Totally agree. I make pretty decent money, but drive a 5 year old toyota corolla. Its paid off and i basically live in it. So what is the point of me buying a nicer car if it looks like **** from inside anyways. Saving to buy a house, but won't buy something out of my range just for the sake of buying it. My cc's are paid off on time every month also.
I've cut back on my spending but I wasn't spending a lots before the downturn. The main thing I've cut back on is eating out as that was one of my major expenses before but otherwise I never was a big spender. I've been saving but I need to keep a fair amount of liquidity and am holding off on investing since I'm not getting a steady paycheck.
Like rockestjudoka, I wasn't spending a lot to begin with. However, I was on planning on buying a new house and now that's kind of on hold to see what might go on. I have enough cash to put down 30% on the house I want to buy, but even then it makes me nervous. So for now I'm on the sidelines, saving up again.
I'm spending less, but it has nothing to do with the downturn in the economy. It's more of that my wife and I finally hit that point where we decided it was time to pay off debt...especially since we have kid #2 due to arrive mid-June. We're having to find a way to afford another day care bill (will make the total over $1500/month) and still maintain some amount of a life. The only way it's possible is to eliminate some debt.
We're almost done paying off all of our credit cards and plan on saving money to spend while on Vacation.
If the health of our economy is predicated on us spending so much that we all go into debt, isn't that a stupid thing to base the health of our economy on? Anyway, almost debt free except for a house... just paid off our second car this week, so no more car payments. Hoarding cash to take advantage of the deals that pop up over the next year or so and throwing more at responsible charities. You probably don't see it as much in Texas yet, but there are a lot of folks really hurting right now.
I'm a broke college student, but I'm still spending at the normal clip. Although all my spending is on Fuel, Food, Books, Classes etc. I haven't bought myself anything for "fun" in a long time. I splurged last year when I had a better job till I moved, and don't make nearly the same amount.
If you want to get a house though now might not be a bad time with home prices at all time lows. Getting credit is a problem but not impossible if you have good credit. I hear you though if you are worried about your next pay check and it might be better to keep cash on hand. I'm in the same boat. I've got a decent amount of cash but as a small business owner in a downturn I need to hold onto that to get me through the slow period.
I've been thinking about this and am wondering if we are going to see an end to consumerism as the basis of our economy.
I'm definitely in cost cutting mode, other than the fact I just recently bought a new tv/reciever/ps3...
Always saving (or looking for ways to save). It's in my blood. Though I've probably spent more money in the last two months than I have during any other period in my life. I moved in December and had to pretty much furnish an apartment ... and I bought a new Macbook with software and accessories totaling about $2700. But I bought it partially for business so it's going to help me make that money back and more in the long-run. Add all that in with Christmas gifts and I put an ugly dent in my savings. But I'm back to normal now and budget my spending each month. No credit card debt, but I do have student loans and a car I'm paying off. My plan is to take most of what I can save over the next 6 months to a year and make a big payment on the loan. Then repeat that until it's paid off...the interest rates are not pretty if I keep making the minimum payment!
