Holding Off?

[MarkBarbieri]

With the economy threatening to unravel, are you holding off on camera equipment purchases or trips to Disney?

We're throttling back our spending some in preparation for rough times, but I'm still buying my camera. I was planning on some additional purchases in the spring (T/S lens, maybe a portrait or long lens as well), but I'll probably skip that unless our company stock or bonuses are better than expected.

We cancelled our WDW trip for January, but that was because our kids missed two weeks of school and we didn't want to throw another week out this year. For the first time that I can remember, I have no vacation plans at the moment.

I'm not feeling too much direct pain from the turmoil, but it definitely has me thinking about minimizing risk and reducing expenses.

 

[annnewjerz]

Whether we should hold off and whether we are, are completely different things.

Realistically, we probably should. I am 24 and my DH is 25. We have no kids, so we are probably impacted a little less because we have no one extra except our pets to support. I know that I should be squirreling away all of our extra money into savings and put all of the OT I make aside as well, but I think especially when you are younger with no kids, it's hard not to want to "live a little."

We are definitely on a tighter budget than we were before. Between the mortgage, car payment, pet food, gas for my 75 mile commute to work each day (round trip) we find ourselves going out to eat less, wasting less extra money on clothes we don't need, etc. Mostly that is just in an effort to save for things we really want (i.e. vacation, new camera, etc.) instead of wasting our "fun money" but it is partly because you never know when you might need that couple hundred dollars a month to make ends meet.

Our plan is a trip to WDW in December 09 , a trip to Alaska in summer 2010 and I just purchased my first dSLR and plan to buy some new lenses with my Christmas bonus from work and maybe treat myself to one for my birthday. Other than that, save save save because you never can tell when you might wake up and not have a job anymore.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I'm not feeling too much direct pain from the turmoil, but it definitely has me thinking about minimizing risk and reducing expenses.

Ditto.

I can see that everyday expenses have increased (gasoline, utilities, groceries) even though income's the same, leaving less for discretionary spending each month. It's a concern with holidays and winter weather fast approaching. We'll be careful with spending and probably put off some purchases that we might not have worried about as much before.

 

[RBennett]

I'm kind of in the same boat as annnewjerz; Pooh_Girl and I don't have any kids, but we're about to get a new puppy here in December probably. Now, I haven't bought any new camera equipment in a while just because it's not "necessary". I have 3 lenses that I can rely on and anything else would probably be for effects. I figure I need to learn how to properly use these lenses first, before I go throwing a fish eye lens in there! But back to the question, I've cut back my spending but not my trips to Disney. As you can see I'll be there next weekend (the 11th) for a week and we're already talking about going next fall or next December. Maybe I put too much faith into our economy but I feel like prices are going to soar, but my company will keep giving me raises to offset it. Or at least I hope!!

 

[mabas9395]

I've worked the past 13 years at Washington Mutual. Enough said.

 

[Geoff_M]

I'm guessing that the Photo Biz is really sucking right now. When the recession hit in 1980 my dad worked as a sales rep for the US importer for Nikon (an outfit called EPOI). The camera market dried up, my dad was laid off, and EPOI imploded a short time later. Nikon, Inc. bought their assets, and thus Nikon USA was born.

The upside is, my guess is we'll see some pretty nice rebates soon to try and get product moving again...

 

[Tuffcookie]

I have put off a trip to WDW until my late mother's house sells. Who knows how long that could take? Even though there are no mortgages, paying utilities, insurances, yard work, and property taxes on 2 places is not fun!
Then, on top of the slow market situation, my Lab had to have expensive surgery for a torn leg ligament. We are now in week 5 of post-op. Ever try to keep a hyper Labrador still for 12 weeks? I go to work, come home, try to do housework, cooking, etc while holding onto the end of a leash!

TC

 

[jann1033]

our area's economy has been dying/ dead for about 2+ yrs, so long before all this stuff happened, ie lots of business who have been solid businesses for decades are gone and others are scrambling to stay alive or moving south so i can't imagine it is going to suddenly improve in this area anytime soon( and hub being in construction is one of the first to feel it)..i'm not buying anything new unless the old one dies an irreparable death first
i did get a few cheaper things i needed/wanted( lightroom, a tablet, painter x) that i got good deals for and paid for with extra cash ( i answer lots of surveys and use that money for stuff like that) so figure i can spend time learning that stuff instead of a new body

 

[Master Mason]

The only thing I have bought camera wise this year is a bag, that I am currently waiting on the replacement for, and that was paid for via photos of baseball that I sold. No plans to purchase anything else, although I really really want a new flash and a 10-20 lens.

As for going to Disney, I still go about once a month, crowds have been way down, and with the anual pass it is a fairly cheap weekend away. However if something doesn't break pretty soon, I won't be renewing them next year.

 

[MICKEY88]

I don't see anymore camera gear in the near future, the 2 A700s should last a while, the A900 is nice, but doesn't really offer me anything I need right now....

I will be dropping a few bucks shortly for a new PC and a few external drives,

I've cut back on other things to compensate, no more free meals for the kids, they now pay restaurant rates for any meals, no free transportation, I've installed a meter and they pay for their rides..

I've shut off the heat in their bedrooms, to cut heating costs

 

[Golf4food]

If I find a good deal on a K20D I'll buy it economy or not, which should happen since the economy is down - hopefully a rebate soon.

 

[Quicklabs]

We're not putting off our Disney trip. As DVC members, it doesn't make much of a difference. However, we will be cooking our dinners in our room for six of the 8 nights (we planned to do that anyway).
I'm still looking at the Sigma 10-20, but I'm peeved that it increased about 20% since I first considered it.
The main thing is that I had planned to retire for good in 2 1/2 more years. I work for the Air Force, so there's some job security there, even if peace breaks out. (Hope you can read the heavy sarcasm here.) But now, I may need to keep working for about 5 years longer than I had wanted.

 

[Quicklabs]

I'm glad to hear that you're almost half way through the recovery and I am sending you and your furbaby my very best wishes that all goes well. That 12 weeks is soooo difficult. I've never had to go through it, but know many, many people who have. Do you have a good rehab clinic in your area?

I have put off a trip to WDW until my late mother's house sells. Who knows how long that could take? Even though there are no mortgages, paying utilities, insurances, yard work, and property taxes on 2 places is not fun!
Then, on top of the slow market situation, my Lab had to have expensive surgery for a torn leg ligament. We are now in week 5 of post-op. Ever try to keep a hyper Labrador still for 12 weeks? I go to work, come home, try to do housework, cooking, etc while holding onto the end of a leash!

TC

 

[annnewjerz]

I have put off a trip to WDW until my late mother's house sells. Who knows how long that could take? Even though there are no mortgages, paying utilities, insurances, yard work, and property taxes on 2 places is not fun!
Then, on top of the slow market situation, my Lab had to have expensive surgery for a torn leg ligament. We are now in week 5 of post-op. Ever try to keep a hyper Labrador still for 12 weeks? I go to work, come home, try to do housework, cooking, etc while holding onto the end of a leash!

TC

No torn leg ligaments here, but we did find out a few months ago that our Golden Retriever, Mickey (who is only 1.5 years old) has really bad hips and will probably need hip replacement surgery within the next few years. Time to start saving! The recovery and rehab for that lasts months...he's on supplements now to help it from progessing more rapidly, but sooner or later it's something we'll have to deal with.

Good luck and best wishes with keeping your hyper lab calm for the remaining weeks!!

 

[klmall]

MICKEY88 - I love your style. If DS (22) doesn't move in with his friend now that he is gainfully employed we will really do what you jested, not just threaten!!!

QUICKLABS - Know what you mean about retirement plans! This week I came out of retirement and took a job at a Help Desk for a company. The pay is only so-so but the commute is short, hours are good and I will learn something. I'm hoping this money will keep us from dipping into our savings which we had to when the water softening system gave out last month.

DH is still working but until the economy improves and we sell our house, he can't retire; we need his income just to live in this area. We had our house on the market last spring and took it off the market yesterday. The foreclosures were creeping up into our bracket and we couldn't stand to drop our price $100,000 to sell it. And we're paying a small mortgage on a lot in Pennsylvania.

No trips to WDW
No trips anywhere! I paid for my trip to Colorado last summer out of my own private slush fund which is now totally empty.
And DH didn't get any vacation so he isn't happy.

But at least we have DS out of college and employed so if we cut back on big things like vacations and cars we should be okay. We might even have a little extra to replace one laptop and desktop computer in the next two months.

Oh - My new trainee co-workers include the following: a computer programmer, a mortgage broker, 2 high graduates with no post-grad education or skills, a college drop-out whose parents are forcing him to work, and a realtor; definitely indicative of the times!

 

[ElizK]

I work part-time for a major airline. DH is self-employed and trying to get a new venture of the ground. The camera and equipment that I ordered two weeks ago was canceled before it was shipped. I had cash to pay off the credit card as soon as the bill came, but it's just not the time for me to spend that kind of money. If DH's venture goes anywhere I'll be reordering.

 

[Tuffcookie]

QuickLabs,

Hunter had the less invassive procedure done for his ACL. I have heard scary things in regards to TPLO surgery...that it can possibly cause cancer later down the road/longer healing time/more complications. I've also heard things about the less invassive surgery (not lasting) so time will tell.
Anyway, his vet (An Ohio State grad) felt this was the way to go.
Hunter is so much better already. He is no longer in pain! Therein lies the problem. I have to make sure he keeps activity to a minimum for another 7 weeks. My vet has a massage therapist in his practice. However, in order to get thru the first 2 appts, I had to practically sit on him! I could use a little of that massage therapy after Hunter is completely healed!
I have also looked into hydrotheraphy (underwater treadmill) and, lucky for us, there is a Vet practice within a 5 mi distance from me that has one.

TC

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

We haven't canceled our November Disney trip or our February '09 Disney trip. And while I probably shouldn't have, I bought a new D700 recently for shooting the upcoming Disney trips and a tentative Hawaii trip in '09, but I'm going to have to hold off on getting that NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8 for now.

 

[oogieboogieman]

I think it's going to get interesting on what manufactures will do in form of rebates and lowering of prices to attract customers into buying for the holidays. No matter what happens I will try to use only cash.

 

[WVDisGeek]

My job is with a large hospital and fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on which side of the hospital stay you are on!) our business is somewhat recession-proof. DW works for a large law firm and they have been undergoing some retraction. She is still trying to get as much OT as possible. I paid off my truck Thursday, several months early so that I can use that money each month for some additional savings. We still have a trip planned to WDW for December and it is already paid for so no sense in cancelling now.

We have talked about a possible first Disney Cruise in 2009, but time will tell. I just bought my DSLR this year and have been slowly buying new toys, sorry, TOOLS as I can afford them. Need to pick up a 50mm 1.4 before the trip and that will probably be it for a while.

I firmly believe some very tough times are ahead of us with a longer recovery period than most people are anticipating. Just my opinion. We are in decent shape (other than my 401k which is now a 201k) and have 20+ years until retirement so I think we will recover.