how has the economy affected you?

all these threads on how to fix/ who is to blame. wondering what it has done to you guys on a personal level. the last 5 years i made right around $75,000.00 a year. this year, ill be lucky to break $50,000.00. all those little luxuries are all out the window. now im barely paying the bills. not sure whats next. any horror stories? i remember some of you selling cars for a living. im sure that's not happening, as in the past

I was working in the mortgage industry for a while. It was a real grind there at the end, and when I was laid off last August, I decided to go an entirely different route as far as employment. I still have licensure through the end of this year, so if things start to pick up I can always dabble with it part time.

Fortunately I don't have any personal "horror" stories, but my wallet certainly isn't what it once was. I left Gainesville, Florida and moved back home to DC about a year and a half ago to be closer to family and get a "real" job. Funny, I was actually making more down there running a sports bar than I am now.

I'm lucky it hasn't hurt me one bit. Knock on wood.

I was working in the mortgage industry for a while. It was a real grind there at the end, and when I was laid off last August, I decided to go an entirely different route as far as employment. I still have licensure through the end of this year, so if things start to pick up I can always dabble with it part time.

Fortunately I don't have any personal "horror" stories, but my wallet certainly isn't what it once was. I left Gainesville, Florida and moved back home to DC about a year and a half ago to be closer to family and get a "real" job. Funny, I was actually making more down there running a sports bar than I am now.

Yeah, I worked in that industry for a little while too GM. I took a different path, pursuing a dream and moving over here to Japan before things got bad. I've lost touch with nearly everyone I worked with, but I wonder how some of those people are doing now. The established people who were making over 200 a year and trying to spend every penny of it, buying 400k condos and sports cars, assuming the good times would roll forever.

Yeah, I worked in that industry for a little while too GM. I took a different path, pursuing a dream and moving over here to Japan before things got bad. I've lost touch with nearly everyone I worked with, but I wonder how some of those people are doing now. The established people who were making over 200 a year and trying to spend every penny of it, buying 400k condos and sports cars, assuming the good times would roll forever.

Oh I met several of those people, including one of my closest friends who brought me into the industry. He's single with no kids and one income, and when times were great he bought a $500K house with a 7/1 interest only arm. That was almost 4 years ago when times were plush and the bubble was strong. Obviously at this point he's way upside-down on the property.

My last mortgage-related job (I was actually working directly for a lender) just did another HUGE round of layoffs, and plenty of guys I know from that company are driving their BMW's and Audi's all over the DC area job hunting.

I guess that spend first, think second mentality is what got that industry into trouble in the first place.

Only a minor impact on me. My employer is freezing salaries this year. We typically get 4% per year, and more if you're deserving of a promotion. This year it will be 0%.

My retirement accounts have tanked of course, but I'm lucky in that I'm young enough that I can afford to let the money sit in stocks and make a comeback well before I need to retire.

My day job in IT/telecom is pretty stable, my territory doesn't have any real estate or large banking customers, a few credit unions, but those are only affected in a minor way from the mortgage crisis. We have a solid base of federal, state and local government accounts that we support and those carry us when the commercial sector slows.

I also own a small pizza restaurant and our sales are down from 2008, we just need to watch the labor hours, costs and work a few more hours. Fortunately the restaurant is well established and people are always going to eat pizza/subs. They may not go to Outback, Olive Garden, etc. but they'll still take the kids out on Fri or Sat for pizza.

401(K) is down about 40%.

We had to buy 4 weeks of vacation, basically they reduced my salary by 16% and in turn I got 4 weeks vacation. Also, my employer took away 401k match and tuition reimbursement. The tuition reimbursement wouldn't be such a big deal but I am attending RIT trying to finish up my bachelors degree so now I will have to foot the bill my self, work gave us $5250/year.

I've had to give up the expensive Eliot Spitzer-grade whores and actually start talking to women. It's tough out there I tell ya.

The Geography of a Recession - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com (http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/03/us/20090303_LEONHARDT.html?hp)

Well I have to say I'm currently looking at a new to me boat and becuase its bigger then my current boat I need something bigger to pull it with. I'm not one to run out and buy new toys but I have found this boat for $20,000 which would have sold for $35,000 or more a year or more ago. My SUV has 220,000 miles and its been time for a newer one so I'm going to buy one that's a couple of years old with maybe 30 to 40 thousand miles on it. I'm going to let the wife have that and I'll take her car as she does not drive more then 5,000 miles a year now that she stays home with our daughter. I'm really getting the boat and SUV cheaper then what the boat would have been worth a few years back. I guess i'm taking advantage of the situation right now.