Pawn That Engagement Ring!

You both thought two months salary would last forever…but it never got that far. But just because your heart is broken doesn’t mean you have to break the bank staying financially afloat during this recession.

These days ‘the pawn shop’ is online. The site IDoNowIDon’t.com has seen record site visits and “a banner month for product sales,” says the owner. One ex-fiancee hawked her $30,000 five-carat, Bulgari-inspired engagement ring online and fetched $18,000 to help her pay off debts and start a new company…

Getting Punished with Rewards

When it comes to money, I’m a bit of a goody-two-shoes. I have two credit cards I chose very carefully, always pay bills on time, and stay far below my credit limits. As a result, I’m sort of getting screwed.

These days, since I’m earning less money, I need my credit cards more then ever. I’m not talking about running up more credit, but the second currency I’ve built up over years of hard—yet responsible—spending.

In flush times, credit card rewards are a nice bonus. Since I lost my job, they’ve been helping to make up for my reduced cash flow. I used three months worth of American Express Membership Rewards to offset the cost of a hotel room for my cousin’s wedding. I used some to buy a toy for my oldest nephew…

Recession Lexicon: Brokavore

/n. Foodies who are low on cash aren’t just your ordinary brand of foodies: they’re “brokavores.” So says the brilliant new site Brokelyn, started by writer Faye Penn. A takeoff on “locavore,” someone who eats locally grown or produced food, a brokavore is “an obsessively cheap but highly discerning eater.”

ex. The brokavore sought out hot dog stands, pretzel vendors, shawarma trucks and taco joints for local delights.

Screwed: Up to 300 at Intel

A daily review of the employment fallout around the country and the world.

Intel attempting to lay off between 200 and 300 employees in Ireland…Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. will be cutting its Dallas work force by 219 employees… Trinity Marine Products has laid off 190 workers… IBM Taiwan will be laying off about 100 employees from late May to early June…

Recession Briefing 5.22

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

While consumers are cutting back on a lot of things because of the recession, they’re still plunking down big bucks for designer jeans. (LA Times)

“Sexual enhancement devices” and his-and-hers lubricants are flying off the shelves in supermarkets and drug-stores during the recession. (Advertising Age)

Malls, those ubiquitous shopping meccas that sprang up in the 1950s, are turning into ghost towns in the recession, with many struggling properties reduced to largely vacant shells. (Wall Street Journal)

When Credit, Not Cash, is King

It might seem strange, in a downturn pinched by a credit crunch, to suggest thinking about credit. But the lag between delivery and payment – that time when you’re waiting on customers and your suppliers are waiting on you — is nothing new. But in tough times, it can get worse, as the domino effect of cash flow hits your supplier – and then you. No doubt you have some reserves on hand (right?) for rainy days like this. But don’t forget about credit – not just a business credit line, but an ongoing business credit card that you can use in a pinch.

There are advantages to both cash and credit, but don’t forget, use of credit can help keep your credit history in good standing, even if you’d rather keep the debt to a minimum in these times. Here are four tips for using credit to help you manage your cash flow and get back to the work of delivering great products and services…

Plateauing is the New Climbing

Let’s face it. While there are some bright spots in the economy (spam, running shoes, gardening seeds, tanning products), most businesses are focused on just covering costs and keeping their business operational, or at least in a holding pattern until the economy works itself out.

To that end, Beth Schoenfeldt, co-founder and chief encouragement officer of Collective-E, which bills itself as an entrepreneur agency, offers these tips for keeping your business healthy through this bumpy ride. The upshot: use this time to hunker down and refocus:

Love in the Time of Layoff: Can You Afford the Stork?

“The economy’s so bad we had to lay off one of our kids,” comedian Jonathan Katz recently joked.

Pretty funny. And absurd. But what about laying off the stork? Now there’s an idea…

During the Depression, the birth rate plummeted and there are several indicators —a recent uptick in vasectomies, a spike in condom sales, and buzz about pregnancy postponement on mommy blogs, health, and news sites – that this recession’s also affecting family planning.

The reality is kids cost a lot. We’re talking six figures. The Department of Agriculture estimates that families making $46,000 to $77,000 annually will spend more than $200,000 on children through high school. And that’s bare-bones—it doesn’t include college tuition. The Wall Street Journal estimates families earning $118,000 a year will spend $800,000 (on the low end!) through age 17. Of course, some prospective parents also need to factor in the up-front costs of adoption or in vitro fertilization. Madonna may be snatching up babies in Malawi, but she’s the Material Girl. What about the rest of us?

So how do you actually assess whether you can afford a baby or not? Can you really reduce a child to a financial calculation? They’re questions my new husband, Jay, and I have thought a lot about…

Recession Briefing 5.21

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

Faltering country clubs are finding that they have to get a little less exclusive in order to make ends meet. (Washington Post)

Doctors are reporting more canceled appointments and fewer preventive-care visits than before the recession began. (Kansas City Star)

Americans are not moving en masse because of the Great Recession, unlike the exodus from the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. Instead, they are staying put more than they did before the downturn. (Slate)

Screwed: 1,230 at Bay Trading

A daily review of the employment fallout around the country and the world.

Bay Trading fashion firm has been bought out, laying off 1,230 employees in the process… Flint Energy Services lays off 1,100 employees, including over 200 foreign temporary workers… The NYPD plans to lay off 400 administrative clerks by July… National Envelope Corp. will be shutting down production at its Queens facility, resulting in 230 employee layoffs… Findlay Industries will be letting go of 150 employees within the next month.