Effects of the economy - is everyone feeling the crunch?
Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 8:40 am
IMHO the economy in this country seems to be going down the toilet. Sorry to start out so crass, but I'm feeling really frustrated. Trying to make ends meet these days is getting pretty impossible.
We've been homeschooling from the onset, and I've always stayed home with our kids - working from home. Finances have always been tight for us, but we've always had enough to get by and buy the things we need. But this year, things are awful.
My husband is a full time marine deputy in the summers, and in in the colder months he is an instructor for firearms safety, and he also teaches some law enforcement and military groups. He's awsome at what he does, but during the cold months of the year classes are limited since most of it has to be held outside.
We've always relied on our other business which I primarily run - our internet sales business - to make up the rest of our income. Other years it has done well enough to cover everything, but this year it's not. Sales are down - about half or less than other years. We don't live frivolously and we don't have a lot of high bills. We live in a very small home in the country, have one car that's 8 years old, and we never go out to eat, to the movies, on shopping trips, etc. We've always bought mostly second-hand clothes. Family outings are limited to inexpensive or free outings. The most expensive thing we do is go to the zoo once or twice a year. But this fall we can't even afford to do that. With our internet sales down, and the price of necessities up so much - milk over $4 a gallon, and gas over $3 a gallon, and it seems everything else is up too - we can't even go to the zoo. In fact, I'm wondering how we'll afford winter coats and boots for the kids this year. And Christmas presents ? That's a big question.
Is this happening to a lot of families, or is it just us?
It seems like no matter what I do with the internet business - add new product lines, drop prices, etc. - nothing works. I don't have the big advertising budget that the big businesses do, so I can't advertise on sites like PriceGrabber - did you know they charge $1000 set up plus cost per click? Businesses who really need their service can't afford it. The big ones who can afford it, don't even need it. This world is so backwards.
Our main distributor is even in trouble. One of the big superstores talked them into buying a "ton" of LeapFrog stuff for them, and now the superstore isn't coming through and buying it. I'm trying to help my distributor out by offering all of it at wholesale prices on our site. My distributor has always come through for me. I hope I can come through for them. The way I see it, it's time for damage control. Everyone needs to start lending a hand and helping each other. There's no room for greed.
Anyway, I could go on and on, but I'll stop now as this post is getting quite long. I look forward to hearing others' opinions, suggestions, and experiences.
We've been homeschooling from the onset, and I've always stayed home with our kids - working from home. Finances have always been tight for us, but we've always had enough to get by and buy the things we need. But this year, things are awful.
My husband is a full time marine deputy in the summers, and in in the colder months he is an instructor for firearms safety, and he also teaches some law enforcement and military groups. He's awsome at what he does, but during the cold months of the year classes are limited since most of it has to be held outside.
We've always relied on our other business which I primarily run - our internet sales business - to make up the rest of our income. Other years it has done well enough to cover everything, but this year it's not. Sales are down - about half or less than other years. We don't live frivolously and we don't have a lot of high bills. We live in a very small home in the country, have one car that's 8 years old, and we never go out to eat, to the movies, on shopping trips, etc. We've always bought mostly second-hand clothes. Family outings are limited to inexpensive or free outings. The most expensive thing we do is go to the zoo once or twice a year. But this fall we can't even afford to do that. With our internet sales down, and the price of necessities up so much - milk over $4 a gallon, and gas over $3 a gallon, and it seems everything else is up too - we can't even go to the zoo. In fact, I'm wondering how we'll afford winter coats and boots for the kids this year. And Christmas presents ? That's a big question.
Is this happening to a lot of families, or is it just us?
It seems like no matter what I do with the internet business - add new product lines, drop prices, etc. - nothing works. I don't have the big advertising budget that the big businesses do, so I can't advertise on sites like PriceGrabber - did you know they charge $1000 set up plus cost per click? Businesses who really need their service can't afford it. The big ones who can afford it, don't even need it. This world is so backwards.
Our main distributor is even in trouble. One of the big superstores talked them into buying a "ton" of LeapFrog stuff for them, and now the superstore isn't coming through and buying it. I'm trying to help my distributor out by offering all of it at wholesale prices on our site. My distributor has always come through for me. I hope I can come through for them. The way I see it, it's time for damage control. Everyone needs to start lending a hand and helping each other. There's no room for greed.
Anyway, I could go on and on, but I'll stop now as this post is getting quite long. I look forward to hearing others' opinions, suggestions, and experiences.