Feb 04 2009
When will it end? What have you given up?
More layoffs have been announced lately, all over America and especially in my neck of the woods. According to worldnews.com, more than 1 million jobs were lost in 2008 and we can expect this year to be just as bad, if not worse. We can expect another million jobs or more to be cut in 2009.
It seems like no one is immune now. Large and small companies are either closing up shop completely in areas or drastically reducing their workforce. In the local Richmond, VA area, Qimonda just announced layoffs of 3,000 people, Genworth has laid off thousands, MeadWestVaco has also laid people off and Circuit City, which is now liquidating, is headquartered in Richmond. It seems like Richmond has taken a huge hit, despite all its resiliency in this recession. The list of companies cutting back on jobs and laying people off seems neverending. Another day and another company announcing job cuts. When will the madness end?
VCU has warned of possible layoffs. ClearChannel, which owns several local radio stations, has announced they’re expecting to lay off 1,500. Hmmm…this economy is going from slightly scary to downright nasty now. Things are definitely going to get frightening and interesting. It’s so sad and humbling at the same time.
My fiance was listening to the radio yesterday and they had asked people to call in to tell everyone what they had given up since this recession and economic downturn has happened. It made me think about what can you give up? What can you cut? That was my first thought months ago when I just felt this coming and knew it was going to get much worse. We cut off our cable and bought the digital converter boxes and just pick up the free basic stations now. I’ve been thinking about cutting out netflix and just watching tv or skipping movies for a while. Going out to eat has been drastically cut back on the last couple of months for us. We have went out a bit, mostly fast food or when we have a good coupon for something free or half off, or if we have a gift card. When shopping at the grocery store, there is no more frivolous purchases and we analyze what we are buying. We may put something in the cart and then before we checkout decide we really don’t need it, like popcorn or can soda. Instead of getting the can soda, we opt for a 2 or 3 liter that is much cheaper. Instead of the Kool-aid brand we’re buying the generic brand. We’ve always bought the generic brand on most products, unless the taste is significantly different. We add up everything on a notepad as we go along in the store, so that way we know exactly how much we have in the basket and how much we’re spending. We set a limit, how much do we want to spend and stick to it.
Other things I’ve been thinking about giving up or getting rid of is our saltwater aquarium and junk we have laying around the house that we don’t use or is no good anymore. I’ve also been thinking about selling many of the books I have and other belongings I no longer use or need. Can’t wait for Spring for yard sale time. Only problem is, will there be anyone left who will be able to buy or maybe barter with you? Yikes, all we can do is hope.
