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This economy stuff, are you really afraid?

This is not an attempt to be political at all... that's not my point here. I'm curious though, so here's the question.

Are you personally afraid of anything in the here and now with relation to this dropping Dow and our "failing economy"??

I hear alot about how bad things are, and I'm not saying everything's perfect, but I am just not scared one single bit. I got my quarterly statements yesterday for our investments, and sure, they're down. But I'm not concerned in the least. I won't be using them for a long time to come, it's not money that's in the accessible part of our budget, so it's like it's not even there. The markets will recover, it's what they do.

Maybe it's because I'm an optimist. Maybe it's because I was fortunate enough to be taught well about money and wise spending and saving and so on from a very early age. Maybe it's because in the last few months we've lost more than 50% of our income as a family (by our choice) and we're making adjustments to compensate. And we're living comfortably at what's considered "poverty level" for our size family.

I believe we live in a great country, and though I think there's always room for improvement, I feel like we forget about that far too easily. Would I like to have more moo-lah? Sure thing! Would I like my investments to be growing every single day? Sure. But am I afraid? Nope. Not at all. Will things get tight in our house with a new baby in a few months? Sure, but we'll make it work. That's what we do.

We're VERY blessed, and I'm not making light of that at all. I'm very grateful. I spend an actual part of my day EVERY day thanking God specifically for a whole list of things we have. From our cars to our house to our clothing to food to cable TV to computers and the internet to the ability to eat out occasionally and especially our ability to live within our means. (We had help with our house down payment, admittedly...and we're VERY grateful for that.) And I'm thankful that gas here is 3.18/gal this morning!! Woo Hoo! I like to celebrate the little things!

So I just got to wondering this morning, are people really afraid, or are they just scared because they're told they should be? What do you think?

Comments

  1. I'm not totally afraid either...because of many of the same reasons you listed....my husband is an awesome saver, he works in a trust dept. at a bank, so he has the right attitude in investing.

    The only thing I am kind of scared of is how this whole country seems to think that spending money they don't have is an ok thing....our economy is sure to fall if we continue at that...and then what?

    We take for granted that really the only needs we have are food, clothing and shelter and really the bare basics of those three categories. So yeah, I'm not really scared, but am a bit concerned about what this country will be facing down the line when my kids are adults, cause I have a feeling the majority of us are too selfish to survive it!

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  2. I hesitate to jinx myself but I will say that we live like you do, well beneath our 'means'. I hope for folks like us living reasonably will prove to be the secret to security but I do worry a little about what could happen if large financial institutions continue to go under. The huz works for citibank and he is not freaking out and he generally likes to cry wolf so I am hoping he is right!

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  3. Mark's grandpa worked for Caterpillar. Rumor has it that they may tank. His grandma is 90 and lives off of his pension. If she loses that, she doesn't have another 40 years to build it back. She is truly afraid of what she will do if this happens.

    Mark is on the job market (college professor). Many colleges are instituting hiring freezes. Less jobs are available in an already very tight job market. Mark has called about positions that are no longer available, not because of hiring freezes, but because the professor slated to retire has decided to stay on in this economy. And then there are student loans. If less students are able to get loans (because lenders fear lending the $), then less students go to school and it really goes to heck.

    I do thank God every day that we finally got rid of the house we were selling after nearly a year on the market and numerous price reductions. I know others who are still trying to sell their home (and are barely paying 2 mortgages).

    We have 2 kids, job security only through May when Spring Semester is over, and another baby on the way.

    Ya, I'm scared.

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  4. Well, I am less scared of my/Dr. Hotstuff's parents moving in with us when they retire...since none of them are going to be able to retire now. I'm thankful to have a job.

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  5. Very interesting...this is why I asked. But I can see part of why perspectives are different. I get the concern about parents and grandparents...I hadn't really considered that much because my parents (and M's most likely) will be working til they can't any longer due to very old age. There won't be a "retirement" as such. My grandparents are all deceased.

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  6. There's a lot to be said for personal repsonsibility. I remember when we were looking to buy our first house 8 years ago and we were approved for a $300,000 mortgage. We knew we could only afford a $100,000 house and we put $20,000 down. I really think people should have KNOWN what they could afford. And the banks were greedy because they sold people stuff they knew they couldn't afford. Neither should get bailed out.

    And then they had some family on CNN who had a $50,000 credit card bill (as they were interviewing them in front of their large flat screen TV). There's no excuse for that. Live without some stuff and stop trying to keep up with the neighbors, folks!

    The only sympathy I have are for those with huge medical bills that they can't pay. But that's another discussion.

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  7. We're proud you're managing well :o)
    Am I afraid, No. Am I confident that we're in for a long, rough ride? Yes.

    ReplyDelete

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