Apparently, some members of the Amish community in Indiana have been living beyond their means, buying second homes in Florida, splurging on fancy horses, and pimping out their carriages with velvet and LED lighting.
recession
What We’re Buying More of During the Recession
With few exceptions, people are spending less nowadays. Spending is down on everything from home improvement to organic milk to Mother’s Day gifts. So, obviously, the recession affects the way all sorts of people—such as an unemployed couple, a sports CEO, an ER doctor, and others profiled in a Time package—make decisions about how, …
Need a Job? What a Laugh!
The Onion offers some recession porn as only The Onion can, dedicating a special issue of its “magazine” to: “Workplaces, Paychecks, and Jobs: A Nostalgic Look Back at a Vanishing Part of the American Landscape, from The Onion.” Jokes aside, is anyone hiring nowadays?
Recession Generation: “The End of Disney World”
USA Today examines the impact of the recession on younger folks—Millennials or Gen Y, as they’re known. Or will they be known as the “Recession Generation”? Hard to say. No one thought of WWII era folks as “The Greatest Generation” until decades after the war. The immediate impact of today’s hard times: We’ll all probably hate the …
How We Shop Now: More or Less of the Same?
Back when I was a teenager … whoah, I guess I’m old enough to start a thought that way and not just be mocking someone with gray hair nearby. Well, back when I was a teenager, I’m pretty sure there were no “teen retailers.” Not only are there such stores today, but some, like Aeropostale, are apparently managing to earn profits amid …
What Comes After the Recession
In case I’ve misread signs that the recession is not ending anytime soon, check out a Time special package about what’s likely to happen next.
Signs the Recession Isn’t Ending: A Top Ten List
Or maybe these are signs of the apocalypse. I’m not sure. Unemployed horses! Bankers invading the CIA! Nickel is a hot investment! Mayhem!
All-Time Favorite Cheap Foods
There are endless ways to stretch your food budget. With a little planning, one chicken can equal four meals—say dinner one night, chicken salad for lunch the next day, soup for a snack, and finally, leftovers stuffed into quesadillas. Combine a little rice here, some pasta and spices there, and an overall efficient, waste-nothing …
The Recession Isn’t Dogging the Pet Biz
There are no pets in my home. With three kids born in fairly quick succession, my wife and I are going on six years of regularly having to change somebody’s diaper. Our thinking is: We deal with enough poop already. We also are less than eager to take on the costs of caring for a pet. So no dog or cat, not even a goldfish or a parakeet …
Who Needs a Salary Anyway?
Those brilliant company execs have come up with some innovative solutions to trifling issues that come up from time to time—things like actually having the money to pay employee salaries. One hot trend: just stop paying them. They might still come in to work anyway.
Recession Porn? Guess I’m a Thrifty Larry Flynt
Fishermen have fish porn. Snowmobilers can’t get enough of sled porn. There’s food porn, ski porn, and plain old porn porn (no link provided—get your own, perv). And now that the newspaper of record has used the phrase, we officially have recession porn. So what’s the fascination with how the recession is impacting rich, poor, and …
Who is Screwed the Worst?
Very few workers feel safe nowadays. If they haven’t been laid off, they know they could be let go at any moment. Or perhaps they’ll have to accept mandatory furloughs, or their benefits will be slashed. Health benefits, vacation time, even free beer allotments (no joke) are being taken away. Retirements are being postponed. Recent grads …