recession watch

This post is part of a series about real-life signs we're in a recession. Tobias Buckell tells me that the dojo in his hometown has added a new side business to its martial arts; balloons. This is one example of a growing movement of small businesses compensating for falling sales by adding new...

This post is part of a series about real-life signs we're in a recession. Picture this, thrift store brethren: A woman in a late model Mercedes parks next to you and wanders into your favorite thrift store. Once inside, you notice her picking through the clothes, the bags, the belts, and...

This post is part of a series about real-life signs we're in a recession. Move over Pampered Chef and Mary Kay. The latest in-home sales "party" concept has reversed the usual guest-to-rep cash flow. Instead of pixie-sized portions of a demonstration omelet, or a makeover that makes your dog...

This post is part of a series about real-life signs we're in a recession. As a city dweller, I've always found visiting Costco with my parents something of a treat. The cheap food at huge quantities, the surprisingly affordable gadgets, the mounds and mounds of remarkably affordable clothes. I...

This post is part of a series about real-life signs we're in a recession. It has been fun for the past year, since my son was born, driving around in a 1999 Ford Taurus with three kids crammed into the back seat. But the plan has long been to buy a minivan.The only one my eight-year-old daughter,...

This post is part of a series about real-life signs we're in a recession. My brother-in-law recently wound up paying a lot more than he expected when he left my nephew's Toyota Tacoma in the Oakland Airport's long-term parking for the weekend. When he returned from his trip and turned the key in...

When you want tips on what to do when you're low on cash, talk to a freelance writer. We're all very well-adjusted to the feast-or-famine lifestyle, thank you very much. Some months we're out of debt and investing our extra. Other months, we're digging through coat pockets for milk...

Parents of college-bound seniors everywhere are blanching. A lot of financial ugliness is coming down the pike, and here you are, ready to be hit with a whole new phalanx of expenses. What's a parent to do?Start by debunking the stereotype of having to pay full ride for your child. There are lots...

My PhD reads psychology, not economics, so I won't bet the house on the Bush stimulus package's chances of preventing or softening a recession. But I have counseled and coached many who were outright terminated, downsized out, or who feared a pink slip in their next pay envelope. The conversations...

When my wife and I moved to New York from the relative comfort of Southwest Virginia, we were optimistic about our job prospects. She had a verbal promise of employment from a major cosmetics company, and I had a placement coordinator who was very excited about my options. However, her cosmetics...