Word: callejas
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...more fed up with the recession than Christina Calleja, 25, a real estate broker's assistant in New York City. Over the past year, she has fretted over every single expense. She has stayed home on Saturday nights and refused to eat out. Instead of buying a lotion that would smooth her skin, she would sample one at a department store. "Psychologically, obsessing over everything you buy is so exhausting," says Calleja. "Everyone talks about the recession everywhere you go. It's always in your face. It gets annoying...
...tired of her wicked case of cabin fever, Calleja has gone on a "crazy rampage." She saw a $500 flight for a weekend in Paris and snapped up the ticket. "And of course, you need to buy a new outfit for Paris," she says. She has even convinced some friends to go with her. "I just said, 'Screw it - I'm going to go here.' " She is also going out more and spending a bit more on basic staples. "I got tired of being poor," Calleja says. "At some point, you have to get back your sanity...
...what kind of shape will the rampage leave Calleja's checking account? "I"m still in the hole, but I feel O.K. about my spending - kind of, sort of," she says. Since she works in the real estate business, her job isn't safe. Still, she says, "you just have to delete that from your mind." This week, she'll start a part-time tutoring job to make some cash on the side. "Bottom line, you just have to keep living your life," she says...
...Liebmann is quick to stress that her data and stories like Calleja's don't predict a recovery. "It's just a lesser negative," she says. Job anxiety remains a powerful brake on consumer spending. Unemployment is high - 8.6% - and the WSL respondents are worried: last year, 20% said they were concerned that they or someone in their family might lose a job. This year, that figure jumped to 35%. That fear keeps cash in the pocketbooks; for the first time in a decade, the personal savings rate has been above 4% for three straight months...