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Y&R Discussion Group
I went to the grocery store yesterday, armed with coupons, and a specific list of items. On the way, I passed the Starbucks and it was MOBBED. Apparently times are bad, but people still need $4 cups of coffee. I was listing some things to sell on eBay and was shocked to see the prices that luxury goods are getting right now - expensive perfumes, designer bags, fancy shoes. The mall restaurant with the longest wait isn't the food court, or the relatively simple CPK, it's the steak joint that serves $40 steaks. We have some friends who got their noses bent out of shape because we had a 30th birthday party at an expensive restaurant, but these same friends just bought first class tickets to London because they wanted to see Dr Who in the theater. Another friend of mine bought $400 worth of groceries at Costco - and it's just him, no family - because he's sure that coffee will be traded as currency in the near future. I don't know if it's because we've gotten used to luxury items, or if people don't want to hoard, because spending is bad on a micro-economic level, but good on a macro-economic level. I suspect it's the first
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I think its just an indication of how the US is going to having to types of people...the rich ( the haves ) and the poor ( the have nots ) .
I am part of the poor. I pretty much have zero discretionary income at this point. I could never afford $20 just to park, much less whatever a ticket costs. I haven't even been to a movie theatre in almost a year!
I could go on & on about my situation, but the point is there is no middle class anymore.
Look at the restaurants going out of buisness....Bennigans, Steak & Ake they are mid price restaurants. The only ones surviving are the very high end ones and fast food.
farmer, this is the way I look at it - the same way sam does. I believe in 2009 is when we're going to see the real crunch, the real downfall of the economy. I don't believe we're seen the worse yet.
So far, over three quarters of a million jobs have been lost in the USA alone. That's around 750,000 jobs lost so far.
QVC announced yesterday they are laying off 160 workers around the country and hundreds in the West Chester, PA studio - about 30 minutes from my home. For QVC to lay off - is a big thing.
Then I heard about Circuit City Bankruptcy and DHL pulling out of the US.
I don't think we've heard the worse yet, the worse is still to come.
What I'm doing is working full-time, praying I get to keep my job, but I really can't save much out of my paychecks, I need them to live off of. I have a nice 401K savings that I can fall back on even though I know I'd have to pay penalties and taxes to withdraw - it would still leave me with something to live off of.
If I lose my job, I go to the unemployment line and try to find another job, even if I have to be a temp for Kelly services, I'd do that. I can't worry each day as long as I have a job. I'm not spending on anything I don't need.
I will tell you this - last night I went to K-Mart, I needed laundry detergent, fabric softener, dish detergent, safeguard soap, oven mits (mine were so dirty), I needed towels, but only bought one big one, figure I can wash it everynight, and I needed hand cream, 1 tube at $3.96.
Guess how much my bill was? $88.06 I thought that was outrageous. Why don't the stores lower their prices and get more customers? The store was EMPTY.
Anyhoot, I think the worse is yet to come with this economy. It's a shame too.
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I had to sit through a rather painful financial managers' meeting today.
I think people are in a kind of denial about the state of the economy. It's spend, spend, spend. Can't wait to see what this year's third quarter for retailers turns out to be. On the other hand, all the economic stimulus in the world won't help if people aren't spending.
I guess it really won't sink in until people start getting layoff slips en mass.
One thing I remember my mother saying about the Great Depression. Prices were down and pretty much anything you wanted was available. Trouble was, nobody had any money to spend.
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The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. I hope the new President can help reverse that trend. INCOME GAP
That isn't the article I wanted to find but it does say pretty much the same thing.
And farmer I am not sure I said thank you to you for asking how we are doing down here. So Thanks.
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As for people who spend, you have to remember that we only hear about those who are badly affected, who overspent or bought at the wrong times and are now in trouble. Others still have money and if they can keep the economy going by going to events or taking trips, all the better. If everyone stops spending we're going to be in even worse shape.
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