Re: Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

Much better...but some of those changes are due to the fact that DH and I got married 2 years ago and moved in together. For many years, I lived on my own in an apartment. It makes a lot of difference when you're a dual-income household.

Job-wise, though, also much better. I have taken on additional responsibilities where I work and look forward to going to my job almost every day. DH works in his family's business and he really was a large part in turning things around over there...they're doing better than they were four years ago.

Re: Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

Re: Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

Much, much worse. Our house has decreased 40%. We can't even refinance. We bought this as a starter home and now we are stuck. I lost my job in March as well.

Re: Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

It's hard to say. DH got a technical promotion ( title changed to match what he actually does & salary adjusted to match that) so, our day to day is better. That didn't really have naythign to do with the government or the economy improving--it had been in the works for years.

But I have only gotten one raise, and our expenses have increased ( train far, co-op maintence, not stuff we can control), so personally I am doing worse.

Also, I am sure our co-op has lost value sicen we bought it in 2006, but I am not sure if the biggest drop was before 2008 or after, since I am not getting appraisals since we are not atttempting to sell.

Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

Career wise, we're MUCH better off. We were both laid off from our jobs, and while I was bouncing around through an employment agency, DH wasn't work at all. No one was hiring for his field.

Financially we were struggling a bit. We moved into an apartment that we could *just* barely afford because the house we lived in sold much faster than we anticipated and we were scrambling last minute. We ended up getting in a ton of debt because of this. We moved out a few months ago and now are just getting back to normal. Still not where we were 4 years ago, but it's getting there

Overall, I feel even though we had some unexpected setbacks, we're in a good place right now

Re: Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

well my dh lost his job 2x under Obama's administration but at the end of the four years we both came out better.

I blame Obama for the job losses, I give him no credit for my promotion or my dh being in a better job than where he started.

Re: Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

My DH's company has tripled in size and revenue maybe even quadrupled in 4 years.
We have over 30 employees now plus about 50 employees nationwide and Canada.

Not sure I attribute it to Obama, although we get a lot of business from homeland security money. My DH works 7 days a week 100 hours a week with no days off for months at a time. He is very dedicated

Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

Better-because of obama. ;)
Transferred to a miltary town since so many troops are coming home.

Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

Worse, but not because of Obama, because of the republicans. Federal funding for legal services has always been cut by the republicans. Regan attempted to completely defund it, but was somewhat blocked, although he did manage to slash funding each year he was in office. The first Mr. Bush left it alone. The second Mr. Bush slashed some more. The current republican Congress continues to slash. This translates into no raise since 2009 while prices of necessaries increases.

Re: Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

im better in some areas. and worse in others lol so i guess i'd say im pretty much the same!

Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

I will have a better idea next week once the ridiculous medicare cap goes into effect...

However, if I come out better or the same, that was all ME...not the government. I'm taking steps to make sure I am marketable for pediatric population so my caseload will be kept up.

DH on the otherhand, definitely worse. He works for a small business which is struggling as a direct effect of Obama.

Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

Overall better but in NO WAY because of the government. Four years ago I was working for a public school that I was excessed from multiple times per year. Now I have a job at a private school (making just as much money) with MUCH more security and I'm much happier.

Re: Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

Much better!

Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

Much worse....our house lost over $100,000 and we can't refinance or sell. We had to rent out our house and move to an apartment to get into a better school district for our daughter so we are laying out for our mortgage (the rent does not cover the mortgage) and another 2400 a month in rent. My husband's health insurance was just changed and now we will be paying out of pocket which we never did before, so it's another added expense. My husband makes a decent salary so financially we aren't hurting but we would have alot more if the economy wasn't crap.

Re: Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

We're about the same. DH is better, he just got a new job in July. I have been pretty much in the same exact place for the last five years. It's frustrating.

Re: Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

Re: Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

pretty much the same

Re: Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

Worse...We lost a very cheap apartment w/ utilties included 2 and half years ago (the landlord's kids wanted to sell the house) The next cheapest apartment we could find was nearly double the rent costs ( and it's still considered "cheap" for Long Island unless you go for a basement or studio which is not even allowed with 2 kids) Even though my husband's pay has pretty much doubled since then at the same small business he has worked at for 8 years . The problem is so has our rent costs doubled with a forced move and we have very high ultilty bills and we are basicly not making it , we are always behind on bills and have shut off notices every month. All it takes is one emergency - like we had our baby's funeral/burial in January to pay for & our car needed expensive repairs 3 times since March and now we are in a rut for as long we can see . It kills my husband no matter how hard he works, no matter how many raises he's gotten, it's never enough in the Long Island rat race. We would do anything in the world to move out of Long Island (or NY) so we can live "normal" without a constant gun to our head and we have tried but there are no jobs or call backs in the states we looked into and living paycheck to paycheck there is really no savings enough to make a secure big move with a sense of stability. It's very depressing, we feel stuck here forever and it makes us terrified about the future.

Re: Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

Financially we are not in good shape compared to 4 years ago.

A major factor is the lack of new construction or improvements on existing constructions on LI. My husband is an electrician. Small businesses are not thriving in this economy. It isn't just that they are laying people off, but they can't justify spending money to upgrade their buildings. So many places have gone out of business and there are so many office and building vacancies scattered over the island that developers are having a hard time justifying the expense to build new structures. Who can blame them? And when jobs DO come up, the money to do things 'right' isn't there. So they hire contractors who will often come in less expensive because they don't demand the same level of experience from their tradespeople.. they'll cut corners using wiring techs instead of journeyman and they pay their guys nothing close to what their experience and expertise are worth.

So 300+ guys languish on unemployment, praying that SOMETHING comes up and soon. Good(?)news? Unemployment is extended so that even as my husband approaches a full year on UEI, he doesn't need to worry TOO much about not having benefits because they extended the benefits in recognition of the fact that so many people are suffering and cannot get work.

Do I blame or praise Obama for that? No. I think it's silly to blame any one man or even one party for the good or the bad of an entire nation. I do think that the inability of the two major parties to compromise plays a part in the inefficiency of our government - and it makes me sick. We have these 'representatives' who are more concerned with agenda and being 'right' than they seem to be with the health of the country as a whole.

Message edited 9/30/2012 8:17:29 AM.

Re: Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

Much. Although maybe not financially. In 4the past yrs we got married, bought a car, had a baby, and bought a house.
Now we are just trying to recover and deal with new expenses and no raises.

Eta: we are MUCH better now than 4yrs ago.

Message edited 9/30/2012 9:02:58 AM.

Re: Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

Better- much better

4 years ago I was in a very bad place- and after it got even worse I took control back over my life- like many people I lost my job 9/08

things got pretty bad before they got to where they are now- I am blessed- but I also worked my a$$ off - 2 jobs, 80 hours a week- all with 1 goal in mind

I can't say the government didn't help- I was able to get affordable health coverage thru a NYS program for people with pre-exsisting conditions - during this mess I found out I was diabetic and almost died

I paid off a massive amout of debt- and took advantage of the fact that creditors were more willing to work with me b/c of the economy

now that things are stable for me- I am going to make sure history never repeats itself

Re: Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

Better for sure. I have doubled my salary in the last two years and DH left his job at a consulting firm in 08 and has made two moves since then, one better than the next and is now at a company he likes working for in a position he loves and making more than he was before. We bought our house when the market was low and we have seen it increase in value a little over the last few years... My 401k has taken a bit of a hit but I figure I have plenty of time for that to recover...

Re: Are you better or worse than 4 years ago

Myself personally, better. My husband, much better. That was a scary couple of years!

Re: Are you better or worse than 4 years ago