Has the economy affected you yet?

[staropeace]

Update on my earlier post.....

The homeless couple had a taste of good hearted Edmontonian generosity....in spite of the high crime with gangs and the murders....the ordinary everyday folks of Edmonton are the friendliest I have ever met in Canada...and Newfoundlanders are very friendly.........but Edmonton is best.........

A case of pay it forward.....

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmo...5/9017326.html

[Sawney Beane]

It has never stopped affecting me.I can´t recall a month in which me or my parents didn´t struggle to reach the end of it.(we get paid monthly over here).

It has gotten worse for us. Today, we let 6 people go. That is honestly the hardest decision that I've had to make in a long time.

Maybe you will be able to re-admit them when things are back in shape.no?

[Terry B]

Has the economy affected me yet? Oh yeah! We've tried twice in 2 1/2 years to sell our house. Not that we NEED to but want to. We took it off the market again last month. May or may not try again next year. Cost of living goes up much faster than the pensions and my pension never goes up (thank you Ronald Reagan). It seems that just walking into grocery store costs you a hundred dollar bill even for 2 people. The neighborhood is turning into a haven for renters (not that I have anything against renters) and property values have nose-dived. I can't justify buying books and needlework supplies like I used to. I guess I could go on but I won't. It's tough on all of us.

[marew1]

No, fortunately. My husband and I are both retired and are managing. My prayers and thoughts to all who are struggling. Hope the economy straightens out soon.

[PatInTheHat]

Heres is a friendly reminder for anyone that uses plastic.
CHECK YOUR STATEMENTS CAREFULLY!

I'm in the precarious position of watching my Mama's meager finances (keeping a watch while making her feel she has the autonomy), and have recently done an accounting of her credit card statements after finding a bogus charge on a bill.

She was billed 129.99 for some "Shoppers" club...she never signed up for it, nor gave any verbal permission.
I went through the run around calling various important and knowdegable sounding bushwackers.
I asked for proof, in the form of a copy of any signed contract, or I wanted to hear the recording of her agreement...hmmm, oddly none are available.

This caused me to go over ALL of her past statements on this card and her couple of others.
I'M LIVID!!!
This outfit has been billing her once a year for four years now for a shopping club she never knew she was in.
Another has recently started charging her for insurance, in case she gets hurt or is too ill to work, and can't make payments...she's 86 and has been retired for about ten years, & on a fixed income.
One more has been charging her for another credit insurance.
None of these, I repeat NONE of these, has she ever agreed to in writing or verbally...yet they say she must have, afterall, "we're billing her so she must have agreed"...Bull*%&#!!!
A mighty bold statement, especially when they won't show proof...because it simply does not exist.

I've been pouring over her last few years (since just before she moved with me...and she's an excellent paper keeper) worth of bills and have found (so far) almost 2000.00 worth of bogus billings over the years.
She's with me constantly...I know what she buy's, and how she spends her dough.
To me, this isn't any better than a pickpocket, or a burglar...common thievery is what it is!
Actually this is worse, because these are companies she has trusted and has always been a great loyal customer, and extremely prompt on her payments, with nary a single late one.
I simply hate a thief that has no reason to steal, Les Miserable these guy's ain't!

These greedy weasels keep this low life greasy crap up (stealing from MY MAMA!), and I'm going on an institutonal crime spree that'll make Dillinger look like a french piker boostin' bread crust!
Talk about some holier than thou nerve by those pieces of human garbage, this is my MAMA they're rippin' off...payback can certainly be a sumbitch...and that would be me!

The phone company recently tried to pull a fast one too.
I had a charge for 11.97 for an information call to Las Vegas at 3:30 in the morning through another company.
No one here has ever called Vegas information...especially at 3:30 in the morning!
They said that they had to bill me because this company said to...actually it was through a billing company that sent Ma Bell the charge for another company, and there was nothing they could do, that I would have to contact those other companies...even though it was Cincinnati Bell who billed me.
They said they had to bill me, because this company said so.

I told them fine, but I was sending a friend of mine, with a copy of the local white pages to their billing department, with the instructions that they were to bill everyone in it for $5.00, and they could just cut me a check next month.
They seemed rather confused.
I explained that their logic dictated that, if I say it's so, then it's so, & that should be good enough for them, since they said they had to bill me for this other company on behalf of another company, on their say so, and thusly just like them, anyone disputing this charge could simply call me.
I wonder how many actually would, like I did?
Even if 90% did (I bet it would be less than 50%), that would still bank a tidy profit for a bogus charge for nothing...and billed through my co-conspirator, Cincinnati Bell...SWEET!

CHECK YOUR STATEMENTS!!!

These greedy greasy bastards ain't done by a long shot, flat out stealing anything that's not nailed down or buried in a Mason Jar in your back yard if you'll let them...and I'd start keeping a better eye on them X's marking the spots!
(beware of beady eyed weasely creeps in suits carrying shovels...it's might be the next finance/investment industry "bubble")
Take it for what it's worth.

[kingricefan]

Heres is a friendly reminder for anyone that uses plastic.
CHECK YOUR STATEMENTS CAREFULLY!

I'm in the precarious position of watching my Mama's meager finances (keeping a watch while making her feel she has the autonomy), and have recently done an accounting of her credit card statements after finding a bogus charge on a bill.

She was billed 129.99 for some "Shoppers" club...she never signed up for it, nor gave any verbal permission.
I went through the run around calling various important and knowdegable sounding bushwackers.
I asked for proof, in the form of a copy of any signed contract, or I wanted to hear the recording of her agreement...hmmm, oddly none are available.

This caused me to go over ALL of her past statements on this card and her couple of others.
I'M LIVID!!!
This outfit has been billing her once a year for four years now for a shopping club she never knew she was in.
Another has recently started charging her for insurance, in case she gets hurt or is too ill to work, and can't make payments...she's 86 and has been retired for about ten years, & on a fixed income.
One more has been charging her for another credit insurance.
None of these, I repeat NONE of these, has she ever agreed to in writing or verbally...yet they say she must have, afterall, "we're billing her so she must have agreed"...Bull*%&#!!!
A mighty bold statement, especially when they won't show proof...because it simply does not exist.

I've been pouring over her last few years (since just before she moved with me...and she's an excellent paper keeper) worth of bills and have found (so far) almost 2000.00 worth of bogus billings over the years.
She's with me constantly...I know what she buy's, and how she spends her dough.
To me, this isn't any better than a pickpocket, or a burglar...common thievery is what it is!
Actually this is worse, because these are companies she has trusted and has always been a great loyal customer, and extremely prompt on her payments, with nary a single late one.
I simply hate a thief that has no reason to steal, Les Miserable these guy's ain't!

These greedy weasels keep this low life greasy crap up (stealing from MY MAMA!), and I'm going on an institutonal crime spree that'll make Dillinger look like a french piker boostin' bread crust!
Talk about some holier than thou nerve by those pieces of human garbage, this is my MAMA they're rippin' off...payback can certainly be a sumbitch...and that would be me!

The phone company recently tried to pull a fast one too.
I had a charge for 11.97 for an information call to Las Vegas at 3:30 in the morning through another company.
No one here has ever called Vegas information...especially at 3:30 in the morning!
They said that they had to bill me because this company said to...actually it was through a billing company that sent Ma Bell the charge for another company, and there was nothing they could do, that I would have to contact those other companies...even though it was Cincinnati Bell who billed me.
They said they had to bill me, because this company said so.

I told them fine, but I was sending a friend of mine, with a copy of the local white pages to their billing department, with the instructions that they were to bill everyone in it for $5.00, and they could just cut me a check next month.
They seemed rather confused.
I explained that their logic dictated that, if I say it's so, then it's so, & that should be good enough for them, since they said they had to bill me for this other company on behalf of another company, on their say so, and thusly just like them, anyone disputing this charge could simply call me.
I wonder how many actually would, like I did?
Even if 90% did (I bet it would be less than 50%), that would still bank a tidy profit for a bogus charge for nothing...and billed through my co-conspirator, Cincinnati Bell...SWEET!

CHECK YOUR STATEMENTS!!!

These greedy greasy bastards ain't done by a long shot, flat out stealing anything that's not nailed down or buried in a Mason Jar in your back yard if you'll let them...and I'd start keeping a better eye on them X's marking the spots!
(beware of beady eyed weasely creeps in suits carrying shovels...it's might be the next finance/investment industry "bubble")
Take it for what it's worth.

Thanks for the heads up!! I always check over my statements carefully each month. Nothing found on the credit cards but I did find charges on my phone/cable/internet bill and promptly took them to task for it!!

[Patricia A]

Yes, me and everyone I know.

[Anton177]

I thought this whole economic crisis was bullshit to be quite honest since if you look on the television and the youth agenda of degenerate culture; it's a ****ing wonder it's taken this long for anyone to think "Hm, maybe it's about time the **** hit the fan for these devolving locusts". That and the fact that nobody seems to be able to say 'Maybe I can't afford this' when they're looking at buying at £300,000 house.

Like I said, that is what I thought, and lately I've learned that my father has been put on a redundancy list and will be unemployed soon.

I'm 18 and my sister is 13 so they need the money and my father needs his job. I think when things are that extreme then something is royally getting ballsed up somewhere down the line and it's a little more serious than I thought. It's easy to criticise from a distance but there is a lot of blame to be passed around and we're going to be crumbling in a lot more than money worries if you ask me. This has been said before since the common folk lives on fear but this could be the start of a big downfall. That being said, if people start being careful with their money then it's even worse, since the situation is not being regenerated with steady cash flow.

I don't know what to make of it and I shouldn't really care since none of this is in our hands anyway; we're completely in the dark. As a consolation we've seen worse times (almost identical times) and we're not dead yet.