How is this recession affecting you?

Starting to struggle a little bit in terms of wondering how long before my firm starts making redundancies (small financial institution), so am looking at ways to reduce the impact should the worst happen, insurance policies and the like.
But overall we are living in "normality", with maybe a more frequent look at the "whatif" scenario's.
I think I would ask my parents for financial help and my wife can go full time in her job whenever she likes so I would get a job stacking shelves or something.

Thankfully my job is secure (for the time being anyway) in the Fire Service, still just pulling the reins in now though, shopping at Aldi/Lidl etc....

Currently have 2 cars and 2 bikes which is getting some serious consideration at the moment. Being honest, the Speed Triple will be going in a week or so, a guy keeps asking me to sell it so think i will. Got a Z3 M Roadster (which i've wanted for as long as i can remeber!) which i love and the Mrs uses everyday for work and i run a BMW 5 series Touring everyday (need an estate for the dogs), neither of which are overly fuel efficient!! (especially the 3.2 M car!!) I'd really hate to have to sell the Z3 but if things go as quickly downwards as the so called "experts" say then who knows.......things aren't rosey in the garden for many folk the now i don't think...:dunno

PS....the RSV will be with me throughout this whole recession though, aint going nowhere!!

i work in the catering industry as a chef
My job was in the balance few weeks ago as i was the last one in, been there 5 months
but all safe


Weve noticed its slightly quieter but the weekends are there or thereabouts wht we normally do

I work in the tourist industry and my company has started making redundancies. For the moment I am fine because 2 people of my team resigned and their the company didn't recruit anyone to replace them. Instead, their work has been distributed among us. More work load but job safe, for now......

I work in IT for a Insurance Administration house. we do all the administration for companies insurance policies like Accident, Sickness and unemployment policies you get when you get a mortgage. I look after the servers and design and maintain certificates and the software.
Out company looks dog rough when our shares went from $70 to $12. (USA Company brought this year). Crapped my self and pulled in the purse strings. Company doing well at the moment but a lot if the new policies coming on are being refused Unemployment cover. wonder why?!?!?

We are really really busy at the moment! wonder why. yes thats right CLAIMS! going through the roof. unemployment is hitting the uk hard at the moment. Hate to think what it wil be like in a couple of months.

I hope no-one from this forum loses their jobs as this forces a real change in lifestyle..may that not happen. Very lucky here in OZ doing what i do (electrical contracting etc) we currently have more work than our team can get their hands & head around.
As said above..huge workload but job is as safe as a brick *********.
Cheers n Respects to all,
Aus

Work... pretty safe there i think (coca-cola) and the wife is looking at getting a job again ( she had to pack in 9 years ago due to back troubles) but thats not due to credit crunch worries, shes just wants to get back to work again :biggrin

We've just paid all credit cards off, and the car loan, and will now just try and buy stuff when we have the cash and not rely on the plastic as we used to :roll dont want to be left with big debts if work goes **** up :biggrin but really we haven't been affected thankfully...but i suppose we have reigned in the spending a little..just in case

sprocker said:

Work... pretty safe there i think (coca-cola) and the wife is looking at getting a job again ( she had to pack in 9 years ago due to back troubles) but thats not due to credit crunch worries, shes just wants to get back to work again :biggrin

We've just paid all credit cards off, and the car loan, and will now just try and buy stuff when we have the cash and not rely on the plastic as we used to :roll dont want to be left with big debts if work goes **** up :biggrin but really we haven't been affected thankfully...but i suppose we have reigned in the spending a little..just in case

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Better ease up on those fandangled *** positions ol mate... ffs give her back a chance to get well..jesus your a hard man flmao :nana

Where there is Coke there is cash..a bloody goldmine of an industry..can't ever see it going down the gurgler in any way, shape or form.
Aus

AusRSV said:

Better ease up on those fandangled *** positions ol mate... ffs give her back a chance to get well..jesus your a hard man flmao :nana

Where there is Coke there is cash..a bloody goldmine of an industry..can't ever see it going down the gurgler in any way, shape or form.
Aus

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Got to ride em hard to get the best outta em Aus matey you know that :laugh

sprocker said:

Got to ride em hard to get the best outta em Aus matey you know that :laugh

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Tru, Tru ol mate..treat em mean and keep em keen i say..they may wiggle and squirm a little, but really they love it irate

Like andirsv, I'm in the Fire Service and business has been reasonably "brisk" recently. :biggrin

My part time business has been taking up an awful lot of my rota days/time off.

I have hit the ground running in 2009 as far as web design clients go. It's strange. Quite a few folk have reacted in completely the opposite way that I would have expected.

I have a few clients on my books that I have registered domain names with and set up email for, but they haven't went as far as a website goes as yet.

I expected most of them to fade away as the credit crunch bites. But to be honest most have came back to me and said "I need a web presence right now to draw in more customers".

Gotta "speculate to accumulate" I 'spose. :biggrin

Personaly, I've been curtailing most of my spending. My Mille had its MoT run out in September last year and I never bothered getting it put through a new MoT since then, hence the reason I've not really been posting here on the forums much. I've lost interest in the bike although I plan to get it MoT'd next month so that may well change.

I'm now cycling to work most days/nights as and when the weather permits. I've got to say I've caught the cycling "bug" big time now. Training for my first 100 miler this year for a sportive called the Trossachs Ton. Bought a Tacx Flex turbo trainer to assist this and enjoying using it immensely.

This is pretty much why I haven't used the Mille much. It costs a fortune to tax, run and insure every year and it ends up being sat here as a big useless red paperweight most of the time. Any time there has been a break in the godawful winter weather we have been having, I find myself donning the lycra and going out to nail 40 miles on the roadbike, cycle that is.

I wont sell the Mille, its worth feck all on the secondhand market and I want to get back on the road again this year with it anyway.

Im a in a different situation than you guys in the UK, being in France it seems that the market is not as volatile as the UKs.
I have started to curb my spending now and only use paypal and try to keep my spending under 1000 pounds per month on ebay lol

It does feel very surreal at present as both myself and the wife work for the Local Authority; so not much chance of losing job, we moved house last February, just before the housing market went into freefall (our house would be worth quite a bit less than we paid BUT we feel we'll be unlikely to want to move again) and was advised to go for a variable rate mortgage; so that's been VERY handy over the last few months & I also managed to pay off my outstanding loans last November...so not too bad, it just feels crap when friends etc tell you their potential tales of woe....The main problem I've experienced is the credit crunch hitting the entertainment/pub industry; I play in a band and we've lost some bookings as pubs/clubs are either tightening their belts or closing down....work is still out there but it's not as busy as usual! All I can say is I wish everyone well & hope everyone gets out the other side successfullly.

being in the sign industry is hard at the mo..not many ppl opening new shops wonder why?? van sales have dropped so no graphic work to do very little going on...we have backup for a few weeks just hope it picks up or its night shifts at asda..

In the Fire service here too, same as Andi and Ecosse. The Job is secure and petrol aint as bad as it was, but I live in an old house in Somerset not far from the coast of the Bristol Channel, so if I see a log at the side of the road, I take it home and stick it in the wood burner!:thumbup (I really do!):thumbup