People's thoughts are collapsing...The economy goes directly proportional to PEOPLES BEHIVORS!

Economy is the reflect of People's mindset, productivity, honesty and hard work.

You tell me how a familly of 5 can survive on minimal wages. going out once a week HA!! we have to buy only the things we need, there is no new Dvd or dry cleaning.the only thing we are looking forward is to come home and hope that we did pay the electric bill so we can turn the fan on and relax.

First things first, no one is forced to earn minimum wage.  go out and get 2 jobs or build your skill sets so you are worth more.  This is America!  

Secondly, this economic squeeze is exactly what we need.  This is period i time will cause people to readjust how they spend.  Will it be painful?  Probably.  Will it be inconvenient.  Yup.  Too bad, we have been living way too large for way too long.  As a Financial Advisor in LA, I know that for a fact.  Just so I can "walk the talk" , our household food and grocery budget is $300 monthly ( $60 is for dog food only).  Our income qualifies us as the top 5% but that doesn't mean we can be wasteful.  MAKE MORE AND SPEND LESS (it is very liberating)!!!!!

I am living paycheck to paycheck and I am stuck paying high interest on my credit cards now that the promotional rate suddenly dissappeared and all that fine print has come back to bite me on the u know what. I pay around 300 dollars a month and it is basically all interest I am making no dent in the actual debt. I have to say that although I think that the credit card company is being heartless that I can't blame anyone but myself. I was spending thinking that I would go back out to work when my daughter was old enough and so both my husband and I would make enough to pay off a few thousand in no time. With daycare, a second car, gas and food prices there is no real extra income and so now I find myself very overwhelmed by debt. I say that downsizing is the way to go. Most of the things that were charged to my credit cards were soooo useless. I look at the things I bought and wish I had admired them then left them in the stores. You don't need fancy clothes or fancy furniture or expensive dinners. Invest in your future. I'm 23 but I wish I had saved that money for a down payment on a home and my daughters education. To all the young people thinking about getting a credit card just to build credit --- sit down and really make a promise to yourself that you won't buy anything other than groceries, gas and bills and never spend more than you can pay off completely when the bill comes. I have paid THOUSANDS  in interest  now and my credit card was just taken over the limit AGAIN by the interest and I haven't used it in months. And u better believe they added another 40 dollars for an overlimit fee eventhough their interest charges were what sent it over the limit. Thank God I have somehow managed to never pay any bills late and my credit is still intact with no blemishes except that my credit card balances are high. I have totally cut back and I am determined to pay my debts off completely and let other young people know that credit cards are NOT FREE money. Those companies are in it to make a profit they are not there to wave fees and be your friend they will be brutal when it comes time to pay it back so don't charge crap. Be responsible your future depends on it. God bless. I'm thankful that I am learning the hard way now because I still have my future ahead of me to get things right for my family.

Heidi, the ecomony is not collapsing and it is the responsibility of each individual to educate themselves on what is a "need" vs. a "want".  If you live paycheck to paycheck, it's because you are doing it to yourself.  If someone chooses to party all weekend and spend their money on boose then it's only their fault if they can't pay their rent on time or if they fail to meet the basic nutritional needs.  If you have five kids and can't afford to take care of them, who told you to have them in the first place?  There is such a thing as birth control.  So, it's up to each one of us to make sure that we can handle what we're getting into before we get into it. Common sense, it's that simple.

WOW! Amazing comments! However, how many of you realize that a Democrat voted into office will further our country'seconomic distress.  Americans may be spoiled,  but the ones who work for their pleasures should not be punished by being made to share with people who are expecting a handout from ourgovernment

As the writer referred to in this post I have to be honest and step out of character a bit. I do agree with the essence of that original comment about the economy collapsing.

We are largely a "more more more" society and it would have a tremendous impact on the economy if we were to all take such drastic measures at once.  It would also go a long way toward making people realize that our economy includes a lot of things that we wouldn't need if everyone were to live more simple and frugal lives.

Personal responibility is KEY.  Plan a budget, leave reasonable room for some personal vices (i.e., coffees, clothing, movies), save your dollars in case you lose your job or can't work for a long time, put money into retirement, don't buy impulsively... we have to work with what we have and even though things are more expensive we can still adjust somehow...

Maybe in this economic slowdown, if we bought only what we needed, the conglomorates and countries where our manufacturing jobs have been outsourced, would go broke.  The rest of us would survive and flourish.