Are You Conserving Your Money ... or Not?

[Bill Cory]

These days, seeing what's potentially coming down the road, I'm becoming more conservative of my funds. I hesitate to click the "Checkout" button for things I don't need. I've sold three guitars in the last month, and two microphones. More to come.

I guess I'm saving up chips for later in the game, much more than I used to do.

Anyone else doing this kind of thing, or is it just me?

[Sprinter]

I'm doing it too. I work in the garage at a Chevrolet dealership. Our dealership has been doing very well on the sales end, but the service department is slow. I'm very concerned about the future, and have cut way back on spending. I'm only buying what I absolutely need.


Sprinter

[Brent Hutto]

No not really. We don't live particularly frugally but then again we keep our cars for ten years at a stretch and don't take cash out of our mortgage or anything else profligate either. So we're keeping to the status quo.

[unimogbert]

Sudden layoff from a formerly "no layoffs" company in 2001 reset our ideas about cash outflow. Even after over 5 years of re-employment in what ought to be a stable company we are still much more careful than before 2001.

And folks thought we were frugal THEN!

(A friend said that the way fate works is to layoff those who were ready for it. Ya, we were ready but not willing.....)

I think the entire country needed this kind of reset about 10 years ago.

[fitness1]

I've always been very careful about frivolous spending. The unknowns at this point have me doing a full inventory on what I really need.
And the answer is.....not much

[Coolius]

Yes, the wife & I are tightening our belts - and we have not been extravagant in the past at all!

Still, the signs of a coming storm are on the horizon, and my job is not quite as secure as I had thought - the company just let a guy go who was covering the Florida/Georgia region for sales. Morale took a nosedive on the news.

That's why I'm selling off my 414CE-L3 Maranatha guitar - trying to thin down every unnecessary item in the home.

Our cars are 9 and 18 years old, so Schwarzenegger's latest doubling of the vehicle license fee will affect me minimally. No intention of changing them for a while, that's for sure. At least they both run well, no problems.

Eating out less, cooking at home more, and only day trips for us this summer.

[jyee]

i'm not doing anything different from my normal routine, which is fairly conservative. But i did make an effort this past weekend to clean out some clutter and post most of it on ebay. The money from the sales should offset the helicon voicetone pedal, akai headrush and immersion circulator i've bought recently and still give me some extra cash.

[SMan]

We've been stimulating the economy. The sky hasn't fallen yet.

[cotten]

Until about 18 months ago, I was basically unemployed for two years. Oh, I was working as hard and long as ever, just being paid about a third of my former income. My wife and I had always been thrifty, but during that time became more than just frugal. We were very creative in finding ways to earn extra income and to avoid spending it.

Things are somewhat better now, though we're still having to pay for an extra house. I doubt we will ever go back to being merely thrifty. We enjoy saving more, spending less, and avoiding getting ripped off. (To borrow a phrase from consumer guru Clark Howard.) Our economy changed a good while back!

cotten

[LindaW]

Still shopping but shopping sales, and of course Target. We don't really go on family vacations and I used miles to send my daughter and my nephew to my parents' house this year. Things like camp for the children are still on though and we'll do day trips in MA this summer and around here. There's so much to explore in the DC area as well as the Boston area I don't think the kids will feel deprived.

Business-wise we've had some really good sales in our online shop and will continue to do so. Jewelry is a luxury so we need to make it an affordable treat.

[Stixx]

Hell I ain't embarrassed to say I don't have a choice. I've been broker than a pick pocket in a nudist colony for the last year and been parting with some awfully good wood just to keep a little bit of extra dough beyond living expenses.

I have always been frugal as far as keeping a buffer pile of cash to carry as I have been self employed for like ever.

That said, we can not expect the economy to get better if we dont. So those who have some dough, buy my guitars. LOL so I can buy more motorcycle stuff. he haw.

Well it sounded good before I wrote it all down.

I actually have some work right now for the first time since I can remember so I'm going to splurge and take my gal buddy out to eat this weekend. Maybe even go for a ride on the scoot if the winter faucet shuts off long enough. But one things for sure, we wont get better if we keep it all in a bank, but we don't want to spend it all either.

All things in moderation , worked for my Dad, works for me.

[yammieplaya]

I tend to be pretty thrifty,
because I'd rather have money than crap,
and I don't like working.
I read that 70% of CEOs surveyed are "planning layoffs
in the next 6 months". That can't be good for workers.
They also expect lower revenues and expenditures.

[astrummer]

Our household is being more conservative with money, not so much so that we aren't going on a vacation trip this year. However we just got through with planning it for 2/3 the cost of last year.

[jrporter]

Planning for retirement in the next year or so has been a larger guiding force than the economy at large. Since I work in a growth industry - special education- there's always jobs out there for me, but I'd like to "retire" in the next year or so and then continue to work more flexible, part-time hours if possible.

[JDM814]

My wife and I have always "lived beneath our means." Having a partner with a similar mindset is critical to a happy marriage. Dealing with some aging parent issues really drives home the point that you don't need much. While my Dad was in rehab at a skilled care facility, he had a nightstand, 1/2 a closet, and 4 pull out drawers...that's it. Some people sell their houses and move into a few drawers and a closet....it really drives the point home for me.