Are people's wallets being squeezed?

[Squirt]

I've heard from a number of people that sales are erratic and slower.

I think peoples wallets are squeezed. Food and gas prices are higher and people are cutting back on entertainment. I've heard the number of insufficient funds rebill failures are increasing dramatically as well.

[basschick]

people i know definitely have less money for non-essentials. most people seem to work more hours for the same money - or even less money. i have friends who work for city and state governments who in the last year or two were forced to take pay cuts while gas and other prices went up. and interesting to note that our rent, my son's rent and my daughter's rent were all raised in the past month, and we aren't in the same neighborhoods.

yeah, i'd say wallets are being squeezed.

[gaybucks_chip]

I live in a well-to-do suburb of sacramento, and I've been watching and noticing that all sorts of businesses are really struggling... closing their doors, having insane sales, cutting back hours... and I've talked to a few shop owners who have said that the UPS and other delivery services have had to completely reorganize their routes because a lot of businesses are either closing down or cutting down on deliveries.

So I think there's definitely a bit of a slowdown going on right now. But on the other hand, I think a lot of people out this way bought bigger houses than they could afford, and so they're struggling to pay mortgages that have readjusted, or ARMs that the interest rate increased, or whatever... and that's contributing to the problem.

Don't know if it's nationwide, but I'm sure seeing it here in northern CA.