What are you doing?

[anotherblack944]

Ok, so this will probably be noted as another AWM rant.. But.. It IS!

I'm sick of all this "holier than thou" crap! Increase taxes? Oh sure, that will be "returned to us" NOT! The waste is waaay out of hand. I'm already sick and tired of paying more and more "fees/surcharges" for things that were not too long ago considered basic services. New programs like a "farm bill" that is reality is a 2/3 food stamps subsidy. Where is the common sense in any of this?

Obviously there are many people on PPOT that are comfortably well off, that support and agree with social engineering, the rhetoric of supply and demand, and so on. In some cases the "elastic" band is stretched too far already. I can't drive less to get to work (there are only two of us). I can't use mass transit (2.5 hrs vs <15 min drive).

What about the rest of us? What are you doing?

From my point of view:

1) Gave up restaurants several years ago (with 45% pay cut & force reduction scam).
2) Only eat one meal a day because that's all I can afford. Now I've started to bring lunch as FF is unaffordable as well.
3) Don't use the gas grill anymore because I can't afford the price of meat.
4) Gave up Friday afternoon PTO drives in the twisty's to conserve gas. (used to buy only "straight gas" for MPG but can't anymore as it's all ETH).
5) Lawnmower just took a dump because of above.
6) Only buy generics whenever possible (even if inferior) due to price.
7) The 84 (DD) will be the next to go since I can't afford to properly maintain it anymore.
8) Newest vehicle is a 97, can't afford to buy a "new" car under any circumstances (and it's the newest in the fleet). Oh well, scratch the ghey prius idea...
9) Will have to go further in debt just to visit my granddaughter this weekend in Chicago for her first birthday.
10) Can't keep up with monthly VISA purchases the wife makes (just doesn't get it despite several "budget reviews")
11) Hope to heck that none of the major systems in he house goes (most 20 yrs old) = screwed


Ah yes, life in the midwest is good...

[ZOA NOM]

Resisted the temptation to keep up with the Jones', and stayed satisfied with my home. (20 yr fixed loan)
Bought a motorcycle to commute on.
Fewer unnecessary trips to the store.

[Evans, Marv]

Wife & I have cut back on eating out and some other things. I take her to work & she walks home (use her car to run errands if need be). I have put up the truck unless I have to tow or haul something(s). Bought a bike to ride back & forth instead of driving the truck. (Costs me about $30 round trip with the truck daily as opposed to .8 gal. of gas up & .8 gal. of gas back on the bike.) We've just cut out most extra/frivolous things in out life - mostly because we can do without them comfortably, plus I hate being taken advantage of by paying high prices. We're generally cutting back and feel there is a very good possibility of a serious economic disaster looming in the near future.

[djmcmath]

I've been in rough places a few times. Growing up, it was years on end. My Dad raised 3 kids on about half the salary I had coming out of college. Some things we did:
Macaroni and cheese, ground beef, home made meals from the low-end supplies. Cold cereal is more expensive than pancakes, if you make the pancakes from scratch. Count pennies, because every single one is worth watching.

No new clothes. Hand me downs. Goodwill, or equivalent local thrift stores.

No new furniture -- hand me downs, local thrift stores.

Garage sales. In some places, garage sales are like charity events, without all the hooplah and "Look at me I'm a generous person!" nonsense.

Utilities are a bear. Don't use the A/C. Ventilate the house at night, when it's cool, then close all the windows in the morning and keep the sun out. Should stay reasonable until mid afternoon. Cell phones are right out, of course. So is cable, and high speed internet. If you must have the internet, use dialup.

Dry your clothes on a clothes line. Wash your dishes by hand.


That's all that's coming back to me off the top of my head. (shrug) I guess if I really needed to cut back on the budget, I could go a long ways.

Good luck,
Dan

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Think sustainable in EVERYTHING you do.

The days of gluttonous excess in America (and the lifestyles associated with it) are coming very quickly to a close. This change is going to be shocking and difficult for most people. But if one actually starts exercising the gray matter and realizing that all the choices we make in the course of our days (no matter how seemingly trivial) are just that - CHOICES, it's a start. The next step is making the CORRECT choices (usually the ones that result in sustainable courses of action).

People in the U.S. have been fat, dumb and happy for way too long with their collective thumbs up their asses and their brains on auto-pilot. That is going to come to an end pretty quickly.

I see this as a tremendous opportunity for those of us that actually enjoy applying our minds to situations.

[cgarr]

We are cutting back on cutting back.

[Palum6o]

I am hearing this more and more from my friends who are having their first children. Its so tight for them as it is, and daycare costs have increased (again). I just had a discussion with my one friend just yesterday (computer tech and wife is a teacher) on different ways they can save money, and we came up with him getting a second job. How's that for quality of life after just having a baby? He doesn't have much to begin with so he doesn't have anything he can sell, they own their townhouse - nothing special. The younger folks in this country are getting more squeezed than ever before!

You can also add to your list - turning off your computer at night. You can save $3 a week!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Why do you think I have no kids?

Way too expensive - in terms of dollars, time and sanity. All of which are in increasingly short supply these days.

[livi]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Why do you think I have no kids?

Way too expensive - in terms of dollars, time and sanity. All of which are in increasingly short supply these days.

I sometimes long for that position. For a reality check - change lives with me for a week or two. Six kids between 3 and 14 years old.

Sanity is not an option anymore. Neither is time or money. Thats why I am tremendously grateful for being a doctor. Not so I can cure my own kids or because of the reasonably substantial pay check - but for the easy supply of drugs.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

So that's what I've been doing wrong all these years.

I should've gotten into medicine - at least I'd have gotten drugs. The only perks I get for having gone into architecture is an endless supply of free full-sized drawing sets from old projects, drafting supplies and exacto knives. Oh, and the occasional bootleg copy of AutoCAD or VectorWorks.

I'd rather have teh drugs.

[Palum6o]

POP, would you mind talking to my wife? She wants #2...

[scottmandue]

I have cut down going out for sushi to only once a week.

But I don't have any kids.

anotherblack944, if you don't mind me asking what do you do for a living? What is your annual income?

I live in Calif which is famous for our high cost of living and I'm only making around $50K I don't think anyone would call that "affluent".

Of course not having kids is not an option for you at this point, honestly I always thougth I would get married and have kids but it never paned out for me.

My DD is a Hyundai, that helps... much rather have a G35 or a Boxster or a...

[Jim Richards]

Originally Posted by livi

I sometimes long for that position. For a reality check - change lives with me for a week or two. Six kids between 3 and 14 years old.

Markus, not only are you a fluffer, but you're a professional breeder. Quite the renaissance man.

[Justin S]

Well this summer I am biking to work (6 miles one way) to avoid having to take my parents car and pay for gas. I cannot wait until I have enough to buy a decent 944/968. The sad thing is I am only 16 and I have to pay taxes, whilst there are (some) older people who just take government handouts and do not want to get a job.

[sammyg2]

I've only been that strapped once, back in my late 20's. I took on a second job temporarily.
After about 5 months of that i found a better paying day job so I could give up the second one. Turned out to be a very lucrative move.

If I want it, I earn it or do without.

I know what you mean about having politicians always trying to take my paycheck tho, I've already paid more taxes so far this year than I earned 10 years ago.

[Zeke]

Interesting. Yes, it seems at times everyone here has money to throw around willy nilly. I'm happy (well, not really) to see that there are some down to earth types here that know what real work is, don't get paid a lot for it, and therefore are not having the best of times. It'll only take a couple more years of this and the feelings will manifest in how they vote. I can't wait.

I'm sick and tired of anything that is related to any of our governments. The last person that made any sense to me was Ross Perot and he was a loose cannon at that.

What do I do? Well, I haven't bought a Porsche part in over a year. No money. And I've done about half the list in the first post to conserve. However, I'm hanging on to the Carrera just to have something to do even though I don't drive it but once a month. Black944, hang on to yours as well. You can manage a can of wax and an afternoon of wax on, wax off.

You gotta have some escape.

For anyone in tight times, consider a side business. One business book I read said if your model can't make money right out of the box, forget it. Of course,that doesn't apply to all start ups, but if you have no money, you can't afford to dump money into some business folly. Walk someone's dog. We have a guy around here that picks up dog crap in your yard. You can be a clutter organizer or gofer. You get the idea, no capital investment and something that fits your personality.

One last thing, take that CC away from your wife. If she gets so mad that she wants to walk out on you, then maybe you ought to think of that as a possibility. Or see a counselor. There are a few resources that don't cost anything.

I wish you and the rest of us a lot of luck.

[djmcmath]

Milt -- I like the side job idea. I'm working in the DC area and have come to the solid realization that I can't afford to have a decent house (decent: 1200 sqft, not in the ghetto) with a commute less than 90 minutes on my salary. ... But if I had a side job, maybe I could pull something nicer together.

Waiting tables on weekends? Babysitting? Computer services? BMW Mechanic? Photographer? ... I have lots of skills, I'm just awful at marketing them.

Dan

[Zeke]

"I'm just awful at marketing them."

Well, let that be the least of your worries. There are a lot of good books on the subject, lots of info online and eBay has lots of tutorials that might apply to non eBay activities. And, one of the best secrets in marketing is to not try to be too clever. People are not looking for someone that is that much different than the crowd. What you can do is find someone who is doing what you'd like to do and just copy that person's model. You could go out of the area to find such a business if that bothers you.

Spending money on print advertising is way too expensive for most small businesses. Don't waste your time or money. Do flyers, networking, a small web site, take advantage of any community or homeowner organizations, make yourself a news story and get publicity, and a lot of other things like that.

I once knew a guy that got a job at a local hardware store. He did electrical and plumbing (both good pay) on the side. His business grew so much that he quit the hdw store. But wait, there's more: He left the area for greener grass only to return. And he did the same exact thing all over again! I think the guy only had some cards printed up, that was his total expense. But he put himself in the place where the business was.

Say you like to detail cars. Park across the street from the car wash. (Beware, that's an example only. In most cities a license is required and the owner of the car wash will probably complain.) You get the idea, but be subtle. People also don't like noisy people.

If I wanted to get serious about welding on 911's, I'd buy a junk car, strip it to the tub and weld in all the replacement panels on one side only. A before and after deal. Then, I'd take it on a trailer to all the events that allow a display or a swap spot (take a few trinkets to sell to make it legit). That's putting yourself where the interest is. Advertising 911 welding to the general public would be totally fruitless.

Target your prospects. That's all I can tell you in this short space but PM me with any specific questions.

[anotherblack944]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

anotherblack944, if you don't mind me asking what do you do for a living? What is your annual income?

I work for a CLEC (telecommunications). Over a very short run with the .com bubble things were fantastic. I transferred within the company several times. It was really a trip spending/managing $23mil in 3 months for one project! I was director of operations for most of the time @ 6 figures. Ended up supervising tech support for 1.5mil access lines wholesaled to AOL, MSN, etc. Broadband blew that out of the water. The company was purchased by #7 a few years ago. After being RIF'd once I had seen the landscape and opt'd for a tech position with the new company. Mid 50's (hourly) now. Every SS report shows an annual decrease in income since the transition despite annual raises.

Wife is unemployable. Have to keep the CC for emergencies which means it's always available to her for the stupid crap like squirrel food or flowers. I'm now squarely back to my mid 90's income with no adjustment for inflation. It's paycheck to paycheck again just like when I worked for the state. sigh..