Are you downwardly mobile?

**cschin4** · 01-08-2010, 03:33 PM

I am downwardly mobile. In that I have chosen to live a simplier life with less stuff and less stress. I take more time to appreciate my dog, admire the birds, cook a good meal, etc. I really no longer care about shopping or the latest anything.

**kork13** · 01-08-2010, 03:49 PM

I would say that I'm probably holding steady for now. Of course in my case, that's always been a pretty low/simple lifestyle as it is, but whatever. In the coming years, I expect I may trend toward "upwardly mobile", but probably not in a very sharp fashion. There's just not alot of distance "downward" that I could go and still live a normal life!

**disneysteve** · 01-08-2010, 03:50 PM

I'd say b - about the same. We haven't really made any significant changes to our lifestyle for quite a few years. We just keep cruising along and gradually boosting our savings.

**HistoryChick** · 01-08-2010, 04:44 PM

Serious downsizing here - I'm just looking for a more simple lifestyle.

**disneysteve** · 01-08-2010, 05:13 PM

Originally posted by Scanner View Post

I think we are going to be downwardly mobile, for the most part, in America for about a decade. Just a feel I get.

Can you explain what you mean? Looking around, I see people with cell phones, bluetooth, ipods, gps units, digital hi-def cable, ever larger plasma screens and more. Every time a store or mall or restaurant gets remodeled, it is more upscale than it was before. Low-end stores are almost gone from the landscape other than dollar stores and a couple of other places.

I see no sign of downwardly mobile anything.

**MonkeyMama** · 01-08-2010, 06:00 PM

C.

Key reason being that we have been living on half of our income potential, for almost a decade. Since my youngest starts public school this year, will be an excellent year for us, financially. My spouse can consider jobs without his money going 100% to daycare/taxes. Even $5k per year would make a significant difference in our finances. (If I Were single, I'd say B. My job was extremely prosperous the last decade, but is starting to slow down).

I would say most people I know are downwardly mobile. Lost jobs, foreclosed homes, etc., etc. Very common where I live. A lot of people who lived like the Joneses before all this. The economy where I live is in the toilet. People are scaling back in every way shape and form.

As far as C - we are pretty "slow and steady." I don't foresee changing our daily lifestyle, but I do see being able to afford nicer things than we have been able to before. (Nicer cars vs. clunkers, buying furniture perhaps to replace our old hand-me-downs. Maybe taking a "real" vacation? Paying for it ourselves?). BUT In the end - our lives will still be considerably more modest than most of the masses. No McMansion or SUV in my future.

**HistoryChick** · 01-08-2010, 06:11 PM

To clarify - for me, "simple life" =/= Luddite. I have an iPod, laptop and cell phone. These reduce or exterminate the need for a whole host of other things...rather than have TVs in every room or pay for cable, I could take my laptop and watch a tvshow or movie on it. Rather than buy CDs or DVDs - all music and movies are digitized and put on my iPod. Books can be downloaded as mp3s or kept in text and read on the laptop - similarly, I've been able to cut my newspaper delivery to only the Sunday paper...and now with coupons online I might not need it then.

*said while fully acknowledging that I was born in a world where Diana had always been a princess and comptuers (green screens and all) were always personal. *

I don't need a flashy car or expensive clothes or the latest comptuer, phone or whatever, but I'll use what's available if it'll save me money and space in the long run.

**disneysteve** · 01-08-2010, 06:21 PM

Originally posted by MonkeyMama View Post

I would say most people I know are downwardly mobile. Lost jobs, foreclosed homes, etc., etc. Very common where I live. A lot of people who lived like the Joneses before all this. The economy where I live is in the toilet. People are scaling back in every way shape and form.

I think the answer to the question is very dependent on this. I happen to live in an area that really wasn't all that affected by the recession. Yes, business is off. Yes, some stores have closed. Yes, some folks have lost jobs. But overall, things have continued on pretty much the same as always. New stores and restaurants have opened. New places keep getting built. I see 'Help Wanted' signs regularly. So from my point of view, downwardly mobile isn't all that common.

**FrugalTexan75** · 01-08-2010, 06:54 PM

I would say that I am in a downwardly mobile trend. My income right now is 1/3 of my income 5 years ago as an 8th year teacher. And less than half of what I made a year ago as an admin assistant.

Although, I am currently going to school to get my Master's in Library Science. If I'm able to find a job when I graduate, hopefully I'll start trending back upwards!

**poundwise** · 01-08-2010, 07:48 PM

YouTube - You keep using that word.

**JanH** · 01-09-2010, 11:06 AM

We're simplifying in most things. Returning to our roots you might say. We started out many, many years ago without microwaves or cell phones. Our first tv was the size of a microwave and black and white. Don't think we'll go back that far! But, we have scaled back our wants. We'll keep the conveniences though! Cell phones and computers are really handy. But, we've talked ourselves out of a flat screened tv for two years in a row. And, I think we're not really wanting a bigger house or a fancier car. My wants now are to have a place where the kids and grandkids can all come to visit or maybe a parent can come live when they can't get around any more. We'll probably have to pay more for a house when we retire just to get the same size. We aren't retiring in a hurricane zone, so we'll have to eventually move. So, I guess we're downsizing in some ways and maintaining in others. Although, I did upgrade my cell phone stuff the other day. According to the rest of the family, I lived in the dark ages there.

**EconoMutt** · 01-09-2010, 11:23 AM

Answer is A. Moderately Downward Mobile.

My income is down slightly this year over last.
I don't see income increasing for at least the next few years.
We down sized our cars. That's helped for now.
The next time my income goes down, we'll start selling our toys.
The next thing to go is the vacations and entertainment budget.

**cschin4** · 01-09-2010, 01:05 PM

I prefer food and entertainment now over "stuff". Would rather have a really good meal instead of another thing. We downsized our home and have a storage unit that is jam packed. There isn't a thing in there I give a whit about. I will de-junk it this spring and give most away. Too cold and snowy right now for me to root through all that as we just recently moved. We are going to rebuild our garage in the spring as it is pretty dilapidated, leaks, not good for storage at this point so we hope to get it in shape. Then I will ship out what I dont' need. I am not a sentimental person. The only things I am attatched to our my photos or things that were handmade by the kids like drawings. But, I do plan to travel to the beach this summer. We take a yearly trip and I think it makes good memories for the kids and ourselves so well worth it to us.

**jasonnoguchi** · 01-10-2010, 01:58 AM

c.

Are you downwardly mobile?