What changes are you making?

[sundial]

It's odd not working with odorless mineral spirits.

[emily_in_nc]

We already live pretty frugally these days as they are outsourcing jobs all around me at my company and I could lose my job any day. So, no new clothes this year other than a few very inexpensive fitness items from Sierra Trading Post, no new shoes this fall, not going out to eat, no vacations other than trips to our sailboat where we can live aboard very frugally as if it were a small condo, cooking all our meals with food we've brought from home aboard there too. Also had a garden this year and grew some of our own veggies. I'm working at home once a week to save on gas (wish I could do it more often), and will be cutting back on Christmas gifts to some extent as well.

Other than that, just watching our investments lose value. My 401K, which I've been socking money into regularly since 1985 is at is lowest level in years as of yesterday. Very depressing. But I won't panic and sell my stocks.

[bmccasland]

Since I'm not a jet-setter, nor hang out in clubs, I'm living pretty much the same as always. I lived through "black monday" several years ago, so I'm just leaving my investments alone. Of course I'm not happy about the amount of money I've lost on paper as the value of my investments plummeted. Just hoping I can afford to retire in 11 years. My biggest decision in the next few years is whether I want to retire here on the storm tossed Gulf coast, or do I want to move elsewhere. I don't want to evacuate when I'm 80.

[tulip]

The changes I'm making predate this mess. Over a year ago I moved from the Washington DC area, which is VERY expensive, to a smaller, much more reasonable city. I was fortunate that I squeaked in under the wire and bought a house in July that costs me half of what I was paying in DC. However, I'm undertaking a renovation now. The upside is that the contractor's are ready to work because they don't have too many jobs right now. I'm happy to be putting my cash in the house at this time, but it's hard to swallow, this spending of money! But when it's done, the house will be just right.

I already work from home and hardly drive. I fill up my little car perhaps once a month. I can ride my bike to the grocery store, post office, and local cafe. And since I'm in my new little house, I'm starting a garden after several years of being gardenless.

The only thing I've decided to change in the past week is to put my renovation money in a local bank. I'll keep my regular checking at the Next Big Bank To Be In Trouble for work-related issues, but I feel better about having the bulk of my cash in a small, local bank.

Check back after the election--my plans may change dramatically.

[bmccasland]

Check back after the election--my plans may change dramatically.

Federal budgets are passed two years in advance. So whoever wins in November will have a year's worth of the current occupants of Washington (W and Congress) decisions to live with. November Winner will make their mark on the 2010 budget.

[tulip]

Federal budgets are passed two years in advance. So whoever wins in November will have a year's worth of the current occupants of Washington (W and Congress) decisions to live with. November Winner will make their mark on the 2010 budget.

I have high hopes that moving (to another country) won't be necessary. But if it is, I always can move to France and enjoy the wine and cheese while the world continues to fall apart. But I'd hate to leave my new Bosch dishwasher behind!

[maillotpois]

I have high hopes that moving (to another country) won't be necessary. But if it is, I always can move to France and enjoy the wine and cheese while the world continues to fall apart. But I'd hate to leave my new Bosch dishwasher behind!

That's funny, because we've been talking about the same thing (minus the dishwasher issue).

[Bruno28]

I'm drinking lots and spending most of my day trying to talk my partner down off the window ledge.

[Blueberry]

That's funny, because we've been talking about the same thing (minus the dishwasher issue).

Us too.

CA

[Norse]

That's funny, because we've been talking about the same thing (minus the dishwasher issue).

Here too. Our friends and we think that if we pool our resources, we can buy a nice fixer-upper farmhouse somewhere in Northern Provence.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

We've been doing pretty well in this dept for the past 5 years anyway- we purposely bought a down-sized house right on the edge of town so that we could walk into town for supplies if necessary.
We also are VERY lucky in that we both work at home in our own business.
We now use our bikes for all small errands, and consolidate trips. This is pretty significant since we live at the top of a VERY steep hill, so it does take an effort. 5 years ago we never used our bikes for errands- now it's almost daily.

I take my car to buy groceries every 10 days or so- the big heavy stuff like cat sand and canned foods and and detergent, etc. I could never haul all that up our hill on my bike.
We buy more local food than we used to, and eat less meat.
Our heat thermostat is turned lower night and day, and we wear more wool.
We are now cutting back on social/optional visiting that requires car trips by about 50%.
We don't watch tv at all- so no cable bills there. We get Netflix movies, which are cheap and don't require any driving.
I shifted some of my IRA/401k retirement funds from mutual funds to insured CDs last week.

[sfa]

Federal budgets are passed two years in advance. So whoever wins in November will have a year's worth of the current occupants of Washington (W and Congress) decisions to live with. November Winner will make their mark on the 2010 budget.

Except that they haven't passed the FY09 appropriations bills yet, except the defense appropriations bill. They're just going with continuing resolutions to keep funding level with FY08 and will get the appropriations bills for 09 through after the new Congress is in session.

To answer the original question--we haven't really made any changes in light of the current economic situation. Several years ago we cut way back on just about everything and started living very frugally, so at this point not only is there no more to cut but we're also living well within our means so we have a cushion that helps when prices go up and times get tough. I *hope* our jobs are fairly secure, but there's no guarantee. If one of us lost a job, we'd be o.k. for a few months and then we'd start to look into really creative/hardcore ways of saving money.

Sarah

[roadie gal]

I've made huge changes in my retirement account. I've gone from stocks to bonds. The reason is that I was *hoping* to start winding down my career in the next year. I've resigned myself to working full time for at least 3-4 years. Other than that, we live pretty frugally. The house and one car are paid off. We put in a solar array a few years ago that substantially cuts back on our electricity use. We keep the house cool in the winter and wear sweats. We rarely eat out, except for lunch.

There are a few splurges that I won't give up. I'll keep feeding my animals a premium food, even though it's more expensive. I'll also continue to get Toby groomed once a month. There's no way I can groom him (he's a rough collie) and I won't let him get matted or look like a Dr. Sues animal.

[denda]

Have not made any changes YET.

[li10up]

I've always been a buy and hold type gal and I'm sticking with that. I'm trying to put every extra dollar I can come up with back into the stock market. When the market rebounds hopefully I'll be a lot closer to retirement than I was before it took a nosedive. I've always lived within my means so I'm not really making any changes there other than spending less so I can save more. "Buy low, sell high." Right? Keeping my fingers crossed.