how are you cutting back to deal with the impending onset of economic devestation and collapse?

i get tall lattes rather than grandes now.

i am now wearing economic braces

i've fired my slovakian manservant

I light my cigars with twenties instead of fifties.

Maribou mules slightly feather-worn, will stay that way.

pondering weekly veggie burgers in the microwave

I've had to put three slaves down this week, can't afford to feed them.

Being extra careful to remember where I leave my monocle in future

moving savings & 401K monies into long-term commodities like movie trading cards and 9/11 memorabilia

Fill the Scrooge McDuck-style money vault with small bills and costume jewelry instead of 100s and real jewels/gold. Not as much fun cavorting in it now.

I'm washing my own taint.

One hooker at a time

Considering skipping some charity functions for a part time (shhh!) "job".

one word: Flobee

will feed my cats each other

Cancelled construction of mansion extension using platinum bricks, switching to gold bricks.

Cocaine---->Crack

Only fifty baby seals instead of the usual one hundred to be barbecued at this year's Christmas party.

Force all three mistresses to turn the thermostat down and wear sweaters while in their provided penthouses.

Downsize to Learjet 85, look into hybrid versions.

i'm going start using a knife to save on ammo costs. i've been getting lazy anyway.

saving keystrokes

installing hydraulics in the car so i can save gas by bouncing over gridlock

thinking about getting a real job

accruing 200k in educational debt

wait

will sleep by the ever-bright hole in the door,
eat in the corner, talk to the floor.

Taking my entourage out in the Rolls rather than the Hummer.

I might start making sandwichs for lunch.

I might start reading the books I've bought and never read, rather than buying new books and not reading them.

*shrug*

OTM - We should start putting real answers.

--I've cut down on my CD purchasing considerably.
--I've started making my own breakfast and dinner instead of getting bagels and chinese food
--I'm freelancing like crazy and saving the bux
--This year, i'm gonna try to heat my apt with space heaters.

I'm going to try to keep my wife from going to Wal Mart. :-((((

rolling ilc shantytown thread 2008

- started using the library a LOT more instead of Borders
- making lattes at home instead of 5x weekly trips to Starbucks
- Cycling to work instead of driving
- Making lunches rather than eating out

We have a 2nd refrigerator out in my old office. I'm going to shift everything out of it and shut it down.

I haven't had to cut back, as I have few expenses and make a ton of money, so this thread is not relevant to my interests.

^^^ the real reason everyone was giving funny answers above.

Gold grill instead of platinum

keeping a couple of gats, knives rats and wives in ONE room instead of several

we are downsizing from two children to one. (tough breaks, kid!)

(and... cue the opening credits of oliver!)

I download gigabytes upon gigabytes worth of illegal music every day instead of buying a CD a week.

sober mothra

no, just trading the garnacha for thunderbird

carving clothes out of stone

stealing subscription cards from bookstore magazines and making paper

building shelter from the tops of convertibles

collecting water from cisterns made from garbage cans and old hoses

raccoon hunting

growing vegetables in other persons' gardens

Bah, we were doing that even in times of plenty.

I hope people be cutting back with the sperms cos upkeep of kids will ruin you all.

actually I think we put our decision to have another child on hold now.

(so we'll probably wind up pregnant in three weeks)

I'm not really doing anything, nothing feels that different to me anyway. Me and the wife both work for a big university, enrollment is up, probably will continue to be cause people hide out at school when jobs are bad, right? Jobs should be reasonably safe. Bought the cheapest house we looked at, can afford the mortgage. Don't have any other debt. Don't buy too much dumb stuff. Don't go out to eat that much. Take public transportation a lot of the time. Own one car, fully paid for.

Perversely we're actually thinking about going on a vacation to Europe somewhere in the next six months, which seems like it would be fine money wise but maybe won't be by then? Who knows.

Iceland welcomes you

Maybe we'll buy up a block of downtown Reykjavik.

In many ways, I'm in your situation. (Rent rather than own but already locked in an affordable lease for a while to come and no car, otherwise pretty similar, down to the 'vacation or not?' question for next year. I'll make my decision after Christmas.) No question California's general budget situation gives me pause, admittedly, but we shall see -- if anything I've already determined the area I oversee will come in well under budget this year.

srsly considering selling off the car and padding out the bike quiver to include a CARGO BIKE

glad to be a student, glad to be learning a trade that will be useful beyond thunderdome

looting?

he's training to become a white mage

I'm actually going to stop short of "buy supermarket own brand beans", because I think that the positive financial aspect of four pence saved per tin is outweighed by the negative psychological impact of eating beans that taste of soap.

this is so true. there are some really bad ways to economise, and one of them is cutting like six pence from the price of things like cereals, which you're going to eat for the next thirty meals and the conscious cutback of which will leave you spelling out RECESSION in your cheap alphabetti spaghettios. accepting a minute annual budget overspend, to drink nice tea or buy not-the-cheapest-bread, is psychically worth it.

moderate debts on fixed interest rates, which inflation will erode

inflation will not erode debts unless there is also wage inflation. while wage inflation is possible I currently find it unlikely (except in the few sectors where industrial action is a possibility)

discretionary spending goes to gifts for toddler niece so I can live in her basement in 30 years.

Is everything off-brand so terrible though? Some things, like cereal, do suffer in quality, but I have never noticed that store-brand canned vegetables or beans, for example, are any better or worse than brand name. It's like the joke that's actually true, about how the same plant will churn out the same cans, but stick a brand-name label on one and a store-brand label on another.

or you could make beans from dried beans

(xpost) Breakfast cereal, tinned beans, tinned spaghetti, bread, and toilet paper all seem to be terrible. Other stuff, YMMV. Also, own brand cleaning products (bleach, floor cleaner, etc.) seem to be weaker, so you end up needing to use more of them. On the other hand, I buy own brand butter and don't notice any difference, also milk and eggs, but they seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

i actually prefer our store brand spaghetti

Malt-o-Meal cereal is pretty good, and it's a little cheaper because it's bagged instead of boxed.

Yeah, actually, with paper prices the way they are, you could really cut down by buying things that don't come in cardboard boxes. Someone told me once about how much of the price of a box of cereal was the BOX and I was shocked. Now forgotten.

CD's are still quite cheap if I get 'em from America, so I won't be cutting back.

what white mage school are you at gbx

I am buying ur cheap stox.

I buy the store-brand beans, and then heat them up with curry and/or onion, so I don't see that as a sacrifice.

I've considered selling some of my LPs (a couple of them might bring a satisfactory price), but I don't have a good idea how to navigate eBay as a seller.

washing, reusing condoms

Eating as many grapes as I can while walking through the grocery store. Then they're cheaper at the register, and it almost feels like you just ate a free meal.

Actually I do that whether the world is going to hell or not.

I am buying ur cheap stox.

― M.V., Friday, October 10, 2008 12:46 PM (35 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

wish i could do this

I am dressing like a hobo. Being especially prescient about the economy, I have been for years now.

http://www.bov.ch/labels/USA/usa-miller-olde-english-800.jpg

i am feeling this a little more now. i thought it wouldn't be palpable until it impacted bagel prices, but they're going up.

I quit my job and I'm going on holiday to Chile for three weeks in November. I don't think that was too sensible.

My belt's been as tight as it can for years. The Coming Great Superdepression will be okay as long as it has the internet – I don't have shit all otherwise to lose in the deal.

oh, I flashed my xbox so I can pirate games. don't blame me, blame

http://broccolicity.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/jeezy-recession-cvr.jpg

starting to get a little worried about my job - business has slowed right down, think the owners might consolidate the 3 stores into 2 or even 1. and we just spent $1500 on 3 books. and we have major expenses coming up in a years time when we do the whole permanent residency thing.

i am eating more fruit and nuts. i don't know if this is exactly recession-related, but something about the whole environment makes me want to eat healthier. reverting to hunter-gatherer diet. every day: apples, bananas, mangos. grape juice, apple cider. and salads for dinner.

apple cider OTM.

economizing on groceries. no more "organic" products! like w/milk, conventional is almost $2 cheaper per half-gallon. sorry, elsie, but it adds up.

some of us don't even keep milk in the home anymore.

i guess if you have a kid that's not so much an option?

yeah we've been doing "dry milk" for a while now

also have a 40lb bag of rice on top of the fridge as the sole evidence of a minor survivalist freakout i had while looking at mostly empty shelves at the grocery store.

That's a v good thing to have – just make sure to keep it in a sealed container (like a rubbermaid storage bin) so as not to attract vermin: mice, roaches, weevils, etc.

Not so good a thing to have if you move every few months, tho. I had a giant Rubbermaid 50 gallon thing full of rice (from my parents) and moving, I started to feel like some Johnny Appleseed/Sisyphus hybrid.

Trying to cut back on the panic attacks but it ain't working at all. On the contrary.

i have been eating beans even more than i thought was possible (they are the magical fruit)

*sigh*... anyone taking on a second job? my primary job is fine; the base pay is nigh adequate to get me through the month, but I rely a lot on a consistent stream of overtime to supplement my income. Unfortunately that's all but dried up over the last couple of months. I'm thinking of taking some catering gigs over this holiday season. Those should be mindless enough, and shouldn't interfere with my 40 hr/week straight job. Even so, the thought of this is pretty depressing.

the two days after the election were the busiest my store has seen in a couple of months. hopefully this continues.

Saved my work the overhead of an entire person by resigning.

Cut holes in my ipod classic armstrap so as not to necessitate the purchase of another.

Bought Cadbury chocolate instead of Lindt.

Put up with a pain in my back to prevent expensive osteopathy bills.

i am eating more fruit and nuts. i don't know if this is exactly recession-related, but something about the whole environment makes me want to eat healthier. reverting to hunter-gatherer diet. every day: apples, bananas, mangos. grape juice, apple cider. and salads for dinner.

― tipsy mothra, Saturday, October 25, 2008 10:48 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

ha. whenever im really poor i get a really strong urge to buy a lot of milk and bread. i have no idea why.

oh i didnt see all that milk talk above

My money is mainly going to grad school applications and rent, and since I recently moved and am looking for work, I'm nervous. I found a part-time job, so I need either more part time jobs or a full-time job, but I can't temp. Argh.

Right now I'm eating very cheap and basic groceries (mainly pasta, eggs, rice, & black beans) and not many fruits and vegetables. My roommates insist on having milk around, and since we do communal grocery shopping I am drinking lots of it and trying to avoid adding stuff I like personally to the list to keep the cost down.