<p>The recession has provided my family with some scares over the past couple of years, but luckily we’ve escaped them for now. Both my parents are in involved in the home-building industry in FL, so with the bubble bursting awhile ago my mom has gone through two job changes and my dad has gone through several more. Luckily my mom landed a great job only 30 minutes away (was previously commuting 90 minutes each way) and that income has allowed my dad to help out my aunt with a project of hers and work in the real estate market. It was scary, though, with three children at the middle/high school age and me already in college.</p>
<p>As far as me (and my friends), we carpool as much as possible, even to the bowling alley 20 minutes away. We also try to eat at home when possible, and buy candy or snacks to sneak into the movies. I haven’t been to the beach this summer, either, because it’s 90 minutes away and therefore a large gas cost. Some of my friends have struggled to find work, and I only got my summer job because I worked there last summer, and I will transfer to a location closer to my school once that starts back up.</p>
<p>Up here in Canada, gas is ridiculous (5.70 a gallon). I worked at a law firm last summer and returned this summer. I bike to work, and last summer there were maybe 4 or 5 bikes in the parking garage, and this year there are maybe 40 bikes. Its probably for the better though, I hope gas goes up to 10 bucks a gallon and everyone has to bike or take mass transit. </p>
<p>Also, the sales in the clothing stores have started putting things on sales already so I am actually finding some great deals on CDs, clothes etc…</p>
<p>ha! at least we saved a lot of money by not going through the full orthodontia treatment. D had them put on, but she took them off an hour later! </p>
<p>YES. I live in the state of Michigan, so we are the hardest hit (8.5% unemployment rate). In fact we’ve been in a recession for seven years now. Inept leadership, government scandals, economic woes. I only eat out during lunch. I fill up at every half-tank (which saves me up to $20-30 a week). I don’t cruise around, only using the car for work and appointments. It really eats up in my paycheck. I only buy necessities and prescriptions.</p>
<p>cut coupons, check
thermostat at 84 or 64 depending on season, check
minimal driving (haven’t driven since monday and I go <100 miles per month) , check
No eating out, check
keep 17 yo honda running (oil and coolant changed), check
no new clothes, check
CFC bulbs where ever possible, check</p>
<p>Not sure where else to cut back… I do have digital cable and high speed internet, but I work from home alot and cable is about my only frill/entertainment.</p>
<p>We’ve lived frugally over the years and saved like mad and have been blessed with good stock market portfolio results. I’ve always been the sole breadwinner in the household.</p>
How does this save you money? You still end up using the same amount of gas whether you fill up at a half tank or quarter tank. Actually, in theory you’d use less gas if you let it get emptier since you’d be dragging around less weight but it’s probably insignificant and you’d be making fewer trips to the gas station.</p>
<p>Orthodonture. I know kids whose mouths were pretty messed up and braces may have been close to a necessity. I have one child with naturally straight teeth – lucky girl – and one whose teeth are irregular, but they’re not BAD. I mean, orthodonture would be completely cosmetic in his case, and it was just never going to happen because of $$$. He mentioned wanting to get his teeth straightened, and I told him he’d have to grow up and pay for it himself (hey, Tom Cruise did it) as an adult.</p>
<p>I was always told there is more evaporation if it gets down lower, plus more likelihood of particulate getting into the lines.</p>
<p>Since Costco has added a gas station, it has given me a reason to go a little more often- which saves as I can get a few staples there each time. Since we don’t have a lot of storage space- I don’t have one * huge* trip, every couple months, but have been trying to go every three weeks or so.
( and instead of buying every thing I see- I always have to put 5 things back! )</p>
<p>( I also just bought at costco new light fixtures for $5 a piece including the energy saver bulbs! they work pretty well & we really needed them)</p>
<p>There are several people at work with braces in their 40s or 50s now. I assume that it’s never been convenient to have it done before.</p>
<p>On filling the tank half-full, I don’t see how that saves that much money. I could do that since I live near a gas station but the transaction takes five to ten minutes (longer if I have to wait in line) and I wonder if the time is worth the few dimes that it would save. It would probably cost me peace of mind problems worrying twice as much about running near empty.</p>
<p>I get 28 to 30 MPG on my Toyota Avalon and that’s from efficient driving. I coast to lights, accelerate smoothly from a stop, observe posted speed limits, don’t do heavy stop and go, avoid left turns, etc. My only speeding ticket was back around 1981.</p>
<p>rent of 2- my high deductible plan is also over $600 monthly and no one is ever sick and we rarely go to the doctor. An annual physical is coverage 80-20, but the labs ordered are not part of that, last time my DH went the lab bill for normal usual annual guy labs was $750, ridiculous, then we got the BX contract rate and still had to pay $500- I know those tests do not cost that much. It is crazy, but the thought of a car accident, or cancer or a heart attack causing unapproachable bills keeps me paying the premium…whinging a lot when we do, but paying it.</p>
<p>I get it, somemom! I’ve been paying those insurance premiums for years and years now. Last year I went for an “annual” (after 7 years) exam and mammogram… thinking I’d put it off for too long. I was referred to a dermotologist to remove a small bump on my face that had been there for long time, and the mammography center had me come back for 2 follow-up imaging appointments including ultra-sounds. I came out of all that --from that one little routine check-up-- with over a thousand dollars in bills (even at the “discounted” Blue Cross rates) and NOTHING wrong with me.</p>
<p>We still haven’t paid it all off. Fortunately the docs and the imaging center are pretty patient. Little by little. I don’t think I’ll go to the doctor again for another 7 years.</p>
<p>Had to take my son in for a physical and some vaccinations as required by the college he’ll go to in August. I’m hoping the horrible, expensive BlueCross coverage we have will cover at least a little of that, since once again we will never, ever make the deductible.</p>
<p>Reading this thread has made me very grateful for all my blessings. My parents have stable, well-paying jobs; they can afford to pay for my music and dance lessons and all the expenses associated with my brothers sports (football, hockey, and baseball); we take family vacations a couple times a year and have probably expensive cell phone, cable, and internet service. We have two cars (but they’re necessary- my mom does homecare and my dad commutes) and I don’t usually have to pay for gas when I drive.</p>
<p>Really, the only thing the ‘recession’ has affected is that I have been unable to find a second job for myself. Also, the tips at my current job are horrible- I made $2 last night, compared to when I began in October, and I’d make $15-20 a night.</p>
<p>Well, I’m only a student, but I feel like I can speak for my family’s condition. Even though we are pretty well off and the recession isn’t “hitting” us the way it would be “hitting” most people, my father is in the financial sector (actually part of the financial sector that is crucial right now) and his job is constantly on the line. He gets yelled at every day at work and when he gets home (usually near midnight, which is rediculous because he leaves at 5:30 in the morning for work), he is exhausted, has dinner and goes to sleep. I hardly get to talk to him, a sentance a day is amazing, a conversation a weekend is my goal each week. On top of family problems on my mom’s side, our family isn’t as cohesive as it used to be, but we try to pull together on the weekends and as a result, we actually eat out much more often than usual. </p>
<p>On the other, my parents are savers. They weren’t born well-off, actually quite the contrary, so we don’t tend to go to fancy restaurants, a meal out usually totals 30 for lunch for four, 50 for dinner. We still don’t buy excessive amounts of clothes. My brother who is going through a growth spurt gets 3 each of 5 dollar tshirts and shorts each year. I dress somewhat better as I spend my own money on dressing too… but I maybe bought 8 articles of clothing this past year. What’s most troubling to me is that my mother won’t go to the doctor’s even though she’s experiencing some symptoms and we keep pushing her to.</p>
<p>Our vacation this summer isn’t our usual travel to someplace exotic deal- instead we made everyone happy someway or other. My parents went on a business trip together, they took my on a college visit trip in april (and I’m going to camp), and we’re taking my brother to Six Flags in August for a day. Though I think this might be because I’m a rising senior and they want me to focus on getting my summer work done and starting college applications.</p>
<p>I’m really grateful for having a family that cares about being a family and that well we don’t really have too much to worry about financially right now, but a different perspective, I guess.</p>
<p>Post #11 describes our situation pretty well. The thing is, whether or not there’s a recession right now it’s simply prudent to make some adjustments due to the current tumult in the credit and energy markets. Here, high petroleum prices have contributed to high gas prices, high home heating oil prices, high electricity prices, and high food prices. Not many budgets can absorb simultaneous price doublings in this many areas. Also, we refinanced our adjustable rate HELOC into a fixed rate first. Our bank of twenty years would only lend us 70% ( … wait for it … ) of what we paid for the house in 1986.</p>
Today’s fuel systems are sealed so there’s no evaporation. Even old fuel systems, like on my 1966 Mustang, have very minimal evaporation. And there’s no more likelihood of particulate matter getting in since the fuel going to the engine comes from the bottom of the tank regardless.</p>
<p>I suspect that what the poster really meant was that the total sale when filling from half was $20-30 less than when it was at an eighth or so but of course they’d have to just fill up more frequently so nothing at all is saved. Actually, I’m assuming the poster was really being facetious.</p>
<p>News reports say that Oklahoma isn’t really experiencing a recession, but I think we kind of ar (but not as bad as other places). Our family business had a month where we were really slow, but it got better. I’ve noticed that a lot more people have been paying with credit cards and we hardly ever get cash/debit cards anymore. It’s like people are living off of credit.</p>
<p>We haven’t really had to change anything. I’m ashamed to say that we all still drive trucks and SUVs. We still eat out. We actually have thought about moving to a nicer house. We have always been semi-frugal with our money. We could afford much nicer things than we have, yet we don’t buy them.</p>
<p>If the price of gas is increasing daily, filling up half the tank on, say, Tuesday and then half again on Saturday, rather than all on Saturday, means you’ve paid less for the full tank, since the gas you bought on Tuesday is a few cents less per gallon.</p>
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