I caught the news at noon, and it said the Ford company may be laying off 10,000 workers? I think I heard it right, but am hoping I didn't.

Wonder when it will slow down and how many more people will lose their jobs? Even when people get new jobs it is usually for less money. When I added up our income for 2001, we made about 2/3 of what we had amde the previous year, and only 1/2 of what we would consider a "normal" year. Oh well, we are still here regardless!

How is the economy in your area faring? Those who have been laid off in the past few months, have you had any job opportunities?

-- Melissa (me@home.net), January 08, 2002

Answers

Could the layoffs be seasonal? I am told GM always has a shutdown after the Holiday season.

Personally speaking, and I am not complaining as we are blessed!!, we settled on our homestead 10 days after 9/11, counting largely on the 10 to 20 hours of weekly overtime I am (was) forced to work.

4 to 6 weeks later our State, my employer, eliminated most hiring, and unnecessary spending, fearing budget problems. This includes (for now) our forced overtime.

Now we have 1000 dollars less monthly income, and 250 more monthly bill for 5 to 6 years. I have worked 200 to 300 hours of mandatory overtime a year for over 20 years. When we entered into this we knew we could refinance our home equity loan and this new temporary 13,000 loan and as a result drop the 250 bill altogether.

I hate to give up the equity to the lawyers.

Not a devistating blow, as one day we will have less income than this. Definately a reality check.

-- Rick (Rick_122@hotmail.com), January 08, 2002.

My dad's been laid off from his regular job for almost a year now. He is working but not what he usually does. He got his W-2 yesterday. He said in the 6 months he has worked this year, his wages are down 15,000.00 for the 6 months. That's means 30,000.00 less for the year. It looks like I picked the right time to move back and help!God Bless

-- Micheale from SE Kansas (mbfrye@totelcsi.net), January 08, 2002.

I was visiting with my cousin and his wife over the holidays, they both work for Ford. She said that on September 11th it was as if those planes crashed right into their assembly lines. Sales, which were poor to start with, dropped off immediately and even with the 0% financing deals they still haven't really recovered.

They are two of the most un-frugal people I know. If one of them gets laid off I'm afraid they're going to be in for a rude awakening.

-- Sherri C (CeltiaSkye@aol.com), January 08, 2002.

Sherri, I do feel badly for people who are in over their heads when a lay-off occurs. It is so stressful to be without a job and have bills to pay. We have I guess been fortunate in that we have never really had a steady, dependable income so we have never gotten used to it. We have never made more than $30,000 in a years time. If we did we would think we were rich! But you know we never, ever go without anything we really need. I guess the lower our income is the more of a game we make out of getting by on less and less.

I would really reccommend the Tightwad Gazette to anyone, not just for the money saving tips, but the attitude it teaches you about money!

-- Melissa (me@home.net), January 08, 2002.

Ford will be announcing a restructuring program on Friday. Some analysts are saying the layoffs will be more like 20,000 people. Automakers have been hurting since last year and would be doing just as bad if 9/11 never happened. I think it's real convenient for upper management to blame conditions on the events of 9/11 but all that did was speed up the process a bit. Last summer most economists and corporate heads were banking on a 4th quarter recovery. Now that it didn't happen they're saying 2nd quarter of this year. I think it's all wishful thinking and the dominoes are still falling.

The local economy here is doing better than most, although there's been alot of layoffs in the tech companies and aircraft industries. The internet industry in LA has been a disaster this past year. New home sales in this county and the next one over actually set a new record last month. Gasoline is going for .89 a gallon, a whole dollar less than last year at this time.

I see in the news today that US Postal mail volume hit a 30 year low, almost 3 billion items less this past quarter than last year. I guess one good thing is there's less junk mail in my box.

-- Dave (something@somewhere.com), January 08, 2002.

Around here (s.e.IL) business is down. Husband is contractor (almost 50 yrs.) He now has 2 houses under construction, but the preceding year was really slow, mostly additions and remodels. Not many buildings going up at present. I chose a bad time to be unable to work. Am retired RN, due to bad back from car wreck 7 yrs ago. The most I ever made, after 40yrs. in the business was a little over $13 per hour, that was working evenings in long term care at local hospital. Nursing homes (10 yrs. there and loved "my little old people") is even lower. Now there is a shortage of nurses and every day the small local newspaper has ads from several places as far away as 30+ miles, some starting new grads at $20 per hr. plus big sign-on bonus. I miss my little old people, but not the politics and favoritism from higher-ups.

-- gibson girl (bobtravous@email.com), January 08, 2002.

Have any of you heard of National Machinery? They build the machines that factories use to, well, build the machines. They were the premier industry of this kind in the world. No more. They could no longer obtain financing and they closed their doors right after Christmas. When factories are no longer ordering machines, something serious is going on.

-- vicki in NW OH (thga76@aol.com), January 08, 2002.

Business in New Hampshire is great, and my business is great (started 2 years ago).

Don't listen to the news - I have been through several recessions from 1973 to now and they happen every 10 +/- years, so don't worry about it.

Start your own business (if you are so inclined) - it is the best thing we ever did. My wife and I started two seperate businesses 2 years ago. When I had a critical illness in 1999, our income went from quite high to 50% of that to not much when we started the businesses, but after the first year, we are doing great.

Take control of your own life, don't rely on some company to look out for you. In the long run, you will look out for you better.

-- Ned Finkel (nfinkel@mindspring.com), January 10, 2002.

I can't believe how bad our economy has become...6 months ago my husband would have have the pick of many jobs!!! He was laid off from his job in June and now are savings is completely gone. We have no money. WE don't know what to expect. 3 years of building equity in our home seems as if we won't see it....Our home will probably be foreclosed on us.. This seems like a modern day depression.

-- michelle (mishibishi75@yahoo.com), August 23, 2002.