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I nearly fell out of my chair. Has she been to the grocery store lately? Prices have increased by at least a third. Fuel costs, while slowly declining are still up a dollar more than they were a year ago.
The Dow has dropped nearly 5,000 points in the last few months. Large banks are dropping like flies -- and we as taxpayers are being forced to bail them out.
In Washington, they're talking about bailing out homeowners who bought homes they should have known they couldn't afford (and if they didn't know it the banks should have), while the rest of us are left out of the loop and expected to make ends meet and make up for the additional deficit these plans will cost. The value of the American dollar continues falling against the value of the Canadian dollar, the Euro, the British pound and the Japanese Yen, just to name a few.
Home values are falling, and while the Fed continues to drop the interest rates, the banks continue to raise them.
We have two presidential candidates who talk about spending money we don't have -- as though $300 billion dollars to bail out homeowners is nothing more than a drop in the bucket and national healthcare will fit into the national budget like an extra $10 a month will fit into mine. And all of this comes while we face a national deficit of $10.3 trillion which continues to rise by about $1 million every 10 seconds at the time of this writing. (See http://www.deficitsdomatter.org/)
The United States is spending $10 billion a month to rebuild one of the most oil-rich countries in the world, while we face "oil shortages" here in the U.S. It's time to collect on some of that debt by demanding discounted oil from this oil rich country.
I'm no economist, I can balance my checkbook and that's about as far as it goes, but I know a bad decision when I see one -- I know, because I've made plenty of them.
But anyone with the smallest amount of common sense should realize you cannot continue spending money that you don't have and expect to make it up in the future -- unless you start bringing in more money or give up something else that may be just as important
In the U.S. government's case that means raising taxes or cutting programs -- which would mean cutting out some of the pork that's been contributing to our deficit (like a bridge to nowhere) and we know lawmakers won't be giving up their daily diet of pork.
Thankfully, we have just a little over three months with the current administration, we can only pray that things will change for the better. It certainly can't get much worse. And woe to all of us if it does.
Thanks for your support, lawbreaker, I'm happy to see that someone got the point.
As for the trip to Wyoming, it's already been taken. We brought back 250 pounds of meat (I don't take the animals to the locker. I do my own butchering, sausage and jerky.) So the $400 cost of the trip means the meat cost us about $1.60 a pound and will last us close to a year and allow us to give some to some friends who need it. Last time I saw that price on any meat, it was chicken.
As for the homeowner bailout, I made it clear that there was a presidential candidate who has made those plans. I'm well aware that it isn't part of the banking bailout.
As for the daily trips to the bank, I must be suffering a severe case of amnesia since I don't remember making them -- and it's nice to know that there really are clairvoyants out there that know exactly why I was talking to my banker, sure wish I had that gift.
I have to admit that I was wrong about the "Bridge to Nowhere." But the question remains; why was it approved in the first place? You preach cutting back to the bare minimum, not spending more money than what comes into the household and finding new sources of income. That may be a sermon you should be preaching to Washington.
As lawbreaker pointed out, this wasn't just about me. I know how to budget, I know how to cut back and I know that in addition to my two part-time jobs, I need to keep looking for something else. But what about those that can't afford that "luxury?" The ones that are already working two or three minimum wage jobs and still aren't making ends meet. The ones that have cut out all the luxuries, like their cable, their phone, their "recreational activities," and are now starting on the essentials like food, medication, childcare and heating and cooling costs.
I'm happy that "remington" and "rural citizen" are doing so well they don't have to worry about this country's current economic state, too bad they can't show a little compassion for those that do.
If I read between the lines I think she is saying that a lot of people are falling on hard times due to rising prices compared to a year ago. Yes we can all live with a tight budget and get our bills paid. It saddens me that people think the first thing is she is managing money in a poor manner. We can always find the negative in everything posted or said on here or anywhere and that is what people like to do. I see a more negative nation and people just have no compation for others. It is sad ....Gloria I hope things will turn better for you and that your family can still enjoy some hunting trips.
Oh Gloria,
Now it's the government's fault that you can't pay your bills????
First do a little research, the bailout does NOT protect the home owner defaulting on their loan. It only protects the bank from the bad dept it creates (the owner still loses the home).
I do agree that our national dept is high but as a percentage of our national GDP around 5% is very obtainable. Through the past 50 years it has historically ran between 3 and 5 percent. Oh and they did trash can the bridge to nowhere.
The government cannot get you out of dept if you continually spend more then what your husband brings in. Here's my advice and It's not that difficult (hell, your banker probably told you the same thing), cut down on your expenditures or find new sources of income.
Oh woe is me attitude. If you were making good decisions all along and "budgeting" maybe you shouldn't have had to go to your banker. Cut back to the bare minimum and you'll be just fine. People do it every day. It's people who have to run to their bankers every day is one of the biggest reasons why America is in it's place right now. Sure the government didn't have to help by spending money during this nonsense, nonwinning war. At home, people shouldn't have overspent...maybe not take that hunting trip this fall????