Seriously, is it just me.....

[AVGWarhawk]

If gasoline is a major percentage of your monthly expenses, enough that this increase in prices is putting a crimp in your budget then you have bigger problems than worrying about a recession.

It is one expense for everyone. Gas prices going up go hand in hand with goods and services. Price of diesel rises as well. Getting your goods to the store rises. Processing the good rises. The Farmers who grow textiles expenses increase. It starts to snowball. So, it is a bit more then just one item on your list of expenses that increase. Not to mention utilites increase as well. Natural gas costs more. Getting coal to the burners that generate electricity increases as the diesel engines that pull it now experience an increase in the fuel costs. All is passed on to you, the consumer.

You need to get your personal house in order. Give up the internet and that should cover the difference in gas price. Or your cell phone. Or your hard wired phone. Or your cable TV/Sat TV subscription. Or about a dozen other things.

Not so easy in todays world that depends on these services to get through the day. Give up you hard wired phone. What, send smoke signals if you have a 911 emergency? Give up TV, no problem. I do not watch much of the mind sucker anyway.

My stepson told me the other day that his step mother made him deliver food to 'poor' people as part of a church activities a few years ago when he was over there. The 'poor' had televisions worth thousands of dollars, yet were accepting church donated food.

He questioned the stepmother who responded 'they can't be held responsible for not knowing how to manage their money'.

Needless to say the boy is solidly Republican now.

I don't blame him one bit. Nothing like watching a guy at the super market buying lobster tails for dinner on food stamps. But hey it is not his fault

BTW, a recession is two quarters back to back of negative growth. We probably just got OUT of one.

And yes, there are lots of foreclosures in my neighborhood too. They are all people who bought far too much house for their income. Bad decision making. Any house more than twice your annual salary is a bad idea.

The bad decision making is purely the banks poor decision to underwrite these loans to folks on the edge. They knew full well the monthy payment will go up in the form of rising interest rates. They always adjust up! Once those on the edge receive their new statement after the first 12 months into the mortgage, it has risen upwards of $200.00 more a month. For those on the edge from the start, lights out. Not to mention along with a fat house loan come easy credit card obtainment. Next thing they now, they are $25000.00 in debt from pure credit purchases. Nice big screen tv eh? They made it easy to get into a hole. Digging out is 10x harder.

I'm not a credit card holder. If I can not afford it I did not need it anyway

[Blacklight]

Seriously, is it just me..... or is everyone else in the US getting the pinch on the wallet?

It's not just you. I got creamed last year and this year things are going further into the crapper. The cost of living has trippled for me and my wages have stayed precisely the same.
Things have gotten so bad that we're discussing moving.

[August]

Originally Posted by Blacklight

It's not just you. I got creamed last year and this year things are going further into the crapper. The cost of living has trippled for me and my wages have stayed precisely the same.
Things have gotten so bad that we're discussing moving.

Tripled? How far do you commute every day?

[Blacklight]

Okay.. I'm exagerating, but rent has been continually going up, my gas prices have been going up like mad and I have an hour and a half drive each day. Utilities have been increasing their rates like mad. And on top of all that, my medical costs just went WAY up.

[Tchocky]

<3 public transport

[bradclark1]

Originally Posted by Tchocky

<3 public transport

Thats not that easy to do over here believe it or not. If I wanted to catch a bus I would have to walk three miles to catch a bus that only runs the route three times a day and it doesn't run in the evenings.

[August]

I walk to work and my gaz guzzling SUV stays in the garage.

[fredbass]

Boy where do I start. :hmm:

I first have to say that I sympothize with the younger generation. I don't know how they can afford to live on their own unless they've got a great paying job which most do not when they first start out.

Secondly, Americans have become spoiled rotten, being able to purchase and do about anything we want, and expect to have it all, getting themselves deep into debt. (damn those credit cards)

Gas prices are definitely a huge problem for some. Personally I have to drive 23 miles to and from work everyday getting about 19 miles per gallon. You do the math. So I guess I could trade in my nice little truck and find something more economic.

I do have a cell phone, but dropped the house phone. No need for both really.

Luckily I don't have a family to take care of or I'd probably have more financial difficulties.

And fortunately I bought a modest lakefront home in 1994 for $50,000 with an interest rate of 5.3% requiring me to pay no more than $325.00 a month on the mortgage. (lucky me, but it helps to have great credit which many do not)

By the way, having great credit helps in all sorts of ways. Too many people let things get out of hand using those damn credit cards again.

Oh and now us spoiled americans want that nice flat screen TV which costs $1000 and up, a new computer, a pool, new furniture and someone to mow the lawn for us and more kids than we can afford and then spoiling the kids with too much as well. Like I said, we expect to have everything and just charge it. Shame on us.

And don't forget the medical bills which are rediculous.

Well I could go on but that's enough for now. Just thought I'd throw in a few of my thoughts.

[Tchocky]

Originally Posted by bradclark1

Thats not that easy to do over here believe it or not. If I wanted to catch a bus I would have to walk three miles to catch a bus that only runs the route three times a day and it doesn't run in the evenings.

I know, brad. Last time I lived in the States I had the luck to be living in Boston, which has a brilliant public transport system.

What I meant about laughing when I hear Americans giving out about gas prices - Over here we're paying well over twice the US price.

[August]

Originally Posted by Tchocky

What I meant about laughing when I hear Americans giving out about gas prices - Over here we're paying well over twice the US price.

Yeah but how much of that is artifically induced via taxes? I'll be a lot higher percentage than what we're paying.

[Tchocky]

Originally Posted by August

Yeah but how much of that is artifically induced via taxes? I'll be a lot higher percentage than what we're paying.

Oh, very much so. I'd say almost all of it is tax.

[Jimbuna]

Petrol is approx £1.03p per litre in the UK (give or take a couple of pence, depending on geographical location).

There are 4.54 litres in a gallon and the petrol station makes less than 10 pence per gallon profit.

[AVGWarhawk]

Hey, here is more evidence a recession is NOT luming:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Economy/st...4364751&page=1

[bradclark1]

It's Bush's fault. He's responsible for spaghetti being up 18 percent. I'm thinking of getting into the spaghetti futures market. A lot of money to be made there. If spaghetti's going up you know sauce isn't far behind.

[TteFAboB]

Originally Posted by Tchocky

<3 public transport

Can't beat self-sustaining vehicles. If only they made cars that ran on tax and other people's money and spitted coins out of the exhaust...