You know the econmoy is bad when...

[Demetrius]

When you carry a space heater all over the house and plug it in right to you wherever you are instead of turning on the heat in the house.

...then you have to burn your energy bill for heat.

[Capt Gabriela Fullpepper]

When you carry a space heater all over the house and plug it in right to you wherever you are instead of turning on the heat in the house.

...then you have to burn your energy bill for heat.

When you have no furniture anymore as you used it all for firewood to stay warm.

When even the homeless no longer can find a card board box to live in as the middle class are already saved them and used them to make a home for themselves.

When you have to reuse the coffee grounds all week long to make coffee for yourself

When you start making coffee out of any thing you can find like peanuts, oatmeal, or what ever suits you like the Confederate Army did in the Civil War.

When you see Donald Trump pan-handling on the corner holding a sign... "Will work for food and a place to sleep".

When the Gold in Ft Knox is no longer a concern to be protected.

[SirRichardBear]

Growing up we use to resole our shoes with old tires treads, they would last years and give good footing.  Farmers have all ways been into recycling.

[Messyn McCleavage]

When all temp agencies cease to accept job applications due to the overwhelmingly high amount of layoffs (happening right now in Colorado Springs!) Thankfully I moved back to Houston last Fall where there are still plenty o' jobby jobs.

[brier patch charlie]

When you save the oil you just changed in your truck, to burn in the stove in your house to cut down on your heating bill.

[SirRichardBear]

On the farm the oil when down hill from car, to farm truck, to tracter, to combine, to barn heater.   Maybe it means economy has always been bad on a small family farm.

[anne of oaktower]

On the farm the oil when down hill from car, to farm truck, to tracter, to combine, to barn heater.   Maybe it means economy has always been bad on a small family farm.

Nope...what that is is just good old-fashioned resourcefulness.  My grandfather did the same thing.

When you stop to think about it, we're only a couple of generations removed from people who really knew how to get the most out of everything they had.  Now we live in a plastic, drive-thru, disposable world. 

[SirRichardBear]

Me I know how to get the most of things same 21 inch TV for 10 years, same OLDS for 15 years, same house for 26 years and same wife for 28 years.     

[PurpleDragon]

Same here.. we don't have cable ( why pay for 299 channels of nothing to watch), we use rabbit ear antennae on the television.  We don't buy name brand stuff, we buy what we can afford.  One has to live within thier means.  Deficit spending does not work for the government, it is not going to work for you

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

NEW STOCK MARKET TERMS

CEO --Chief Embezzlement Officer.

CFO-- Corporate Fraud Officer.

BROKER -- What my financial planner has made me.

CASH FLOW-- The movement your money makes as it disappears down the
toilet.

WINDOWS -- What you jump out of when you're the sucker who bought
Yahoo @ $240 per share.

YAHOO -- What you yell after selling it to some poor sucker for $240
per share.

STANDARD & POOR -- Your life in a nutshell.

PROFIT -- An archaic word no longer in use.

STOCK ANALYST -- Idiot who just downgraded your stock.

STOCK SPLIT -- When your ex-wife and her lawyer split your assets
equally between themselves.

FINANCIAL PLANNER -- A guy whose phone has been disconnected.

MARKET CORRECTION -- The day after you buy stocks.

INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR -- Past year investor who's now locked up in a
nut house.

BULL MARKET -- A random market movement causing an investor to mistake
himself for a financial genius.

BEAR MARKET -- A 6 to 18 month period when the kids get no allowance,
the wife gets no jewelry, and the husband gets no sex.

VALUE INVESTING -- The art of buying low and selling lower.

P/E RATIO -- The percentage of investors wetting their pants as the
market keeps crashing.

[LJ DaGuerre]

You know the economy is bad when -

= this topic is already over five pages.

= when you start taking down notes from the advice given here...

[Morgan Dreadlocke]

When dumpster diving turns from a sport of opportunity and luck, to a method of survival requiring hand to hand combat skills.

[Demetrius]

...you turn down a free sample because you don't think you have enough.

[Lord Figaro]

John Adams: A second flood, a simple famine, plagues of locusts everywhere, or a cataclysmic earthquake, I'd accept with some despair. But no, You sent us Congress! Good God, Sir, was that fair?

John Adams: I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is called a disgrace; that two are called a law firm, and that three or more become a Congress!

For those that don't know. These are all quotes from the play 1776, and not attributed to the actual John Adams.

You know it's a bad economy when the local Hooters goes out of business, and strip joints have to resort to posting signs outside offering free gas cards with every visit.

[Capt Gabriela Fullpepper]

When banks start asking their clients for loans so they can stay in business.

When guys who make less than $50,000 a year are bitching about tax increases for those making $250,000 a year.

When Harlem starts looking like a great place to live.

When Bank Robbers are now robbing Bubble Gum machines because the bank has no money and they know they can get a higher rate of return from robbing the bubblegum machine.

When you play the slots and win $5.00 and think that's a jackpot

When you have to rob your childs piggy bank filled with various coins totalling $25 so you can buy food for the kid