How many folks do you know that are in finacial distress right now?

[Echo2]

I have been in and out of the hole more times than I care to think about..... But there is quite a few folks that I know that are running pretty lean right now.

I recently made an arrangement with a friend...(he didn't want to borrow money)..to take a few items in and hold for cash. I know these items...they are family heirlooms....and are intended for his kids. He is headed to North Dakota for a new job that will last about 1.5 years....and needed traveling $$$. Wife and kids are staying here.

The guy who brings me some of my wood for winter.....asked if I had a old hunting rifle I wanted to part with....due to the fact he had to sell the one he has been using for the last 5 years.....I gave him a old 303 British and a couple boxes of shells (got it for $100 at a yardsale)....he in turn promised to bring me a couple yearlings already processed and one load of wood. This guy dosen't eat store bought beef....he always harvest enough deer to live off of til next season...how tight would it have to be to sell the one item that puts a large portion of food on the table.

A neighbor down the road...just found out that his job will be going the way of the Dodo....his wife makes pretty good....but they are expecting a baby in January....she'll be out of the game for at least a month.

A fellow I have working for me part time....lost his job at Wally world (he was the 8th highest paid employee in the store)....due to "modification of his department"....is begging me for hours...I have none to give right now.

What have you noticed in your AO? Is it the same slow motion train wreck every where?

[Gunfixr]

Me personally. We only survive due to my father. If he stops, we're done.

[Taz Baby]

People are losing jobs left and right. Even if they have been there the longest because they are close to retirement. Not to long ago we were at a restaurant and one of the waitresses was at least retirement age, she was a little hunch back and walked with a limp. I felt so bad for her because she should be able to sit back and enjoy her family and grand and great grand kids but she has to work. She was struggling just to keep up. But she is one of the lucky ones who have a job. This weekend there were more yard sales than have seen in a long while. and it is sad that people have to sell what they have to use just for money to buy food. The choice is getting bad, things or food.

[ladyhk13]

We were asked not long ago to loan a friend some money in exchange for holding her father's WWII .45 She has 2 kids and depends on an oil royalty out in TX every month as her income. One of the big companies out there has been side drilling under her property and so she hasn't been getting any money due to non production on her land. She has had to sue the other company and in the meantime there is no income. She is disabled so can't work.
My son just graduated college in May and can't find a job doing anything. He went to school for Polysomnography (sleep study, disorders) so you would think he could find something but nope, nothing. He is 21 and never had a job (just a college kid) and can't even get a job at BAM. Every place he goes to they say they want experience, how are you supposed to get experience if they won't give you a job? Luckily he is frugal and saved his money from graduation but is almost totally broke. I don't know what he is going to do if he doesn't get work this month.
My sister lost her job as a school bus driver due to county cut backs, hopefully she can get on with another county but school starts soon and still no word. She has to have health insurance which means she would have to go on COBRA and that is over $900. a month and without a job it would destroy them finacially.
The middle class is disappearing. The rich are not getting richer I don't believe (most people consider small buisness owners 'rich') and our poorer are not getting poorer with all of the welfare available, it's the people in between who are suffering.

[Echo2]

The bread lines of the 30s have been replaced by little plastic cards.

[Vodin]

We are keeping our heads above water. It isn't easy but what else can you do. I own my own business for the last 15 years. And the government wont help me if I fall down so I don't fall.
My business has lost a large % of income. I have lost about 50 clients due to bankruptcy or closing the doors permanently. The rest don't place a service call as often as they used to.
I provide service to businesses and when I go there I see a large amount of For Lease signs next door. I see beggars that are the norm and now nicely clothed beggars on the street corners. For long trips I use http://gasbuddy.com/ to plan my gas route. to find the cheapest gas.
I help those that I am able to help but I am by no means in a good spot. I am the only one that can improve my situation and this is why I don't have time to fall down.

[ak474u]

My pay is down, I'm running fewer appointments, but the company is busy. I trained a new guy to do my job, and I'm not exactly splitting my appointments with him, I get first dibs on all appointments, but he's single and can work evenings, so he's gotten some REALLY good jobs for the company lately. Maybe I trained him too well? Lol. I'm still doing well, just not killing it like I was last year this time. My company changed hands suddenly in May, and while I was worried at first, I'm really glad it did. The guy who started as superintendent the day I started with the company actually purchased it from the founder and took ownership April 1st. We've grown 20% per month since then, I was getting a little worried after the first of the year because I'd be told "don't cash your check till tomorrow" on payday. The founder's wife liked to shop on the business account, and the office manager had to deposit money into other accounts,to keep her from cleaning us out when paychecks were due. They sold the company, and moved on, and everything is great there now. The economy is definitely taking its toll on my customers. Since I do energy efficiency upgrades on homes, lots of people that I would think cant afford the work are starting to come to us to get the bills down on their homes, sadly so they can afford to keep them. Its kind of a pay now or pay later kind of thing, so I'm glad I can help. Even some of my super wealthy customers seem to get sticker shock when they get my ballpark estimates of the work I'm proposing, they don't really call and say "damn that's expensive" they just don't call. This tells me that the rich are definitely not getting richer. I used to go to homes with 4-6 car garages full of exotic cars, jet skis, atvs, grocery getter range rovers, hunting trucks etc. now I go to big houses with big garages, and 2 cars. I see lots less preventative maintenance taking place now on homes as well. I'm just thankful to have a job, I'm not likely to be replaced anytime soon, I sorta earned my job security by pretty much working 65 hours a week, buying my own gas, and doing what it took to save the office ladies, and my former superintendent, now owner's job(s) last year, and while it wasn't just for them, they all know who kept the company afloat long enough for a financially responsible person to buy it, and bring it to its potential.

[Gunfixr]

Oh, I got loads of work, at least 2 months backlog. Work isn't the problem.
I started out at the shop charging pretty low rates, so I could build work faster while I got my name out. I been slowly pushing it up some, gotta make a living, but can't go too far or I'd lose work. That custom stuff pays the best, but it's not a big percentage. I work as a contractor, paid on a 1099 basis.
My wife is only working 20hrs a week (instead of 40) since Jan, due to the fibromyalgia. She and the doc want to increase her hrs, but work refuses to follow the docs orders, so that won't happen. She's in management in a retail store. She needs to stay moving, since when standing still for long periods (much more than 1/2hr) the muscles in her legs lock up. Those idiots station her at the cash register almost exclusively, for 5hrs or more at a time. Per company policy, management isn't even supposed to be on registers, unless covering someone's break or something. All she does is come home, pop a handful of vicodin and lay down. Yesterday she had to pop some at work, it got so bad. Her doc is going to drop her hrs back next week when she hears that.
My dad has been helping out with the difference. If it weren't for that, we'd been out on the street months ago.

[bacpacker]

I know several folks who are stuggling to make it. My last job, the whole plant shut down and moved. They shut it down by shifts and the last shift left I know of 12 out of 21 that are still out of work or making substantially less than before. I was so blessed to find a decent job about 2 months before they finally closed. But there have been a lot of cut backs over the last 2 years there to. I don't feel too worried about the department I'm in right now, but who knows about the future.
Another family I know, lost there small business and had to move out of state for a job, that was 3 years ago and they are still not back on their feet. The hubby's job cut back to 4 days a week. Although this year the wife was able to get on full time at her daughters school.
I totally agree with the middle class getting takin out. And to me that has been by design. NAFTA, GATT, and all the programs passed to make a global economy has taken most all the manufacturing jobs out of this country and that is where the bulk of the income in this country came from, taxes as well. The only ones doing better now days are the super rich. What I would have called rich before, were folks like Dr's, lawers, small bis owners, ect. They all are flat to losing ground now. The poor have stayed where they are for the most part. Just a lot of the middle class moving down into that catagory now. I really feel bad for kids getting out of school now, most of them have had to take on huge debt to get through school and there is just not much out there to go into right now. Certainly not what they studied for. I hear of this all the time.

[msomnipotent]

We are finally to the point where we can buy something extra without losing sleep over it. Our credit card debt will be completely paid off by the end of the year, if not sooner. Our personal debt should be paid off by March. That is if everything goes according to plan. If people realize that they don't need internet and cable, then my husband might get laid off. Lucky for us, people around here refuse to change their spending habits, so we are pretty secure right now. I am still adding to our emergency savings because nothing ever goes according to plan.

I have a feeling that my family will throw a wrench in our plans. My sisters are not adjusting their spending (one has a crappy job and good taste, one is going through a divorce, and one is pregnant and just lost her job), and my parents are dipping into their retirement savings to help out. Not that I am complaining. They helped us out, too. But we are paying them back and I have heard that the other ones are not. I can foresee finally getting out of debt and then getting right back into it because of them.