I’ve had a few of my friends laid off and some whose work has been cut to the bone. One good thing for many of them was the fact that they kept their expenses relatively low and a few have a decent emergency fund.

I hope they can find some employment to at least keep them from draining their emergency fund until they can back on their feet.

1. Try living off half your income! This will give you a better idea of what your expenses are going to look like if you should every become unemployed, or start working a less-paying job.
2. Get a second Job! One of the biggest issues that I see with people today, is that they are not willing to work harder for the things they want. If you canot afford your expenses or can’t save, MAKE MORE MONEY.
3.Pay yourself before you pay your debts. Do you have 3-6 months (at least) worth of liquid savings? If you don’t start building it up! It is more important to have a large cushion of savings than to work ay paying off debts faster. As my mortgage broker says: “You can always access your savings if you lose your job, but good luck getting that extra $2,000 you put towards your mortgage this year back!”

Of course, there are many other savings and income tips out there…. but it is most important to build yourself a safety net before anything else!

In regards to credit cards, I second the notion that they shouldn’t be used for the basic necessities–I’ve learned this from hard-won experience. In fact, one thing that did help was credit card debt settlement. My balance was above $10k and I was able to negotiate it down (with the help of a debt settlement) company to a more manageable level. Not for everyone, but hey, if you’re stuck….

That makes the current state of affairs more than a little surprising. The economy here is well diversified, so it isn’t as if we can pin it on the auto industry, or some other that’s faring especially poorly. (Though housing would be a strong candidate.)

Government, education and healthcare seem stable, but otherwise the job losses are accross the board. In fact I’d guess that if you back those three sectors out of the employment numbers, the rate of UE would be much higher in most industries than the published rates. In that respect, the economy is considerably worse than surface factors might indicate.

Streets are packed here too, but don’t know if there’s much spending. Restaurants are half empty though.

My state is under the average, Texas at 7.5%, but we lost 41 thousand jobs in June (second highest job loss).

For the unemployed architects, they could dabble in ‘landscape architecture’ for mid/high-end homes as a side job, or remodels, etc. Try to appeal to the common man instead of a big corporation.

If an architect could give me a list of ways to change my house to make it more efficient, I think that would be worth $1,000 or so. I don’t think there is anyone that offers that type of service.

Florida has been hit particularly hard, so while I do see certain bars and restaurants doing well, we’re also seeing a slew of closures of high-end restaurants that have been around for years.

Like some people pointed out, the ones that are doing well are the ones running good deals.

Some second income streams can be somewhat sociable (for example, working a couple of nights in a bar) so you might even find it paying for your social life.

Currently I’m trying to build passive income streams to cement my finances, but that does mean a lot of sitting about at home — raising the temptation to waste more money in wanton hedonism.

I swear to goodness that mid-end+ restaurants are doing very well in San Francisco. Restaurants that cost $25-50/person for lunch and $50-80/person for dinner are ALL PACKED. And restaurants aren’t lowering their prices either.

Netflix stock is doing phenomenal in this downturn, exactly for the reason you describe.

I’m getting very bullish for 2010 with what’s going on now. A lot of pent up demand is building to buy “things” after the past 18 month debacle.

Rgds,

RB

A lot of local theaters seem to have discounted their tickets and our dollar movie theater has stepped up its lineup a lot this summer.

Restaurants are having a hard time, I know – a bunch of our little local places have disappeared or are only open because they haven’t found a buyer for the building yet.

Bars, restaurants, streets, buses are all packed. My eyes are not deceiving me, are they guys?

Rgds, RB

sorry to hear about your struggles. Like Nathon recommended, Dave Ramsey has a step by step program on getting yourself out of debt. You can usually find his book for free at the library.

Can you also try to freelance your talents, perhaps tutoring? I used to do that in high school and a little in college and was paid around $10-20/hr. It’s not a lot, but it can give you some breathing room.

At a minimum it’s a lot easier to be frugal these days because there’s more company doing it.

But on a positive note, once the downturn is over, there will be some real career opportunities as new career fields open up. In addition to saving money and cutting expenses, we should keep our ears and eyes open for what ever may be coming down the road.

LOL (9)–Solid advice!

Please take a look at these.

In addition, instead of getting another car, we’ve decided to get my car repaired. And since we don’t have a car payment, it really is the best option during this time

Rgds,

RB

Unfortunately, individuals get caught up in the cleanup, and suffer for it: unlucky enough to work for an inefficient company and get laid off, for example.

Nancy, I feel for you, but I’m not a credit counselor. I think your first priority would be to get an income re-established (find a job) and to try to stop digging a deeper hole with debt (cut spending). If you are overextended with assets you can’t really afford, you might consider selling a car, house, etc…

I truly am at a standstill, I have never missed any payment, credit decent, but I am overwhelmed, am pretty alone in this. I do not not what to do. Many, many thanks.

As more and more people realize that they have re-discovered their priorities and how to be creative and innovative with their lives, we may just get out of this thing.

We have made huge strides to cut our expenses, increase our savings, and diversify our income.

These are tough times, but like a lot of difficult situations… it seems to be bringing out the best in people. I know that has been the case in our lives.