Does anyone have cheerful news?

The world today is full bad news. I am looking for funny story to cheer up.

Not funny, but cheerful. This has made me and my family cut back on spending so we make stuff last longer and come up with different ways to use stuff. This has brought us toghther more with our children (5,3,1) to help them make stuff and has been a great time. I think this also has helped my children grow and learn the right way (Considering they didn't get grossed out and were wanting to learn when I butched the last of our turkeys this last weekend).

My big brother - an electrical engineer - got laid off earlier this year, but called last Friday to tell me that he finally got a new job with a very large medical technology company ... just miles from my house.

Its nice to see someone GET a job rather than lose one.

Looks like the twins are going to be two boys! Thats my news... not much but all that i'm looking forward to till April!

BigDaddy,
Is the IT sector in Austin that rough? I can tell you that in DFW area there are a lot of IT jobs (had an offer from there a few months back). A buddy of mine moved back to DFW and pretty much had his pick of jobs. Not to mention that housing is still a buyers market.

Has anyone ever heard the phrase "Buy Low, Sell High"? If you are a long term investor there are many bargains to be had right now. Opportunity isn't always pretty.

Agree!

I just got laid off at Halloween. However, I had seen the signs of trouble and started my job hunt early.

I was able to land a great job with a small solar energy startup within 5 days. I took the 8 weeks severance and bought a new truck (well, new to me).

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

If you live in the northern NJ area now's a good time to buy a new car. The ports are filled with new cars and they're having trouble storing them all, so they're willing to do some amazing deals just to move stuff off the lot.

My neighbor just traded in her car for a new Lexus ES350 with every option but navigation. It worked out to be almost an even trade.

Through saving and working a lot of extra hours, we were able to pay off the rest of the credit cards last month. By January 1, we will pay off two small car payments. The only payment we will have after the first of the year, outside of normal monthly utility bills, will be one car payment. It's been a difficult year as far as the hours are concerned, but I thought one of the best things in any crisis is to be debt free and it's a great feeling!

My holiday cheer comes from giving to foster kids. Every year there's a holiday tree in the lobby of the buildings at work, every year we grab tags with names and the one gift they want most of all, and we buy them. Last year I pulled maybe a dozen tags, this year its over 20 and counting. My #1 son was a foster kid, their role in life is pretty tough - the very least I can do is give alot of them a Christmas gift. They usually don't ask for much, maybe a Disney movie, hair accessories, a warm jacket or a race car. I broke down and cried reading the tag from a 7 year old who asked for 'something to hug.' Since I have more right now I've tried to focus on the older kids, they sometimes want something that costs extra - the 17 year old who wants an electric razor, the teens who want sleeping bags for camping. Grown ups too, an elderly person who wanted a gift certificate to buy candy for her candy dish, for her grandkids coming to visit. When its all said and done though, there will be more kids wanting gifts than people who can give them, some are gonna do without, that's a fact.

I guess in retrospect this isn't such a cheerful recession story, but really what is. I guess if there's a reason for cheer its to find some joy in giving, there are kids and people out there struggling to survive just like you, alot of them not as well prepared for the struggle. I encourage folks to look at the trees when you pass them, or if you don't see one near you talk to the local foster agencies, food banks, toy banks, everyone who's out looking for donations right now. If not money or gifts, give some of your time, now or anytime during the year. It gives back, that's all I know for sure. There's still alot of hurt out there no matter what we do.