The Economy

Let's face it, the economy is most unpleasant right now. I guess I felt like I needed to acknowledge that here because it is like the big white elephant in the room all the time. I guess I try to be relatively upbeat here, but the truth is, everyone I know is feeling the pinch.

I realize that it's not just here in the U.S. but all around the industrialized world from hearing the news and reading blogs from various countries. Everyone is scaling back or trying to--or being forced to.

I have friends that are looking for jobs and having a rough time because there is so much competition for even entry level positions. And there are seldom jobs available, it would seem, that aren't entry level.

To make things worse, prices went up last summer due to the increase in transportation costs when gasoline fuel prices skyrocketed, but most prices haven't come down to their pre-fuel cost problem levels. Actually, on some things, prices are continually easing upward while incomes are definitely not.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think the situation is dire at all. Our local theater seems to be doing a decent business and restaurants still abound in this area. My fear is that people seem to be denying the problem and going deeply into debt. Or, perhaps, they are just holding on to the same old habits that were aquired in better times. Who knows.

I enjoy eating out and we did more of it than usual immediately after my surgery, but we do make sure to eat real meals at home. Our idea of eating out is probably much less expensive than most. Our meals at home are usually on the cheaper side also.

I worry sometimes about the economy and what the future holds. My brother graduates from his trade school in September as a mechanic. Will he be able to find a decent job with insurance? Will he be able to find anything in his field at all?

Hubby is in a stable field and is unlikely to lose his job, but it's not unheard of for a company to have real problems in a poor economy. I teach at a private school. In this economy, are people going to be able to pay tuition? Will our numbers decrease? We took pay cuts last year. Will we take them this year? Larger ones perhaps?

My goal is to be prepared for whatever happens. To work toward being able to provide for more of our needs ourselves. To make things. To do things. To fix things. To be creatively frugal.

At least on this quest, I might be too busy to worry!