Personal Finances

I don't mean to be a "gloomy Gus" but, according to all the news we hear, times, they are achanging and not for the better for most of us.  Gas Prices are up and jobs are scarce.  Those who have jobs are losing benefits as companies work to survive in this economy.  Anyone still working is seeing their commute to work become about double in price, or more.  Those people who drive 50 to 100 miles a day are reallly feeling the pinch.  

Here at home, we are seeing grocery prices go up or the quantity in the packages go down.  I heard one day this week that one company was shrinking their product and leaving the price the same.  Probably hoping the consumers would not notice.  But the Media did.  

Home foreclosures are at an all time high along with Bankruptcies.  Credit card debt is out of site.  This isn't just happening to a few poor people, it has moved up to the more affluent.  The worst hurt are families with children to clothe and feed, not to mention help support the schools, and the older generation (they call us "baby boomers" who thought they had their retirement years financed but are finding that costs have at least doubled while their money is dwindling.

It is not all the  fault of the consumers.  Sure, most of us have been living well for the last several years.  There has been an abundance of  "stuff" that we wanted and barely  hesitated to buy.  We have used credit cards, loans, mortgages, home equity loans and any other source we could find to finance these purchases, never expecting to lose our jobs or become unable to work.  Now we are paying the price.

We are in the same boat  as everyone else.  Our research is in these pages.  We hope that the information here is helpful, or even a solution to you.