Times have never been so hard in my house.. For the first time in my life I bounced a check 2 day! I thought I was covered until tomorrow and NOPE...the check went threw and I was overdrawn by $67.68! Fortunately I had 600 go in this morning and I am out of the red. For now...its close,2 close 4 comfort. We R very careful to make sure water is off,lights off,no radio or TV on when no one is in the room..it is tough. I eat at home every day and never eat out..well, once a month I may get a burger or Mexican or Chinese food but that's it. I am praying for finances and I never had to do that before.It feels weird asking God to help me stay afloat financially... Chrsitmas is going to be pretty much non existent here...between me and Ricks checks we shouldn't be hurting so bad but we R...and I cant for the life of me figure out why We go nowhere,bye nothing except essentials...but everything from milk to rice to soup and crackers has gone up and if you add it all together...well,there it goes!

Sorry to hear about your bounced checks that's a bummer...

I know exactly how you feel. It is a terrifying feeling. My kids keep saying they don't want anything for Christmas, it makes me feel terrible. They know how times are tough right now. They are not little, they are in their teens and 20's, but it's still the holidays and I can not get in the spirit due to the financial mess.
We buy the same things just about every week at the store and spend more and more. We have even cut back on items.

They announce a year later we are in a recession when we already knew that. Now it's looking more like a return of the depression era. I listen to people who lived through the depression and they say this is how it started.

Do you watch CNN or any of those news shows?

I do! yeah, recessions often lead to depressions and we are headed there I am afraid. I know what you mean about going to the store.I am buying less and paying more definitely..I used to go and be able to get extra treats or stock up on things.Now I get just what we need...groceries have gone threw the roof.Milk is 2 times higher than gas..and bread used to be 1.30 and is now 1.75...just an example.Its every thing...gas went down but everything stayed the same..I don't get it. At least i can still aford my meds!!!

I am looking into the RX plans that some pharmacies have like Walmart, Walgreens, etc... they have 90 day supply for $10.00 on some medications.

we have cut back alot esp since my dads contract is up at the beginning of the year :/ so he isn't guranteed a job after that...my mom is busting her butt to pay the bills and me personally i work at a restaurant since i'm still in college and business has slowed down alot! and even when people go out now they aren't tipping well unfortunately :/ provide excellent service and get crap tips...honestly..i cant afford to go out to eat right now...and if i have 20 bucks in my pocket i'm certainly not going to go out and spent 19 of it on a meal and leave the server a freakin dollar...come on now! that irritates me..i feel bad for some of my coworkers..i mean this is how they make their living...oh boy, cant wait to get outta school....i'm struggling to buy xmas gifts this year..first priority is car payment THEN presents...my budget is tight this year for xmas :/

I hear ya.I lived on tips for years and can relate.I would never go out and not tip appropriately..

I've picked up crafting as a hobby and I'm making a lot of Christmas gifts for my friends this year. Its cheap, looks cool, and it's surprisingly relaxing. It's a good break between studying for finals.

Well things just keep getting worse this economy.
The retail stores reported record low for sales this holiday season.
Thought I'd try to bump this to get more replies.

Anyone else out there care to share in this economy crisis?

I live in UK, i think some of you guys live in America or somewhere but yeah here is bad to, my fiance has been out of work for nearly 2 years now and he can't find a thing it is really depressing because i only work in a retail shop earning minimum wage so everything is so tight i pay the rent and council tax and then my wage is kinda gone... We are hoping this year might find him some work because i know he is getting really bored staying at home all day and i would appreciate the extra money left from my wages when he gets his and pays half the bills

everyone i know at the moment is shopping in cheap places like my shop i work in is a pound shop and everything is 1 pound so people are shopping here instead of like asda or tesco because it's cheaper which i suppose is good 4 me right now more hours at work mean more money. Lets just hope this recession doesn't last to long. Jenny