Anyone Walking on Thin Ice with The Economy?

Cranky

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Yeah, maybe too much Mexican beer. :D
 

Silver King

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Or...look hawt, and maybe someone will buy the stuff for ya, saving you $$$!...
Well, if you're hawt enough, they might offer to buy the stuff right off of ya! ;)

Way off topic, but a friend tending bar once was offered a hundred dollars for her underpants by some drunk guy. I wasn't there that night, but she told me the story.

After the transaction, he held the undies over his head and waved them around like a flag. She snatched her panties back and had him booted from the bar.

Poor fellow. If only he had used a little decorum, he might still be in possession of those silky undergarments.
 

nerds

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I'd call that bartender an astute businesswoman.

:)
 

Cranky

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Well, if you're hawt enough, they might offer to buy the stuff right off of ya! ;)

Way off topic, but a friend tending bar once was offered a hundred dollars for her underpants by some drunk guy. I wasn't there that night, but she told me the story.

After the transaction, he held the undies over his head and waved them around like a flag. She snatched her panties back and had him booted from the bar.

Poor fellow. If only he had used a little decorum, he might still be in possession of those silky undergarments.

"A fool and his money" seems rather apt in this case. :D
 

joyce

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Well, if you're hawt enough, they might offer to buy the stuff right off of ya! ;)

Way off topic, but a friend tending bar once was offered a hundred dollars for her underpants by some drunk guy. I wasn't there that night, but she told me the story.

After the transaction, he held the undies over his head and waved them around like a flag. She snatched her panties back and had him booted from the bar.

Poor fellow. If only he had used a little decorum, he might still be in possession of those silky undergarments.


This is way off topic. Let me derail my own thread. About ten years ago a friend of mine was offered a job selling her "used" underwear over the internet. Someone she knew was making $25 - $50 a pair, selling them to various men. We laughed at the idea. She was helping me in my landscaping business at the time and it was hotter than hell. We figured she should be able to get at least a hundred a pair after a day working in the Florida summer heat.:D
 

Deccydiva

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The economy here is cooling but for most of the population who live in Dublin, it's simply a matter of selling the second home, cutting down on the foreign holidays and not spending an average of €500 a week on "designer" clothes, accessories and beauty treatments which don't do anything.
I lost my job fifteen months ago for no reason and have been on welfare since. I have applied for over 150 jobs, had seven interviews and no offers despite casting my net wide both on salary and location. I am living in a half built house bodged together by a cowboy builder who ran off with the remainder of my life savings and now I am up to my neck in debt with no prospect of ever getting through this. I have no partner, no friends and no family to offer support emotionally or financially.
The economy, as such, does not figure greatly in my problems. Age, being a non-national and female probably do.
 
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joyce

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The economy here is cooling but for most of the population who live in Dublin, it's simply a matter of selling the second home, cutting down on the foreign holidays and not spending an average of €500 a week on "designer" clothes, accessories and beauty treatments which don't do anything.
I lost my job fifteen months ago for no reason and have been on welfare since. I have applied for over 150 jobs, had seven interviews and no offers despite casting my net wide both on salary and location. I am living in a half built house bodged togather by a cowboy builder who ran off with the remainder of my life savings and now I am up to my neck in debt with no prospect of ever getting through this. I have no partner, no friends and no family to offer support emotionally or financially.
The economy, as such, does not figure greatly in my problems. Age, being a non-nation and female probably do.


I'm so sorry to hear about this. It's bad enough when the economy bites you, but to be ripped off by some idiot is horrible. I do wish you all the best and I hope somehow things work out for you.:Hug2:
 

Deccydiva

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Good post KrystalR - unfortunately my options are extremely limited in ways that I cannot alter. I just wake up every morning knowing that I am still alive and take it from there. It gets me down without warning though - I can't stop crying tonight so there'll be no more writing and I am having to force myself to go and do something tomorrow that used to be my main pleasure but it feels like an insurmountable problem to go and do it...
 

Fraulein

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If I were to tell you, then that would be cheating
Good post KrystalR - unfortunately my options are extremely limited in ways that I cannot alter. I just wake up every morning knowing that I am still alive and take it from there. It gets me down without warning though - I can't stop crying tonight so there'll be no more writing and I am having to force myself to go and do something tomorrow that used to be my main pleasure but it feels like an insurmountable problem to go and do it...
Just give it your best.


Perhaps you can go out and enjoy a city park or walk to the library. Your home's status might be overwhelming to you at times, so it might cheer you up if you can take a breather. :Sun:
 

zeprosnepsid

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I'm coming to this late, but I found this thread very helpful. I was laid off very abruptly which is pretty bad when you live paycheck to paycheck. I am fortunate enough to have picked up another short term gig for the moment but it pays half as much as my old job and we were only scraping by then. We're pretty much just dealing with it by going into more credit card debt. We're in so much debt to begin with (his-college, mine-medical bills) that it doesn't even seem to matter anymore when we pile it on. At least at the moment I'm so incredibly busy and stressed out about work that I haven't even thought about money problems in weeks!

On the plus side, we use the car so infrequently now (I work at home and he's been taking the bus) I can never remember where it's parked (we park on the street). As of this writing, I haven't even seen the car in days. I wouldn't have the first clue where to find it when I want it.
 

joyce

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I'm coming to this late, but I found this thread very helpful. I was laid off very abruptly which is pretty bad when you live paycheck to paycheck. I am fortunate enough to have picked up another short term gig for the moment but it pays half as much as my old job and we were only scraping by then. We're pretty much just dealing with it by going into more credit card debt. We're in so much debt to begin with (his-college, mine-medical bills) that it doesn't even seem to matter anymore when we pile it on. At least at the moment I'm so incredibly busy and stressed out about work that I haven't even thought about money problems in weeks!

On the plus side, we use the car so infrequently now (I work at home and he's been taking the bus) I can never remember where it's parked (we park on the street). As of this writing, I haven't even seen the car in days. I wouldn't have the first clue where to find it when I want it.

I know the credit card debt feeling too well. Mine got wracked up with medical bills also. I was also one of the lucky people that Bank of America raised the interest rate on their card by more than double. I never missed a payment or was late......go figure. Now I feel like I'm just paying the interest every month. I figure if the worse happens and hubby loses his job and can't get another one, I'll make sure my house gets paid every month. I don't want to, but if the credit card can't get paid, it won't get paid. I hope I'm never faced with that choice but my house is number one. So far we're hanging in there and I wish the best for you. :)
 

nerds

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I got one credit card in 1974 when I was sixteen, in order to establish the vaunted Credit Rating. Which I did do. We were raised never to buy on credit ("if you can't pay for it in cash you can't pay for it" thank you, Dad :Hug2:).

Over the next twenty-plus years I established perfect credit and amassed a truly obscene LINE of credit, which I never availed myself of. I'd buy something for fifteen bucks on the card and pay it the minute the bill came in. That was it. Then I divorced, finances were bleak, and I was petrified of what I might do with that card - awful things like buying groceries and necessaries. So I stopped/canceled the card.

I ended up doing pretty well for myself for several years, but it was the absence of health insurance which put me in the hole I remain in today. All it takes is one big illness or one bad accident, and it can finish you. An accident put me out of commission for seven months and by the time I could re-enter the world I'd lost everything. I STILL owe monies for medical from that episode.

My once-perfect credit is in complete ruins, but thank God I got rid of that card when I did. In my little world of worries the one worry I do not have is credit card debt hanging over me.
 

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My once-perfect credit is in complete ruins, but thank God I got rid of that card when I did. In my little world of worries the one worry I do not have is credit card debt hanging over me.
I know how easily this can happen. I used to have really good credit before the divorce. We were buying houses and moving up in the world before the divorce. Everything was sold off, at a loss, and my once perfect credit rating started to plummet. But not having a credit card will never be part of the debt to income ratio for me.
 

bonobo_jones

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After I left my psycho ex a few years ago and had very little money, I re-evaluated my life and decided to live poor. I spent almost all of my savings buying a fixer-upper house for cash, got rid of credit cards, resolved never to buy another car on payments again....my rationale being, if Something Bad happens nobody can come repossess anything of mine.

So I own my home outright and have little debt. Unfortunately I also have little savings and currently no health insurance (I'm shopping for some now.) Joyce, I'm the same age as you - 50 - and have a business that hasn't been affected by the economy at all. I support myself doing that, by writing, and last year I started a petsitting business which makes me some more on the side here and there.

I am terrified of illness or injury though. Should Something Bad happen, I'll really be up shit creek without a paddle. If I don't work, I can't pay bills and my savings won't carry me far. I could sell my house but in this economy it's not worth much at all, and the thought of renting is depressing.

But compared to many, I know I'm lucky. The NYT recently ran a series about people who were truly drowning in debt, having their houses foreclosed on and such...I'm not there. My ability to keep my head above water depends on me staying healthy and working and that's the scary part. Having been self employed my whole life, I don't even know if I would qualify for public assistance of any sort, or how to go about getting it. I hope I never have to.

I've thought about trying to get a real job, like as a postal worker, for security and benefits. But eww, a real job. :p I've never had one of those!

I do second what someone said earlier about using skills to do side work. Housecleaning, pet sitting, auto repair, home maintenance, that sort of thing. People are looking to save money: offer a service at a slightly lower rate than large established companies, and you'll get work.
 

joyce

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After I left my psycho ex a few years ago and had very little money, I re-evaluated my life and decided to live poor. I spent almost all of my savings buying a fixer-upper house for cash, got rid of credit cards, resolved never to buy another car on payments again....my rationale being, if Something Bad happens nobody can come repossess anything of mine.

So I own my home outright and have little debt. Unfortunately I also have little savings and currently no health insurance (I'm shopping for some now.) Joyce, I'm the same age as you - 50 - and have a business that hasn't been affected by the economy at all. I support myself doing that, by writing, and last year I started a petsitting business which makes me some more on the side here and there.

I am terrified of illness or injury though. Should Something Bad happen, I'll really be up shit creek without a paddle. If I don't work, I can't pay bills and my savings won't carry me far. I could sell my house but in this economy it's not worth much at all, and the thought of renting is depressing.

But compared to many, I know I'm lucky. The NYT recently ran a series about people who were truly drowning in debt, having their houses foreclosed on and such...I'm not there. My ability to keep my head above water depends on me staying healthy and working and that's the scary part. Having been self employed my whole life, I don't even know if I would qualify for public assistance of any sort, or how to go about getting it. I hope I never have to.

I've thought about trying to get a real job, like as a postal worker, for security and benefits. But eww, a real job. :p I've never had one of those!

I do second what someone said earlier about using skills to do side work. Housecleaning, pet sitting, auto repair, home maintenance, that sort of thing. People are looking to save money: offer a service at a slightly lower rate than large established companies, and you'll get work.

Staying healthy is my #1 goal since I don't have insurance. I just completed my six months at the company I work at and was offered health insurance. What a joke that was! If I spend 1/3 of my weekly salary the insurance will cover up to $1500 per hospital visit with a max of $3000 covered per year. Getting a hangnail removed at my hospital would cost over $3000. The insurance is worthless as far as I'm concerned.

Illness wiped out our savings big time! I've got tons and tons of equity in my house if I really needed money but the problem is I've got to pay the money back. I don't want any more bills than I already have. A back injury I have made me finally give up my self employeed business I had for 15 years as a a landscaper, so I'm back in the employeed by someone else world. My hubby does anything extra he can do to make a buck. If I had to get out there and dig up and drag trees again, I would. I am a survivor.

Still, I'm not complaining because I truly am more fortunate than a bunch of people. I've always had this little problem of being a worrier, so I worry. Even with this, I'm getting better. Like I stated earlier, people where I live are losing their homes on a daily basis. I know most over extended themselves when the banks were giving money away like water and can't afford the monthly payments. We didn't do that thankfully.

Though I've whined, I'm truly lucky. I have my 35 yr. old home, I live in paradise, my family is ok, my dogs are spoiled rotten and love me, we still have jobs and for the moment my mind is still intact. One of the biggies.....I've got all you fine people here at AW that allow me to cry, whine, bitch, moan and jump for joy when needed and you continue to tolerate me. Thanks so much.:D
 

nerds

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I don't find one bit of this thread whiny. I think it's been helpful for people to know they're not alone, that they're not the only ones, and there've been lots of good practical suggestions too.

This country has been on an economic roll for very nearly thirty straight years, until now. To not be doing well had become a mark of failure since, well, everybody was "doing well". But it has been based for at least the last decade on Monopoly money, credit not cash, and it had to crash sometime.

I don't think it hurts to stick a pin in this idea that all Americans are all about money and things and all are just rich as Richie Rich. This thread demonstrates that there are plenty of ordinary people just doing their best and trying their best.
 

Cranky

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The ice we're on is getting thinner, but we only have to hang in there for another year (!). Things will actually start getting better next month, when we have one particularly big bill paid off, freeing up $800 per month. For a family of six, that kind of money is no joke...that pays for groceries and our utilities every month. We'll be off the line, finally, next month, and *crosses fingers* may even be completely debt free by next May.

My DH will be finished with school that June, too, and he'll *hopefully* find a better paying job or move up where he's at (which would also be an enormous pay raise, thanks to bonus incentives). I've been slowly rebuilding my credit after some pretty stupid choices I made as a younger gal, and hope to have it back up into "Excellent" territory by the same time next year.

Until then, we have to hope nothing bad happens to either my husband or myself, healthwise. Ugh. The kids are covered by health insurance, but we're not.
 

joyce

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I don't find one bit of this thread whiny. I think it's been helpful for people to know they're not alone, that they're not the only ones, and there've been lots of good practical suggestions too.

This country has been on an economic roll for very nearly thirty straight years, until now. To not be doing well had become a mark of failure since, well, everybody was "doing well". But it has been based for at least the last decade on Monopoly money, credit not cash, and it had to crash sometime.

I don't think it hurts to stick a pin in this idea that all Americans are all about money and things and all are just rich as Richie Rich. This thread demonstrates that there are plenty of ordinary people just doing their best and trying their best.

It has been comforting to know I'm not the only one out there walking on ice. I guess since I live in Florida it would have been more appropriate to title the thread "Walking on Thin Sand with One Foot in Hell". :D