Mandy Kwan

Behavior

Save Money-Go Public

In the elementary school where I am teaching, I'm noticing an unusual surge of students enrolling in our school at this time of the year. Many of them are coming from private schools -- with tuition costs that parents can no longer afford.

Brooklyn, New York

S Jennifer Choi

Behavior

Trashy Pile Up

At the university which I attend, the school recently sent out an announcement saying that in order to cut back on funds, they will only be collecting trash from the university offices on a weekly basis instead of a daily basis.

[Editor's Note: Originally posted on Brian Lehrer's Facebook page. Become a friend!]

Paul Tullis

Employment

Casting a wider job-search net

When I looked for jobs on Mediabistro.com 2.5 years ago I'd have to narrow my searches in CT and NJ by job description. Now I just search for every media job in CT and NJ--- and get fewer hits.

[Editor's Note: Originally posted on Brian Lehrer's Facebook page. Become a friend!]

120 Larchmont Avenue, Larchmont, New York 10538

Kim W.

Swindlers

Monster.com goes to Nigeria!

I was laid off on January 30th, and as such I have my resume on Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com. And of course, I have my resume available to anyone who wants to see it -- and my email is on my resume. Well -- you know those Nigerian Scam emails, which offer you a share of a particular sum of money, provided you send them a deposit so they can handle the currency exchange fee or whatever have you? I'm more than used to them through regular spam channels -- but was surprised to see one of these scammers contact me THROUGH Monster.com.

Fortunately I recently learned someone I went to high school with works for Monster.com, and will be forwarding this to him for handling.

Anna Kay Rice

Bright

More Help at Home

I have seen more dads taking and picking up their kids from our local pre-school. My husband was laid off this week, and I am already enjoying his increased participation in our daily family routine. Thank you!

455 Broad St., Westfield, NJ

Jejon Yeung

Commerce

CHIPOTLE IS NOW EXPENSIVE

Chipotle is expensive! $8 for a veggie burrito?

AND...

Magazine's a getting thinner, losing advertisers.

Sue P.

Behavior

Decency Dividends

We've recently moved upstate, not knowing anyone and starting to build a life here from scratch. Even though everyone is feeling the money crunch, most people are not scrimping on the dividends of kindness, decency, and community spirit.

Broad St, Catskill NY

Zack

Housing

Dear Potential Tenant

I found this letter slipped under my door the other day. (See attached.)

25-23 31st Ave, Astoria

Kathleen E Lo Pinto Vignolini

Bright

Less power behind eminent domain

An odd bright spot in Long Branch, NJ! It seems that the economic crisis has caused Hovanian's sub-contractors to back out of one of their property take overs (“redevelopment” via eminent domain) project. For now this only affects the Beachfront South area. Residents are hopeful it will also stop the infamous take over of the MTOTSA area as well.
MTOTSA is still under the cloud of the Mayor’s land grab, but are fighting with all their might. A new Councilman, Brian Unger, introduced an ordinance in April ‘08 to rescind eminent domain for the MTOTSA residents. The MTOTSA group is pressing further for the adoption of this ordinance because of the economic break down. Unfortunately, Mayor Schnieder is still not on board and is trying to stifle Councilman Unger by excluding him from all meetings concerning these negotiations and / or settlements; and is blocking his MTOTSA proposal from having a fair hearing. Though we long term residents of Long Branch are not pleased with the crisis, we are thrilled this "privatization debacle" may be gone forever!
Kathy LPV

38 Ocean Trrace, Long Branch,NJ

Maxine Levinson

Bright

Knit one...purl two or too

I teach knitting at Knitty City on the upper west side. We have, happily, been very busy. I hold knitting workshops every weekend and they fill up quickly. Why? Knitting is an anxiety reducing activity (I also teach at Mt. Sinai's Child Life Dept. and know how well knitting lowers stress) Second, our store is friendly. People come in to knit around the table with others. Lastly, for a small investment, you stay busy for quite awhile.

208 West 79th Street

Deborah Huntington

Commerce

Fast Food at Bellevue Hospital

The Bellevue Hospital Center management has just closed our Greek diner cafeteria, which served thousands of folks every day. In its place? We hear that a fast food court is coming. Au Bon Pain has already arrived, with coffee $.50 higher than the diner, and "impulse" items at the cash register worth 1700 calories. What is this, market creation? HHC is running a $230 million budget deficit , and we know that the franchises will pay a hefty fee to set up here - this is the solution??

462 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016

Brianne

Bright

3 Buck Chuck

Three Buck Chuck (Charles Shaw vino) from Trader Joe's must be doing well because I will definitely not give up wine all together so I buy 10 bottles there for the price of two somewhere else!

142 E 14th, new york, ny 10003

Erin

Commerce

Grand Opening & Closing

A coffee & sandwich shop that opened up this fall is already closed. They still have the Grand Opening sign and colored flags up... right above the "Store For Rent" sign.

31st St and Ditmars Blvd., Astoria, NY 11105

Lee Kramer

Bright

Low cost psychotherapy

Our psychoanalytic training program provides low cost, high quality psychotherapy--especially to college students. We were about to go out of business because of high commercial rents, but because of the economic downturn, we can now afford to continue to provide the service, as well as advanced training.

Assistant Director of Training
Training Institute for Mental Health

22 West 21st Street 10th Fl.

Jennifer Grimes

Bright

Booming vacation rentals business in Catskills

Hi there. My mother called from the car to tell me about a caller who was successfully renting his ski house in The Catskills. I manage a bunch of houses in The Catskills, and in just a few months the number has nearly doubled from 12-20 (not all are up on the website yet), and their stories carry the similar thread of wanting to cover the costs associated with the ownership of this second property. One guy had to move to DC for a job, another couple has a new baby and won't be using the house as much, and another couple is trying to avoid having to sell - and it's their primary house. That house was instantly the most popular. Anyway, that's the general idea.

All the best,
Jennifer
[Editor's note: see our bulletin board for posts on great deals heard by contributors--and add your own!]

THe Catskills

Ryan McManus

Behavior

Rents!

I've been looking for a new apartment in Brooklyn, and in the past 30 days I've noticed rents dropping like stones. Suddenly there are apartments in my pricerance at the edge of Park Slope that used to be in Sunset Park and Bay Ridge.

Not only that, but Realtor FEES have dropped. What once were a 12-15% sting have dropped to 10% or even one month. 2 realtors in the past week have offered to lower their fee without me even asking.

All in all, a very pleasant economic indicator for those of us who've been priced out of our old neighborhoods.

339 5th st

Marie M.

Behavior

Self-Help and Support

I've been unemployed for a long time, and am in a "difficult" demigrphic - age, weight, etc. However, by using the computer in my job search I've subscribed to many sites and have found much free information there.

I am also a part of two 12-step groups who share their experience and hopes about jobs and also about potential entrepreneurial projects

patrisha Kay

Behavior

Pets are People Too

I just heard one of your callers suggesting that in bad times a new pet is a good idea..I feel this is extremely irresponsible...Pets, are in fact expensive if you take care of them properly. They are not solely for your amusement...what if you get a job? Do you just dump the pet....if you need a pet to take up your time why not volunteer in a shelter?

[Editor's note: See our bulletin board for a volunteer opportunity]

Phil

Bright

The Film Biz...

People are looking for alternative ways to make money while having fun and prestige. Given the risks of all other investments and the potential rewards of a good film... a group of friends and I are putting together a film finance and production company and have pending deals with an experienced “A” list film maker and a major overseas film board. We come from other fields where business is down… but people are ready to pony up substantial sums in this area.

jen

Commerce

back behind the bar

In the pub I stop into for a pint every few days, I now find the owner behind the bar. She never used to work day shifts...I can only assume (it would be rude to ask) that the day guy got let go and now she's taken over to save/make money.

191 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY 11693