What changes are you making?

[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!

[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.

[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

[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.

[madscot13]

With the stock market experiencing volatile changes and the banks struggling to remain solvent, have you made any changes in your day to day living?

I am buying cheaper groceries, making more meals from scratch, cancelled my newpaper and magazine subscriptions, driving less, painting with acrylics vs oils, and shifting money in my portfolio to less risky investments, watching less t.v. and spending more time with happy, upbeat people. I've noticed in the past several days that I am not receiving near the amount of junk mail. It kind of reminds me of post 9/11.

How about you?

you should trying being a college student or a poor post college student. You just described my life minus the art, TV, and investments. I am very economical so I notice when my grocery bill goes up because of the price of the store brand stuff went up. In turn I buy fewer groceries. I read my newspaper online and prevent less waste that way. I have yet to receive my Bicycling magazine subscription from performance. I am trying to put some money aside for when my loans come out of deferment. I don't own a TV. But you are right I need to spend more of my time with more fun upbeat people and stop working so much.

I am lucky I like biking so much. It gets me to where I need to go, which is surprisingly easy in DC. As long as I don't go crazy at the bike store, it is economical as well. I save about $5 round trip by not taking the metro. It is not a lot but it can add up, and I would rather use the money for groceries.
A little grease goes a long way. Starter costs for bike maintenance are still paying off and a bottle of T9 Boeshield lasts a long time. Oddly enough I find a bottle of White Lightening every year. It may not be the best lube but it is the best degreaser (isn't that odd?). I don't have to pay for a gym membership. Biking also keeps me busy. You know what they say: idle hands are the tool of the devil. I just raised over $2000 in memory of a friend's father through biking. You see biking is one of the ways I choose to live with intention.

My family is lucky, knock on wood, that the recession has not hit us. My father is a factory worker and has been laid off during times that have not been so terrible, buit so far so good. My mother is an accountant in a bank, and we all know banks are starting to pay for their ways. And although my job is not guaranteed for the year, I have a good boss who would find other ways to cut costs than to cut his workers.

[madscot13]

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.

Hey Tulip, the housing market will swing the other way eventually. You will be sitting pretty with a renovated house.

[Zen]

I considered jumping out the window but I live on the ground floor

[madscot13]

I considered jumping out the window but I live on the ground floor

you might have medical bills for a twisted ankle. how melodramatic of you zen.

[roadie gal]

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

Can someone talk me down?

[Mr. Bloom]

I'm a news junky, but now, I avoid following the news at all. I'm prone to "ticker-itis" and get nervous if I rely on the negative press to determine my mood.

I'm thinking of buying another house closer to work so I can walk/ride. Even though I'm only three miles from work now, that's too far to cycle in a suit and uses 1/4 tank of gas/week (for 30 miles total) because the engine never warms up. I think that there are values out there and being near campus would be neat.

Right now, I'm only down 10% from the market peak, so I'm not thinking of selling anything...

Silver started a full time job a couple months ago...and now I'm glad since my income will probably be the lowest in about 10 years as my bonus is tied to company earnings...