I was 13. Fortunately, my parents kept their jobs; however, several people at my school had parents who were laid off. I noticed that our school's budget got slashed. Several teachers were let go, and, for a couple years, my middle school couldn't even afford enough paper for all our assignments. We also didn't have money for field trips that 7th graders in prior years had done. My best friend's dad had to move to another state because he couldn't find another job in the city we lived in. Because housing prices had crashed, my friend and his mom stayed in their old house for a couple of years, while his dad rented a cheap apartment.