I’m blessed, we have everything we need and it’s paid for. We’ve never been big spenders here at my house anyway, so no need for “cutting back”.
Me too. When the last of the VT photo gigs are done and accepted, I should be able to eliminate a credit card. Other than essentials, I am not doing much spending. Most of my relatives (that don’t care for gifts anymore) will get charitable donations in their names and they are cool with it. My wife is very easy to shop for and I am expecting a list any day now.
What, me worry?....
No debt besides a mortgage, no eating out, no purchases from any government owned or subsidized businesses, or any business that seems to be falling in line with the Gorebot/Pelosi/Soros/Marx/Obama world.
I have reduced my hours to put me in the lowest tax bracket I can manage. I am stocked up on food, and all necessary gear is in good working order with spare parts.
This government and the people of this country that are supporting it are not getting anything from me that I can possibly avoid giving them. Not now, not ever again.
All I can think to myself is that if Bush was president with an unemployment rate at 10% like the annointed one, the news agencies would be doing nothing but talking about bread lines and the homeless.
The lease is up on my business and I am seriously considering taking my inventory and warehousing it for the next several months up to a year.
I could use the downtime. My employees can draw unemployment or whatever, they aren’t all that great anyway.
I won’t contribute to the economy in the way I have been. No taxes, no rent, no payroll.
I own my own home and live frugally anyway. This economy has eaten away most of what I’ve built up since 2000.
I’ll go home, produce what I love and enjoy it. Who knows?
Definitely cutting back this year, same as we did last year. This coming spring, we’re enlarging our garden (again). Nearly all clothing comes from second hand stores, dinners out are a thing of the past, spending is very limited and only for things we really need. Frugal living serves us well.
Sooooo....holidays are always slim around here so nothing will be different this year.
How many of us had parents that came through the Great Depression (the first one, not the Obama one), World War II and the Cold War and lived lives of self reliance, frugality, sensible consumption and freedom from debt as a natural way of life?
My parents held those values, learned through those hard years, and taught them to their children. And though I have occasionally strayed, it was never far and I have always returned to those basic tenets. I now thank my parents for the valuable lessons I learned from them and that I now try to pass on to the next generation and the one after that. These are values that lead to true freedom and have helped insulate us from past economic downturns and will do the same as this Depression and the socialist assault on the middle continues to worsen.
Because of my parents gifts of knowledge and skills we have never allowed ourselves to accumulate consumer debt and have no credit card balances. With the exception of our home, if we didn’t have the cash to buy something we didn’t buy it. We literally were uncomfortable owing money on our home and paid our mortgage off as quickly as possible.
We now only buy necessities along with tools and other goods that will be needed when the consumer economy and the worthless Obama dollar collapse.
If a miraculous intervention takes place and the Republic is saved from Obamunism, the food we store and the tools we own will still be just as valuable and useful.
Like you and the others, I’m paying down what I can, as fast as I can. My biggest financial fear is the coming inflation tsunami. So this will be a quiet year on the gift front.
So guess my answer is everything is the same, no change here.
PS:
Chickensoup, this is a great thread. Thanks for starting it.
It is enjoyable and rewarding to hear ideas and stories of combatting the monster from other Freepers.
“You can’t kill the beast while sucking at its teat.”
— Claire Wolfe
Anyway, don't plan on treating this year any different than past years. :)
Here and shrugging. Will just enjoy the opportunity to spend time with the family during the holidays this year. We have all agreed to that.
Bottom fishing for X-Mas gifts, taking advantage of collapsing economy. Just picked up a stack of PS3 games for the kids for $12 a piece (normally $50 a piece) from Blockbusters (3 of them) that all closed on same weekend. I fully expect this X-Mas to be worse than last year as far as the retailers are concerned. Next few months will strip away the illusion of the government subsidizing Wall St. as Main St. curls up into fetal position. Paying for everything in cash, planning on further reducing my credit cards (already paid them off).
Wife and I bought a year’s worth of food (vacuum sealed and freeze dried) for our X-Mas family gift.
Paying down debt. Christmas gift giving will be a contribution to the USO and Salvation Army in their names.
My present from Santa will be a Tactical Mini 14. Buying American.
I’m definitely an outlier on this thread.
When I downsized the house last year, pulled out all the equity I could and got a 30 yr fixed rate loan at 5%.
I see this as a replay of the Carter years.
Inflation rewards fixed rate borrowers.
I do believe energy costs will go up rapidly.
My new place is small and very well built.
I keep an old hi mpg Saturn around as a mpg hedge.
Then it turned around and we seem to back on track again, although I am guarded.
We are paying off debts and are watching our dollars more carefully. We save every month also. We are not buying big ticket items or indulging as much in luxuries. We dine out less.
Thanksgiving will be the same. Christmas will probably be about the same as last year. It isn't about the presents anyways. A nice meal with family is all we ask for.
Wife and I are:
1. trying to stay employed
2. paying off the mortgage as fast as possible.
3. Everything else (except for ammo) on hold.
Have to be ready for serious economic problems and i’m not where I need to be, which is 100% debt free, stocked with food and ammo.