I was listening to the radio on the way home from shopping today (yup paid cash for everything) and they were talking about how bad the foreclosures are and are going to get. There were so many lost jobs, the slow down in the housing market, etc., etc. Does all of that worry you?

I know we are on a very tight budget and even when we have money I am pretty tight with it, so I have to say I don't worry too much about myself. I am good at saving and cutting back when things are tight too.

What about you and your family, has any of this affected you?

Do you think we could have another depression?

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

I do think that there could be another depression. People just let their spending get out of control, watching the news people file bankruptcy, vehicles being repossessed, houses being foreclosed on, etc. Yes, some people do lose their jobs and there are some extenuating circumstances, but I don't believe that all of it is that. I do believe that alot of it is people living beyond their means and mismanaging their money. In the area we live, the cost of living is quite low, and the ecomony is doing fairly well, so we are not seeing alot of things that other areas of the country are seeing. What I mostly see around me is from people making poor decisions about money, but I know it is not like that in other areas. I mean what happened to people having savings accounts? Driving older cars and making a savings account of the money used to be the norm, nowadays people just go out and buy the vehicle they want and have a great big payment. What about saving for a big ticket item like a tv or furniture or clothing or toys at Christmas? Poeple just charge it to the credit cards nowadays, years ago, people saved up and paid cash. Of course this is my own personal opinion, most people I know live way beyond their means.

I am worried. My husband works in the automotive industry. They are constantly getting laid off and being told that they may not have jobs at all. I have watch in my area several companies down sizing and hundred to thousands of people lossing their jobs that that have had for years. The company I work for just eliminated several jobs and out sourced them to India.

I am very worried in my world. No matter how much I save and don't buy things we don't need, it is never enough. My husband might be laid off a next week and all I saved goes on the lost pay. My job could be outsourced to any number of places any day too.

That is just my thoughts.

Yup. I just heard that a company in India is outsourcing to the US. It looks like the tables are starting to turn to me.

BF welds at a factory and they were just told that the company has been making a TON of money thanks to their hard work and that from now on they will pay yearly up to $250 of the supplies that the welders use,like gloves,helmets,tools,or whatever they need.That will be a big help to us.

Yes. My husband was unemployed for 2.5 months this year and now works for a credit card processor. I don't think the mortgage part would affect him. He specifically works in the prepaid credit card division.

You are absolutely right. Everyone trying to keep up with or outdo one another and the spending can get out of control. Today's mindset is much different than a generation ago.

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I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!

He works at a factory and they haven't been supplying safety equipment all along? Is that even legal? I'm glad they're helping, but I think they should do more than "help."

I agree !!!!!!!!!
I do live in Youngstown ,So we are pretty fortunate that he has the job he has .Welders seem to be in great demand around here.

How much of this do you think might be from people buying autos based on monthly payment, not total price? How many people buy houses based on being told "You qualify for $X loan" instead of figuring out their budget. Nevermind those ARMs that are causing the monthly payment to skyrocket. I've read somewhere that a lot of the foreclosures are actually by investors. Anyone hear about this guy? Casey Serin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Well yeah a little, but I have seen how people around me live and I agree with the posters above when they say that people want to live ABOVE their means ( not everyone ) but some people do like my inlaws who get as much money monthly as we do, their home and truck are paid off and they still can't save money for the house taxes they have to pay and then they want US to give them money for it :-(

That just makes me ANGRY because we are struggling along paying a house and car and barely making ends meet and they WASTE money like water and then on top of everything we still end up helping them,,

sorry this turned to a vent but it was bottled up inside of me <<<sigh>>>>

Thats my bf,I feel he lives beyond his means.He pays out the butt on high rent for this crappy ole house that I hate! If I had my say so we'd be living in a small cheap apartment with all utilities paid saving our money for a down payment on a house,or improving our credit,and just saving for a better future,But noooo, he wants to pay sky high rent for this old crappy house,in which we have to pay all utilities,water,garbage,sewage,etc.electric,gas,ph one,and $50 a month for cable TV ,that we NEVER watch.Then theres the beer, which brings the excessive smoking, and buying all the motorcycle parts for a bike he'll never be able to ride. Its a good thing I can get such good deals at CVS,andWalgreens,etc or we wouldn't eat. Also thanks to the recent Brylane referral deals hes got a whole new wardrobe for next year that I'm giving him for his birthday and xmas.

I think you are also right! People should take more notice and do more research about what type of housing loans they are really applying for and getting, but some people just take someones word for it or do it anyway thinking it will be ok and everything will work out, some don't even know what type loan they are getting until it's too late. If they just did a little homework, they could prevent making a huge mistake. As far as the amount of loan they can qualify for, many people don't realize that you shouldn't purchase the full amount of what you can qualify for, again another easily preventable mistake. Yes, I do think the car situation is the same people just look at what they can afford for a monthly payment, which is somewhat ok I feel, you pretty much have to have a decent running vehicle where we live. But what happened to actually saving up for a down payment on that vehicle and maybe getting a smaller vehicle or a used vehicle that is more within the budget so as to still be able to save money? Instead of buying a car that you can barely afford to drive (many of my friends do this, can barely pay for gas after they pay for the vehicle).

Been there and went through a mimi-depression. Both of my parents went through the big depression so I learned how to save from them. When I got married in 1974, I was couponing. In the early 1980's the midwest lost a lot of companies. I lived in Milwaukee where many, many companies went on strike and then left the state. I remember one Christmas when only my bil was working (I come from a family of 8 kids). When my dad's company closed my two brothers and a cousin lost their jobs. We moved to Maryland in 1988 because my dh was offered a job. We had to sell our house for less then what we paid for it 9 years before. I remember hearing stories of people in Texas who could not make their house payments. They just mailed the keys to the bank and left.

Thoughout the years, we have been couponing,etc. so if the economy gets bad, I know how to do with less.

People buy by WANT not NEED!

They buy bigger, fancier homes and cars than they need.(or in many cases can afford)
A lot of parents probably saved for years to buy a home as nice as their kids start out with

Have you guys seen this site?

America Saves

When we applied for a home loan two years ago, our bank said we qualified for a 250,000 loan. We stuck in the area of 150,000 when we purchase our home. I am so glad we did, with other bills we do fine but if we would have bought a home that expensive, we would have been burried in debt. I have neighbors who have taken out an equity line on thier home to pay criedit cards only to start using credit cards again. I also have a neighbor who just moved because they were foreclosed on. Even though I sometimes feel like we are spinning our wheels. We are fine and there is always someone worse off.

I worry constantly about the economy. My DH and I have great jobs with pretty good job security, but I see all of those people who do live above their means. I hear of people with houses here that are so large they cannot afford to furnish them. I prefer to live happy and debt free (excluding the mortgage that is well within our means) than keep up with the Joneses.

I am very worried. The people who control the wages, outsourcing, taxes, interest rates, etc don't like people like me. I continuously work two jobs and cannot seem to get ahead. I don't feel any security in my jobs at all and I work for the county for one job and the federal govt for another.

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

I think a depression is very possible. I believe importing from other countries and outsourcing our jobs to cheaper labor markets has helped ruin us.

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Too many people spend money they haven't earned to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like. - Will Rogers

No, I'm not so much. We have money in the bank and live within our means.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

We too, have money in the bank and live within our means. My DH was laid off unexpectly 2 years ago, and was lucky enough to find a better job within 6 months, before his severance package was up. He was also able to draw unemployment so we saved about 10,000 during that 6 months --- I know how to live cheap!! :-)

I worry about health insurance for when we retire or if he should get laid off again. The only bill that we had during his layoff was health insurance and if I remember right, that was $1100 to $1200 dollars a month. Ouch.

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Donna

I can't believe this! Just 10 days ago I posted about how my bfs company was telling them what a good job they were doing and how they have made the company a ton of money and bla bla bla.! What bull ! Today I go pick up bf from work and hes got all his work stuff with him.They laid a bunch of people off and he was one of them. Could be a month or it could be longer they don't know so its back to the drawing board! Am I worried? NOW , I am.

Yes, the economy worries me greatly. During the past 12 yrs, the cost of housing has doubled, the electric bill is almost 3X the price now, gas is ridiculously priced & have observed retirement benefits taken away from people who worded 30-40 yrs for a steel company. I don't see too much of a bright spot for the immediate future.

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We're off to never never land