Anyone here losing money over this bail out thing?

[graywarrior]

Anyone near losing a job? A house? Car? Anyone nervous about losing a job or a house or a car? Anyone have trouble getting a loan? Anyone know of anyone else having troubles?

[elocs]

1. Personally, even though I do not have a job I am not worried or nervous. n/t

[two gun sid]

2. Our pension fund lost $80 million

and a memo just circulated about staff reductions.

[graywarrior]

3. As Sarah would say, I feel bad forya

[ingac70]

4. I lost my job almost two years ago. n/t

[graywarrior]

5. I had to move from my one bedroom mobile home in FL

to a 2 bedroom 2 bath in NH.

[SaveOurDemocracy]

6. We'll all be affected to some degree ...

The ripple effect has barely begun.

[graywarrior]

7. So are you nervous about it?

Think jobs will dry up?

[SaveOurDemocracy]

9. I think the corporations that benefit from the bail-out will do

what they always do. They'll take the money and then stabilize the business by downsizing jobs and benefits. The unemployment ranks will swell, personal spending will dramatically decrease (watch for a dismal holiday season for retailers), more businesses will cut jobs or close ... and the ripples will widen.

[graywarrior]

16. Jesus, people will be putting their kids in mental institutions so they can eat

Oh wait a sec....they closed all those.

[FrenchieCat]

8. My retirement account has taken a hit.....

And my Dad and Mom were going to cash in some stock that they were holding, but the value has dropped too much. They were going to get some repair work done to their home, but now they will wait. Guess the contractor that they were going to hire will be doing one less project.

[NotThisTime]

10. Ours did, we pulled 60% of our funds back. We have a house that we cannot sell and we're living else

where. Our buyers seem to have gotten there financing, however, we are just praying that their buyer got theirs. My friend is in a similar position, her buyer is trying to get their financing and is having trouble, plus that buyer has a house to sell and they can't sell it. We are in a pretty hard hit area. We're selling for around 70% of what the house cost to build, losing around 150K on it. We just took a job and moved at the very worst of times as it turned out. If we'd sold 3 months earlier (16 months ago) we'd have had little trouble. This mortgage/housing problem has been going on for a while.

[femmedem]

11. We'll probably lose our house.

My husband and I are both sole proprietors. He builds harpsichords which are often bought by universities or churches, both of whom are watching their endowments shrink. Our savings are gone--we had about $20,000 a couple of years ago-- we're carrying some credit card debt and I'm currently earning about $150/week less than I need to stay afloat.

I budget $60/week for groceries, including food for two cats and two rabbits. So far this week, other than fixed bills like utilities, etc. and food, I've spent $2. And that was because I met a customer at a coffee shop and bought a cup of coffee.

We don't live in a McMansion. It's my 11,000 square foot dreamhouse, just big enough for me to use half the upstairs for my workspace. It cost $125,000 three years ago. We don't have health insurance or car payments. I don't see how we can trim our budget any more, and I don't think I could find a job which will pay what I need.

Oh, and the car: we currently have two. The registration on mine is going to expire at the end of the month, and we're going to take it off the road then. It does have a lot of miles. The odometer stopped at 307,000 some time ago. We can't afford to get another one, but that is going to make it harder for me to find better paying work.

[graywarrior]

15. I am so sorry to hear that, femmedem

I think we will be facing the same soon, altho we do not own a home. Jobs are very tight where we are. No savings and we drive a 95 Toyota. Heating our 2 bedroom is gonna kill us this winter. I am getting stressed.

I hope things pull out for you guys. Wish I could say we're all in this together, but even tho we are, we're not. It's gonna be tough.

[NotThisTime]

17. I'm sorry, at least we are barely hanging on although our savings other than 401K are gone :(

Is there part time work you could get by chance that would make up the difference from what you need? Anything at all?

I'm just sorry :( I know it's hard on me and my friend, but it's so much tougher on those even closer to the edge.....

[kestrel91316]

12. Small business owner here. Hanging on. Waiting and hoping for improvement

once Obama takes office.

I just take it day by day and do the best I can. I never imagined life would be such a struggle still at age 51. Sigh.

[Bucky]

13. My pension fund took some serious damage, but then it's been losing money for 3 years.

I've switched last year to funds invested in more overseas growth markets, which paid off for a while. But since the crash went global, I'm sure those more volatile markets are losing money too. I'm scared to look. I'm a long term investor. Eventually we'll have Democratic leaders and Wall Street will start growing again. I'm just assuming that the stocks I buy right now I'm getting at a bargain prices.

[maxsolomon]

14. the A/E industry will grind to a halt

as the building industry does. layoffs are inevitable. maybe not this month, but next spring...

and everyone has a 401k that's getting pounded.

[Witchy_Dem]

18. Haven't been able to Re-fi for almost a year.

Lender told us banks and gov't were tightening up.

Our 401K is down -8.25% this quarter.

[PufPuf23]

19. Middle class and poor will all lose money.

Most wealthy Americans will lose too but they have a safety net enjoyed by few of us.

The $$$$ in the bailout will help further decrease the value of the dollar.

The $250,000 FDIC will also further decrease the value of the dollar relative to other currencies for those fortunate to have savings.