# How is the rough economy hurting you?



## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

There is a situation at Nakatomi Plaza!

Are you affected? How?
- new bikes/parts on hold?
- need to sell bikes and assets?
- Losing riding time? 
- Stress, losing sleep? Irritable?
- job, house, relationships, sanity?

These are tough times indeed and we all need get through it. How do you cope?

regards,
fc


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## Gus Riley (Feb 18, 2004)

It made me rethink and hold off of a new Goldwing (motorcycle) purchase. I also nixed a trade in of my VW Jetta TDi for a new 2009 same model. It did not keep me from throwing my golf clubs and bike in the car and driving 1300 miles (one way) to take a week at Sanibel Island, FL. (for the 2nd time this year!). I guess it hasn't impacted us in a major way yet. We hope it doesn't.


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## Dr_John (Oct 11, 2005)

> Losing riding time?


I'm unemployed... so _lots_ of riding time.



> These are tough times indeed and we all need get through it. How do you cope?


 See above.

I have a few things on the horizon work-wise, so I'm not concerned about that. As some of you know, I was planning on taking about a year off, but with the current economic climate, it's back to work for me. What's got me be depressed is my rapidly declining IRA. For young whipper-snappers it's not that big of a deal, but for us older people, it seems like each day piles on another year I'll have to work.

So off I go for a ride with ukbloke.


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

Dr_John said:


> So off I go for a ride with ukbloke.


Let's hope we're both still smiling at the top of OLH! I want to find out how fast I can go up this hill without the rear brake being on the whole time! See you at 12:20pm.

I have to admit that I spend more time thinking about cycling than I do the economy. My wife thinks that I am obsessed, but at least it is a healthy obsession. On the finances front, it helped that we cashed out all our investments at the beginning of the year. I do feel fairly exposed to house prices though. I'll be cutting my bike related expenditure to the minimum for a while - just maintenance and consumables - and make the most of the bike that I have.


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## singlespeed.org (Feb 14, 2006)

francois said:


> Are you affected? How?


Not affected, beyond the worries brought on by it being all over the news (and even this stuff is on my bike communities... sheesh!).

What work I do is safe (I am a bit non-traditional when it comes to work). None of the companies I am involved with need loans (and the ones that do wouldn't have been able to get ones even before this), so the credit crunch isn't affecting me. House I live in is on a fixed mortgage, and what is owed is way below even depressed values for it. Benefit of my girlfriend having bought it some 15 years ago.

I am worried about all this extra borrowing the Gov't is doing - our deficits were huge before this. We are going to have to pay it off sometime - and that may be our next financial crisis a bunch of years from now.

If anything, I am moving forward some purchases to help small businesses out. Help put a little cash in the pockets of businesses.


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

So far so good. I'm gov law enforcement so we're probably (keep our fingers crossed) not going to be affected any time soon. But, my house is so upside down I couldn't ever get rid of it. We're waiting for the overall affects to catch up to us personally, but I won't be buying the frame I was planning on getting to build up as a fun project. I'm more worried for my friends in the private sector.


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

Ridgetop said:


> So far so good. I'm gov law enforcement so we're probably (keep our fingers crossed) not going to be affected any time soon. But, my house is so upside down I couldn't ever get rid of it. We're waiting for the overall affects to catch up to us personally, but I won't be buying the frame I was planning on getting to build up as a fun project. I'm more worried for my friends in the private sector.


My ole riding buddy is Oakland Police. He's got the most secure job I know of .

I think losses in real estate and stock market are not a big deal if one is long term and can remain calm. BUT if one loses a job, it could be devastating if they're forced to sell.

fc


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## JoelS (Aug 25, 2008)

Not a change to us from the economy. Nada, zilch, nothing. Our 401k and investments took a hit, but nothing is actually lost until sold. Plenty of time to hold on and wait for recovery. And the market will recover.


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## CoLiKe20 (Jan 30, 2006)

healthcare is somewhat recession proof but people have come in less.

I decided a while back that money, while nice to have, should not dictate how happy I am (not always successful)

as far as material things, I decided not to buy a new car, eat out less, not to buy bike stuff on a whim, and learn to enjoy what I already have.


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## Leopold Porkstacker (Jul 15, 2005)

Nothing yet, although I’ve been riding my bike to/from work more often since gasoline still costs a considerable sum of money. Recently bought a “new” (1982) car that gets roughly 5MPG better than the “old” (1987) car it is replacing. 281,500+ miles on the “new old” (the 1982 model) car, 274,600+ miles on the “old and being replaced” (1987) car. Total cost of ownership of both vehicles has been really low.


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

This confirms my fears.

http://valleywag.com/5061391/its-always-darkest-before-its-pitch-black

VC funding will virtually disappear in the short term. So the valley is about to get walloped.

Anyway, good advice from the folks that shared here. Don't sell the stocks/house and live lean. Build reserves.

fc


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## Dr_John (Oct 11, 2005)

> This confirms my fears.


Contrary to what many may think ("I don't have any money in the stock market, so I don't care"), there's no way that a major melt-down like this won't impact the quality of life at some level for everyone in the country. And it won't be immediate. You might not be in a soup line, but it will be noticed.


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## Dinosaur (Jan 29, 2004)

*Cutting back..*

I'm only buying bike stuff now that needs replacing. I stopped subscribing to internet bike shops emails regarding sales (Performance, Nashbar, Colorado Cyclists to name a few). No more impulse buying. I'm retired can can ride just about whenever I want (depending on the weather). The more miles I put in, the faster things wear out (such as tires). Stuff is more expensive now. I don't use pricey tires anymore, can't afford them. My wife works part time. I don't know if I could afford to own two bikes if she did not work. I'm on a fixed income. Don't know how many more times I can take a needle and thread to my cycling jerseys. Money is tight.


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## kwc (Mar 10, 2008)

I can't say it's shown up in my life yet. I couldn't afford a house before and I can't afford a house now, but life is awesome. I'm still going to build up a new bike soon and I'm trying to figure out what my next big camera purchase will be for the Tour of California 2009.

I got here in 2001 when that bubble first. I don't think we've reached that point (here), yet.


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## frecciaceleste (Feb 4, 2005)

I'm putting off my retirement unit at least to the age of 70. I'm 52 now.


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## CrankyMonkey (Jul 8, 2007)

The overarching theme in my household is "GET FISCALLY FIT", stop spending money on stuff that we don't need or doesn't provide long term value. I've recently sold a ton of stuff that was just laying around on Craigslist to get some extra $$$. We've also stopped going out to eat, before we would eat out at least 3-4 times a week. Since I'm still on doctor's orders not to ride I've gone from 150 miles a week to 0 which has severely increased my stress levels and blood pressure. 

I've stopped lusting after the latest and greatest carbon fiber whatever. I would just be happy to go for a 20 mile ride... man I really miss my bike!


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## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

My family has not started to tighten our belts, yet, but I've been thinking about it. My wife works in retail sales in a touristy part of San Francisco so I hope the tourists don't stop coming to town or else she could be affected. That should not be a problem with the foreign tourists coming here in droves. The work I do is not entirely recession-proof but our corporate model is good in an industry that would only be affected if there was a total meltdown of the economy.

Family-wise, we're doing well. I need to tell my wife to spend less on the kids (weekly purchases of games for the Wii or DVDs) as we're already spending a mint on them for their school. If worst comes to worst, we can pull our kids from private school and put them into public schools to save about $1000 a month, which is more than half of what our mortgage is. Speaking of our mortgage, we're at about the half-way point in paying off our 15 year fixed so we're not doing too bad there, neither.

On a personal level, I'm rethinking my bike-related purchases. I'm going to reduce the number of bike frames in my garage by one and I will get the remaining bikes roadworthy. Once that is done I'm not going to be spending any money except to replace things that break or wear out. I'm no longer planning any modifications to my cars. I'm reconsidering replacing my D70 with a D300. I don't own a bunch of stocks. I don't have a huge 401K to worry about. My wife is frugal and actually limits *my* spending and is able to put money away every month.

Maybe I should take up a second job? Nah!


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## Dr_John (Oct 11, 2005)

> I'm putting off my retirement unit at least to the age of 70. I'm 52 now.


Yep. I really feel sorry for those that were planning on retiring in about 5 years. Egads.


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

CrankyMonkey said:


> The overarching theme in my household is "GET FISCALLY FIT", stop spending money on stuff that we don't need or doesn't provide long term value. I've recently sold a ton of stuff that was just laying around on Craigslist to get some extra $$$. We've also stopped going out to eat, before we would eat out at least 3-4 times a week. Since I'm still on doctor's orders not to ride I've gone from 150 miles a week to 0 which has severely increased my stress levels and blood pressure.
> 
> I've stopped lusting after the latest and greatest carbon fiber whatever. I would just be happy to go for a 20 mile ride... man I really miss my bike!


What's the situation with the doctor's orders? How sure is he of his advice?

fc


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## CrankyMonkey (Jul 8, 2007)

Well it's more the physical therapist then the doctor at this point. It's getting better but I think they are just being extra careful. He said I can probably start riding after this week.


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## ukiahb (Jan 26, 2003)

still have a job, but my 401K is down 30%, this will probably affect my retirement date...many coworkers echo similar sentiments...among other things this really sucks for younger people as there will be that many less job openings in a bad economy


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## Number9 (Nov 28, 2004)

Dr_John said:


> Contrary to what many may think ("I don't have any money in the stock market, so I don't care"), there's no way that a major melt-down like this won't impact the quality of life at some level for everyone in the country. And it won't be immediate. You might not be in a soup line, but it will be noticed.


Agreed. We had close to a 10% layoff at the office. Ebay laid off something like 1500. The financial services sector has been decimated. Assume that across the economy (which is likely) and we'll all be negatively impacted. Austerity - it's the new black...


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## Gee3 (Jan 31, 2006)

So far it's been okay. We're feeling the pinch a little but seeing that I'm a Federal employee I feel pretty safe, for now. Although it hurts my chances of getting out of this h*ll-hole anytime soon! 

Talking to Francis this weekend on the ride he mentioned that at a recent CEO conference the theme to cut costs was to slash jobs across the board! Scary stuff for the private sector!

The upside for us is that it increases our chances of finding a home closer to SF, where I work, rather than finding an affordable place in Fairfield, 60 commute miles from h*ll away!! 

And although it would help to have my wife work full time we aren't in such a crunch that she needs to do that yet and quit school. We're hoping to get a renter for our home back in Texas soon. Then we'll feel a little bit more at ease. 

Also, being so far from retirement I'm not too concerned about the 401k just yet. I'm in it for the long haul so I expect fluctuations in the market. It would have been nice to have the extra cash to buy stocks last week though! 

As for bike purchases... I have a little stash but with the boss (aka wife) in charge of the finances any big bike related purchase would be a tough sell in any market!!! Doh! 

So we are just riding it out for now and enjoying the time with the kids to keep our minds off the economy. It doesn't cost us anything to ride the bikes up and down the street in front of the house! Although I do need to get a new tire for my daughter's bike since she likes making skid marks!! 

Good luck everyone!


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## rzims (Nov 15, 2005)

I'm in landscaping and things have gotten tougher for the construction side of the business, but our maintenance is mainly cities and large complexes so that's pretty stable.
Of course we're all working more hours to try to get sales in for the construction division so that cuts in to my ride time.
Like others my 401K is down by about 40% so that pushes retirement back, which is fine - I'm not even 50 yet.
The wife is in healthcare so that's pretty recession proof although I have started putting more money into savings and less into my investment account.
I have a feeling our kids are the ones that will suffer from the decisions of our generation....


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

Gee3 said:


> So far it's been okay. We're feeling the pinch a little but seeing that I'm a Federal employee I feel pretty safe, for now. Although it hurts my chances of getting out of this h*ll-hole anytime soon!
> 
> Talking to Francis this weekend on the ride he mentioned that at a recent CEO conference the theme to cut costs was to slash jobs across the board! Scary stuff for the private sector!
> 
> ...


I like that last line. Riding bikes is still free!

Kids like to skid. Rotate those tires!!!

fc


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## Dr_John (Oct 11, 2005)

And sadly here's an excellent example of what I was referring to by melt-down impacting everyone's quality of life:



> San Mateo County has been stung by the recent Wall Street investment crisis, absorbing about $150 million in potential losses that could result in public school budget cuts, delays on road and Caltrain improvements, and scaled-down city services.


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/18/BA1C13K00D.DTL


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## cyclingthroughlife (Aug 2, 2008)

We're doing ok but we have been more careful about discretionary spending. Good or bad, we've been living somewhat frugally for the past 20 years and spending really unfrugally on the kids - school, soccer, music lessons, etc.... and oh... of course the bicycle I am slowly building up. Hasn't affected my riding so far and I won't let it...


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## mavicwheels (Oct 3, 2007)

*tough economy*

Been layed off now about two weeks. No money coming in except my spouses job. We have had to make some major adjustments, but so far we have food and a roof over our heads. All bills are paid on time. Some prospects are looking up though! Got two interviews next week, but both jobs are out of state. See what happens
:thumbsup:


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## Killroy (Feb 9, 2006)

I have always been a fairly conservative spender, so if you call this a recession, then I'm doing fine:

I just finished my Masters.
I just got a raise and a promotion.
I bought a small house (800 sqft) that I can afford.
I have rental property in Texas.

This is what I do to keep my bills low.

No cable
No long distance phone
Min Cell phone bill (~$35/m) (No Iphone or pricey data plans)
Small utility bill (~$35/m)
I ride to work and avoid 5000 miles of driving, which not only saves me $300 in fuel, but also saves me on my car insurance.
When I am driving, I get 70 mpg in my Honda Insight. When I use my car to travel, I make $0.42 cents per mile.
Buy from the farmers market.


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## Killroy (Feb 9, 2006)

On of the smartest things I did is buy a house within 10 miles of work. Hey, it was more expensive with less sqft, but I can ride my bike and it is only 15 min away buy car, so I dont burn up my life commuting to work. 

When I do drive to work it does not take a tank of gas and a wad of money to do so.


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

Update anyone?

I'm down like Nasdaq.

fc


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## snapdragen (Jan 28, 2004)

My 457 (government equivalent of a 401K) is down almost 50%, I try not to look at it more than once or twice a month. Too depressing. I'm out on disability right now, before that happened, I made sure my credit card debt was zeroed out. Christmas will be lean this year.


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## hoehnt (Nov 7, 2008)

its stressing me out.
I bought this house as a fixer but now even fixed up its probably not going to be worth what I owe.


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## wipeout (Jun 6, 2005)

francois said:


> Update anyone?
> 
> I'm down like Nasdaq.
> 
> fc


401k down 47% for the year. I'm gonna have to work forever then die in my office...


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

francois said:


> Update anyone?


I'm trying to boost the economy by buying new bike stuff!

I'm also waiting for signs of a bottom to decide when to get back into the market.


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## trek7100 (Jan 1, 2008)

I'm in healthcare - things are a little slow. We don't spend alot of $$$, we use to eat out a couple of times a week, now its once or twice a month, and ususally one is fast food. Our vacations are 'camping' .


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## Number9 (Nov 28, 2004)

Per zillow.com, I've lost $750k of home equity from the Silicon Valley housing peak to the present, so thank goodness I didn't take out a HELOC to buy a Ferrari Enzo or Porsche Carrera GT!

And based on CSFB & BofA mortgage reset charts, which resets will impact housing prices and the corresponding MBS and CDO assets values, which will in turn affect financial sector asset pricing/writedowns, we're in for a rough ride for at least a couple of years.

May you live in interesting times...


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## lancezneighbor (May 4, 2002)

My house is paid for, my car is paid for. I'm quitting my job anyway to spend a year in London. I am sure my 401k and IRA are way down, but I have not bothered checking. I am sure my ranch is worth less now than two years ago, I won't ever sell the ranch so no difference there. Cattle prices are stable and that is a nice part of my income. I will sell cattle before heading to London. 

For me not much affect. I am interested to see what happens though.


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## Dr_John (Oct 11, 2005)

I can't believe it... I actually accepted a position and am heading back to work.


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

Dr_John said:


> I can't believe it... I actually accepted a position and am heading back to work.


What kind of work do you do? How does one get a job these days?

fc


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## Dr_John (Oct 11, 2005)

> What kind of work do you do?


I'm an Ph.D. analytical chemist.



> How does one get a job these days?


Like always... it's who you know.  (i.e., networking). I could have enjoyed my semi-retirement another 6 months to a year, but the economy just has me too scared. I had several things on the radar, but this position beat my salary at my old job and at a director position, gave me good ISO's, plus I can ride to work. I'll be reporting to someone that I've worked with in the past, so I know what to expect too. Plus it's a great opportunity to try something different. I was in drug discovery. The new position is bio-fuels.

I'm going to miss the care-free hours I spent on the hills of Portola Valley. :cryin: I'll probably be tearing up as I make a run up Page Mill during the week one last time next week. I think I've really improved a lot over the year, and I still should be able to make my target of 10,000 miles for the year (about 400 miles shy at this point). Hopefully I'll be able to maintain my fitness level with a job. My Allez is now decked in the latest lighting, so I can ride 24 hr/day.


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## mytorelli (Dec 19, 2004)

Well I'm 18, live at home and am in college. 

-I'm having a tough time selling my TT bike, as I can't get what I want for it.
Thus I can't afford a new road bike.

-I can't use the credit card to buy Christmas presents, so my Christmas will be without a lot of gifts. (I'm not down about it at all, I'm looking forward to my brother coming home from Japan)

+I'm going to buy some stock, as it is very low, and then sell it in 5-10 years.

I'm still riding though and won a race last weekend to end my track season.


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## Export A (Mar 18, 2007)

I'm working, my wife is working ...she's in the energy/oil business:cryin: 
god forbid oil goes to 35 bucks 
No car payments , bought the house 8 years ago and fortunately only owe about 40g on it.
I just hope the Canadian economy doesn't sink as far as the US or we could become a one income family very quickly.

Retirement funds:cryin: what the heck is that.


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## limerence (Sep 25, 2008)

francois said:


> There is a situation at Nakatomi Plaza!
> 
> Are you affected? How?
> - new bikes/parts on hold?
> ...


- 33 years old and been unemployed for about a month
- have since bought 4 bikes. oddly enough with more time on my hands i'm finding that i'm buying more
- gained riding time since market is tough. i'm 6'3" 230lbs so i figured the time off is to help me lose the gut.
- worried but i wouldn't say stressed. just trying to roll with the punches.
- old job: database marketing engineer at eBay. some of the coupon codes i see on the boards here, i created the campaigns to have those sent out.
- house: got a 3 bedroom townhouse in san jose. should be able to pay mortgage for a 
little while comfortably without a job.
- relationships: live in girlfriend. if times get rough, how wrong would it be for her to start paying for mortgage? haa haa


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## Jeff G (Jul 22, 2005)

I don't live in CA like I guess most of the folks who posted in this thread do, so I'll give you my take on what's happening on the east coast. I'm still employed and just took a 20% paycut per week which is still a whole lot more then the $560,00 a week I'd get on unemployment. My wife has her own little business doing light housekeeping, house sitting and dog sitting and gets paid in cash, alot of the people who live in my neck of the woods have very high six figure and more incomes so they don't mind paying. I work for a medium sized architectural and structural engineering firm who basically placed all their eggs in the residential market, which has come to a standstill and are now scrambling to put out proposals for the govenrment and school work that is still out there. Why I left my last employer (one of the top 10 A/E firms in the country) I'm still trying to justify. The good thing is I left on excellent terms and recently contacted my old boss about returning to work for them. I have a meeting set up with them for the after the New Year so that may be a good sign. 

No new bike purchases, trying to cut some luxury expenses and keep others to the minimum, we sold our home right before house prices exploded 5 years ago, and now rent. I pick up a little extra cash working for my brother-in-law on Saturday or Sunday. My 401K, well lets just say I try not to look at it even though I'm still putting money in it.

I can only hope that the new president can do something to help right this sinking ship. I need to get out and take a nice ride today, even though right now it's 27 degrees with 10 to 20 mph winds, doing intervals in this weather will help release some built up stress.


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## RedRex (Oct 24, 2004)

I am not buying any "bike stuff", I feel fortunate that I have everything I need, probably enough to open a commuter store. Years of training for the Triple Crown and it seems I have every layer of cold/hot/wet/commuter gear I need. So unfortunately there will be no purchasing. Heck I scaled down this summer and sold my time trial bike and fixed gear along with any camping/cycling gear I could find that I wasn't using, and built up a four-bagged Soma Double-Cross with the profits. I figure I built a 2k bike with 1.5k worth of resale efforts. 

I think for me, I've arrived at a place where I pretty much have everything I need, and the choices I've made brought me items that are proven to last a long time, so I don't see the need to replace many things either besides tires and tubes of course.

Cost of living increases, along with the frustration of not being able to save as easily as we used to, grows increasinly worrisome. 

I can still remember when we bought our median-priced home within our means, asking the question; "Ok, so one of us gets laid off, can we afford this home on one salary, or one salary plus unempolyment?" That was 2002, and I think it was a wise decision.

If I had to cut costs, the pool membership would be first, and that would SUCK BIG TIME.


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## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

Squidward said:


> The work I do is not entirely recession-proof but our corporate model is good in an industry that would only be affected if there was a total meltdown of the economy.


I think I jinxed myself on this one. As of 6 hours ago I am now officially unemployed. The company is doing well but they are cutting back to ensure that they can borrow money from the banks when needed and having a leaner, meaner staff makes this much easier to do. Since I was on a contract-to-hire basis that didn't make it to FT status I got nothing more than a pat on the back while FT employees got fat severance packages.:mad2: Time to brush up the resume once again...


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## cpark (Oct 13, 2004)

francois said:


> There is a situation at Nakatomi Plaza!
> 
> Are you affected? How?
> - new bikes/parts on hold?
> ...


Yes and No.
I'm in a "Sin" industries - Alocjohol, Tabacco and Firearm, so it hasn't affected me yet.
But my friends and family are so yes it's affecting me.
With that said, due to lack of aggregated demand, things are much cheaper now if you have the money to buy.


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## Kwantani (Sep 26, 2002)

So.... anyone has a personal crystal ball that say about the ETA when the economy start to turn around?

the street mumbling about q2/q3 2009... too optimistic?


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## cyclingthroughlife (Aug 2, 2008)

Kwantani said:


> So.... anyone has a personal crystal ball that say about the ETA when the economy start to turn around?
> 
> the street mumbling about q2/q3 2009... too optimistic?



We had a meeting with a technology industry analyst 2 months ago, and he told us that, at least for the technology industry, to expect a 36 month recession. Their model was based on the economic model utilized by the IMF. This recession will have more of a U shape pattern than a V shape pattern of previous recessions. He also believes that the worst is yet to come, and specifically, the back half of the recession is particularly nasty. Some of the things he has mentioned two months ago, I've already seeing.

That being said, this model doesn't consider the infrastructure stimulus plan that the Obama administration is considering, as well as other things. These, if effective, could shorten the recession. However, I would say that a Q2/Q3 turnaround is optimistic, and it does take time to trickle to other parts of the economy.


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## California L33 (Jan 20, 2006)

Kwantani said:


> So.... anyone has a personal crystal ball that say about the ETA when the economy start to turn around?
> 
> the street mumbling about q2/q3 2009... too optimistic?


At the risk of getting this booted to politics only, it depends on the new administration. It appears that BHO can't decide who he should be. If he wants to be JFK and let markets correct themselves then q2 for a bottoming out isn't out of the question. If he wants to be FDR and control the economy by decree then he could do what FDR did and create permanent stagnation.


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## mavicwheels (Oct 3, 2007)

*unemployed*



Gus Riley said:


> It made me rethink and hold off of a new Goldwing (motorcycle) purchase. I also nixed a trade in of my VW Jetta TDi for a new 2009 same model. It did not keep me from throwing my golf clubs and bike in the car and driving 1300 miles (one way) to take a week at Sanibel Island, FL. (for the 2nd time this year!). I guess it hasn't impacted us in a major way yet. We hope it doesn't.



So far been unemployed for 2.5 months. Sold off two cars and have just one now, and sold off my bike. Looking out of state for work, but prospects not looking good . Nothing for xmas until we have some money coming in. Have had to cash out of some investments (what little there is left of them).


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## Killroy (Feb 9, 2006)

I would say that I am doing fine, since I still have a job and I dont care about gas prices because I ride my bike, but recently I tried to refinance my house to take advantage of the low rates, but even thought I did not buy at the top of the market, which was around Jan 2005, the appradial is so low that I cannot pay-off the rest of my loan and stay at 20% down. 

I do have 13K in cash , but myhouse has gone down ~$50K or down 11% according to apprasials.


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## Hooben (Aug 22, 2004)

mavicwheels said:


> So far been unemployed for 2.5 months. Sold off two cars and have just one now, and sold off my bike. mad:



I sold my only bike to pay for Christmas, hang in there buddy. 

So will I.


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