You probably can afford lobster, really.  Since there is less demand for seafood and especially lobster, the prices have decreased. For people living on the East coast lobster prices have decreased more than 25%. For consumers this is great. For fishermen, not so much.

Lobster prices aren’t the only ones that are affected by the recession. The weather also affects businesses. This summer there is a bike stand in the park where people can rent bikes, I have seen the place open maybe a half dozen times because the weather has been too cool or too rainy to rent many bikes.

Renting a bike is a good, renting furniture not as much. One area that has really taken off in this economy are rental stores that offer rent to own household items. The costs associated with rent to own are much higher than if someone just bought the item outright. The fees are much higher and the majority of the people who rent the products do not buy them. This is similar to check cashing places – the fees associated with the service are not in line with the service offered. If you are renting an item for a day or two, that is fine, if you are renting something for a longer period of time, the deal isn’t as great.

The economy twists and turns in different ways. The people who can least afford to weather the storm of the recession are being forced to make money decisions that they never thought they would have to make. While some businesses struggle to stay afloat, others seize the opportunity to make money. Some fishermen are trying to sell lobsters directly to the public and get more money that way. If you are in the position to need to rent furniture or another item, see if you can find it on sale or used. There are many things that are in good condition that are for sale. Though the ones most likely to need items that have higher fees associated with them, are those who can least afford to pay the fees.