Economy & You!!

[X4biddenxLustX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vocaltest Nope. My work has been busier, actually. I work in a hairdressing salon and usually January and February are the quiestest months of the year, but we've had the busiest Jan and Feb in five years. However, I know a lot of hairdressing salons in my county have gone under recently. We're pretty fortunate. Today I went to Ikea, and where it is is amidst a HUGE retail park, and the queues to get into it were just enormous. Same with Ikea. My mum said 'I thought there was a credit crunch'. I still see people spending enormous amounts of money if I go out shopping. One of my friends is Supervisor at HMV and he said their sales have been greatly recently. But then again... you could argue that in times like these, people treat themselves to little things. And to make it make-up related, I read a MINTEL report on make-up for one of my assignments, and interestingly it said that make-up will never really suffer even in times of economic unrest as most women see it as a necessity. I remember asking my Dad, a very highly experienced accountant with 40+ years experience, a few months back if the economy was as bad as everyone was saying. The way he analysed it for my dumb brain to understand (haha) made sense but I doubt it still holds true as it wasn't confirmed at this point whether the UK was in recession, which it is now. He said to me, 'if you were paid half a penny less per hour at your job, would it affect you?' and I said no, probably not, and he said thats whats going on. He also said 'if you imagine a bomb went off down the road, everybody would run, but in reality it would only affect a small amount of people, thats what is going on'. Like I said, I don't know if it still holds true, but I love simple analogys like that haha.

I still see people spending away here at the mall that I live by. I live in the "average" area in an upper class neighborhood. But essentially were poor as hell, we just moved here for the better schools not cause we could truly afford to live here comfortably.

But in the other areas like the city, you can really see how things are hurting people.

 

[vocaltest]

Quote:

Originally Posted by X4biddenxLustX I still see people spending away here at the mall that I live by. I live in the "average" area in an upper class neighborhood. But essentially were poor as hell, we just moved here for the better schools not cause we could truly afford to live here comfortably. But in the other areas like the city, you can really see how things are hurting people.

Yeah, I know that people are suffering and jobs are being lost, its not just cities unfortunately. You wonder where people are getting this credit from. I thought the banks had stopped lending to each other!

 

[X4biddenxLustX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vocaltest Yeah, I know that people are suffering and jobs are being lost, its not just cities unfortunately. You wonder where people are getting this credit from. I thought the banks had stopped lending to each other!

I know! But hey maybe like you said not EVERYONE is completely affect to the point of being driven crazy with new budgeting and having to cut down spending on everything. As bad as it is, people will still spend!

 

[abbyquack]

^^ I was at the mall yesterday also and it was INSANELY busy! I could barely find a parking spot. Well, retail sales were up 1% in January, so that's a good thing. And you're right, small things like movies, makeup, etc are remaining ok b/c people feel they can justify a small purchase.

The economy hasn't really affected me or my husband but I am finding myself poor lately...need to cut back on spending in general. And the fact that many of my family members and friends have suffered doesn't sit well with me. But I'm not really panicking yet...after all, negativity doesn't make the situation any better, right?

 

[X4biddenxLustX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by abbyquack ^^ I was at the mall yesterday also and it was INSANELY busy! I could barely find a parking spot. Well, retail sales were up 1% in January, so that's a good thing. And you're right, small things like movies, makeup, etc are remaining ok b/c people feel they can justify a small purchase. The economy hasn't really affected me or my husband but I am finding myself poor lately...need to cut back on spending in general. And the fact that many of my family members and friends have suffered doesn't sit well with me. But I'm not really panicking yet...after all, negativity doesn't make the situation any better, right?

The mall here is usually PACKED on weekends! It's usually teenagers and younger people. Whenever I walk into a store, lets say Victoria's Secret when there is no clearance sale or anything going on, I shudder whenever I see a girl with a huge bunch of panties and bras in her hand ready to pay. I know people have the right to spend their cash on whatever they want since it is THEIR money, but wow I could never see myself spending that much cash on something. Call me cheap, call me frugal. I kind of find the lifestyle a bit wasteful sometimes. I've seen people throw change into the trash after going to vending machines, are you crazy?!!

I'm actually in a huge panic and have been since October. Bad economy+being poor+not being able to find a job= being completely broke which means I can't start school or anything. So that means whenever I'm not filling out and turning in work applications (theres only so many places that are hiring) I'm at home doing nothing productive sadly

 

[zzoester]

The sales are CRAZY right now. I know in my community, business sucks in general and unemployment is nearing 15%. I still go to the mall and it's hit or miss; sometimes I go and it's packed and other times it's dead. But there are SO MANY crazy good deals right now because nearly everything is on clearance and there's more to go on clearance since sales were down for the holidays. So, I'm swooping up some cheap, cheap clothes and stuff. I am so thankful!

I know people are still spending but I wonder if they are spending as much? It will be interesting to see the banks continually pull back unused credit. I have a couple friends who have managed their credit well and the banks have closed out or lowered credit cards of theirs. Sucks! But I guess it's understandable.

 

[mochabean]

I think I'm pretty lucky where I live in that the economy and recession isn't really affecting me. I work in the healthcare field and just got a new job in Dec. I left my old job to accept my new position and I am making quite a bit more money than I used to. This company I work for is building a brand new hospital with state of the art equipment, supplies, etc.; all private rooms for patients with flat screen tvs, sleeper chairs for families, fridges, etc. It's really quite nice. I was suprised that they were planning on going thru with this b/c I thought money was tight and the economy being the way it is. So I feel definitely blessed by God and don't take anything for granted.

Whereas, 3 of my cousins who live in California just got laid off work and are having a difficult time trying to find a job. They all graduated with a Masters degree in engineering. They are currently collecting unemployment and its really difficult for them. I feel so bad for their families as they can't afford rent as it is in Cali. So they've all decided to move back home with their parents.

What I do notice with the economy and how it has affected me is I went to the mall the other day (I haven't been to a mall in ages) and noticed many of the little stores had closed shop, including the jewelry stores and smaller business. I don't think I've seen so many empty stores. The only thing that's keeping my mall alive is the bigger department stores like Macys, Kohls, JCPenney, etc. But I do still see people spending $$$ like it grows on trees. So maybe the economy is not affecting some people and is affecting others differently.

As far as makeup goes, I don't really splurge on many things for myself. I used to love shopping for cloths, shoes, handbags, etc. But I work too darn much to even wear these things out to enjoy. So makeup and going to the salon to get my hair done is about the only splurges I have. But I've decided to cut back on my makeup spending. I think MAC HK will be one of the last hauls I spend over $200 on. After this, it'll be slim pickings and I'll just get 1 or 2 items in a collection depending on what I NEED, not what I WANT. I have too much makeup as it is so I need to start thinking of dupes and spending only what I will use rather than collect for LE pkging.

 

[ms.marymac]

I actually have seen more expensive returns. Lots of UNUSED things,lots of brushes...and the people say, "Oh, this didn't work for me." I figure they had buyer's remorse and needed the money. I had a guy return all of the X-Mas presents he bought for his girl...usually the girl will come in and pick out something else if she didn't like the colors. I thought that was weird, but what can you do.

Women still come in and buy makeup, but a lot are spending differently. They get what they need and don't want a lot of extras. You still have a few that come in needing a bunch of things, but I have heard a lot of people say things like, "I looove this but I can't right now."

This weekend was INSANE though. Thanks Hello Kitty!

 

[X4biddenxLustX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ms.marymac I actually have seen more expensive returns. Lots of UNUSED things,lots of brushes...and the people say, "Oh, this didn't work for me." I figure they had buyer's remorse and needed the money. I had a guy return all of the X-Mas presents he bought for his girl...usually the girl will come in and pick out something else if she didn't like the colors. I thought that was weird, but what can you do. Women still come in and buy makeup, but a lot are spending differently. They get what they need and don't want a lot of extras. You still have a few that come in needing a bunch of things, but I have heard a lot of people say things like, "I looove this but I can't right now." This weekend was INSANE though. Thanks Hello Kitty!

Maybe the guy and his gf broke up? My friend last year had to run a bunch of brand new stuff (cologne clothes) back to Abercrombie when her and the guy she was dating broke up. In fact she hadn't even unwrapped the christmas wrap on it when she got to the store and only did when it was her turn in line.

Yep money is tight these days for some folks and they just can't afford to have things they won't use or don't have any use for lying around. Sucks for the companies too having soo many returns.

I had to do the "love this but can't right now" thing just the other day at my MAC counter

 

[spacegirl2007]

business is up for me - im a librarian. free/cheap entertainment for the whole family is popular right now!

as far as my own personal spending, i have tightened things up a little bit but i never overextended myself and only bought what i could afford and would actually use. i still buy things if ill use them - even if it's not really a "need," if it's something i'll use on a regular basis i can still afford it. if its going to just sit in my vanity untouched...well i never shopped like that. now my possessions are really simplified after years of struggling with the "more=better" mentality. i only have clothes/shoes/etc. i actually wear. if i have stuff i dont love and use, i donate it to charity or give it away to friends. same with books, magazines. i taught myself to grocery shop only for stuff i'll actually use within like a week. we wanted to buy a new car this year because we want to have a baby. instead, we will probably wait and make do with what we have (which is fine, really). i dont have any consumer debt and i make sure i have some savings. i try to save 25% of every paycheck right now.

now, i just need to get my husband to adopt this way of thinking

 

[Rudyru]

I work as a pharmacist part time (when I'm not free lancing), and honestly...there has not been much of a difference. People are still getting sick, people will still pay for prescriptions...we aren't selling acne medication as much, but amoxicillin, penicillin, lortab, etc. are still flying off the shelf. However, I work in the rich part of town...so yeah. People will still buy their brands if they've always use brands and people will still use generics if they've always use generics.

I laugh at people who spend thousands (and it goes beyond that) a year for brands when generics are the EXACT same thing. (well, I'm stretching it, but they're 95% the same. The government will NOT let anyone manufacture generics unless they meet the same standards the brands do.)

edit:
As for my spending...well, the fact that I bought more than half of Hello Kitty and the fact that I've seen a SIGNIFICANT cut in my hours says alot.

 

[Jinni]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rudyru I laugh at people who spend thousands (and it goes beyond that) a year for brands when generics are the EXACT same thing. (well, I'm stretching it, but they're 95% the same. The government will NOT let anyone manufacture generics unless they meet the same standards the brands do.)

I buy brands because I want to support the companies that develop new medication. Copying is easy. Just wait for the patent to expire and let other people do your work for you. No wonder it's cheaper. I work in the medical device industry, and I have an idea of how much work goes into developing a new product. You can laugh all you want, but I prefer to support that.

 

[Rudyru]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jinni I buy brands because I want to support the companies that develop new medication. Copying is easy. Just wait for the patent to expire and let other people do your work for you. No wonder it's cheaper. I work in the medical device industry, and I have an idea of how much work goes into developing a new product. You can laugh all you want, but I prefer to support that.

Well, it's a bit bittersweet. The more people stand buy brands, the longer it stays on the market as is. Like Yasmin. It's been on the market for over 50 years, yet only last year did they release a generic (by the same company mind you. Same company, same exact medication.). Sure it supports that side of the spectrum, but what say you to those who NEED certain medications, but end up either paying too much for too little product or not getting them at all. Take Levaquin, it's the latest antibiotic being used to fight the latest bacterial strains, yet only the rich few can ever afford it because it goes from up to 15 dollars a pill.

But like I said, it's extremely bittersweet because in the medicine industry, you need both sides to survive.