Is the economy picking up at your house or your area?

[angierae]

We also live outside Detroit but we're doing fairly well. In January of 2010 I got a 3% raise and in January of 2011 I got a 3.5% raise. I work in the legal field, though, so there's always business, and my boss is always looking for new types of cases to take on. (We're a plaintiff's firm.)

My husband contracts as a sportswriter and is looking for a full-time position. Several people have been interested in hiring him but the money just isn't there. But we get by.

Then again, we only have one car payment (and it's under $200 a month) and no credit card debt. The only consumer debt we have right now is a new flat-screen TV we bought as a family Christmas gift, and that was bought with 0% interest through Best Buy. We won't buy any other "consumer" goods until that's paid off unless we pay cash for it.

We don't live extravagantly and never did, so that's helped. If anything we're in better shape financially than we were a few years ago due to my raises and DH picking up more contract work. But I've been blessed to have a job for five years with an attorney who has never laid anyone off in the entire time I've worked here. We've failed to replace people as they left, but never had anyone been laid off.

 

[shamrock30]

Not really improving all that much. My husband was out of work for a long times. He has work now but it is unreliable, pays no benefits, and requires extensive travel out of state. He knows many professional people like himself that are older and can't find a permanent job in their field. They all are networking like crazy, taking classes to upgrade their skills, etc, but it isn't paying off (yet) for most of them. We're grateful for the work he does have, though.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

We live in the metro NY area.

Dh works for the govt. and he is being told no raises for the next 2 and maybe 3 years.

Our one ds graduated college. He worked an internship that was suppose to end in Dec. but they are still keeping him on. He is only making about $10 an hour and has 2 other part time jobs too. He cant move out due to his current financial situation. He is underemployed for sure. Thank goodness he can still be on dh health insurance.

Our other college ds has 3 part time jobs. He just does those to keep busy.

Middle college ds has applied for several part time jobs and nothing yet. He quit his last pt job due to some prooblems.

The housing market here is terrible. Our next door neighbor had his house on the market for about 8 months. I rarely saw anyone come to look at it. Its a middle class neighborhood.

I would say overall its a little negative but holding its own.

 

[bigmama67]

Northern NJ here (suburb of NYC). Hard to say. Personally I was let go at the end of August from a job I had only 5 weeks but the attorney and I didn't get along. I've been working towards transitioning into teaching since summer '09 (I'm about 1/3 through a Masters Degree program) and am collecting UI at the moment. DH has been at his job with the state for over 2 years and is up for reappointment in June - looks like it'll be OK but one of his bosses is very difficult. He got both a raise and a CoLA last year. Before he got this job, however, he was out of work for 2.5 years...and he has a Ph.D.!

In this new year, I'm starting to get law firm interviews (had one Monday and will have one this coming Monday). I'm also supposed to have some tutoring work lined up any day now. So personally we're hanging in there though I am finally getting a better handle on our budget and tracking what we spend. We've been lucky so far. We only bought our house in summer '09 so we're not eligible to do a loan modification but we're maintaining for the moment.

 

[Colleen27]

Point well made. However the pp was not just referring to the Warren Buffets of the world. mrogers took aim at the top 20% of wage earners (basically one out of every 5 families). That's a far cry from the 0.5 of the top 1% that Buffet and company comprise and a lot of small business owners who are trying to keep it together thru this economy so that there will be a business to run and jobs to work when things do improve.

Yeah, I wouldn't characterize it that broadly. All the numbers I've seen put that line much higher, with the top 10% (or less, I've seen it broken down as 5/95 as well) getting progressively more wealthy both in absolute dollars and in share of America's total income and wealth, while the bottom 90% - including most of those small business owners who are making the hard choices to try to stay afloat (and we're right there too, about middle of the pack income-wise and just trying to keep it together long enough to come out the other side of this) - slide backwards under the combined load of stagnant wages and rising costs of essentials like energy, health care, and food.

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

In our house, yes.

In Spring 2009 everyone in my company took a paycut but luckily the company paid that cut back at the end of the year in the form of a bonus. Then our salaries were re-set back on Jan 1, 2010.

Effective Jan 1, 2011 I got a 10% increase (5% promotion + 5% merit) and also got an 8% bonus payment. My DH got a 2.25% merit increase too.

 

[dvcgirl]

Personally, we've had our best year ever financially. Dh's company put a pay freeze in place for 2009, but he got a 4% raise last year. The 401K match was also suspended at that time, but just reinstated this January. My business was up around 8% for most of the year, but the last quarter was fantastic. My business caters to high income earners, and so I'm really seeing that group spending again in a big way.

We're in the "have group"....and for one, I wouldn't say that the top 20% are the "haves" in this country. At the 20th percentile, that has you earning 75K a year as a family. Here in NJ, that's not exactly living in the lap of luxury. In fact, you'd have a tough time making ends meet in many cases.

We're in the top 2% or so, but we're not independently wealthy. We've been saving and investing for over 20 years and have another 15 years minimum in which to do so.....in order to have enough of a nest egg on which to retire.

We live way beneath our means....on just 40% of our net income, saving the rest....because we see the writing on the wall. Social Security and Medicare aren't sustainable, and for people in our bracket, well, we won't get anything close to what we've been promised. We're planning for that eventuality now.

And so, even those of us in that top few percent....we're all not living a life of luxury. Other than some nice electronics and a nice vacation each year, we live incredibly frugally. And we work incredibly hard.

It's tough to really judge if things are that much better overall in our area....as we live in a town with a lot of shops that are empty, but people are definitely spending more money.

 

[princesslily]

No improvement here! My DH works a commission job in auto sales just came off the worst year yet!

 

[eliza61]

I'm in NJ and I think around here it's more "occupational". The housing market still stinks so anyone in construction or remodeling is still struggling.

I am blessed in that Dh is in oil refinery and pretty much as long as we need gas and oil, he'll be employeed.

I work for a large chemical company in Wilmington. We weathered the recession very well, mainly because it's so diversified.

financially my company has been a mixed bag. We lost our pension, or rather any one hired after 1/1 is not going to have a regular pension. I will be grandfathered in. My companies boosted our 401k. they now match dollar for dollar for the first 8% and give an automatic 2%. this year I'm expecting a 6% bonus.

My area is bouncing back but unfortunately it seems in low paying service jobs. stores have for hire signs up all over the place but you definitely can't raise a family on 9.00/hr.

cost of food is a big concern for me.

 

[MoniqueU]

I think we are in the haves category too, even though making a 100k a year in CA isn't the same as making it in middle america. For instance I do have a big house and it is a fortune for electric my electric rate is 3 times what my friend in alabama pays. That is just one bill, our gas is also higher, we bought before the market went super crazy but still paid a fortune compared to other areas. With job switches we ate througurh a big nest egg. We have struggled to keep our kids in sports and my DS in a private school. I tried to drop this serveral times and was always over ruled. For my DD's that won't even be an option. We downsized our luxury SUV to a car I HATE, paid off one car, bought my son one with cash and so while we still make over 100k a year we have had to make some adjustments. My husband has carved a niche for himself based on hard work and reputation. The companies he left due to seniority and in the last case office politics have all slid further away after he left with more people being let go. He litterally had this job he has now by the time he reached the driceway from his old job.

The owner of my husbands current work would be considered to us a "have" he just made a million bucks net profit in 2 months time in the worst part of the year and was only hoping to get a 20 percent gross profit increase and ended up with a 75 percent net profit increase. The people who work there did not understand how to maximize profit. My husband is dearly loved there and loves his job but he likes the place he is moving on to just as much and it has better benefits. The current owner kept his share of all that money and according to my husband is singing his praises from the rooftop but has an idea of what my husband should make a year and isn't willing to pay more then that no matter what the profit increase is. My DH says the guy thinks my husband doesn't have anywhere to go. He has been offered 3 jobs since starting there and even turned down an interview for another. Like I said he already has something else lined up.

I am not gloating by any means, I hope it doesnt come off like that like a PP said it has taken some luck as well as hard work and reputation and we haven't been unscathed.

However when we do make more we will be able to contribute more to helping the rest of the economy by going out ot eat so those restaurants don't close, shopping a sale or two and helping a son through college. I am not counting my chickens before they hatch though. My big celebration is some 1.50 iced tea drink that I love! 2 bottles of that and the new 31 oz iced coffee at Starbucks is my celebration.

I did used to think once you made X amount of dollars like say 100k things would be better but as other people are experiencing taxes and COLA eats away at that. We have to save save save and cut where we can.

ETA I am not gloating or even planning anything because we aren't positive anything is really better. We most likely won't know that for certain for some time.

I wish everyone the best and have learned a ton from everyone I read here almost daily and have benefited more then I can say.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

With all the talk of wages, I wanted to look-up who is the top 5%, 10%, 20%, etc. Here's a good and fairly recent article with a chart. If your household is making $65,000 or over, you are in the top THIRD. I find it hard to believe that 2/3 of this country is living on less than that, but I guess it really depends on the area you live in and how many kids you have.

http://www.mybudget360.com/how-much...reaking-down-the-us-household-income-numbers/


We are supposedly in the top 10% and we can barely afford a trip to WDW every other year.

 

[eliza61]

That's something I don't see a lot of people talking about, so much so that it has become something of an elephant in the room. We're a consumption driven economy, but outsourcing and downward wage pressures have eroded the consumer base needed to support that consumption. Until that changes - something that is not likely to happen in the foreseeable future - the economy will continue to struggle. We'll see recoveries, but we'll also see more and deeper recessions and the overall trend will be downward.

Hey Colleen let me ask your opinion though.

Are we a product of our own greed? for example you're right we are a consumption driven economy but we artifically inflated and deflated the market so much that we are left with this economy.

The most glaring example is the airline industry. we have demanded that the airlines give us cross country flights for 9.99 that they are forced to outsource, force pay cuts and fee us to death.

We demand our goods at walmart prices (the walmartization of america) that it is virtually impossible to get goods made anywhere else but a country that pays it's workers 1 buck a day.

Then over the last 20 years we became a nation of chargers so the consumption rate comes crashing down when that phoney wealth we were living la vida loco disappear.

 

[MamaJessie]

Things are looking up here. After a year when DH was laid off 9 out of 12 months, just starting to go back to normal is wonderful

 

[eliza61]

With all the talk of wages, I wanted to look-up who is the top 5%, 10%, 20%, etc. Here's a good and fairly recent article with a chart. If your household is making $65,000 or over, you are in the top THIRD. I find it hard to believe that 2/3 of this country is living on less than that, but I guess it really depends on the area you live in and how many kids you have.

http://www.mybudget360.com/how-much...reaking-down-the-us-household-income-numbers/


We are supposedly in the top 10% and we can barely afford a trip to WDW every other year.

I never understand those charts.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I am from Brevard County Florida and zillow has my home in an uptick--but the former company my husband worked for a few years back is STILL NOT hiring and the Kennedy Space Center is letting out employees---so, the economy is stable at best, but likely to drop a smidge.

Now I live in the 'burbs of DC--but the far out 'burbs.

Lots of Uggs, Coach purse and high end vehicles still floating around--and foreclosures are getting bought up. My house was a foreclosure and we were 1 of 2 bids on it--and when we were looking almost a year ago and trying to bid...we actually bid on 4 hours before we got something that stuck. Being near govt---is helping this economy move forward. It is very opposite of where we came from. (they did have a major housing bubble though. I have met a few folks who bought at the wrong time.)

DH was laid off (not from the company I mentioned above) and within a month, he found a job up here.

 

[Juliet25]

No. My DH and I have not had raises in over three years. Health insurance premiums go up, DD's day care goes up, food goes up -- everything goes up but our wages and the value of our house.

I'm losing my job in March. My brother has been out of work for a year. The only people I know who are doing OK are the people who were well-off to begin with.

 

[pixiewings71]

In our house, yes.

In Spring 2009 everyone in my company took a paycut but luckily the company paid that cut back at the end of the year in the form of a bonus. Then our salaries were re-set back on Jan 1, 2010.

Effective Jan 1, 2011 I got a 10% increase (5% promotion + 5% merit) and also got an 8% bonus payment. My DH got a 2.25% merit increase too.

DBF took a pay cut, his was 10%. It goes up and down and some months he doesn't have to take it (it's based on how much work they get, when he has to take the pay cut he gets an unpaid day off work) but he hasn't had a raise since he took the position he has now. That was 3 years ago, he also doesn't get bonuses anymore. I'm really glad that you're getting your raises and bonuses, it really helps me stay positive.

 

[mrudman]

With all the talk of wages, I wanted to look-up who is the top 5%, 10%, 20%, etc. Here's a good and fairly recent article with a chart. If your household is making $65,000 or over, you are in the top THIRD. I find it hard to believe that 2/3 of this country is living on less than that, but I guess it really depends on the area you live in and how many kids you have.

http://www.mybudget360.com/how-much...reaking-down-the-us-household-income-numbers/


We are supposedly in the top 10% and we can barely afford a trip to WDW every other year.

I certainly don't find this hard to believe... both dh and I have bachelor's degrees, are working in the fields we have the degrees in, and make less than 65k.
So if dual-working college-educated families can't make it into the top 1/3, what about all the single-working families, or familes without a college education?

 

[janets]

I don't see things improving much here.

DH has been laid off for all but 3 months of the last 22 months. He did some consulting work for a few months (got expenses paid but no salary) and then got a job. 3 months later he was laid off. Not sure how the owner didn't figure out that he couldn't afford what he was paying DH when he hired him, but we were lucky to collect u/i on that job, then revert to the original claim when that one ended. He's had a couple of interviews but nothing even remotely decent enough to not hurt our already tenuous finances.

I work for a law firm. We went 2 years without raises or bonuses but finally got them this year. Even with that, we are struggling. I work a second job to bring in extra but it's incredibly tough. I've watched our house value drop (and we bought back in 2003 before the market went way up), we had to sell DH's car and get him a smaller, cheaper one, cut expenses, stop extra spending. Even so, I have to find money to pay for baseball for my younger son, and pay for camp for the summer for both boys (even with DH home, what if he finds a job or gets something part time? I can't risk it).

And the emotional toll is even worse. We have lived through 4 layoffs in 8 years and it's really getting to me. I carry all of the financial responsibility for my family, including benefits and have done so for years now.

Here in NJ, things are not improving. Governor is intent on destroying our public education system, then working his way through everything else. Property taxes go up, auto insurance goes up, gas prices go up, food goes up, everything goes up, but I'm hanging on by a thread.

I see the same houses for sale, not moving. Other friends have seen layoffs at their businesses but they have held on. All are suffering. So I'd have to say that there is not much improvement here in our area.

 

[snowywhite89]

With all the talk of wages, I wanted to look-up who is the top 5%, 10%, 20%, etc. Here's a good and fairly recent article with a chart. If your household is making $65,000 or over, you are in the top THIRD. I find it hard to believe that 2/3 of this country is living on less than that, but I guess it really depends on the area you live in and how many kids you have.

http://www.mybudget360.com/how-much...reaking-down-the-us-household-income-numbers/


We are supposedly in the top 10% and we can barely afford a trip to WDW every other year.

For this example the person will make $120K. That would be in the top 10%. If they put the max of $16.5K (younger than 50) into their 401K their AGI would be $103.5K and put them in the top 15%.

Which number is the chart using? My example is a difference of 5%.