What happens to us, in practical terms, during a recession?

[Lex]

What impact does it have exactly on people and families and small businesses?

I knew I should've taken an Econ class in undergrad.

Anyone?

[backscatter712]

1. Not too hard to figure out...

On the individual scale, you end up with wage freezes, layoffs, lost jobs, difficulty finding new jobs, unemployment, underemployment, falling behind on bills, defaults, collections, foreclosures, evictions, bankruptcies.

YMMV - there's a few people who get totally ground into the dirt, and a few people who get lucky and ride through unscathed. It does get damned unpleasant for a lot of people.

[TwilightGardener]

2. I have no economics smarts, myself, but with a lack of spending money, businesses

sell less products and services, thus they have to lay off workers, and then a chain reaction starts--now you've got unemployed people buying less stuff, and decreased production, and then the companies who sell materials and the distributors are affected, and so on and so on...

[Lex]

16. Less spending money hurts a lot of restaurants, clothing stores,

and even beauty salons, movie theaters, and just about everything else. Whatever people cut out when they have a little spending money in their pocket--those businesses will hurt. I can see that.

[emilyg]

21. I went to a big chain store yesterday

There were more employees than customers.

[Warpy]

3. No job, no income, bills, sell what you can to keep the bills paid,

lose your roof if it lasts long enough, all the kids get out and hustle for money doing yard work, house work and babysitting, you are grateful for graveyard at a minimart and you have to learn how to like cheap food like dried beans.

[Xipe Totec]

4. job market dries up

investments lose value,

property values go down.

in a word, a clusterfuck.

[no_hypocrisy]

10. You take any job available and as many of them as you can.

[Angela Shelley]

5. Remember living from "Ramen noodles" as an undergrad?

Then you´ll do fine. :-)

[Turbineguy]

15. I remember Kraft Macaroni

19 cents per box. A big, filling dinner. Iced tea (with lemon and sugar on afluent days). Helped my landlord overhaul engine in his piece-of-shit truck in lieu of rent.

Hoping not to revisit.

[Lex]

22. yep

I remember those. I wouldn't even spring for Kraft, but would buy the store brand, which was even more inexpensive. Lots of black pepper made it tasty.

[Angela Shelley]

23. Thanks for reminding me of the "good old days"!

[gateley]

6. In practical terms, I can tell you how it is for me:

I curtail my driving because I don't have the money to use up gas like I used to.

I compare prices at the grocery store, and sometimes buy food with the consideration of how long I can make it last.

I keep my heat down until I just can't stand it anymore (even my cat gets under my goose down comforter).

I don't go out to eat.

I don't go to movies

I don't go shopping at the mall.

This is NOT the life I was living a year ago.

Have you had to make any changes in your lifestyle?

[Virginia Dare]

7. Less jobs, less money to borrow, higher prices, values drop..n/t

[livetohike]

8. Someone (forget who) once said:

A recession is when your neighbor loses his/her job. A depression is when you lose yours.

More lost jobs. Less money to be spent on goods and services.

[EFerrari]

9. I wish I had, too. My eyes cross when I try to understand

DUers talking about the economy.

It's a little scary right now. I can't figure out what else I can cut back on. Cable. That's it. We live pretty simply in the first place. Thank God I don't have credit card bills. The cost of food is going up so fast, I wouldn't be able to make them.

[DaveJ]

11. Depends on the individual...

People just getting out of college will be lucky to get minimum wage jobs, while any credit cards they may have wracked up (buying a nice suit and clothes for the job they thought they would get) will likely go into default and ruin their credit, and their ability to integrate normally into society. That's just one example. Most everyone will be punished in their own unique ways.

[MercutioATC]

12. Don't forget to add in inflation for this recession...

This time around we're also going to see inflation rise...so all of the above with higher prices on goods and services.

"We have a dynamic, resilient economy".....yeah, right.

[Lex]

13. Higher prices on necessities

will hurt a lot of people. Even those who are lucky enough to keep their jobs through the recession.

[w8liftinglady]

14. read this old DU post--budget stretching recipes

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2101012&mesg_id=2101012

[Turbineguy]

17. Did somebody mention

truffles?

[w8liftinglady]

18. lol..someone DID mention cutting expensive caviar with the cheap stuff

[Lex]

19. And only boxed wine, no Olive Garden.

nt

[China_cat]

20. For us...

my husband is a dispatcher for a trucking company.

Less people buying will mean less need for transporting goods, fewer trucks on the road and less need for a dispatcher (especially at night...which is when he works) which will lead to a reduction in work hours, which will lead to the elimination of his eligibility to be included in the employer's health insurance plan.

So we end up losing all the way around.

[flashl]

24. Look to: inner cities, urban centers, Florida, Michigan, Ohio and you will see the future. nt

[dysfunctional press]

25. well...for starters you might want to stock up on some of this-

[CK_John]

26. If you don't know how to weld or own a rickshaw, you go nowhere. n/t