Weak Economy

Please spend till it hurts. We need to get the economy moving.

you could get hit by a car next week and die with money in the bank or die with a finished basement that you enjoyed up untill the point that the car hit you.....This is very immorral and irresponsible for me to tell you should spend you money, but life is short, enjoy it while you can, and if times get tough during the rehab you can always put it on hold and stop the updating for a year or so and slowly finish it over time on a lower weekly budget.......But do not listen to me, because I have no money in the bank......

Dollar for dollar, I'm still making out better in the long run having built my own theater, rather than going to the movies. Gas, Tickets, sodas, popcorn and candy for family of four= $70.00
Home theater...........Priceless !!!!!!!!!!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/mahler007/TheatreRoom#

let's just hope foreign nations will keep buying our government issued debt....

I made my last big purchase (projector) just as the market was crashing last fall.

In a way... i finished it just in time.

no... i cant trust the government with my money... not to mention we have government officials from omaha thinking they know whats good for wall street. But thats another story

I've been finishing off the rest of my basement. DIY and pay as we go. We now try to not use our credit cards, other than say 1 year no interest deals and such, for any of the improvements. I'm glad I put the theater room in because now New York state wants to put more taxes on movie tickets. I better watch out they may try and tax home theaters next.

What would really help is letting me keep more of my money to spend as I see fit and not how the gubment sees fit.

I'm cutting back almost everywhere - except for the basement HT project.

I have two jobs to hire out:

Carpet installation, and a stairway railing/ballister install.
I'm thinking the stall in home construction will work in my favor

Yes. Upgrading is minimal for me. I'm more or less moving laterally.

With the weak economy, deals are to be had everywhere.

I feel that I got a pretty good deal on the granite countertop for my bar and also for the carpet installation. Even for the home security alarm system.
You can haggle anyone down on price, as everyone is out to compete for your business.

I'm now looking into theater chairs as I'm ready to get those. I hope I can find some deals on those right now too

I was fortunate to be able to pay everything as we go, straight cash, so no debts, but I did chop into my back yard deck/patio fund to finish off the basement...oh well, that other stuff can wait.

Old

I am not sure it has really effect my progress on my basement/HT construction right now. But I know it has effected my overall thought process. I don't think I am enjoying it as much as I would have in times past for a variety of reasons.
1. The possibility of not being employed at some point and spending money now on a luxury that I might need for neccesities later.
2. Somewhat hesitant to share with freinds and family because it may be viewed as extravagant in these hard times.
3. Maybe cutting corners here and there that I would not have otherwise

On the other side, I am not borrowing and I look at as my to stimulate the economy! Think Obama put something in the stimulus plan for me!

Its not really effecting my spending habits. It just sucks that we lost half our investments.

I will say our Bluray collection has increased over the last couple of months due to us staying in and the price drops on Bluray movies.

I did my build over the last 3 winters so much of the expense was paid for when it happened. I can say I'm glad my spending is done!!! If I was just beginning I would seriously have to think about holding off because of the uncertain future. ****This just in, the Dow jumped 380 points today.**** The recession is over let's all go shopping!!!

I'm going to do my part to help end this recession single handedly.

Lots of items left to purchase to finish the room.....
insulation, drywall, flooring, lighting fixtures, not to mention the electronics, projector, tv, speakers, sub(s), OTA antenna, converter box, receiver(s), bluray player(s), and remote controls.

Then there is the hiring of professionals to drywall and install the flooring.

Yup I'm going to do my part! 8-)

Regards,

RTROSE

I knew what Odrama was planning from the very beginning and prepared myself for it, so I should be able to ride things out for the next 4 years... (1405 days left...)

So now I'm taking advantage of all the sweet deals on liquidated high end HT equipment! I'm finally building a really nice home theatre for a really cheap price. There are deals everywhere! WOOT!

materials will never be cheaper then now.

+1 here. Everyone can take full advantage on the down economy. I don't really see upgrading as an option. It's better off to buy a new one with huge discount.
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Edited by jeremiah78 - 10/11/12 at 6:13am

Zombie thread!

My goodness.... jeremiah78 found a thread that's 3 years old. That's better than the other three 2 year old threads he's reawakened.

A funny and interesting follow-up would be for all the people who replied to this thread back then to come back with updates, hahaha.

necroposting a 2yr old thread is still pretty funny though.

welcome back "dead thread"

So it's 3 years later; I hired out the carpet, and somehow managed to do the railing/ballister myself.
Also 3 yrs later this economy is still feeling weak!

I didn't post originally, but I can't say that it's been the economy that's kept me from totally finishing.

I'd say, things seem to be turning around. Last year we re-fi'd and couldn't get an appraisal to show 20% equity. We weren't upside down, but had to pay mortgage insurance. But with the lower rate, we STILL came out ahead. We just re-fi'd again, and got FAR more than 20%. And if I'm reading the appraisal right, I got a 50K boost for the nearly finished basement. Probably mostly due to the additional full bath. So, this year we took a 20 yr loan and will pay less per month than we were paying for the 30 yr loan.

Well I'll chime in as well. I was able to complete my theater and actually spend a little more than I expected/ budgeted for which is a good thing! Like you Tom I was able to re-fi and drop to a 20 year, consolidate some other bills and come out ahead. I too realized additional equity in a finished basement, was not 50K more like 25 to 30 but I was still impressed how well my house appraised especially since I had it appraised right after the housing market crash in 08-09. I had several friends who lost their job or were transferred as a result of the economy, In my job we had a hiring freeze, our pay was suspended for about a year and a half, and reduced insurance and benefits, but I kept my job thank the good Lord. I still think we are not out of the woods yet and it (the economy) is not coming back as fast and as strong as we would like, However I have moved from a spending mindset to a savings mindset as I am in a lull between major projects.

Regards,

RTROSE

I've spent plenty on the HT in the last 2 years, but have put off a couple of things that if I moved I could not take with me or recover the cost of. Automated blinds being the main one.

Regardless of the economy, I am conservative (frugal) with money. That said, I try to balance putting fun into life with saving money. You only live once and you get older with each passing day and you never know when your number is up. Even so, I like to think long term and assume that I will live into the long term and feel secure knowing that I always have money put aside and that I am doing something on a monthly basis to add to my net worth. Honestly, after I pay all of my basic living expenses, I tend to save about 65% of my spare cash and spend the other 35%. One of my former bosses was the opposite when it came to money. He spent money like there was no tomorrow and lived paycheck to paycheck. He also had consumber debt. His logic was that you could die anytime so you might as well live life to the fullest. Well, he ended up getting fired from where I work in the spring of 2010 and he has struggled mightily financially speaking ever since. Any real fun he might have been having before is history now. There were times when I wondered if he would end up on the street.

We bought in the "recession." Low rates, low price. Still don't have enough money!