211: Help for the new poor

LA Times article as the scoop for those who are newly poor (thanks to commentator fried at CR): "A guide for the newly poor: A major financial or personal blow can make obtaining just the necessities of life a challenge. Here's how to cope." I don't recall seeing such article in the downturn of the '01/02.

I was living in Austin back then and things were bleak but not this bleak since it was only the dotcom and related hitech businesses -- things were tough but not impossible to find jobs. All the coworkers I knew from a company which went bust in '02, they all found jobs that year (not all in Austin but still). This time around, it's not just the hitech and financials which are suffering. Real estate in Austin went down such that we had "naked" buildings (steel frames rusting away for years) and cities where talking about raising tax rates to make up for lower appraisals. In fact, when we sold our home in 2005 (bought in 2002), we did lose a good chunk of money (right at the peak of the California & Florida real estate bubble peak). Austin didn't get the bubble until last year but that bubble was rather small compared to what happened here in Orange County.

Anyway, we're just getting started with GD2, so hang on tight: you ain't see nothing yet....

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