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Locals turn to thrift shops, bicycles, gardens and other practical ways to cope with thinner wallets in a struggling economy.
 Ed Phippen of Tracy Cyclery repairs a 40-year-old bike that was taken in by a customer. Phippen said more old bicycles are showing up at his shop for repairs as locals seek ways to save money. Photo by Glenn Moore/Tracy Press.
He said people have flocked to his 11th Street store with rusty, squeaky and battered additions to what he calls his mothball fleet — rows of bikes people want
repaired as a cheap, gas-free way to run errands, go to work and get out on the
weekends.
Like the rest of the nation, locals are finding corners to
cut, if not a way out of financial distress — especially middle- to
upper-middle-class families who have more than the average number of payments
to keep up with.
Basically, it’s back to basics as household wealth shrinks
along with spending power.
Insurance agent Laura Serrone — who plans to move from her Tracy home to Mountain
House in three weeks — simply stopped buying treats, like popsicles, for her
family and avoids driving to the store, unless it’s for a major shopping trip.
“More than ever, it’s the little things that add up,” said
mother-of-three Serrone, who also put the kibosh on movie rentals as a reflex
to the rising gas prices. “You have to think if it’s worth going to the store
for just a few little things.”
Then there are the Chapmans, three-year Tracy residents who, in their early 50s, are
just a few years shy of what they thought would be retirement age. Instead,
they’re floating the idea of filing for bankruptcy.
For several months now, they’ve tended a small veggie garden
and have eaten strictly at home, among other cost-saving strictures, such as
canceling outings and weekend getaways.
Linda Reese, manager at Golden Valley Nursery, said edible plants
— peppers, tomatoes, zucchini — have flown off the shelves, as gardening piques
the interest of the frugally minded.
“There are definitely more people asking for those kinds of
things,” she said.
 Tracy Goodwill store manager Dee Montez checks the stock of children’s clothes on sale Tuesday. As the economy tightens, more shoppers have turned to second-hand and thrift stores to save some cash. Photo by Glenn Moore/Tracy Press.
“More people are buying used,” she said Tuesday, noting that
actual transactions at the Tracy
branch have risen more than 12 percent during that same six-month timeframe.
Those are just a few stories among many in the local
microcosm of national economic turbulence.
More and more Tracy
families balance on the fulcrum between barely scraping by and stone broke,
ever since gravity took its toll on an inflated housing market a few years ago
and foreclosures climbed to record heights.
So an increasing number of Tracy and Mountain House
residents have taken a turn for the thrifty, coming up with creative ways to
save a buck or stave off dreaded foreclosures and tapping into equity lines of
credit.
Common as their stories are, many are ashamed to talk openly
about their financial travails.
“It seems like people will talk about the big things, like
foreclosures, but are really hesitant to come out in the open about these
little lifestyle changes,” said Serrone, who for the past nine years has been
the breadwinner in her family because her husband is on disability. “It’s an
interesting psychological aspect … it’s like people want to keep up appearances,
even though this type of thing is really widespread.”
The Chapman family was one of the few that spoke candidly
about its struggles.
Kim and Juliet Chapman earned a combined $120,000 income
last year. Finances were in order until Juliet was laid off from her bank job
in March, after 20 years in the business.
Now, it’s up to Kim to pay the bills with the $60,000 annual
salary he earns as a San Mateo
County employee — exactly
half what the couple used to make.
At the same time, their home’s value has dropped drastically
since they bought it in 2005. Then they took out a second mortgage last year to
help with their son’s wedding.
Now, they’re too deep in the hole to think of a way out.
“Things have drastically changed,” he said, citing
burgeoning gas and food prices and a $3,400 monthly mortgage payment as ample
reason to contemplate Chapter 11 as a way out.
“We’re thinking of retiring and starting over somewhere
else,” he said, “probably in another state.”
Even the younger crowd has taken to penny-pinching.
San Joaquin
Delta College
student Nick Milam, 23, rides a bike from his Southside home to PetSmart — a
12-mile round trip every day. It’s a habit he said he plans to keep for a
while, considering it saves him a few tanks of gas each month.
And as building slows, contractors who used to rely on
consistent overtime no longer have that guarantee, according to Tracy residents who find
themselves in that situation.
Like the Chapmans and the Serrones, most people are finding
practical ways to cope.
More are bypassing processed foods in favor of cheap,
perishable groceries, like fresh fruits and vegetables, according to a report
issued last month by Information Resources Inc., a company that tracks consumer
trends.
Meanwhile, sales of non-food items, such as cosmetics,
paper, light bulbs and cleaning products, have plummeted, the same study found.
And it’s typically households with a combine income of
$100,000 or higher that are struggling, the report pointed out, because those
are typically the families with more payments to keep up with.
That much is evident at local charities, including Tracy
Interfaith Ministries, which this year has served a new demographic: the
recently well-off.
Though the Chapmans have yet to turn to nonprofits for help,
they’re barely hanging on, Kim said.
“It’s gotten to a point where we ask, ‘Do we buy groceries
this week or the next week?’” he said. “How the hell are we going to get out of
this mess?”
Money-saving tips
Ride a bicycle more, even if it’s just to run a few
errands
Grow a backyard vegetable garden
Buy perishable instead of packaged foods
Cook from scratch
Shop second-hand
Source: Tracy locals
• To reach Tracy Press reporter Jennifer
Wadsworth, call 830-4225 or e-mail her at
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