As this forum is international I thought I'd make a thread to get an idea of how this credit crunch is affecting different people across the globe.

I work for a company that supplies rubber extrusion products to the building and automotive trades.  Over the last few months our order book have declined as our customers either drop their stock levels dramatically or go out of business entirely.  Even orders from  our major bread winner (Hobas, Texas) have ground to a halt lately.

As a result of this several weeks ago we lost our gauranteed working week (of 41.25 hrs) and so week after next we'll only be working 3 days p/w.  We're to be paid for the first 5 days we're off but after that it's ganna start biting.  Even last week we didn't have enough work to see the week out, Friday we were painting and cleaning but this only lasted a few hours.  Who knows what next week will be like.

So how are other people finding it?

The Misses Moles' university fund is in a combination of Icelandic banks & share based ISAs.

Looks like we'll have to "send them up the chimneys instead"!

I work for a small engineering firm that designs air pollution control systems and bulk products conveying, and I must say, surprisingly, our work load has never been that high in the 10 years I've been there.

Projects are just pouring in. Guess the economy problems don't hit everyone the same way.

Also on the personal side of things, I'm not worried at all. I'm still young, so I have more than enough time to recover from it all. There's even some great opportunities right now for a youngster like me to move stock around.

As a musician, I'm working less. Many of my band's gigs were playing for cities: playing at Memorial Day, Independence Day, National Night Out, Tuesday Night Market(s), and other street festivals. Now virtually all of them have lost their funding.

As a retailer, I've recently changed from part-time to full time and management, but the corporation is closing stores (nearly 2,000 gone nationwide over the past two years), cutting employee hours allocated to each store (down 10% this past week in the store where I work), and not hiring nearly as many temporary employees for the fourth quarter. Sales are maintaining what they were a year ago, but these are boosted by the sales of digital converter boxes (at $60 each) which we did not sell a year ago, and will probably not be selling a year from now.

In my home personal business, things are much as they have been for a decade. My few clients still use my services at the same rate they always have. None are going away, but I'm also not attracting new clients.

We've recently taken on an expense unlike any time before. Our youngest child is now a freshman at UCLA, and even with her scholarships, it costs more than $25,000 a year to send her. We've saved for more than a decade, but many of the mutual funds we invested in have dropped to below the levels they were five years ago. So we tighten our belts harder than we imagined we would need to do...

So, music's down, personal income is up in a company who is hurting, and everything else is steady as it goes, except for the added expenses and withering foray into the stock market.

Euribor is going down

I am now benefitting from the financial crisis.

I work for a small business that buys/sells/trades used DVDs, CDs, video games, and other entertainment.  We've never been busier.  The volume of stock coming in right now is simply enormous.  As the economy has turned down more people are selling off what they can part with, so that's the influx.  And, with the economy on the downturn we're expecting a larger than average volume for the Christmas season as people who normally wouldn't shop used are looking for ways to still buy presents but not spend as much money.  All five of us are expecting to add 10-20 more hours to our work week from Black Friday on, and we really need to hire a sixth person (just haven't found a good candidate yet).

My tiny little home is paid off, so I don't have any mortgage problems.  The only issue I'd have is that tuition has gone up yet again at the university I have been attending, but I am finished with my degree except for a comprehensive exam next week.  I have been considering whether or not I want to try to find a 'real' job in this economy or whether it would be best for me to get into another degree-granting program and put off my student loans for a little while longer. 

In retirement news, while I don't have a 401k, my mother has seen hers decline in worth by about $5k.  She isn't due to retire for another 3 years, but will probably just keep working.

The company I worked for has declared bankrupt, so for the time being, I'm unemployed. Monday I've an appointment with another place to work, but it will be hard.

I work for Best Buy - we are seeing the effects, but are still doing just fine - I am feeling secure in my job and make sure all of my customers are helped as best as possible. Circuit City related issues may hurt in the short term as they liquidate, however all that means is next Christmas it's cleanup hitting time