The Economy and You…

[CavsSuperFan]

The Economy and You…(This is a human interest question not a political one)…

$4.50 pg gasoline…Rising food prices….Stricter lending rules…Declining real estate values….Bank Failures “Indy Mac”…US car makers have 6 months of un sold inventories of SUV’s & Pick up trucks…

How have these conditions affected members of Spurs Talk?

At my work people ride their bicycles or car pool…Some friends have taken advantage of the auto industries woes & have purchased new cars & SUV’s with substantial rebates & free financing…Other folks are staying home more & re evaluating saving strategies…Every Mom that I know now uses grocery store coupons….People in junior colleges are putting off transferring to Universities as long as possible…

[Anti.Hero]

I've sold my house, my truck, and my dog.

I have lost 35 lbs since June 1 and eat strictly tuna and spam and sneak in an HEB cola every now and then.

[CavsSuperFan]

Dang, that is harsh..:depressed

Have you noticed that Spam is now in a lower calorie, less fat form? I love that stuff…Fry it up with eggs, potatoes….Good Time…

[Anti.Hero]

Dang, that is harsh..:depressed

Have you noticed that Spam is now in a lower calorie, less fat form? I love that stuff…Fry it up with eggs, potatoes….Good Time…

I'm just worried about the mercury poisoning from the tuna!

[Thunder Dan]

I bought an Iphone and am going to LA for the USC/OSU game.... I'm trying to boost that economy.

To save, I pack my lunch and I bought more shares of some mutual funds since they are down

[Evan]

I bought the 40 gig PS3 instead of the 80.

[BacktoBasics]

The banks tightening up has had the largest impact on my family. I have plenty of customers wanting to buy from me but very few banks offering good financing right now.

[Thunder Dan]

I bought the 40 gig PS3 instead of the 80.

I'll be doing the same

[Condemned 2 HelLA]

I bought an Iphone and am going to LA for the USC/OSU game.... I'm trying to boost that economy.

On behalf of the greater Los Angeles community, we thank you.

[monosylab1k]

I just bitch about gas & money a lot more. Other than that, nothing.

[Thunder Dan]

On behalf of the greater Los Angeles community, we thank you.

I've never been to California before so it should be great- though I think I'm staying at an old folks hotel (The Omni downtown)..I'm only going to be there for 3 days because I'm staying in Vegas and driving out there for the weekend- but still it should be fun. I've been looking at stuff to do while I'm there..gotta help that economy!

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Getting ready to buy a new car, just bought some new golf clubs, fixing to pick up another hand gun and some ammo on the off chance Obama goes anti-gun if elected. Going to Vegas in December, Seattle in August, doing my part to stimulate the economy :lol

[nkdlunch]

luckily my license is suspended for speeding or I would be more pissed about the gas.

that's about it, but I do notice ppl around me struggling

[leemajors]

i'm way more affected by having to pay nearly $500 in child support for my daughter, which i have over 50% possession time of.

[balli]

I bike almost everywhere, keep all my money in a safe at my parent's house rather than the bank and in anticipation of the pre-apocalyptic years I'm going to be purchasing a Winmag soon. What I really need now is a grain silo or two and a hidden tree fort out deep in the woods somewhere.

[Spam]

Dang, that is harsh..:depressed

Have you noticed that Spam is now in a lower calorie, less fat form? I love that stuff…Fry it up with eggs, potatoes….Good Time…

I hear ya.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

The price of gas sucks balls, but I live in Houston, I work for a state institution, and my wife and I are homebodies that commute together. So one way or another a good amount of the oil money is ending up in my neck of the woods, I don't really have to worry about layoffs, and all totalled we're probably only paying about 25 bucks a month more than we were a year ago. I'm not trying to rub anything in, just saying that I make damn sure to count my blessings everyday. Probably the biggest impact it's had is that we've only made one trip back home to SA this summer, where we've usually gone 3 or 4 times in the past.

[MoSpur]

Trying not to drive to places I don't have to. We're buying more Hill Country Fair than before. We're trying not to use that much electricity as well. I will be looking for more ways to save money as well.

[Evan]

The only thing I do different now is I try to plan my routes out ahead of time when I run errands so I am not back tracking all over town wasting gas.

[Fideo Castro]

Coupons, less driving, way less eating out and plenty of fideo in the cupboard.

[PEP]

Other than spending more for gas none of my spending habits have changed.

[CosmicCowboy]

I'm car shopping. There are just too many good deals out there on slightly used SUV's that people dumped out of gas fear. I just offered a dealership $14,500 about an hour ago for a 2006 hard loaded Eddie Bauer Expedition with 30K miles that sold for 50K two years ago. They are thinking/talking about it and are gonna get back to me...It would have sold for 30K six months ago.

[Das Texan]

since i work in the oil and gas industry and since natural gas is always needed in these parts...


times they are a good.

[Clandestino]

nothing is different for me... good thing gas is expensive my girlfriends family doesn't come visit as much!

went to the mall for the first in years. it was packed as fuck. i think people just like to bitch.

investing more with these prices... lowest in 2 years!!!

[Anti.Hero]

I hear ya.

lmfao this forum is hilarious. There is always a troll for everything hahha

[Nbadan]

went to the mall for the first in years. it was packed as fuck. i think people just like to bitch.

Yep..it's all in their heads...

:rolleyes

[T Park]

Our business is up 45%.

But don't let the media hear that, that wouldn't fit the agenda.

[Clandestino]

if someone drives 12,000 miles a year and gets 25mpg. the difference between $4 gas and gas at $2.50 is about $720. Broken down that is about $60 extra per month. I bet most people bitching about gas prices spend double that on cable alone...or one night going out drinking.. etc...

people just like to bitch. $60 bucks a month aint shit.

[T Park]

if someone drives 12,000 miles a year and gets 25mpg. the difference between $4 gas and gas at $2.50 is about $720. Broken down that is about $60 extra per month. I bet most people bitching about gas prices spend double that on cable alone...or one night going out drinking.. etc...

people just like to bitch. $60 bucks a month aint shit.


To a point your right.

The price of gas is disgusting, but its the way it is, and you just have to adapt.

[JoeChalupa]

I've felt the pinch of higher gas prices and it isn't only at the pump. Food prices are going up faster than I normally notice.
And for me if I put in 20 gal a week at 4.00 compared to 2.50 the diff is $30 a shot and I'm no math wiz but that is $120 a month difference and forgive me letting the profanity fly when I'm at the pump.

[1Parker1]

if someone drives 12,000 miles a year and gets 25mpg. the difference between $4 gas and gas at $2.50 is about $720. Broken down that is about $60 extra per month. I bet most people bitching about gas prices spend double that on cable alone...or one night going out drinking.. etc...

people just like to bitch. $60 bucks a month aint shit.

Cable is a luxury, a car in this day and age is pretty much a necessity. If Cable prices doubled like gas prices have over the past 2 years to about say $120 a month or something, I'm pretty sure a lot of people would just cancel their contracts. Gas prices doubling and increasing year after year is a lot harder hit on most people's pockets.

What about the heating and AC costs for your home now? What about plane ticket costs now to travel? You can't just say that broken down it's about $60 extra per month. Gas isn't just used for cars...

[manufor3]

Other than spending more for gas none of my spending habits have changed.

same here

[MannyIsGod]

if someone drives 12,000 miles a year and gets 25mpg. the difference between $4 gas and gas at $2.50 is about $720. Broken down that is about $60 extra per month. I bet most people bitching about gas prices spend double that on cable alone...or one night going out drinking.. etc...

people just like to bitch. $60 bucks a month aint shit.

I don't think you understand what you're saying. People ARE spending less each month, but that is the reason we're in an economic crisis (among other things).

You don't think someone else was taking that 80 dollars a month? Money that is now being spent on gas was being spent on many other things just a few years ago. When those things aren't purchased, then someone ELSE is making less money and they're having to spend more on food and gas as well.

Its not as easy as saying everyone just needs to cut back to make ends meet because that means that someone else makes less money and your economy gets worse.

You also can't just say that its 60 dollars a month more expensive to live here cause of gas. Gas prices influence EVERYTHING, there is a reason that inflation right now is at highs we haven't seen since the early 80s. Everything is going up in price. Which means even less money to spend which means people make even less money which means your economy gets worse.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Treating gas prices in a vacuum relative to your gasoline bill each month isn't really an accurate assessment.

The cost of all goods and transportation of those goods are rising because of it, hell a lot of places that provide service to your door are now charging fuel surcharges...

It, in conjunction with the mortgage mess, is also killing home values in the suburbs. Actually a really good time to buy if you do your research.

[marini martini]

Nothing's changed for me. I just sit at home and drink all day:toast

[1Parker1]

Nothing's changed for me. I just sit at home and drink all day:toast

:lol Just wait till the cost of alcohol doubles....

[marini martini]

:lol Just wait till the cost of alcohol doubles....


What, you've never heard of bath tub gin???:toast

[Heath Ledger]

Only been going to Vegas once every other month instead of every month. It's painful. Will be seeing Dark Knight at the drive in in 1 hour 45 minutes to save about 8 off of regular theater admission for my gf and i.

[Clandestino]

this is the united states... 98% of people spend their entire paycheck. claiming that gas is killing them is bullshit.

people are STILL SPENDING. it hasn't changed anything except people bitching about gas prices. if it wasn't gas, they'd complain about the president... if it wasn't the prsident they would complain about the spurs...if not the spurs, then the weather...

[MannyIsGod]

this is the united states... 98% of people spend their entire paycheck. claiming that gas is killing them is bullshit.

people are STILL SPENDING. it hasn't changed anything except people bitching about gas prices. if it wasn't gas, they'd complain about the president... if it wasn't the prsident they would complain about the spurs...if not the spurs, then the weather...

So you're saying the economy is fine then, right?

[leemajors]

the price of milk is absurd these days. thanks ethanol subsidies!

[CosmicCowboy]

this is the united states... 98% of people spend their entire paycheck. claiming that gas is killing them is bullshit.

people are STILL SPENDING. it hasn't changed anything except people bitching about gas prices. if it wasn't gas, they'd complain about the president... if it wasn't the prsident they would complain about the spurs...if not the spurs, then the weather...

From a literal standpoint just looking at one individual you are correct, but the economy as a whole doesn't work that way.

In a classic trickle down economy the dollars that are spent for goods and services are recycled...you spend money at a restaurant, they buy food and hire employees, the companies they buy goods and services from hire employees, etc.etc.etc.

$4 gas creates toilet economics. If you put $20 of gas in your tank, $15 gets flushed straight to the Middle East or South America. Those dollars don't get recycled.

[Thunder Dan]

the price of milk is absurd these days. thanks ethanol subsidies!

I like milk

[101A]

Just gave myself a nice bonus and a 15% raise; also gave 5 - 20% raises to each of my 30 employees (salaries between 29K & 98K), and handed them each a $100 bill before the 4th of July weekend.

I drive the Honda minivan a lot more, and the Nissan Armada a lot less.

[BacktoBasics]

if someone drives 12,000 miles a year and gets 25mpg. the difference between $4 gas and gas at $2.50 is about $720. Broken down that is about $60 extra per month. I bet most people bitching about gas prices spend double that on cable alone...or one night going out drinking.. etc...

people just like to bitch. $60 bucks a month aint shit.
Most people drive double that. I know as a conservative driver I put about 18 a year on my truck.

Not to mention that its not just solely about more expensive gas. This is where your point is completely senseless. The price of fuel rising has caused pretty much everything to go up. What was once 75 dollars in grocery's is now 120. What was once a shirt for 19.99 is now 30 and so on. So we aren't just talking about an increase of 800 or so dollars. We're talking about a 200-300 dollar a month swing in just living expense bills alone. For most thats a 15%-25% increase in cost of living of what was once a relatively fixed way of life. I guess you haven't noticed the massive increases in your power bill either.

I wish it was just 60 a month. If that were the case I'd be a lot better off.

[BacktoBasics]

this is the united states... 98% of people spend their entire paycheck. claiming that gas is killing them is bullshit.

people are STILL SPENDING. it hasn't changed anything except people bitching about gas prices. if it wasn't gas, they'd complain about the president... if it wasn't the prsident they would complain about the spurs...if not the spurs, then the weather...
This I can somewhat agree with. Most of what you wrote is nonesense but people are still spending....or trying to.

I have more customers wanting to buy than I've ever had. No shortage of potential customers on my end at all and I sell whats considered a relatively expensive luxury item.

The only reason I'm not rolling in the cash right now is because the banks have tightened up so much its nearly impossible to get the average joe financed. Most of the banks have completely stopped doing recreational finance like RVs, boats, 4 wheelers and some motorcycles. What banks that are left have pretty much cut back to the point where they are only buying tier one and some very clean tier 2 paper.

At some point this will turn around but it'll be awile.

[Spurminator]

We've been fortunate to have access to pretty good public transportation for four years so we fill up our two cars a total of 3 or 4 times per month combined. We also live below our means so if we spend more on groceries or other necessities that's just a little bit less of the paycheck that goes into savings.

[CavsSuperFan]

Did Cosmic get the SUV?

[CosmicCowboy]

I'm car shopping. There are just too many good deals out there on slightly used SUV's that people dumped out of gas fear. I just offered a dealership $14,500 about an hour ago for a 2006 hard loaded Eddie Bauer Expedition with 30K miles (still 6K left on the factory warranty) that sold for 50K two years ago. They are thinking/talking about it and are gonna get back to me...It would have sold for 30K six months ago.

Dang. They just folded and I own it. They were asking $18,500.

This is a CRAZY car market. That unit would have sold for 28-30K six months ago.

[CosmicCowboy]

I still can't believe the people that are dumping their cars and losing tens of thousands of dollars on the trade-in. With most people financing for at least 4 years they would have been probably 25K upside down and probably rolled it into the new note to save 10mpg.

You can buy a hell of a lot of gas for 25K+ interest.

[BacktoBasics]

I still can't believe the people that are dumping their cars and losing tens of thousands of dollars on the trade-in. With most people financing for at least 4 years they would have been probably 25K upside down and probably rolled it into the new note to save 10mpg.

You can buy a hell of a lot of gas for 25K+ interest.Never underestimate the stupidity of the general public.

[Sportcamper]

hehehehe….Glad to see someone got a great deal….I almost wish that I really needed a big SUV…My Suburban runs fine….

Honda Civics & Toyota Corollas are the hot item in So Cal…

[MannyIsGod]

I still can't believe the people that are dumping their cars and losing tens of thousands of dollars on the trade-in. With most people financing for at least 4 years they would have been probably 25K upside down and probably rolled it into the new note to save 10mpg.

You can buy a hell of a lot of gas for 25K+ interest.

Yeah - I laugh when my buddy talks to me about the USED Priuses (Pri? LOL) that he turns around and sells for MORE than the new ones because of the lack of a waiting list. Nevermind that you will probably never recoup that extra expense in gas savings even if gas goes up in price.

People will always make one mistake and compound it by making another. Just flat out retarded.

[CosmicCowboy]

The market psychology is ridiculous. Obviously this isn't for me to drive, it's for the SO. She's in an older Eddie Bauer Expedition now and it was time to replace it. I usually buy exactly what I want relatively new (Her current rig was a dealer demo that the owner tricked out and drove for 8K miles) and then drive it till it gets about 180K on it and sell it before anything major breaks.

Even the SO has gotten looney about this shit. I told her we needed to replace her rig and I was looking at Expeditions and Navigators to make sure thats what she wanted again and she was like..."but what will people think? Maybe I should get something smaller..." I was like..."uhhh...do you WAN'T to drive something smaller?"...and she says "Oh NO! I LOVE my Expedition!"...LOL...I was like "well FUCK what other people think!...that rig is already made and SOMEBODYS going to be driving it and it might as well be you!"

[BacktoBasics]

Yeah - I laugh when my buddy talks to me about the USED Priuses (Pri? LOL) that he turns around and sells for MORE than the new ones because of the lack of a waiting list. Nevermind that you will probably never recoup that extra expense in gas savings even if gas goes up in price.

People will always make one mistake and compound it by making another. Just flat out retarded.
I don't even know where to begin with this. Its so common for people to role one bad note into another and into another and before they know it they're so upside down that no amount of good credit can earn them a good deal.

I just got done talking to a guy who hasn't even made the first payment on his trailer and his wife wants a new one with a bigger bathroom. What started off with a 7k trailer that he already owned with a remaining balance of 9k (upside down 2k) will now spiral to a 22k trailer and full note of over 30k because its one on top of another and now about to be on top of another.

Trading anything is a bad idea unless its an absolute must to trade. Never ever trade and especially not if what you own is payed in full and owned outright. There are maybe two or three exceptions to the rule but never ever trade is a safe bet.

[CosmicCowboy]

I NEVER trade in. Too many ways to play the deal and I don't do it for a living.

The SO's current rig is a '98 and that baby is going to Mexico. I was already planning on swapping out and LOVED the new import law. Mexico now can only import cars that are EXACTLY 10 years old....so they can ONLY import '98's which drives the price up on them...Mexico is still home to cheap gas and they LOVE them Eddie Bauers LOL. $4500 for the old rig, $14,500 for the new rig, and I'm in a new rig still in warranty for basically twelve grand after TTL. I love it when a plan comes together!

[MannyIsGod]

People are just idiots when it comes to buying cars and other things they finance. They don't see the money and its just monthly payments to them so they don't realize how stupid they are at times to get a 72 month CAR loan. I think car loans that long are so absurd.

[CosmicCowboy]

If you are gonna do a car loan you should NEVER go over 48 months and preferably 36. If you can't afford the payments thats the money gods way of telling you that you can't afford the car. If you break this rule you better like the car a lot and take care of it because you are gonna be upside down till it's paid off.

[CuckingFunt]

Priuses (Pri? LOL)

Prii, would be my guess.

[MannyIsGod]

If you are gonna do a car loan you should NEVER go over 48 months and preferably 36. If you can't afford the payments thats the money gods way of telling you that you can't afford the car. If you break this rule you better like the car a lot and take care of it because you are gonna be upside down till it's paid off.

Yeah exactly. I made the mistake of getting a car for 60 months at the age of 20. Worst financial mistake I ever made. The good thing is I made it young as hell so I've been able to recover and move on.

People in this country just do not live within their means. I can understand spending a good chunk of your income on a Home but the money people spend on cars is unbelieveable.