Don’t Let This Depress You
A friend and I were talking the other day about the current economical status of our country. Gas prices are through the roof, causing people to want (need) to buy other forms of transportation such as scooters or motorcycles, causing the prices of those other forms of transportation to rise. And that’s just one of the examples of how we are financially screwed as a country. House prices are in the toilet, employers are downsizing, people are buying less because there is less to spend. I think there are very few people reading this that aren’t affected by all of this stuff.
This friend and I started wondering how many people in the country are worse off now then they have ever been financially. I know it sucks to think about, but I’m curious. Here’s the deal. You can comment as “Anonymous” if you want, but I’m curious. On a scale of 1 to 10. 1 being the “poorest” you have ever been, and 10 being the “richest”, where do you fall today?
*Obviously, our “rich” and “poor” are relative to the World’s and I by no means am saying that anyone here in America is “poor” compared to the rest of the world. But let’s face it, we live in a culture and society where we, as American’s, need more to survive in this culture. We could go back and forth with that if we wanted to, but that’s not what this post is about.*
So that’s the question. On a personal scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the “poorest” you’ve ever been and 10 being the “richest”, where do you fall today?
i would say an 8, i am still only 21 and have a full time job for the first time…..kind of makes a difference
I would say a 9…. only because I’ve never had a REAL full time job. We dont have kids, but we do have a home and I cant imagine the expense of kids! (people should include their living situations, kids, homes, etc..this changes your financial situation!)
Everyday we’re thankful that I have my first full time job out of college and we both stay busy with work. In the Inland Empire the unemployment rate just dropped to 8%!! The worst in 11 years! We know that this is a season of blessing for us, although sometimes it’s a bit hard to celebrate because we know so many people struggling.
I love how my brother always is the encourager to people and family and says “Hey, it’s GONNA get better!” I know and gotta believe this for all those who are
I would say a 10. The key is not to spend more than you make. My husband’s company just announced no raises for the next two years. We are still richer than most the world. I’m tired of American’s playing the victim.
I’m going to go by the amount of discretionary income I have right now. I would say an 8. Mostly because both my wife and I have been working full time for the first time ever and just sold one of our cars. We have been very blessed.
I would say 4-5. We are a family of 4 on one income. Our 2 yr old is medically fragile so we incur a lot of expenses for him.
But we are still blessed. Its a struggle but we are making it every day. Its amazing to see if you are faithful to God. He does take care of us.
I would say we’re not as high as those who’ve already replied. My husband got laid off last year, and just this week found a full time job. It pays much less than we had before, but we still feel completely blessed. We’ve had family step in and help out for the past 10 months and they have no idea how thankful we are. He is starting the new job in 2 weeks and we’ll be able to become a one car family, which is something we have wanted to do for a while and will hopefully allow us more extra income to bless others. So that’s a blessing! We are simply choosing to be optimistic and joyful through it all and we are confident that God will provide, since He has so far, ya know!
I would say 9-10. Things are fine for us I would say. Thanks as well to Dave Ramsey. http://www.daveramsey.com
z
6, maybe 7.
The fact that I’m a little over a year out of college sways the scale a bit.
I would say considering everything that’s gone on in the previous months, I would rank around a 3-4 range. I’ve been worse off, but I’ve def. been better.
http://www.vagabondrunn.wordpress.com
p.s. Brody, thanks for the link to the scooter over a month ago, that alone will push me up eventually.
You know, that is a tough topic to get my arms around. Like Zach, we are on the Dave Ramsey plan, so I am looking at this through a different set of glasses so to speak.
I have noticed that it is definitely making an impact as far as how much it costs to live, even in one of the most expensive areas of the country.
With everything taken into account, I will say a 6
10
And that’s weird considering that we have just been through 3 of the roughest months of our married life and are paying more for gas than I ever thought I would.
But in the midst of it God has blessed us tremendously, allowed us to pay off our debt and brought lots of work in.
I’m almost a ditto to Adam (comment 5). Family of 4, one income, medically expensive family member – that being my husband not my 2 year old, though.
There are definitely more sacrifices we could make; maintaining the lifestyle we have is just getting harder.
I’m going with 5-6.
I’m going to have to say 6-7. Went down to one income last year and a lower income but with benefits. Also, added another kid into the mix. I think being on a budget has been so good for us though. Before, we spent what we wanted and really didn’t think twice about it. Throw the depressed economy onto the pile and it makes our lives quite different now. But we’re still very fortunate, none the less.
I would have to say a 6… I’m 16 and just bought my first car. a small “old beater” SUV…. Gas? ouch. My parents don’t want me to get a job because they really want me to focus on my schoolwork. So my only income comes from random jobs… While I stress about vain things like how I am gonna be able to afford a new wardrobe to wear to school my junior year… I have to realize that I have got it pretty easy. It’s humbling to think that at 16 and stressing, I already have more than what more than the world will ever experience. ouch.
1 … And I swear you all are lying.
This is a hard question, we are certainly not where we were. But part of that is our fault. Colette took a new job she would be happy with but with a pay and benefit cut. And with a new baby on the way we are having to make many more adjustments. personally a 4-5, but my parents have given us a free place to stay saving us being in the red.
we are about an 9, on our way to 10.
sorry Annon, no lying. like Zach, we decided to get our act together and abolish debt. we’ve had Dave Ramsey and his feisty attitude to help us. i took responsibility for our money situation and stopped waiting for others to solve it or for instant success.
and lest you think i’m talking about “rich” in good feelings and contentment (which we are), we started out the year with -25k and heading towards deeper water. we made a uturn, and are now only -6k in the hole, with only about 3 months before we get our head above water.
9-10 | Everything’s fine here in NY. Like Jule said above.. Live within your means and God will bless your good stewardship. Yea gas prices SUCK compared to a couple years ago, but cutting out a meal or two at Friday’s can usually make up for that increase (providing you’re not driving an Escalade).
9. Like several others here, we are making some pretty radical lifestyle changes prompted (in no small part) by the gas situation. More time at the neighborhood pool, less gas driving around the country on vacation. More Netflix movies, less gas (and popcorn/drinks/sticky shoes) at the local cineplex. Etc.
I would say about a 7. I definitely have to pay more attention to how and what I spend my money on, which I didn’t really have to before as much. Like many others have said though, being on a budget helps and has actually probably made me stronger financially and in my financial knowledge in general. I actually have to pay attention to what I value (usually what you value, you spend money on.) We, as Americans, have just gotten so used to being able to spend whatever we want when we want (and that included money we don’t even have– thank you credit cards/loans/pay-day advances!) We no longer know what it means to be frugal or save. Now it seems that we must learn the hard way…
Sure this stuff hurts, and it is very personal to us all, but it’s also a good time to remind yourself that all of this “stuff” is God’s.. and if He can take care of the sparrows, He can most certainly take care of us. (That doesn’t mean that we should live recklessly though… but that is probably a whole different topic of discussion itself.) For me, when times are easy, it is easy to ignore or forget about God… but when times get difficult I find out how strong/weak my faith really is.
I would say in the very shaky 3-4 range. We have five kids and only one income—a second income right now would only hurt us in the long run with having to foot the daycare and new gas bills that would be created with it. Instead we try and find creative ways to supplement the every widening gap between our income and what it really cost to live.
We’ve had our house for sale now for 1yr (6months our own and 6 with a Realtor) in an attempt to relieve some of the strain. But we’ve only had three couples/people come and look at it in that time and no one has made an offer…not even a low-ball one.
We can still afford to keep it for another year or two, but lately we’ve robbed Peter so much to pay Paul that poor Peter is now standing in the welfare line!
I’d say I’m at 1. That doesn’t mean that we’re poor, though. Just poorer than ever before.
A big part of this has to do with getting a second car when my husband got an out of town job. With us living in 2 places, we couldn’t do one car anymore.
We’re back in one town, and we’ve talked about selling one, but ultimately, decided against it. Once we pay the debt off, things will be more comfy again.
We definitely feel the economy stuff, though, too. Because we are currently making the most we’ve ever made (which is still below the national average) but we can’t afford a much luxury (she says, while typing her comment on the expensive internet that they pay for monthly).
I am one of the fortunate ones, right at this moment I consider myself a 10 – yes, this is the richest I have been in my life, but I am also working two jobs – one full time and one evening job. I have been doing the evening job for nearly two years, but I have now had enough and am stopping that in two weeks time and I am really looking forward to having my evenings back!
Without the evening job…..? But I need my ‘me-time’ back which right now means more to me than more money.
1…. try doing dental and orthodontist work with no insurance…
I would have to say that we have been blessed tremendously. I am a stay at home father of two little girls. My wife works very hard, so I try to be very responsible with the money I spend. I would be overwhelmed with guilt if I blew our budget. My wife budget’s our spending and saving, I believe there is no other way to do it. If we can’t afford something we want or need, we save for it. We only have one credit card that we pay off monthly.
On that scale I would say we are at about an 8.
The economy still impacts us tremendously though, we pay attention to store ads and only make one trip a week for shopping to save on the gas!! I also only cut the grass every other week, yeah it looks pretty long and uncared for by then but it is worth the savings in gas. We also take the wife’s car instead the mini van sometimes because it is easier on the fuel.
I thank God often for the blessings he has given us.
I would say 10 but that’s because I’ve only been married 1.5 years and we have a dual income. I’m thankful for that, but things definitely aren’t easy.
It would be nice to make a little more. Neither of us independently would be able to make it on our own with our current salary.
Somewhere close to a 9. We’ve got bills, but we are able to pay them…and as I think about all that we have, we are definitely blessed.
Brook Sarver
http://www.two10eleven.com
I personally am at like 1 seeing as I’m broke and am not old enough to get a ‘real’ job.
But I think when it comes to my family and stuff maybe 6 or 7.
it’s all about perspective. some of you guys might have been making over $40k/yr but then got dropped down to $30k/yr and now you’re “poorer”.
some grew up in a third world country with pretty much close to nothing…came to the US in their teens…by age 23 had a house, 2 cars and a well paying job…now they’re “richer”.
others took one pay cut after another…then bought a home…started a family…but is “richer” than they’ve ever been in their life!
what defines you being rich or poor?
1-poorest I have ever been. We are making it by the grace of God and occasional(unasked for) assistance from family. List of things never to do again: Produce a great sounding album with money you don’t have and expect it to sell well so you can pay it all back.
I’d give it a good ol’ 5. I think I always struggle financially…hehe…I mean, Starbucks employees are never really wealthy.
Honestly, I would have to say a 2. God provides, but only one other time has been more difficult than right now. I know a lot of people like me that are out of a job and have been for months. I praise God for His provision. I’m hopeful and trusting that soon I can get up to a 3 or 4.
10…and I was at a 2 about 5 years ago.
As far as the richest or poorest I have ever been…I would say a 1, but I have family that love me and take care of me so they keep me above the $0 line (although I will need to pay them back someday, so I guess I am below the $0 line)…A 1 is what you get when you move from the West Coast to the East Coast, Start Graduate School, have a lovely wife that cares for your beautiful boy, and is growing your precious little girl in her lovely belly…I will bounce back from this poorest I have ever been state…So long as I don’t make any stupid mistakes God will keep a close eye on me…Right!?!
If we’re talking strictly material things here (that’s what I’m gathering) then we are a probably a 2 right now. More debt than we’ve ever had before and less income to pay it off with. I take full responsibility for our situation though and am not blaming America for it all.
Beth
5 Budget cuts at work are not fun. The Lord is sovereign though.
Dave Ramsey is really great. I encourage anyone to listen to him.
What sucks is that China practically owns us. Those stimulus checks that a lot of people got in the mail…. money borrowed from CHINA people.
If all keeps going the way it’s going. bye bye economy.
I’d say my family was at 6 as of now. My father is a home inspector and has to drive to every job he does. So, the cost of gas prices is really stinging with my parents. It sucks. But we’re still blessed.
I’ve never been “rich” or even well to do. I work in the music business and you know what that means. I’m doing better than I have done right now. I say that very carefully. One of my “jobs” in the past I wasn’t even paid. I was paid below minimum wage as contracted labor. Weird but true. Oddly, it was the job I loved and believed in with a complete passion but I literally made nothing. But it was worth it. Don’t get me wrong and it was my choice.
The economy effects me somewhat mostly gas prices but like I said I’m use to being conservative with my $.