My husband and I do not have credit cards we do everything with cash. Both of us work one full time jobs and we each work a second part time jobs. We sell produce at a road side stand in the summer months so we can fill our propane tank in the winter months. We freeze and can vegetables and make jams. He fishes and hunts and we usually fill oor freezer up. We are frugal because we have to be. Even though we both work 2 jobs each we still only make 42,000.00 a year, we rent our home, drive older vehicles that are paid for. I work a job that provides insurance for me but not for my husband, so we hope he stays healthy. We do not eat out, only for special occasions anniversaries and birthdays. It's just a way of life for us because we live in Southern Ohio, and jobs here are very scarce, if you have one you hang on to it no matter how bad it is. Hopefully the economy will turn around in a few years.

I agree that we as a society think we are entitled to too many things.....at our own peril in most cases. Learning to discern "wants" and "needs" is something this country would do good to learn.

TimC.

I agree with all the points made here, wholeheartedly!!! We are a nation of excess. Bigger is always better here in the good old U S of A. We must keep up w/ the Jones, we must have our McMansions, must have the best clothes, biggest SUV's, try any or all new restaurants. Guess what people? The golden age is over and I hope those of you who wholeheartedly bought into the lifestyle outlined above are having a huge wake-up call right now.  Those of us who didn't buy into all the crap, who watched our pennies, spent our free time doing volunteer work or putting in some sweat equity on our homes are doing pretty well right now, all things considered. I'd like to say I feel for you but sadly that's just not so.

I always try to weight things out before I spend money, even for the little things like buying the latte instead of the coffee, or even for buying coffee at all. If I can convince myself that I don't need to make the purchase at the time, I can usually feel better about buying something at another time for something that I'm necessitating. I never think it's a good idea to stop doing things completely, and it's an impossible feat to swear off buying lattes. I think overdoing the budgeting and self-managing can turn wants into needs psychologically, even though the wants are still wants, and that can do more harm in the long run! Beware of stress-splurging!

http://blog.justthrive.com

My husband and I also do not have any credit cards.  People were always amazed to hear that.  Boy am I glad now!   I keep hearing all of this talk about the "credit" crisis, but what happened to good old fashioned saving for what you want?  No where in the news have I heard that advice; that instead of giving billions of dollars to greedy banks so they are able to give us a credit card when our washing machine breaks, why don't we all forgo the credit cards and banks and save up for a washing machine?  A coffee can works just fine, and the only time you have to bail it out is if it falls on the floor.

AMEN,AMEN,AMEN!

I have been saying this all along. I knew that I could not afford one of those houses even though everyone else was doing it. I still rent an apartment.  I do not live beyond my means and although I work a full time job and a part time job I barely make ends meet. But I am VERY HAPPY! My 2 girls are healthy and my oldest is working 2 part time jobs and going to a community college and my youngest in jr.high studies very hard and gets all A's.

I am also a firm believer that what we earn means much more than what is given

(ie stimulus cks, etc) It helps our self esteem- and there is a certain pride that comes with earning things yourself. Please America - let's embrace this with an attitude of challenge. It's not the worst thing to live in an apt or eat top ramen or to drive an old car or to shop at goodwill. Let's be thankful for the FREDDOM we have .

God Bless America !!  In God I Trust,

Cindy

Boy are you right. We are spoiled rotten in the USA. We gripe and complain about everything when we have more than most of the world. Our poor are the richest poor people in the world. To be in the upper 10 percent of the world's income you need $22,000 dollars.  Where do you come in???

I for one think this oncoming recession is a good thing as well, but I disagree with what is being done in an attempt to avoid it.  My wife and I life a life style similar to T Clifton, in that we live in an area that is short on jobs, especially decent paying ones and do what we must to get by.  We both work full time, and continue to seek additional sources of revenue.  We have no credit card balances, as they sit in our safe for emergencies. We drive old cars that we own, and I maintain them myself.  While this life style suits us, we can not help but be upset with the recent turn of events with regard to the way those who drove this economy into its current state are being bailed out.  We have looked multiple times at the prospect of purchasing a house, we have however not done so.  This is due to the fact that the housing boom left us in a position where we were not comfortable purchasing anything on the market due to the price being over what the local pay scale can support.  Naturally when price levels exceed the resources of the market, price will eventually come down, and I for one would like to see that be allowed to happen.  This recession should be an opportunity for those of us who effectively managed our personal finances to benefit from those who did not.  However this bail out is poised to reduce that opportunity and hurt those of us who were intelligent from the start, by saving those who were not.  I have no doubt that the value in the market will eventually be there.  However I would like to see those of us who took the intelligent approach and stuck to hard work as our means to get the things we desire, benefit the most in this situation.  It is the American way.    

Hi there my name is Mike and I live in Houston, TX the land of the Big Pickup trucks, SUV'S, Homes, etc.,.   People living beyond their means is very evident here in Houston, it seems like everybody has to have the biggest pickup or SUV  with all the frills and gadgets on their block or they are not considered normal by their neighbors.

My wife and I are both blessed by God to be professionals with Master's degrees and good jobs but we often live below our means so that we can pay down the mortgage on our home sooner, save more for our retirement in 20 years (God willing) my 2004 Nissan Frontier will be paid off in 4 years rather than the allotted five years, my drives a 2002 Honda Civic. My wife and I would rather spend money to make our house a home and help our less fortunate family members rather than purchase material items just to impress people will do not like anyway!!

In my wife's culture (She is originally from Peru) a person's career, level of education and family values are given more importance than jewelery, fancy cars, etc.,

We both try to buy our clothes from retailers such as Joseph A. Banks, Dillard's, Macy's that are  either on clearance or out of  season.

Wake-up call huh?  Yeah, when I saw my 401K statement last week  it was a heck of a wake-up call!  It woke me up to the fact that my retirement is in the hands of Wall Street.