If there is a recession caused by the housing industry I doubt that anyone with enough money to afford a house with a lawn in San Diego will be so strapped for cash as to fire their gardener and do their own yard work.
I must beg to differ Beach Rat. With ARM resets, foolish HELOCs used to fund prior consumption and income reduction ahead for many in housing-related employment, we’re most likely looking at a significant number of people in some sort of financial distress.
Should that occur, won’t a lot of people cut expenses to the bone in order to survive the storm? If I were in that situation, the gardener would be one of the first to go.
I’ve seen evidence of this already. My neighbor, who is in construction, recently stopped using outside gardening services. As an aside, he also mentioned that the atmosphere on job sites has gotten noticeably chillier.
While getting my hair cut the other day, the woman cutting my hair remarked about how she’s cut back on expenses as a result of gas prices. These cutbacks include gardening, maids, satellite, etc. She claims that she and her husband have cut nearly $600 in monthly expenses.
Unnecessary expenses are always the first to be cut when times get tough.
