - by myself with no phone or radio for $8.50 a hour.
The logging truck that hit me was owned by a large timber company that had a saw mill 20 miles down the road that employed over 100 people directly and another 200 indirectly.
Taking a settlement out of court for a lifetime of pain and suffering, the insurance company gave me $99,000 and told me to move on with my life.
That was how I got the money to buy my own home and live since then 6 years since the settlement.
I have been willing to work most any job and I have traveled as far as 120 miles one way each way every day for as little as minimum wage - wearing out many vehicles in the 25 years that I have worked.
I am not a bum and I am willing to work!
3 years ago I worked for a corporation called Siemens as a temporary worker through a employment agency. They told me I had to work 65 hours a week for the next 9 months before they would even hire me and give me any benefits. By that time, they easily could have found a reason why to get rid of me or not hire me and they would have their work done for nothing and have paid me nothing for doing it.
I made a stink and they called the agency I worked for and told them to tell me not to come back. I had found a job down the road at a machine shop - working for .16 cents less a hour that had no minimum amount of hours that you had to work and hired me directly on the spot.
It was almost 70 miles one way from my home, and at that time I was renting a identical half a house for $350 a month and could not afford to move to the city of Pittsburgh. So I had to drive it every day and it cost me $26 a day in gasoline.
The shop was union and they charged $500 to join the union.
The shop was located in a town that had a ambulance service that was out of money and so every person working in that town was charged a $100 a year ambulance fee.
The town also charged a $80 a year - right to work in that town fee.
It was going to cost me $450 a month to have some type of crappy insurance that didn't cover anything and didn't pay for anything, due to the fact that it was through UPMC and I lived so far away that I would have had to drive to Pittsburgh if I got hurt or sick and was at home.
I found that I could not make a go of it working 40 hours a week, so I increased my work to 50 hours a week. When I found that I could not make a go of it working 50 hours a week, I started working 60 hours a week. When I found out that I could not make a go of it working 60 hours a week, I increased my work to 70 hours a week.
I am a single person, living alone with almost no bills and no credit cards. Just that after all the deductions from my pay - I was not making $60 a week.
Finally the transmission in my truck went out and I had to buy a used vehicle $3800.00 I also had to pay $1200 to get the transmission repaired, which took 3 transmissions at the garages and 3 months to get repaired the right way.
1 - used transmission lasted 3 days and cost $500 just to have it put in. 1 - rebuilt transmission went 12 miles before the line fell off and all the fluid pumped out and I had to drive it back to the garage and they had to rebuild it a second time.
I ended up quitting my job and I didn't even go in the last day of work. The other employees were so jealous of me because I owned my own tools and I had a nice vehicle and I was working all kinds of overtime that they complained to the employer and he cut my hours back down to 40 - so I would not have been able to make a go of it anyways.
That was 3 years ago and I have not since found any type of gainful employment. I look for work 4 hours on average a day and last year while getting my car inspected - after the windshield was broke by a stone chip, a 98 year old woman with Alzheimer's ran into the back of my car and my back was re injured and the insurance company said I had a pre existing condition and offered me $500 as a settlement and my lawyer said that he thought that I should take it.
I am not, nor have I ever been able to get any public assistance because I have some money left in the bank from the settlement 6 years ago from the first automobile accident.
I signed off on all benefits and rights from the first accident and I pay for my pain medications out of my own pocket along with office visits for my doctor.
If it was not for Deer meat and hunting in the wintertime and a vegetable garden in the summertime, I would not be able to afford food. Right now my budget is about $40 a week for milk and day old bread and eggs and crackers and soup. I cannot afford to buy even meat other then hot dogs or occasionally ground meat. I cannot afford to go out to eat. I cannot afford to buy my family members Christmas presents.
I feel like a real bum.
Twice a month, I round up all my bills and I get out my checkbook and I pay everything off. About every month, I have to remove $1000 from my saving and put it into my checking account to cover my bills.
Slowly buy surely every month I deplete more and more of my savings. The annalists say that this recession will be a long one and not to expect any relief for at least the next 6 years.
Even when the government gave out free money with the stimulus checks, I was not eligible because I had no income to declare.
I couldn't explain to the people that I worked with - who all had wives or girlfriends that they lived with - that a person cannot live on a one income family when that person is not making even the minimum amount of money necessary to live on - which in Pittsburgh is way more than $11 a hour.
The employer was charging thousands of dollars to get the steel mills repair work done in this shop and he was paying me a couple of hundred dollars a week. The amount of money I made him in 4 hours paid my whole weeks salary.
I do not have a family - because I do not make enough money to support a family. I do not have a girlfriend because I do not make enough money to be able to take a woman out on a date or show her a good time and I do not know any women that would just want to sit around my house and look at my computer and watch tv and scrimp and save all day. Surely they would leave and find themselves a man that would take them out and show them a good time and maybe even hire a maid so they wouldn't have to cook or clean and so they could get a part time job so they wouldn't have to ask me for spending money.
The way I see it, as long as women work and people depends on a two income family to make ends meet, we are never going to get ahead in this world. Basically what has to happen is for the men folk to tell the women to stay home and keep them barefoot and pregnant. Force the employers to raise the wages of the men and force the employers to give Blue Cross / Blue Shield insurance with no co pay as a standard form of insurance.
Make men work to the age of 70 and make people save a small portion of the money they make. If you take the women out of the workforce, you will have 50% more jobs for the men to work at.
At the same time, once you force the women to stay home, and you take that easy spending money away from them. You will get rid of 99% of the lesbianism because women won't have money to take each other out and show each other a good time and provide for each other - so they will need a man to take care of them.
If you want to live in the 1950's - you have to have the same workforce as in the 1950's. If a woman is a school teacher and she becomes pregnant or gets married, you force her to stay at home and give up her job. Give the job to the man - who now has to work and provide for the family.
All of a sudden you will get rid of single parent families, because when women cannot get public assistance, they will not spread their legs to every Tom, Dick and Harry and they will not let themselves get pregnant and they will hold onto a man - once they do get married and get pregnant - because there will be no security net for them to fall back on if things gets hard or things don't work out the way they think that they should.
When women have too many options, they can come and go as they please and they can pick and choose who they want to be with and when they are done they can break up with that guy and move on and ruin someone Else's life.
My way of thinking, if you cannot afford to leave, where are you going to go? If you cannot afford to have kids - then how are you going to take care of the ones that you already have.
It is the crazy women in this world that has this world all messed up!
Go back to the 40's and 50's and see how many women were single parents and how many of the women were forced to find husbands to take care of them, even if the man in their life left them.
We can straighten this country out - but it isn't going to be easy.
Over? How about just "really" beginning?
The DOW is falling again, after a short rally, and will only continue to fall.
More people continue to lose their jobs and those jobs aren't coming back. Unemployment benefits are already running out for many that were given extensions, and then what?
The good ol' American dollar is on the verge of collapse and the global community is looking for another alternative for a world currency. China is sick of us borrowing and not paying back. So major players are starting to dump the American dollar as the world reserve currency.
And our wonderful Federal Reserve keeps printing currency, when we no longer have the gold to back it up. Hyperinflation coming? I think it's what Zimbabwe did.
The cash for clunkers stimulus has created an even worse situation for the car dealerships, not to mention many who took the credit and are now in all kinds of new debt.
And remember the last time we got a stimulus check the gas prices went through the roof? We had to spend that money for gas!
I hate to sound like a messenger of death, but I'm trying to be realistic.
This is the way I see it: My husband, who is 50 and was laid off in January 2009, is still not working. I work for a university in California and we have been told that layoffs will occur beginning January 2010. The recession over? I think not! The important question to ask is WHEN is the MEDIA going to start reporting the TRUTH? And, then of course, the follow up question is WHY is the MEDIA feeding us LIES? With the overall absolute ultimate question being WHERE are the new JOBS that were PROMISED?
Your site claims you have converse for 8.99, I know if something is too good to be true then it probably is. but you shouldn't claim it if it isn't true. I can buy converse for the same price at the converse website.
yay! the recession is over! my bank account has instantly been filled and everyone who has lost a job has it back. also, all forclosed houses have been returned to their previous owners! yay! you are right...the recession is over! yay!
I have the same problems with CDS always getting scratched or damaged. I usually use car wax. I haven't really tried anything else other than toothpaste, but that's a waste of time. My friends always tell me shaving cream. I don't know if it works or are they just trying to get me to scratch the CDS more as a joke? Anyone know if it could work?
check out the documentary "The Future of Food". I found it on hulu. It was very interesting.
When you are poor and drugs are flowing and illegal activity and whatever you are not aware of, buona fortunata a bon voyage- I hear gun fire out here 2 days in a row and arguments and pitbulls barking loudly, no one does anything, I hate the Bronx and some of these people are worse than the animals they own. I feel this is the worst place to live with my wife, I am trapped with no car and no hope of a better life what a terrible place this is.Taxi drivers shot dead in the past couple months, one teenage girl abducted with her poster put up on the way to the train last week, I see kids beat up and down people standing around til one kid runs away with both eyes swollen shut. The police do not come in time to help the kids. I travel each day on the subway with criminals peddling pirated movies and watch mothers hit their kids, I see alot of troubling behavior, a week ago on 174th st a 17 year old was shot dead, 2 wks earlier I was buying groceries in harlem and 2 kids got killed. i am really troubled and most people here do not even care, if they do they do not respond in a normal way, i feel penalized for being unable to earn the 147k to get me into a decent neighborhood. Survival and exsistance are out of my control it is disturbing living in New York.How does my education help me, I went to college and the only jobs they have do not pay my mta fare for the week. What can be done if your ethics tell you to leave but not to be homeless and hasty. what a mistake,i am miserable.The building owners here is are crooks they serve the purpose of keeping us down even farther with all the illegal practices they allow in their buildings, this place is not safe or sane. Don't believe me? Ask the mayor is he would want to live here.
Forget the old definitions of a 'recession.'
In the old days, our economy was more-or-less like a big thermos bottle, where any economic activity was bound to reinforce the overall economy.
Globalisation has opened up the thermos, and if a company outsources a call center to Bangalore, it's glowing profit sheet is helping the Indian economy, NOT America's.
Today's corporate profits are largely due to cost cutting, such as reducing salary and/or benefits, and layoffs.
Reducing salaries, freezing pensions and cutting matches on 401k plans only prolongs a bad economy, or at best defers the effect until employees reach retirement age without enough savings.
America's roughly 10% unemployment rate hides the fact that many laid off people have taken new jobs with lower salaries and reduced benefits, if they have any benefits at all.
I'm not a "real" economist, but put aside all the grand theories for one moment, and ask this simple question: Do you think we would be in a recession if Americans could afford to pay their bills?
That sounds like an amazing idea. I'm living in France now though--does anyone know of any clothes swaps here?
Also, it's not 'ewww' to wear used clothes! Think about it, you eat off of used plates all the time. Do you ever stay in a hotel? If you do, you sleep in used sheets, on used pillows etc. Most people aren't giving away their underwear, and I'd say everything else is free game! You could always WASH things.
What's ewwww is trashing our planet with a bunch of extra textiles that don't need to be around.
Your comment rang true for our family. We are living on about 60% of our income and getting out of the debt trap. The hardest part is feeling like the odd family out, because our life-style is not typical of people with our income. We are trading the feeling of fitting in, for peace of mind.
Try mixing your cold cereal half and half! Buy 2 bags, one national brand, one generic, mix em up, and we can't tell the difference! Also, my Hubby works at a sugar manufacturing plant, they bag over 100 different lables off the same production lines. There is absolutely no difference in the product, only in your mind, and wallet.
How about saving enough money to qualify as a "part time job?" If you are saving $100 a week by shopping sales and cutting back expenses, by the time you factor in taxes, etc. that's the same as earning around $130/week, about the same as a part time job!
Before someone yell at me again. Do you know how GDP is measured? What if I told you, they are currently inaccurate? Lots of laws have been changed throughout the world and we still use the same method for many years. Many asset locations of globalizations aren't counted for in the USA. That means numbers are far less than you assume. I would like to learn about the money saving tips.
As Everyday Minimalist said, Simple living is about priorities (to me, at least). With less material stuff to hold you down, the more you can focus on what is truly worth focusing on in life. I admit that I'm only beginning this whole simple living "lifestyle", it's certainly freeing to the small degree that I've taken it.
By the way, wanted to let you know that I linked to this article on my blog: [http://afellowshipoffollowers.blogspot.com/]
i love to laugh at people who constantly go GDP this GDP that without knowing what is actually going on right now. wiki does help. please look up "phantom GDP." This site really isn't good for any economic news. i'm here for the coupons and money saving tips.
Bless your heart - it is obvious you are distrought over your milk drying up - and if you choose to supplement with formula, like the dr. recommended, I'm sure your sweet baby will turn out just fine - how many adults do we all know that were fed formula as babies - and they're ok... so please don't worry yourself over this. I just wanted to mention to you though, that if your milk is drying up and you really want to try to give it a boost instead of going to formula-only, you might consult a lactation specialist about a prescription medication to boost your milk supply - I've heard this really works for a lot of moms - also lots of pumping (increasing demand) can sometimes increase your supply... but of course, depending on your particular circumstance this may not work for you - I know sometimes milk supply decreases because of stress or for no known reason... but I just wanted to give you words of encouragement :0)
If I have a mop and Murphy's Oil Soap don't I then have to rinse with a separate clean mop? I thought that any soapy water formula needs to be rinsed with clean water and or vinegar. Have been I avoiding the old-fashioned method due to misinformation?
Stress and spending are directly proportional in my opinion! A good plan/time management is a great way to fight against it....I am still working on this skill for myself! =)
Well, wall street and the markets are in fact leading indicators since the market builds into its prices an expectation of what's going to happen. However, there's nothing that says this expectation is correct. So yes, they're leading indicators but they're not reliable ones.
This:
"I ask these things because it’s finally over, technically, officially — the recession is over.
For any of those still feeling the personal blues and responding to this jargon with a resounding ‘whaaaaa,’ any positive gross domestic product growth after consecutive quarters of contraction or negative GDP, signals a technical, if not literal, end to the recession."
Is incorrect. The various definitions of a recessions used in popular media (such as two quarters of negative economic growth) are not what the US government uses. The correct definition of a recession is "any period of time which the NBER in retrospect declares is a recession". That's why it takes a while for the US government to declare whether or not we're in a recession even after GDP numbers are known.
The NBER users a variety of measures to see if we're in a recession, some of which incorporate GDP numbers while others don't.
In all other ways your article was spot on though. I just wanted to make sure people realize that since it explains the lag in government announcements versus GDP numbers.
"You guys can hate Wall St. all you want, but the stock market, and Wall St. pay are LEADING indicators for the economy."
Someone failed economics. Yea, finance guys really suck at economics. Nothing new to know.
You guys can hate Wall St. all you want, but the stock market, and Wall St. pay are LEADING indicators for the economy.
$700,000 bonus/employee at Goldman Sachs anyone? That matches 2007 highs.
Good times are definitely back for some! Let's just hope it trickle down eventually for all.
Keigu,
Financial Samurai
"Slicing Through Money's Mysteries"
The "G" in the Gross Domestic Product has come to stand for government now. There was no private sector growth, only government spending.
The economic recovery is like a child in a play. The first couple days, the ticket sales are dismal, so the parent (govt) steps in and buys all the empty seats. "Wow the play must be excellent because all tickets sold out." So the play gets extended and the parents eventually run out of resources to pay for all the empty seats.
~the end~