by Linda G. Hull

Created on: January 24, 2009   Last Updated: November 22, 2011

Economy woes are definitely causing a lot of commotion, and rightfully so.  It’s been three long years since we realized the economy was tanking.  Talk about stressed! 

When we lost over 25% of our 401k a couple of years ago, we realized retirement is a nebulous, if ever, prospect.  Following our guru’s advice, we decided to swallow hard and pitch in for the long haul.  So how long is long?  If we go much longer, we’ll be saying bye-bye retirement.  The question is will Social Security still be available when we younger baby boomers reach retirement age?  We aren’t counting on it.

The other day in the mail I received our mortgage statement.  It looks like next year our house payment will go up again.  Every year it’s been the same story.  Our escrow account is short because taxes continue to go up and up.  Our taxes have doubled in ten years. 

We’ve considered moving to a lower cost of living area, but I expect it will be crowded.  Maybe that’s why living in tiny spaces is all the rage.  That’s all any of us are going to be able to afford.  I’ve been getting some ideas from the Home and Garden shows.  

The popular topic at the water cooler is about coming layoffs.  You know you’re in trouble when they tell you to use up your vacation, and there are lots of hush-hush meetings with the bigwigs behind closed doors.  Hey, that’s a great way to make the budget balance, just lay off the employees!  Adding insult to injury, many of those jobs were shipped overseas.  They didn’t even ask us if we wanted to go too! 

In the meantime on the homefront, we’re witnessing frantic groups of moms struggling to get their sale items at the grocery store.  I saw a lady in the store the other day armed with several ad papers and a bag of coupons she was holding on to for dear life.  With purposely short supplies and thousands of coupons printed in the local paper, it’s a wonder no one gets hurt. 

The best day of the week is “senior citizen day” when seniors get a discount on their groceries.  I’ll take it!  By the way, just so you know, the savvy shopper attire now includes padding for increased protection amidst the jumble of elbows and grasping fingers. 

I continue to count my blessings.  We’ve tightened our belts, learning to make do with what we have.  I just pretend we’re living in the time of the Great Depression of the 1930’s. 

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