Top 50 forum: How are you coping?

Dear readers:

This year's Top 50 in Business special section will examine how the Pittsburgh region is surviving and thriving in an economic downturn. What steps are you and your family taking to make it through these tough economic times?

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 How are you coping with the downturn? Some people are cutting expenses (dropping gym memberships, not eating out, taking public transportation, using coupons). Some people are increasing their savings for a rainy day. Some people are looking for a job that is more secure. What steps are you taking?

Brian Hyslop, Business Editor

   Judging by the dearth of responses to this post, most PG online forum readers aren’t concerned about the economic downturn – why ruin a nasty recession by thinking about it!

Their motto must be: We’ll let the same incompetents (Washington & Wall Street gurus) who got us into this mess get us out of it. Unfortunately, we, also, are a large part of the problem.

   When people have to cancel their cable TV subscriptions and get rid of their cell phones, it may dawn on them that America is teetering on the brink of economic chaos that may take generations to resolve.

 I'm having no problem coping. But then again I live within my means. I have a mortgage and a car payment and a couple of credit cards but I don't abuse the system. I still am trying to figure out why we the people have to bail out wall street and the banks. When you play the stock market isn't it a form of gambling and if you lose you lose? If I go to Atlantic City and lose all my money is the government going to give it back to me? The rich got greedy and now they want the little guy to bail them out. Where were they when I was almost living in the streets after serving my country? We're being forced to bail them out and there's nothing we can do about it. When the stock market crashes(my prediction it will) the adverage person I know isn't going to hurt much. Because in Pittsburgh we still live within our means.

Problems I see is the food lines we'll all be standing in because there's not going to be enough food to go around. Farmers can't afford to farm anymore. Big corporations will fall and all the malls will become ghost towns.  Unemployment is going to be at least 20%.

One solution: Put a Maximum Wage. There are people that make more in one year than 1000 people make in a lifetime. I don't care what anyone says, noone deserves more than $500,000 per year. Grant it some companies make alot of money, but if they make so much pass it along back to the consumer in lower prices.

Second: Noone should be hungry. There's enough money spend on stupid grants and programs that should be redirected back to the people.

third: Noone should be without healthcare. The VA program is better ran and organized than the private sector, so lets expand that. Make all hospitals and clinics government controlled. This way everyone gets the same help.

I could write a book on how to correct the United States but who would read it because I'm not educated.

I work in the financial industry, so I have been following the story of the economic failure pretty carefully. Lately, I have made paying credit cards down a top priority. I have also reduced my 401(K) contribution and place those funds in a traditional savings account where they will be easily accessible if they are needed.

I hope I'm realistic enough to understand that I cannot change "everything" for the better, so I've tried to concentrate on doing one thing dilligently that both helps me and helps the community economically. So, I've virtually stopped driving.

Whenever possible I walk, even in this winter weather. You get accustomed to it and you feel better. It's a four-mile walk from my home in Regent Square to the Cathedral of Learning in Oakland, so Oakland, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, Greenfield and Swissvale all are do-able for me. Downtown and Monroeville are too distant, but the Port Authority will usually get me there in less than an hour.

So my little truck sits in the parking lot most of the time and I average about 200 miles of driving per month. That's almost entirely to destinations that have no walking or public transportation solution. That's down from the average 1000-1200 miles per month I was driving just two years ago. How much am I saving? Well, I'm keeping one mini-truck off the streets most of the time and putting about $300 in my pocket each month.

I realize not everybody can do this, but my decisions about what's important and where to live make this a satisfying strategy for me.

William McCloskey

Regent Square

We have cut our cell phone bill by 50.00 per  month by going pay as you go. We have stopped eating out every week and now try to only spend about 20.00 per week eating out, i.e. one lunch or breakfast. We shop for meats on sale (reduced next day) and then freeze them to use as needed. We pay more attention to sale adds at grocery stores. We have found really good deals at Right by Nature in the strip and aldi's for basics like eggs and produce. One other good tip: the public library has free books, movies and cd's and they keep a mfg coupon file that you can go thru to use double coupons on items you need at the grocery store. 

Finally our motto is if you don't have the money to buy something, you don't need it. Never use a credit card unless you can pay it off immediately.

How am I coping? I'm not. I was laid off in August and still can't find a job- any job. I have a Masters Degree yet in my field (education) the jobs are scarce. I know there are jobs in other states but since I am not working, I am not saving, so I cannot afford to move. It's expensive to move- very expensive.  I am not making ends meet and barely surviving.

My husband enlisted in the military thinking the signing bonus and other benefits would be helpful. It is, but now he's leaving for 15 months for advanced educational training. So I will not only be unemployed, but alone, and stuck in a economically depressed town.

Since we don't have kids, welfare is not an option. We make too much for assistance (by about $100/month), but not enough to make ends meet (we have trouble paying for everything- rent, utilities, gas, student loans, groceries, etc.) We've completely given up eating out, going out for coffee, buying pop and other snacks, and only eat one big meal a day (cheap stuff like pasta or homemade soups).

I am not coping, have entered therapy because of this, and I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel. I need a job, but the jobs aren't here, yet I cannot afford to move. I have no idea what's going to happen to me.

This is, no doubt, a difficult economic time, and my belief is that it will get substantially worse during the next number of years. There are many factors, and everyone wants someone or something to blame. It is just not that easy. People blame the companies that made bad loans, the people that took loans they could not afford, Americans not saving money for a rainy day (and we all know that the good times don't last forever), the Government for not watching out for all of this, their employers, and on and on.

People in America started wanting everything immediately a long time ago. When my friends graduated from college, they just had to have a new, house, new cars, new furniture..... The government encouraged banks and other financial firms, like Fannie and Freddie, to loan people, who could not afford to pay the loan back, the money to purchase homes. They did this by stating that lenders could not discriminate against neighborhoods, and the lending firms were pressured, by the government, to make bad loans. Now, more than 70% of Americans own home (or owe on homes). The less than 30%, which comprise the rest, do not typically want to own a home. Now the builders, who were going full tilt, have no one to build for. The banks have nobody to loan to, or at least not nearly as many people. As a solution, our government has come up with a way to shore up the Citibanks of the world, the GM's, and other corporations, who are not run well enough to stay in business.

Where does that money come from? Not from us, because we are actually pushing the debt off to our kids and their kids. Consider that $1 Trillion is $3500 for every man, woman, and child. For a family of 5, that means for this recent stimulus, we owe about $17,500. Add the $700 Billion from before and the $2 Trillion our Treasury Secretary is talking about giving to banks, who cannot stay in business by themselves, and we are talking about over $50,000 in debt  - for a family of 5. That is just for this year and next. Life is certainly not rosy, but we cannot buy our way out of this. We need to reinvent and re-engineer our businesses, just as we have done so many times. America has done this with business, the automobile, plane, and the computer/internet. We just need to be creative and come up with new industries or ideas that will propel us into our next boom.

This will not be done by the government, but by the amazing American workforce. When things are at their worst, we should be at our best, work harder than we thought possible, and do whatever is necessary to be successful. Our lives are still better than anywhere else. Please remember that it this difficult time. When I went to Africa, I saw true problems, such as starvation, people not having any idea how they would get there next meal, up to 30% of the population having HIV, severe malaria problems, unsafe water sources, dirt floors in small huts. We certainly have challenges, but few can claim that they face these.

So, in this difficult time, remember what is important to you. It is not the car you drive or the latest gadget you own. It is our beloved families and friends. Give someone you love a hug every day, and hopefully more than once. They make life so much better! Smile, life is beautiful. Take a walk, since they are free, and enjoy the wonderful world around you. Make the choice to be happy, not because everything is perfect, but because life itself is great.

Most things run in cycles so in a downturn it pays to look for the opportunities for growth.  What did I do in down economic times? I invested in myself. I used 401K money, legally and without penalty, to buy a small business. The business is now part of my retirement portfolio in a new 401K investment vehicle. As the business grows, so does the value of my 401K.  It was losing value rapidly in the stock market.

Admittedly, I happened to be in the right place at the right time for this business opportunity- I opened an Honest-1 Auto Care repair and maintenance franchise 1 year ago.  The original opportunity that attracted me, as I have no auto repair experience, was a stodgy industry with a very bad reputation and an old business model.  The industry is known for lack of trust on the consumer’s part, being unfriendly to females and dirty. Honest-1 Auto Care holds building trust and relationships’ as one of its core values, is the first eco-friendly chain in the industry and has a strong focus on being female friendly and educational. Women are 60% of our customers.

Auto repair and maintenance is also countercyclical to the economy. As new car sales and leases plummet our business goes up.  I was worried being a new business last Sept/Oct when both economic shoes dropped, but I saw my customer count go up.  My sales for January and February are up 90% over last year and I expect overall sales this year to be up 50%.  Auto repair and maintenance and green businesses have recently and consistently been listed in the top 10 business to start in down economic times. I believe I am doing the right thing at the right time so much that I purchased the rights to develop the Pittsburgh market with Honest-1 Auto Care franchises for other business entrepreneurs.

Ransom Towsley

Point Breeze

 Coping for tough economic times can be fun!  I always start my days with an encouraging re-run speech by "our dear leader Barack Hussein Obama." Then for kicks I bring my heart rate down with sheer laughter after viewing the "tin man" flanked by the wide eyed doe Nancy Pelosi, and the cowardly lion Harry Reid. After taking my prozac I begin my tin can collection roaming the streets of the North Side (hoping this will make up for my lost 401-K cash.)

No matter.............. I march on. I am certain "CHANGE" is coming and am full of "HOPE" that John Murtha fulfills his promise of bringing GITMO detainees into his District. I will be the first to apply for one of these part-time jail guard jobs.

Other than that I have been stocking up on stale bread, old Locatella goat cheese, and cheap "premium charcoal filtered" POPOV vodka. When the unemployment rate hits 20% I will be able to stay perched on my inner city stoop and toast my commrades and the youthfull passer-bys who so bravely conjured up the courage to vote for the first time in their idyllic lives, sipping my drink and washing down my government subsidized 5 cent Lasix water pill and new health care promised to me in 2008.

 I have not done anything too differently but, so far, my husband and I are still employed, We have always lived beneath our means, so we continue to put $ in savings each month. We have one car payment and a mortgage, and no credit card debt. If, however, one of us finds ourselves un or under-employed, we would probably do the following: get rid of the HD DVR, go down to a lower cell phone plan, stop going out to lunch once a week, get rid of On-Star, and obviously stop putting money into savings. Shopping at Kohl's is also my weakness; I spend probably 50 to 100 bucks a month there, so that would go too. We don't spend a lot of excess, so it would be hard for us to cut a lot out, but every little bit helps. I can only hope it does not come to that for us, but we have been there before and made it through. In today's economy, you need to buckle down. If you are not putting money in savings and you are working, you should start. Cut stuff out. You may be sorry later if you do not.

I graduated with a masters degree in December with high hopes of a great job in the Pittsburgh area. I was disappointed to have to take a job not even related to my field with below-average pay. On the bright side, it is a job, and I am keeping up with my bills, something that a lot of good people can't do right now. 

Other than that, I'm trying to pay down my credit cards and I'm making sure to put additional money aside. I don't have much money to throw around to begin with, so I have to be pretty discretionary to begin with. 

 I have decided to  bite the bullet in bill pay.  Each month I'm going to pay off a debt starting with the smallest one to the largest one until I'm debt free.  I have no idea what is going to happen with the economy and i think I would be safer just paying off my bills instead of just making payments.  I have so many bills it will take a least a year and I'll probably ruin my credit history and score but at least I'll be out of debt.  I have a nice home and the only thing I'll probably need is to update my car only when it becomes unfixable.  It's good that a lot of companies are bringing back lay-a-way.  I'll shop at those stores  to make ends meet on things that I really need (not want).  I'm also going to close my accounts as I pay them off.  I know they say this isn't good, but once I pay them, I don't want to be able to use them again if I get into financial trouble.  I'll keep you posted on how this goes and if I make it.

Who cares, A newspaper with standards equal to the weekly world news? yeah right. Please get more tax money, maybe you can buy a real journalist.