WalletPop

Take a vacation, on the government

Anne Gelhaus — 2008-05-08T19:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Extracurriculars, Travel, Recession

Wanna get away? With all apologies to Southwest Airlines, it's not looking like the travel industry is going to get a boost from Bush's economic stimulus package: Only one in five of approximately 1,000 respondents to a recent USA Today/Gallup Poll said they were likely to use part or all of their rebates for vacation or travel, and 64% said they were not at all likely to do so.

That's not stopping hotels across the country from trying to tempt Americans to stimulate the economy by indulging their wanderlust. Until May 13, travelers who book a vacation package to cities like New Orleans, New York, Vegas and Nashville through Expedia's Explore America can save up to 30% on hotel stays. But you've gotta go between May 23 and Sept. 5.

If you're looking for lodgings by the beach, a slew of Virginia Beach hotels are offering their own economic stimulus packages. Among these are a "Romantic Weekend Getaway" at the Cavalier Hotel, where for $159-$319 per night through June 19, couples can get a room and indulge in complimentary champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries, then take a free one-hour bike ride to work it all off.

If your vacation is more of a family affair, get thee to the Clarion Resort Beach Quarters Resort for its "Virginia Beach Break-Away Package": two nights' stay, tickets to the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center, tickets to the Virginia Zoo and dinner at Pi-zzeria for $399 through June.

If you are among the lucky few who can take advantage of these deals, I enviously wish you bon voyage. I'll be thinking of you as I'm using my rebate to pay for past credit indiscretions and thumbing hungrily through old vacation photos from my boom years.

High gas prices benefit some businesses beyond the fuel industry

Geoff Williams — 2008-05-08T12:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Shopping, Recession

Years ago, I was reading an Archie comic... yes, you can now either nod in appreciation or start mocking me... and earlier today, one gag that has long stuck in my head flashed back to me. Archie Andrews is going to the movies, and he sees a sign at the theater advertising something along the words of: Attractive Prices.

He goes right up to the ticket booth and discovers that the price is something shocking (given this was the 1970s, it was probably $3). Archie is indignant, asking how they could possibly advertise these prices as attractive.

And the woman at the booth smiles and says, "Well, we like it."

I thought of that when I was reading about a Harris Interactive study that was released earlier this week by iCongo, a business to business web e-commerce company. One third of American adults say that they are more likely to shop on the Internet, as opposed to going into a store, because of high gas prices.

And seeing the survey and thinking of the Archie comic is when it hit me -- not for the first time -- that what's bad for one person's wallet is usually good for another. Online retailers probably are making out better than usual right about now due to some folks thinking twice before driving out to a book or toy store. In fact, maybe some of the public are giving online grocery stores a second look. And crummy as the economy may seem, I'm betting that certain industries and niche markets are growing very nicely right now. Especially companies that conduct surveys about the shaky economy -- they must be making a killing.

Geoff Williams is a business journalist and the author of C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America (Rodale).

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Lipstick sells when economic times are tough

Tracy Coenen — 2008-05-06T10:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Shopping, Recession

Mary Kay ladies are notorious for citing all sorts of phantom statistics to recruit anyone and everyone into their cosmetics "business opportunity." To hear them tell it, Mary Kay has made more female millionaires, has more women making $50,000 or more, has given away more free cars,.... and on and on and on. (Yes, all these statements are pure fiction with no hard facts to support them.)

Amazingly, one often cited "fact" might just be true. It's been said that during difficult economic times, women buy more cosmetics. When money is tight they might not be able to justify buying a new outfit or handbag, but a relatively small purchase of an "extra" like makeup will boost her spirits.The New York Times cites the theory pitched by Leonard Lauder, the chairman of Estée Lauder Companies. He said that during tighter economic times, lipstick sales surged, and so lipstick sales can be one way to gauge the economy. And economists agree, saying that during tough times, small indulgences like lipstick often sell well. Yet no economist in their right mind is going to use lipstick sales as a primary economic indicator.

Cosmetics are seen as a small indulgence for the shopaholic who uses "retail therapy" as a boost for her spirits. Stores like Sephora and Ulta, which feature a variety of cosmetic lines are primed to capitalize on these impulse buyers. I admit it.... Cosmetic purchases are fun, feel-good buys. And I can never have too many shades of lipstick. The newest one is always a little bit different. Except, of course, when it is accidentally a duplicate of a color already in my lipstick drawer.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

Holding the line on the food budget

Beth Wechsler — 2008-05-06T08:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Food, Recession

Yes, we all know that food prices are rising. It's worth remembering that this isn't just happening in the United States but that food prices have risen worldwide. If you look at the global picture, you won't complain about paying $4.00 for a gallon of milk. Bottom line? We are still food rich and we have lots of alternatives if we don't want to pay more for groceries.

Thinking about food purchasing and preparation is another opportunity that the recession brings for recalibrating how we live and spend. We eat and spend too much and move around too little.

Here's a challenge.Take a small spiral notebook and use to it keep track of what you eat and what you pay for the next week. Include the bottle of diet coke that you buy at the gas station, the $28 you spend on take-out, the totals at the grocery store, the five cups of coffee or vitamin water. At the end of the week, sit down with the local store circulars and see whether you can't easily feed your family for less than 2/3 of that amount.

What you do depends on the stores that you can access easily. Here on Cape Cod, I get terrific bang for the buck buying about 1/3 of my food at Ocean State Job Lot. We have access to a Roche Bros., which has terrific sales. And once a month, I make the trip to my favorite store of all -- Trader Joe's, where they actually GIVE you a cup of coffee.

If you're trying Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem, check out eBay.

No matter how you look at it, rice, pasta and beans are not only still plentiful but still cheap for us. Yes, you may decide to pass on tomatoes when they're running $3.49/pound, but you can still make a great coleslaw for $1.00/pound.

I'm fired up today. I'm putting on my pedometer and tossing a spiral notebook into my pocketbook. As they say in the Anonymous programs, "just for today," I'll keep track of how much I move and how much I spend.

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But it's for the children!!!

Tracy Coenen — 2008-05-05T15:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Real Estate, Recession

There is still talk of a second economic stimulus package from our federal government, this time it may be focused on helping homeowners in danger of foreclosure. Those in favor of it say it's necessary because foreclosure negatively affects children. I don't disagree that a child can be upset when he or she has to move out of their home. The child may have to change schools, may have to make new friends, and may lose connections made with neighborhood kids.

What I think is more upsetting, however, is having parents who put the child in such a situation. Parents should be parents. The government should not have to be the parents... the government should not be bailing out homeowners who got in over their heads. Parents should be making a conscious decision to put their child's needs first, and that includes offering the child a stable home life and place to live.

Let's face it: The answer to the problem is not to have Uncle Sam come to the rescue of people who bought more house than they could afford. The real answer is to have them dig themselves out of their problems, and hopefully learn an important lesson. Our government can't bail out every problem. And it certainly isn't fair to make taxpayers foot the bill for those who are in foreclosure.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

Recesssion watch: Unnatural business combinations

Tom Barlow — 2008-05-04T09:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Entrepreneurship, Recession

This post is part of a series about real-life signs we're in a recession.

Tobias Buckell tells me that the dojo in his hometown has added a new side business to its martial arts; balloons. This is one example of a growing movement of small businesses compensating for falling sales by adding new business products, sometimes with comedic results.

In my neighborhood, the local model train shop is now also making banners. Signs announcing the lure of 'free internet inside' are on every business door except the portable toilets.

I see the potential for ancillary businesses as a great way to weather the recession. For example-

A combination funeral parlor and Ebay shop (sell off the estate)
Why not cross Terrier breeding with ditch digging?
A diaper service / defumigating service would be a natural.
Tobacconists could make a mint selling bottled oxygen.
Why don't laundromats sell deodorant?
How about a combination pizza parlor & Weight Watcher's center?
An optometrist that runs a car body shop on the side.
And pick your politician - shouldn't they be selling bottled gas?

What is the funniest or oddest business combination you've seen?

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Recession watch: Suddenly, thrifting is OK for the hoi-polloi

Julie Tilsner — 2008-05-03T15:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Bargains, Shopping, Recession

This post is part of a series about real-life signs we're in a recession.

Picture this, thrift store brethren: A woman in a late model Mercedes parks next to you and wanders into your favorite thrift store. Once inside, you notice her picking through the clothes, the bags, the belts, and eyeballing one of several interesting pieces of furniture.

What's going on, you wonder, not a little put out by the sight of an apparently well-off member of society making use of "your" affordable consumer items.

What's going on here is an over-all belt-tightening. As the economy loses steam, people fear for the jobs, and the house-ATM machine dries up, people are looking at all the ways they can save. Frugality has suddenly become "in."Ironically, it's been our large-livin', disposable, over-consumptive society that has made thrift store shopping the rich vein that it is. We thrifters have always known that you can find new or practically new clothes, for example, among the racks next to the stained polyester. We have long been the beneficiaries of our economic betters' retail therapy. They buy the outfit, outfit sits in closet for a year, they give the outfit to the Goodwill. We snap it up for pennies on the dollar.

But this is going to get trickier now that they're onto us. "With the economy in its current condition, I think people will begin turning to more thrifty ways of shopping," Sheena Massie told the New York Times in a recent article. The woman is opening her own thrift store soon with her mother. "We want everyone that shops with us to enjoy the same thrill we do when we go thrifting."

Great. And I mean that from both sides of my heart. Great, more people will choose to spend their dollar wisely, supporting hand-to-mouth thrift stores in the process; and also great, now-I-have-more-competition when I go thrifting myself. But hey, just as I've always been ready with a meal or a couch to a hard-up friend, I suppose I can extend my hand in welcome to my longtime frugal living secret as well.

Hey lady in the Mercedes, welcome to the thrift store. (mind the gum on the floor...)

Are you living in a recession proof city?

Josh Smith — 2008-05-03T13:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Real Estate, Career, Recession

We have already covered recession proof jobs and recession proof demographics, but now you can find recession proof cities to live in. Forbes has compiled a listing of the top ten cities to weather out a recession in. The study looked at 50 different metro areas in the U.S. and based the ranking on many factors including unemployment data, non farm job growth and median home prices. Forbes didn't just look at static data to determine these top cities, they also looked at projections based on a November 2007 study regarding metro areas and the current economy adding more value to the list overall.

Just because these ten cities from San Jose to Raleigh are predicted to weather a recession well, doesn't mean you should call up U-Haul and plan you move just yet. If you are already settled down in a city with a job and your house isn't going into foreclosure anytime soon the move may be more trouble than it is worth. On the other hand if you are looking for a fresh start or you just graduated these cities might be the best places to focus your search for a slice of the American dream.

If we were going to pick up and head to any of these metro areas to get through the recession it would definitely be San Antonio. Not only is it a spectacular city, the housing market is doing well and it has good employment numbers. The biggest downside to picking up and moving to a recession proof city is that you will likely be paying more for a house in the strong local market and taking a hit trying to unload your current home in small-town USA.

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Recession watch: Finally joining Costco

Amey Stone — 2008-05-02T15:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Bargains, Shopping, Recession

This post is part of a series about real-life signs we're in a recession.

As a city dweller, I've always found visiting Costco with my parents something of a treat. The cheap food at huge quantities, the surprisingly affordable gadgets, the mounds and mounds of remarkably affordable clothes.

I would make an afternoon of it a couple of times a year, bring my kids, wander the aisles with my folks and sample the free goodies. At check-out time, the bill would inevitably come to something in the $200 to $300 range, I'd write a check to my Dad, and we'd leave feeling like we had a kind of expensive but amusing family outing. I didn't join Costco since the idea of paying a fee to save money on purchases just didn't make sense to me. And how often would I really get there?

But finally, just a month or so ago, in my own personal sign of recession, I decided that it was time for me to join Costco myself. I know I'm not alone. Costco is one of the few retailers doing pretty well these days. Lots of Americans are worrying about the rising price of food. No matter how secure my husband and I feel in our own jobs, we see rising job insecurity all around us. Given that backdrop, I decided it really is worth it to pay $50 to join the Costco club.Plus, as my family and food bills have increased -- I noticed something about those earlier guest visits to Costco. Although it seemed I spent a lot each trip, those purchases saved me a ton of money in the weeks that followed. Stocking my freezer with tasty frozen foods kept me from ordering out so much. Many items are just a ton cheaper than my neighborhood store -- household cleaning supplies, diapers, light bulbs, toothpaste, ibuprofen -- and the large quantities are convenient to have on hand.

I took my three kids there last Sunday and spent over $300 on my usual haul of household goods, plus a few discretionary purchases that I probably would have foregone if they hadn't seemed such a good deal. I still am not sure how much my family budget will benefit if I make such trips once a month rather than twice a year. But at least it was a pretty fun time (as grocery shopping trips go) and I won't have to run out to my local drugstore to buy baby wipes (oh, by the way, the Costco wipes are the best), for quite a while.

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Recession Watch: $1,000 a month for a new minivan? No way

Amey Stone — 2008-05-02T09:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Shopping, Transportation, Recession

This post is part of a series about real-life signs we're in a recession.

It has been fun for the past year, since my son was born, driving around in a 1999 Ford Taurus with three kids crammed into the back seat. But the plan has long been to buy a minivan.

The only one my eight-year-old daughter, who loves our Taurus almost as much as my husband, would consent to is the new Dodge Grand Caravan, for 2008. That's because it is the one with the seats that spin and face backwards and the little pop-in table for in-van picnicking.

Am I a sucker for swivel and go seating? Yes! I thought we had an easy decision and I even joined Costco (more on that decision) to take advantage of their no-haggle car buying program. I had my special incentives and zero percent financing deals all lined up when I went to the nearest participating dealer, ready to buy.

Only problem: I thought I could buy a car for about $22,000. But when I got done talking to the salesman, he had me convinced I needed a model that cost $36,000. With my cheap financing deal, that was still $1,000 a month.
In more optimistic times, I might have rationalized the purchase. I mean, we'd probably have the van for 10 years. Maybe I'd let him convince me to lease one. Or take out a five year loan. But this year? When we're trying to cut back on evenings out, new clothes, vacations, anywhere we can, to suddenly take on that kind of expense? All I could think of was all the things I could do with that $1,000 a month.

Owning a Dodge Caravan paled in comparison. I decided to swivel and go myself -- right out of that dealership.

I talked it over with my wise and frugal colleague Sarah Gilbert. She advised waiting a year when I can buy one used at hopefully about half the price.

See, I'm still a sucker for swivel and go seating -- just not at a $36,000 price tag.

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Recession watch: Recession makes for suprising roommies

Josh Smith — 2008-05-01T15:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Real Estate, Recession

This post is part of a series about real-life signs we're in a recession.

Does the thought of moving to a new city after graduation, as the economy heads towards a recession, frighten you? If so, you may want to do what some whippersnappers are doing: move in with grandma and grandpa in order to save money on rent. While this may induce thoughts of plastic-covered furniture and conservative talk radio blaring from the living room, many families are making it work. Living with your grandparents can also provide benefits to the entire family. They can rest easy knowing someone is around to help out around the house and be a point of contact in case of emergencies.

CNN recently provided a set of tips for living with your grandparents. It includes laying down ground rules and having separate spaces. Moving in with "Oma" and "Pop Pop", in their two bedroom efficiency in Manhattan, may not work out for any of the involved parties. If you are lucky enough to have grandparents near your new job, moving in with them could insulate you from the rising cost of living which has come in the form of gas and food price increases. Having a support system in place is another "value add" in the event your new position gets cut during a recession. One example is Jennifer Blankenship, who lives with her grandparents to save money as rent in her town approaches $1,500 per month!

As I spoke with friends from college I didn't find anyone who was living with their grandparents but several did express concern about what they would do if a recession brought layoffs. Several friends mentioned that their grandparent's houses could provide a place close to work which would allow them to maintain their jobs and friends even during a recession. If we were in a boom period I doubt we would see young adults moving in with grandparents just to save on rent. When times get tough, the tough go to grandma's!

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Recession watch: Repo Men are reaping benefits

Geoff Williams — 2008-05-01T09:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Debt, Home, Recession

This post is part of a series about real-life signs we're in a recession.

I've had a couple close calls over the years, but happily, I've never had the experience of having anything repossessed. But if anyone reading this has had something hauled away, if it makes you feel any better, you're obviously not alone.

In this almost-but-not-quite recession, repo men have some enviable careers. Newspapers around the country have been publishing stories about local repo men raking in the bucks, taking away mostly vehicles, from cars to campers, and motorcycles to motor boats. According to KHOU, a Houston TV news station, 1.5 million vehicles were repossessed last year, a 15-percent increase from 2006. 2008 is expected to jump 10 percent from 2007.

But you can't really blame the repo men. They didn't create the current economic conditions, and they are just doing their job, and while I'm sure they're glad to be making extra money (who wouldn't want that?), I doubt these guys are getting their kicks off another person's misery. Besides, somebody's gotta do it.But what is a little creepy is what Cesar Dias, a California real estate agent, is doing, no offense meant to the guy. Obviously, he's a capitalist, and that's great, but it's not like his money-making venture was something the world was clamoring for. In any case... every Saturday, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., he takes three sold-out full-sized buses of interested buyers on a tour of all the repossessed homes in and around Stockton, California.

Meanwhile, Dias has been consulting other real estate agents at $5,000 a pop, so they can make an informed decision whether they should rent or buy a bus and get listed on his Web site, RepoHomeTour.com.

But it seems like it would have to be one of the saddest bus rides and money-making ventures going, if you really consider it. Owning a home is supposed to be the American dream. The people on the bus will be easier able to fulfill their American dreams because a lot of others failed to make their own come true.

Geoff Williams is a business journalist and the author of C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America (Rodale).

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Still no recession for America!

Tracy Coenen — 2008-04-30T18:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Saving, Shopping, Recession

Despite what you may hear in the media, we are still not in a recession. I've heard reporters suggest that we should ignore the actual definition of "recession" and say we're in one anyway. I suppose that sort of intellectual dishonesty gets more viewers... But the truth is that economic indicators show that the American economy grew at a rate of 0.6% in the first quarter of 2008. That's not stellar by any stretch of the imagination, but our economy is not retracting, plain and simple.

Here's the thing: I'm not suggesting that everything is just peachy with our economy. There are problems with prices and I do see some people losing jobs. But I also know that lots of people are getting new jobs and there are lots of people shopping and eating out. While our economy isn't growing as fast has it had been for a few years, it is still growing!!!!

I know it sells more papers and creates more television viewers if we can spice things up and ignore the real economic indicators. Americans want to believe we're in a recession and even headed for a depression. I don't get that mentality... I don't understand why people are adamant that we should say our economy is tanking when it's really not. And of course, there are those who say we should throw out the economic indicators all together because they're not valid measures. I disagree.

Yes, consumers are having to adjust their spending in many ways. But we're still doing well and we're not in a recession. Plan for the worst, but don't keep talking about it like it's already here. The American economy is growing, and for that we should be thankful.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

Recession watch: $10,000 for summer camp? Not this year

Michele Turk — 2008-04-30T15:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Bargains, Extracurriculars, Recession

This post is part of a series about real-life signs we're in a recession.

When I was a kid, summers were spent playing in the backyard with my brothers and sister and about two dozen children who lived in my neighborhood, a small farming town in New Jersey. If you look around the suburban neighborhood where I live now on a summer day, it's devoid of children. Kids as young as three gear up every morning and head to day camp. If you have a couple of kids enrolled for four to six weeks, as many are, summer camp can set you back more than $10,000.

The thing that kills me is that my kids don't really like going to camp. Last summer they each spent two weeks at an ESF Camp (which has locations in Delaware, CT, PA and NJ) and one week at a nature day camp at our local Audubon Center. Three weeks of camp cost just under $3,000.

It seems like a waste of money, given that I usually ship them off to camp because there are no kids around to play with! I'm not the only one with summer camp sticker shock. This year, I plan to cut back on camp expenses by skipping camp altogether or finding less expensive ones. For example, I'm looking into a town-run baseball camp that one of my son's buddies is attending for $400 for two weeks and my daughter may sign up for a similarly priced art and music camp.

That begs the question: how will I entertain my kids the rest of the summer and still manage to get some work done (I'm a freelance writer and editor)? Let's not forgot that I'd like to still be sane come September.

Given the state of the economy, I'm guessing there are some other like-minded parents loathe to fork over thousands for camp this summer. We have a pool, and I'm pretty certain that if we invite kids over for swim play dates, we'll get takers. We don't have big vacation plans but we own a time share, so I put in a request for a large three bedroom unit in Vermont. If my husband can't go, I'll invite some girlfriends and their kids. That will cost $164 for the exchange fee, plus food and other expenses similar to those incurred at home since there's a kitchen where I can cook. Otherwise, I'll line up day trips to places like the beach (free) and the Bronx Zoo where we already have an annual membership. And I'll still have some money left over to pay a babysitter once or twice a week so I can get some work done.

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Recession watch: My first payday loan

Geoff Williams — 2008-04-30T09:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Borrowing, Recession

This post is part of a series about real-life signs we're in a recession.

For years, I've lived by a couple rules. For instance, I never eat yellow snow, and I never step foot inside one of those payday lending establishments.

Well, at least my yellow snow rule is still intact.

Like many Americans, I've never had a high opinion of payday lending loan establishments, but earlier this year, utterly broke, I finally broke down. My reasoning was that I'd rather take out a few hundred dollars from a payday loan place than ask my parents for money, something that really loses its appeal after the age of, say, 25, let alone when you're 38. And the last thing I wanted to do was to try to play a cat-and-mouse game with my bank called, "Write a check to the store and hope it's not cashed for awhile."

So I confess. Earlier this year, for the first time in my life, I went to a payday loan place. But I only did it once. Well, twice.

OK, four times.I don't know if this a sign that I'm part of this unofficial recession or not. After all, as a freelance writer, not getting paid is nothing new. Even during the best of times, some publications seem to make paying the writer for their work their last priority. What I do know is that as lousy as the payday lending industry's reputation is and as distasteful as their interest rates are, I was glad to have the option of going to a payday lending store when I needed one (if you need to do it, here's how).

That, however, may not be the case much longer. Payday lending establishments are being put under the microscope by a lot of state governments lately, and there's a lot of talk of trying to regulate them out of existence.

Once upon a time, I would have said, "Good riddance, get rid of them, all of them." I have a relative who has a history of going to these payday loan places, and he put me down as a reference without warning me first, and so when he was late (repeatedly), guess who was called? There's no question in my mind that payday loan stores can be to debt-riddled people what the tar pits were to dinosaurs.

And yet -- I'm finding myself rethinking all of this and wondering if perhaps the credit card industry and banking industry should be examined more thoroughly first, since those are generally the first places where Americans tend to get into financial trouble. After all, a lot of people use payday loan stores, and it's likely happening now more than ever. Nationwide, in fact, Americans pay about $5 billion a year to borrow more than $40 billion from payday lenders. So if payday lenders are run out of town, what will happen to people who feel like these places are their last options?

Geoff Williams is a business journalist and the author of C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America (Rodale).

Recession watch: We've lost some competitors... and it hurts

Gary E. Sattler — 2008-04-29T15:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Debt, Entrepreneurship, Tax, Career, Wealth, Recession, Bankruptcy

This post is part of a series about real-life signs we're in a recession.

Normally, the loss of competitors in your field of business could possibly be considered a good thing, giving a boost of orders and income to your own business or employer. In today's economic climate however, the loss of competitors gives me cause for concern. Even as we struggle to accommodate growth in our facility, I'm worried by the downfall of some of our wood products compatriots. I know I've written that it doesn't pay to cry over lost manufacturing jobs, but that doesn't mean we should be without compassion either.

The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) reports for March that its Small Business Optimism Index is at its lowest point since the second quarter of 1980. Businesses are complaining that increased selling prices are not keeping up with overhead inflationary pressures. Nearly one-quarter of the NFIB survey respondents indicated that they raised employee compensation by a margin which is outstripping profitability increases. I believe that therein lies the downfall of my company's fallen competitors.

One of the biggest concerns I have with these job losses is that they tend not to be felt outside their own regions. We as a country lose a hundred good jobs here or there every day, in a hundred unnamed places. But it doesn't make the headlines because it doesn't sell advertising space. Government statistics never paint the whole picture either. The government bean counters expect that we're too dull to understand that the loss of a well-paid machinist is not mitigated by the addition of yet another undocumented food service worker. They only give you the bottom line numbers, painted with a broad and blurry stroke of the brush.

So, my employer's loss of competitors has a core which tastes quite bitter. As I work my long hours I sometimes pause to think; Was that competitor we lost as much a buyer of my goods as it was a rival? Could my employer be the next to go under, or my neighbor's, or yours? Please say a quiet prayer for the unemployed among us, then get back to work. That is, if you still have it.

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Recession watch: Catalytic converter thefts test car owners' mettle

Anne Gelhaus — 2008-04-29T09:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Transportation, Recession

This post is part of a series about real-life signs we're in a recession.

My brother-in-law recently wound up paying a lot more than he expected when he left my nephew's Toyota Tacoma in the Oakland Airport's long-term parking for the weekend. When he returned from his trip and turned the key in the ignition, the truck let out a roar that would deafen even the most hardened Harley driver, and David knew he'd joined the growing number of victims of catalytic converter theft nationwide.

Thieves have taken to removing catalytic converters, which help control emissions, from the underside of parked vehicles. The converters contain trace amounts of platinum and rhodium--which go for about $2,054 and $9,278 per ounce, respectively--and can be sold on the black market for a couple hundred dollars each. Victims, however, pay much more than that for replacement parts: My brother-in-law shelled out almost $2,000 for a new converter for my nephew's truck.

While David has pledged to use only short-term parking at the airport from now on, that precaution might not be enough. For one thing, trucks like the Tacoma and SUVs like the Toyota 4Runner--the vehicle David owns and drives to the train station each morning--are among the hardest hit since they sit high off the ground, making their catalytic converters easy to remove from underneath. For another, those who are of the mind to slide under a vehicle with hacksaw in hand don't seem to be picky about where they strike: Reports of catalytic converter thefts have come from day care centers in Memphis, carpool lots in Michigan and car dealerships in Ohio.

Since this is a crime of opportunity--and since thieves are grabbing every opportunity they can--prevention is tricky. Seems the best way to avoid becoming a victim is to drive low to the ground. Or maybe just ride a Harley.

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Recession watch: Fewer kids at mall events

Josh Smith — 2008-04-28T15:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Shopping, Health, Recession

This post is part of a series about real-life signs we're in a recession.

One of my friends is in charge of marketing at a nearby mall, and works closely with their kids program. The program provides fun activities for children, during which parents can either put on a tiara or spend time shopping without junior in tow. Each event has its own theme, the latest being a cowboy day and before that, a princess party.

In the fall, the princess party attracted a huge crowd of tiara-toting tots whose company my wife enjoyed with her niece. The cowboy day, which took place last month, yielded only four young cowpokes, almost a tenth of the last event. It's really sad to see so many empty cowboy hats and stores around the mall on a Saturday.

Even though the event is free, attendance has been down due to a lack of incentive to use the free daycare the events provide. With a recession already in force or on its way, parents have less money to spend at the mall. Malls have been feeling the effects of a recession for several months; this lack of participation in free daycare is only one indicator.

Malls have been fighting retrenchment and a lack of shoppers since Christmas. Stores in malls near us have been closing over the past few months and whenever we go shopping, the walkways are devoid of shoppers with bags, filled instead with teens with no shopping agenda other than a soft pretzel. If free daycare and cowboy hats can't lure families into malls during a recession, what can?

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Recession watch: the downsized are ruining my hangout

Tom Barlow — 2008-04-28T09:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Food, Recession

This post is part of a series about real-life signs we're in a recession.

My idea of a perfect coffee house is one that offers great java, free WiFi, comfortable chairs, electrical outlets, and not too many customers. I like a place that has enough traffic to stay in business, but not so much that it is crowded during the morning.

My current fave, where I set up shop to blog each morning, has undergone a change for the worse in the past few months. More and more frequently, formerly vacant tables are occupied by middle-aged executive types with their brand-new laptops, cell phones and lattes poised for action that never comes. I know one of these fellows, and suspect the rest are in the same boat he is, recently cut free as part of a recession-driven downsizing.

One day last week every single table and chair was occupied, forcing me to take my coffee home to sulk. When will the madness end? I'm talking to you, Mr. Bernanke- get these people back to work! And out of my chair.

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Recession watch: Cutting back on travel plans

Julie Tilsner — 2008-04-27T09:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Travel, Recession

This post is part of a series about real-life signs we're in a recession.

It was all set. Family friends in New York had invited us to come out and visit, and my two kids and I were all on board. In theory. Our plans were set at a reunion the previous summer. Fares are cheap! I told them. We'll all be out!

But that was before things got a little tighter. March came and went. I emailed my friends with the bad news: Sorry guys; the money's just not in the budget anymore. Can't justify the expense. They totally understood. They were hard up, too. Maybe next year, we imagined.

But maybe not. Seems a lot of people are canceling or dramatically altering discretionary travel these days.With the ever-shrinking dollar, travel for fun and pleasure has dropped far down on the list of splurges for many middle class families. Gasoline prices, groceries, utilities, rents, day-to-day living expenses are taking a larger-than-ever chunk out of our budgets.

Time was when a trip to San Fransisco for a romantic weekend was doable. But these days, one look at the cost of air fare, car rental fee, hotel, and the cost of gas and meals...will give most anyone but the most affluent pause. Who can afford it anymore?

And with the dollar at an all-time low against the euro and the pound, that summer jaunt to London or Madrid is definitely out the window. This has particularly impacted our family -- my in-laws are English, and we used to take a trip to London almost every year. This year, that's just impossible.

Besides, with record-high fuel costs and cutbacks at airlines, along with endemic cancellations, flying anywhere at all this summer promises to be not half the fun.

So what's a family to do? Fellow WalletPopper Bruce Watson is onto something when he suggests becoming a local tourist -- staying in town, using public transportation, and exploring your own environs might just be the new big thing this summer.

Maybe we'll just spend the summer poolside. Swimming lessons are still relatively affordable.

Have you canceled travel plans this summer due to increased costs? Let's hear your stories -- and your solutions!