trying to keep up

The markets have been so terrible lately that we are having a tough time keeping the account balances stable. The markets seem to drop as fast as we can save money into them. I guess we are fortuate that we are able to save quite a bit of money, but it is getting tougher every day. Food prices are rising, gas is crazy expensive, and our utility costs have nearly doubled in the last year. Maryland thought that deregulating the utilities would bring competition and lower costs for everyone. It didn't. No new competition came and now our rates have gone up and are expected to keep going up. We live near the Chesapeake Bay and it is fairly windy here. I was wondering today what it would take to put up a windmill in our yard. I saw a news story about a guy in Delaware who lived next to the beach and did that. He said it supplied about 30% of his energy use. Then his neighbors complained and he was forced to take it down as they said it made too much noise. I will have to search the web and see how those things work, and if it would be feasable. I am at the point that I am willing to try pretty much anything to save money now. It sometimes seems like everything is lining up against us these days and it is getting so tough for us regular people to get ahead. We will have to just keep forging ahead and hope for better times, although I am not too optimistic about that. Even when the economy recovers, whenever that is, wages and salaries are not going to jump up, and prices are not going to come down. I will keep searching the web for more links and info that can help us regular working class stiffs try to improve our lot.

Working on more links

I am working on putting together more and better links to this site, but quality links are a little tough to find. Too many sites are just somebody trying to sell something or doling out the latest fad advice that fits todays news. I am really looking for links that will be useful in helping us all get a better handle on money and our futures. I have spent the last couple of years reading nearly every book about personal finanace and investing that are available in our local public library. I watch a ton of business news, most of which is just nonsense anyway, but I still like it. The problem seems to be that there is so much backround noise of all kinds of people telling us what to do that too many of us can't figure out what to do. A bright coworker of mine recently told me that he was going to invest in a particular natural gas company soon. Even though he doesn't know much about the company, he plans to invest as he sees good things for that industry. This is despite the fact that his 401(k) is not even close to being maxed out and he has no Roth IRA. It is tough to convince people that they shouldn't invest in anything until they have maxed out those two tax advantaged accounts first.

My money commandments

I developed some commandments that we are following in our attempts to get ahead. Here they are:

1)WE SHALT NOT HAVE CHILDREN: Kids have become a one-way ticket into the poor house, and are simply too expensive for most people to afford. We decided to get a dog instead. If you have an overriding maternal or paternal instinct, try babysitting. Otherwise, do like we have and just forget about having kids. It aint like the old days.

2)AVOID DEBT AT ALL COST: We have a home mortgage, but no other debt. Debt has become the modern day replacement for slavery. The credit card companies get you hooked on debt at 18%-30% interest and you become their slave to work it off. Pay as you go, as uncool as that sounds. People who collect interest get richer, people who pay interest get poorer.

3)THE GOVERNMENT WON'T HELP US: Our government is totally incompetent. I can't remember the last time they did anything useful. The government has known they need to fix Social Security and Medicare for many years but they do nothing. With all the major issues in the country today, Congress spent the summer holding hearings on steroids in baseball. Don't look for the government to throw you a lifeline, we must each save ourselves.

4)NOBODY IS IMMUNE: Everybody is being affected by the new economic realities. Some more than others, but in the end all of will be affected in one way or another. Even doctors and lawyers are now being outsourced.

5)DEAL WITH WHAT IS, NOT WHAT WE WISH IT WOULD BE: I have decided to stop complaining(for the most part) about the problems and just deal with what we think the realities will be going forward. For example, instead of complaining about Social Security, we will instead prepare for the probability that it will not be there for us, in whole or in part, when we retire. Preparation is our best path to success.

Just a working class stiff

I am just a working class stiff. I am college educated(doesn't mean much anymore), married, and struggling to get ahead like the rest of us. This blog is about our attempts to get ahead and lead a prosperous life in a land where the American dream is quickly disappearing. We all see it in the news all the time. Prices are rising, incomes are stagnant, the national debt is out of control, the trade deficit is out of control, bla bla bla. We are, as a nation, getting poorer. Last year our nation sent over $700 billion out of this country to other countries. I can't do anything about that, and neither can you. We can only try to manage our own situations to the best of our ability and hope things work out ok. I am not a financial adviser and am not licensed to give advice about anything. This blog contains my personal opinions and they should be taken only as that.