The economy is getting a little scary.
Some leading economists say that the recession can last for another 18 months (putting us into the Spring/Summer of 2010), unemployment rate is highest in five years, only two of Wall Street’s five big U.S. investment banks remain, and the government has JUST orchestrated a $85 billion package for AIG.
How can I NOT be apprehensive in an environment such as this?
So I guess, it makes me feel better to have enough funds for… 11 months of bare-bones living. Almost a year. One more month and I’ll be at the One-Year mark.
Earlier this year, I was planning a mini-vacation to Las Vegas. But now, I decided that I’d rather hoard cash. One of the reasons why I love mini-getaways is because the hotels are always so clean and comfortable. But now I’ve cleaned up my piles of clothes and put on freshly laundered bed linens, my room is so much more welcoming. Given how everything is going, I’m planning to enjoy my weekends close to home for a while.
i hear ya. i wouldn’t be planning a vacation, but we have $600 in flight credits that have to be used by June due to us having to switch around our LAST vacation plans due to the hurricanes last week (we ended up in Las Vegas, ironically lol). So now I have these flight credits that need to be used, otherwise we lose ’em. So I can’t justify wasting them. And so I’m trying to find the cheapest vacation spot we can that uses the $600 for flight and not much else for hotel/food/attractions.
It’s proving tough.
*sigh*
Given everything (your parents being nearby, your already stellar savings) it is probably completely safe to go to Vegas.
But if it is going to make you nervous, I completely understand staying home. Some of my friends are booking a march trip to mexico. There is no way I’m committing to that right now.
To Tiffanie: you should transfer them to someone who needs them in exchange for “$” but not to tell the airports that I’m sure that would be illegal.
Definitely setting up good habits is a great thing to do, why go out on a vacation even with the cash savings and family nearby (they won’t always be there) because this may set up habits you’ll keep doing as you get older. What if she had that cash along with a husband and kids. Sure it’s a nice emergency fund but with kids and more things to go wrong, it may be needed. In times like these, you need to curb spending. You can’t spend what you don’t have and always what I learend was to “save for a rainy day” … The rainy days may not even have come yet….. We’ll wait and see. Given the market downturn today, only time will tell.
i’m right there with you. i’m hoarding cash
wow, the spammer above totally didn’t use grammar check.
I’m freaking out about the economy right now too. I know it has cycles and this is one of them, but it’s still scary to see the financial sector crumble before our very eyes. And I think the bailouts are making it more frightening, not less. Whatever happened to long-term planning? It’s like we’re plugging holes in a leaking, overfilled dam. It’s gonna go one day…we can’t stop it.
It really is getting scary. I keep thinking things will start looking better soon, but they keep getting worse. Good thing you have all of that money saved! Most people don’t have nearly as much…good for you!
It is quite a mine-field out there. And I definitely think savings right now are really wise, I would cut all my travel down to nothing if I weren’t committed to a few weddings already. I’ve definitely pushed all my vacations (not counting going home for xmas and thanksgiving) to next year when things will hopefully be looking a little less gloomy. It never hurts to have a little something saved up for a rainy day. Especially when the job market is looking so dismal.