I made more in 09 than ever before (promotion) but my partner made less (low incentives from the economy) so we jointly made the same as in 08. But I have a lot more in savings and we are working on retirement savings. Our house value has plummeted but overall I’d say we are in good shape.
I just started a new job - haven’t even gotten my 1st paycheck yet - so I voted “hoping things get better soon” aka “hoping they don’t fire me before I get a few more paychecks.”
If I hadn’t just landed this position, I would have been squarely in the far bleaker “barely able to keep up” camp. All the groceries, gas, etc. that have been going on my credit card … I don’t even want to think about how far in the hole I am, and none of that was squandered resources or silly purchases, either.
I chose “Hurtin’ and hope it gets better soon.” I am almost 35 years old, single with two kids and am living those glory days of living with my parents again (gee, did sarcasm drip there? Sorry). Anyways, I didn’t put myself at the bottom of the list because part of this is from my choosing. I saw the downturn coming to my industry a couple years ago and my parents had offered to help me out if I chose to go back to school so I took the opportunity. I moved in with my parents with kids in tow and went to nursing school. I’ll be done in 16 months and going into an industry that is not as volatile as what I was doing. I am very lucky. My parents have a large house that accommodates my small family upstairs and we don’t fall all over each other. I often feel guilty about taking so much from them but I remind myself that this will let me be more self supporting later and do things for my kids that I could not before (fairly normal salary but two kids with no child support - don’t get me started) so we can be a bit more comfortable.
My husband and I are both making the same as we were before the crash - neither of us has had a raise, and I haven’t had a raise in 3+ years for various reasons, and am still making less than I was in 2004 when I took a pay cut to take a job that I thought would be less stressful. But there haven’t been layoffs so far at either of our workplaces (in part because management has been fiscally conservative by doing things like not giving raises).
Between that, and my having finally paid off all debt other than my student loans, and some very generous wedding gifts, we just bought our first condo this past week and are hoping to be able to continue socking away a bunch into savings. And that $8k first-time homebuyer tax credit doesn’t hurt either.
So things are not feeling so tight, though I at least am crossing my fingers that there continue to be no layoffs at my workplace, because there sure as hell aren’t any jobs locally in my field.
Technically, me and the spouse are employed and making about what we were making before the economy tanked. I haven’t had a pay-raise in 4 years, and there’s no new jobs in my feild in our high-cost-of-living area. Emotionally, we’re a bit stressed. We’ve got a lot of friends who need help, and we just can’t help everyone. We’ve battended down the hatches a bit in hopes of being able to retire someday.
Moving back to Maine after California kicked my ass (the divorce didn’t help) I got on with a fairly large company as a temp. I was pretty well suited for the work so I got on full-time inside of a month and earned a couple of promotions in the first year. Since then (8 years now – holy shit, has it been that long?) we’ve expanded greatly and I’ve continued to earn promotions. So as long as I don’t fuck up too hard and/or the company doesn’t go under – which seems unlikely to an extreme – I’m golden.
I’ve never earned as much as I am right now, not by a long shot – even in Cali where salaries are generally higher than they are in Maine.
I’m doing really well. I’ve got a totally secure job that I enjoy very much. Good salary, great benefits, and room for promotion. The housing market has been great for me. I bought low (in 2001); sold high (in 2007); rented for a while and then bought a embarassingly big house in summer 2008 at foreclosure price.
I don’t know that I’ve ever been happier with my lot in life than these last several months. I enjoy my job, it pays pretty decently, I’m not overworked, my wife works part-time and wants to. I received a generous gift from my recently retired parents and we just bought a new (used) car.
Things are great. For all those in trouble, keep your head up and keep struggling. There’s a light at the end of this tunnel.
Despite the poor economy (and I live in the Detroit area where things are really bleak), 2009 was my best earning year ever.
As for 2010, the prognosis still looks good…
My husband and I quit our jobs in June last year to move closer to family. Since we quit we have no unemployment and have been living off our savings. I have yet to get a job at our new location, but remain hopeful. The hubby had a job that he HATED (with good reason they expected him to to work 12- 14 hour days on a regular basis and did nothing but complain about productivity) which he lost a month ago. He is starting a new job at the beginning of March that is temporary, but with the possibility of becoming full time. I pick hurtin’ but hoping things will get better soon. If I don’t get a job in the next three months, our savings will run out and I might change my answer.
I’m earning more than I’ve ever earned and have been getting regular raises, but am a big ball of stress. I’m also not stimulating the economy that much; I’m saving like crazy for when the bad times happen in my industry. I’m also no longer considering “retiring” at 55 to start a less stressful second career – I’m going to try to extend my more stressful first career long enough to make up what evaporated from my 401K.
Yeah? Well it’s probably a train. I’m making more than ever but still moving backwards. As I posted a couple of weeks ago, my wife has a serious illness; this is the second in four years, and following a major illness of my own two years ago. So, although we have insurance, our hobby is paying medical bills. I haven’t been to a movie theater since Christmas 2008. All our savings have been completely depleted. My wife isn’t working and the prospect of working isn’t even on the horizon. Oh and I’m one of those Anthem Blue Cross customers who insurance is about to jump 39%. I’m not sure what we’re going to do yet at that point.