Economy and shopping in SD

[zzz]

i think most of us who are savers or not heavily in debt can’t truly grasp how so many many people spend everything they make and live paycheck to paycheck, and have a lot of credit card debt, and somehow sleep at night anyhow. most people do not have months or years of savings in the event of job loss.

i was at nordstroms in escondido a month ago and the sales lady said they had 2 of their best quarters in Q1/Q2 this year, double digit growth over last year in that store.

most of our friends spend spend spend. they eat out 3-4x’s a week at nice sit down restaurants and drink with their meals. they may be 200k in graduate school debt, but they are buying new cars and taking international vacations every year, take lots of weekend trips, join wine clubs, they do not blink dropping $200-300 on a pair of designer jeans, or $300 on a sundress. if they did this twice a year, it would be one thing, but its like every other month. some couples both have well paying jobs, but they still have 10 or 20k in credit card debt and would rather keep spending than pay down their credit card debt.

we know people who have early 20 something children, who are not going to college, working minimum wage jobs, living at home, with iphones, relatively newer cars, and eat out and drink out all the time. their parents are not subsidizing their expenditures.

we have friends who are stressed about paying their mortgage, and feel stressed about cash, but then take international vacations or rent expensive homes and take their whole family to hawaii including their parents, rather than save the cash in case of income loss.

its insane to me, but people do it!

[CA renter]

[quote=briansd1][quote=CA renter]
Pretty much confirms that LOWER housing prices/costs are the solution to our problems.[/quote]

Well, long term yes. Lower housing costs, as proportion of income, would be good for other sectors of the economy.

In the mean time, people need to get out of debt and out from being underwater. Only time and inflation can fix that.[/quote]

Only defaults and foreclosures can fix that.

[CA renter]

[quote=briansd1][quote=CA renter]
Pretty much confirms that LOWER housing prices/costs are the solution to our problems.[/quote]

Well, long term yes. Lower housing costs, as proportion of income, would be good for other sectors of the economy.

In the mean time, people need to get out of debt and out from being underwater. Only time and inflation can fix that.[/quote]

Only defaults and foreclosures can fix that.

[CA renter]

[quote=briansd1][quote=CA renter]
Pretty much confirms that LOWER housing prices/costs are the solution to our problems.[/quote]

Well, long term yes. Lower housing costs, as proportion of income, would be good for other sectors of the economy.

In the mean time, people need to get out of debt and out from being underwater. Only time and inflation can fix that.[/quote]

Only defaults and foreclosures can fix that.

[CA renter]

[quote=briansd1][quote=CA renter]
Pretty much confirms that LOWER housing prices/costs are the solution to our problems.[/quote]

Well, long term yes. Lower housing costs, as proportion of income, would be good for other sectors of the economy.

In the mean time, people need to get out of debt and out from being underwater. Only time and inflation can fix that.[/quote]

Only defaults and foreclosures can fix that.

[CA renter]

[quote=briansd1][quote=CA renter]
Pretty much confirms that LOWER housing prices/costs are the solution to our problems.[/quote]

Well, long term yes. Lower housing costs, as proportion of income, would be good for other sectors of the economy.

In the mean time, people need to get out of debt and out from being underwater. Only time and inflation can fix that.[/quote]

Only defaults and foreclosures can fix that.

[CA renter]

[quote=zzz]i think most of us who are savers or not heavily in debt can’t truly grasp how so many many people spend everything they make and live paycheck to paycheck, and have a lot of credit card debt, and somehow sleep at night anyhow. most people do not have months or years of savings in the event of job loss.

i was at nordstroms in escondido a month ago and the sales lady said they had 2 of their best quarters in Q1/Q2 this year, double digit growth over last year in that store.

most of our friends spend spend spend. they eat out 3-4x’s a week at nice sit down restaurants and drink with their meals. they may be 200k in graduate school debt, but they are buying new cars and taking international vacations every year, take lots of weekend trips, join wine clubs, they do not blink dropping $200-300 on a pair of designer jeans, or $300 on a sundress. if they did this twice a year, it would be one thing, but its like every other month. some couples both have well paying jobs, but they still have 10 or 20k in credit card debt and would rather keep spending than pay down their credit card debt.

we know people who have early 20 something children, who are not going to college, working minimum wage jobs, living at home, with iphones, relatively newer cars, and eat out and drink out all the time. their parents are not subsidizing their expenditures.

we have friends who are stressed about paying their mortgage, and feel stressed about cash, but then take international vacations or rent expensive homes and take their whole family to hawaii including their parents, rather than save the cash in case of income loss.

its insane to me, but people do it![/quote]

Definitely. It’s scary, because after learning my lesson very early in life, I’ve made it a point to stay out of debt, entirely. It’s amazing how easy it is to rack up crazy amounts of debt. We still use credit cards, but pay them off every month. Still, I think we’d spend even less if we used cash. There’s just something more “real” about pulling multiple 20s out of your wallet — and having to make multiple trips to the bank to restock cash. You’re more aware of what you’re spending, IMO.

[CA renter]

[quote=zzz]i think most of us who are savers or not heavily in debt can’t truly grasp how so many many people spend everything they make and live paycheck to paycheck, and have a lot of credit card debt, and somehow sleep at night anyhow. most people do not have months or years of savings in the event of job loss.

i was at nordstroms in escondido a month ago and the sales lady said they had 2 of their best quarters in Q1/Q2 this year, double digit growth over last year in that store.

most of our friends spend spend spend. they eat out 3-4x’s a week at nice sit down restaurants and drink with their meals. they may be 200k in graduate school debt, but they are buying new cars and taking international vacations every year, take lots of weekend trips, join wine clubs, they do not blink dropping $200-300 on a pair of designer jeans, or $300 on a sundress. if they did this twice a year, it would be one thing, but its like every other month. some couples both have well paying jobs, but they still have 10 or 20k in credit card debt and would rather keep spending than pay down their credit card debt.

we know people who have early 20 something children, who are not going to college, working minimum wage jobs, living at home, with iphones, relatively newer cars, and eat out and drink out all the time. their parents are not subsidizing their expenditures.

we have friends who are stressed about paying their mortgage, and feel stressed about cash, but then take international vacations or rent expensive homes and take their whole family to hawaii including their parents, rather than save the cash in case of income loss.

its insane to me, but people do it![/quote]

Definitely. It’s scary, because after learning my lesson very early in life, I’ve made it a point to stay out of debt, entirely. It’s amazing how easy it is to rack up crazy amounts of debt. We still use credit cards, but pay them off every month. Still, I think we’d spend even less if we used cash. There’s just something more “real” about pulling multiple 20s out of your wallet — and having to make multiple trips to the bank to restock cash. You’re more aware of what you’re spending, IMO.

[CA renter]

[quote=zzz]i think most of us who are savers or not heavily in debt can’t truly grasp how so many many people spend everything they make and live paycheck to paycheck, and have a lot of credit card debt, and somehow sleep at night anyhow. most people do not have months or years of savings in the event of job loss.

i was at nordstroms in escondido a month ago and the sales lady said they had 2 of their best quarters in Q1/Q2 this year, double digit growth over last year in that store.

most of our friends spend spend spend. they eat out 3-4x’s a week at nice sit down restaurants and drink with their meals. they may be 200k in graduate school debt, but they are buying new cars and taking international vacations every year, take lots of weekend trips, join wine clubs, they do not blink dropping $200-300 on a pair of designer jeans, or $300 on a sundress. if they did this twice a year, it would be one thing, but its like every other month. some couples both have well paying jobs, but they still have 10 or 20k in credit card debt and would rather keep spending than pay down their credit card debt.

we know people who have early 20 something children, who are not going to college, working minimum wage jobs, living at home, with iphones, relatively newer cars, and eat out and drink out all the time. their parents are not subsidizing their expenditures.

we have friends who are stressed about paying their mortgage, and feel stressed about cash, but then take international vacations or rent expensive homes and take their whole family to hawaii including their parents, rather than save the cash in case of income loss.

its insane to me, but people do it![/quote]

Definitely. It’s scary, because after learning my lesson very early in life, I’ve made it a point to stay out of debt, entirely. It’s amazing how easy it is to rack up crazy amounts of debt. We still use credit cards, but pay them off every month. Still, I think we’d spend even less if we used cash. There’s just something more “real” about pulling multiple 20s out of your wallet — and having to make multiple trips to the bank to restock cash. You’re more aware of what you’re spending, IMO.

[CA renter]

[quote=zzz]i think most of us who are savers or not heavily in debt can’t truly grasp how so many many people spend everything they make and live paycheck to paycheck, and have a lot of credit card debt, and somehow sleep at night anyhow. most people do not have months or years of savings in the event of job loss.

i was at nordstroms in escondido a month ago and the sales lady said they had 2 of their best quarters in Q1/Q2 this year, double digit growth over last year in that store.

most of our friends spend spend spend. they eat out 3-4x’s a week at nice sit down restaurants and drink with their meals. they may be 200k in graduate school debt, but they are buying new cars and taking international vacations every year, take lots of weekend trips, join wine clubs, they do not blink dropping $200-300 on a pair of designer jeans, or $300 on a sundress. if they did this twice a year, it would be one thing, but its like every other month. some couples both have well paying jobs, but they still have 10 or 20k in credit card debt and would rather keep spending than pay down their credit card debt.

we know people who have early 20 something children, who are not going to college, working minimum wage jobs, living at home, with iphones, relatively newer cars, and eat out and drink out all the time. their parents are not subsidizing their expenditures.

we have friends who are stressed about paying their mortgage, and feel stressed about cash, but then take international vacations or rent expensive homes and take their whole family to hawaii including their parents, rather than save the cash in case of income loss.

its insane to me, but people do it![/quote]

Definitely. It’s scary, because after learning my lesson very early in life, I’ve made it a point to stay out of debt, entirely. It’s amazing how easy it is to rack up crazy amounts of debt. We still use credit cards, but pay them off every month. Still, I think we’d spend even less if we used cash. There’s just something more “real” about pulling multiple 20s out of your wallet — and having to make multiple trips to the bank to restock cash. You’re more aware of what you’re spending, IMO.

[CA renter]

[quote=zzz]i think most of us who are savers or not heavily in debt can’t truly grasp how so many many people spend everything they make and live paycheck to paycheck, and have a lot of credit card debt, and somehow sleep at night anyhow. most people do not have months or years of savings in the event of job loss.

i was at nordstroms in escondido a month ago and the sales lady said they had 2 of their best quarters in Q1/Q2 this year, double digit growth over last year in that store.

most of our friends spend spend spend. they eat out 3-4x’s a week at nice sit down restaurants and drink with their meals. they may be 200k in graduate school debt, but they are buying new cars and taking international vacations every year, take lots of weekend trips, join wine clubs, they do not blink dropping $200-300 on a pair of designer jeans, or $300 on a sundress. if they did this twice a year, it would be one thing, but its like every other month. some couples both have well paying jobs, but they still have 10 or 20k in credit card debt and would rather keep spending than pay down their credit card debt.

we know people who have early 20 something children, who are not going to college, working minimum wage jobs, living at home, with iphones, relatively newer cars, and eat out and drink out all the time. their parents are not subsidizing their expenditures.

we have friends who are stressed about paying their mortgage, and feel stressed about cash, but then take international vacations or rent expensive homes and take their whole family to hawaii including their parents, rather than save the cash in case of income loss.

its insane to me, but people do it![/quote]

Definitely. It’s scary, because after learning my lesson very early in life, I’ve made it a point to stay out of debt, entirely. It’s amazing how easy it is to rack up crazy amounts of debt. We still use credit cards, but pay them off every month. Still, I think we’d spend even less if we used cash. There’s just something more “real” about pulling multiple 20s out of your wallet — and having to make multiple trips to the bank to restock cash. You’re more aware of what you’re spending, IMO.

[svelte]

By sheer coincidence on two different evenings, we ran into owners of two separate north county jewelry stores in the last month.

What was surprising is that they both told us the same thing, without us even asking. They said that sales of jewelry is way down, at the lowest level they have seen. But they are extremely busy with people bringing jewelry in to sell. They said last year and this winter, people were bringing in their unused jewelry, stuff they could live without. This summer, it is their best stuff, things that they would have to be desperate to sell.

Both jewelers had a slight look of panic in their eyes as they talked to us. I think they are truly afraid.

Perhaps we are seeing a severe bifurcation of the masses: those with jobs are continuing on as if there is nothing amiss (thus the full malls), while those who are without work or about to be without work have an entirely different view of the world (and they hawk their belongings to make ends meet).

[svelte]

By sheer coincidence on two different evenings, we ran into owners of two separate north county jewelry stores in the last month.

What was surprising is that they both told us the same thing, without us even asking. They said that sales of jewelry is way down, at the lowest level they have seen. But they are extremely busy with people bringing jewelry in to sell. They said last year and this winter, people were bringing in their unused jewelry, stuff they could live without. This summer, it is their best stuff, things that they would have to be desperate to sell.

Both jewelers had a slight look of panic in their eyes as they talked to us. I think they are truly afraid.

Perhaps we are seeing a severe bifurcation of the masses: those with jobs are continuing on as if there is nothing amiss (thus the full malls), while those who are without work or about to be without work have an entirely different view of the world (and they hawk their belongings to make ends meet).

[svelte]

By sheer coincidence on two different evenings, we ran into owners of two separate north county jewelry stores in the last month.

What was surprising is that they both told us the same thing, without us even asking. They said that sales of jewelry is way down, at the lowest level they have seen. But they are extremely busy with people bringing jewelry in to sell. They said last year and this winter, people were bringing in their unused jewelry, stuff they could live without. This summer, it is their best stuff, things that they would have to be desperate to sell.

Both jewelers had a slight look of panic in their eyes as they talked to us. I think they are truly afraid.

Perhaps we are seeing a severe bifurcation of the masses: those with jobs are continuing on as if there is nothing amiss (thus the full malls), while those who are without work or about to be without work have an entirely different view of the world (and they hawk their belongings to make ends meet).

[svelte]

By sheer coincidence on two different evenings, we ran into owners of two separate north county jewelry stores in the last month.

What was surprising is that they both told us the same thing, without us even asking. They said that sales of jewelry is way down, at the lowest level they have seen. But they are extremely busy with people bringing jewelry in to sell. They said last year and this winter, people were bringing in their unused jewelry, stuff they could live without. This summer, it is their best stuff, things that they would have to be desperate to sell.

Both jewelers had a slight look of panic in their eyes as they talked to us. I think they are truly afraid.

Perhaps we are seeing a severe bifurcation of the masses: those with jobs are continuing on as if there is nothing amiss (thus the full malls), while those who are without work or about to be without work have an entirely different view of the world (and they hawk their belongings to make ends meet).

[Author]

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