[Lingster]

They're not going to starve but Iceland is going to be eating a lot of haddock this winter.  If this doesn't bring it home for you that we're on the edge of the abyss, then nothing will:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/05/iceland.creditcrunch

With little foreign currency or access to foreign credit, Iceland will be forced to live mostly on its own resources this winter.  If you have friends in Iceland, you might want to send them gifts of olive oil and spices (garlic, rosemary, ground orange and lemon peel might be appreciated most).  A little flavor can make the bland tolerable.  Cigarettes, too.

For myself, I stopped eating at restaurants three months ago and have been living on chicken, tilapia, eggs, rice, broccoli, spinach and other staple vegetables since.  I'm planning on setting my thermostat at 50 this winter and wearing a lot of layers.  Hard times are coming.  Prepare yourselves.

[cpbell0033944]

They're not going to starve but Iceland is going to be eating a lot of haddock this winter.  If this doesn't bring it home for you that we're on the edge of the abyss, then nothing will:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/05/iceland.creditcrunch

With little foreign currency or access to foreign credit, Iceland will be forced to live mostly on its own resources this winter.  If you have friends in Iceland, you might want to send them gifts of olive oil and spices (garlic, rosemary, ground orange and lemon peel might be appreciated most).  A little flavor can make the bland tolerable.  Cigarettes, too.

For myself, I stopped eating at restaurants three months ago and have been living on chicken, tilapia, eggs, rice, broccoli, spinach and other staple vegetables since.  I'm planning on setting my thermostat at 50 this winter and wearing a lot of layers.  Hard times are coming.  Prepare yourselves.

Hard times are indeed coming, but setting your thermostat at 50 is asking for hypothermia. 😮  Put it up to 60, or 58 at least. 😉

[AlexG]

Setting it to 55 is about right, don't need to go any lower.

But do wear multi-layers of clothing.  A pair of baggy slack sweats under jeans, as personal insulation it works better then wearing long underwear slacks during the cold winter months.

“I like a good story well told. That is the reason I am sometimes forced to tell them myself.”
~ Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens (1907)

[Lingster]

Hard times are indeed coming, but setting your thermostat at 50 is asking for hypothermia. 😮  Put it up to 60, or 58 at least. 😉

I was raised with the thermostat at 60, have taken to keeping it at 57 or 58 in recent years.  I have a cousin who can do a pitch perfect impersonation of his father, my uncle, saying "50 degrees is PLENTY warm!" Haha.

[cpbell0033944]

I was raised with the thermostat at 60, have taken to keeping it at 57 or 58 in recent years.  I have a cousin who can do a pitch perfect impersonation of his father, my uncle, saying "50 degrees is PLENTY warm!" Haha.

I admire the frugality, but are things that bad in the US just yet?  Surely the recession is all a figment of your imaginations?  (Re: Mr Gramm.)

[Lingster]

It's probably not a good idea to wait until things are actually bad to start cutting back and socking away cash.  I'm keeping it in the bank, not my mattress, so it's out there working in the credit markets.  I wouldn't be surprised to see 12% or 15% unemployment by spring, though.

[cpbell0033944]

Agreed.  I've always had the instincts of a saver anyway.  I can pull my horns in as and when I need to.

[10-4]

It's probably not a good idea to wait until things are actually bad to start cutting back and socking away cash.  I'm keeping it in the bank, not my mattress, so it's out there working in the credit markets.  I wouldn't be surprised to see 12% or 15% unemployment by spring, though.

Good advice… Just be careful about a savings in cash. It's nice to have liquid assets, but The Fed will inflate like it's the end of the world, thus wiping out the buying power of your savings… As well as prolonging and deepening the recession.

[ze fly]

50 degrees is PLENTY warm!" Haha.

Here, 50 degrees equals 2nd degree burns, considering we are using centigrade scale and not Fahrenheit… ;D
Just being curious, could someone convert it…  ???
As for the crisis, here in my region we are in deep sh… since the eighties… and it keep getting worse: first the textile industry, then the car industry, a few years ago it was the paper making industry and the sawmills. The few factories left are closing one by one to be relocate in Eastern Europe. :'(
We had almost only tourism left, but with the lack of money and the winters without snow… :- :- 
But don't worry Sarkozy's gonna save the world!!  ;D ;D ;D ;D

[fasola]

Hey fly, it should be about a rather cold 10º C.

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