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Save. How can we. I am a middle class mom of three. I work full time and so does my husband. We have a 16 year old boy who will be going to college next. year. He will need a car, will have to pay for car insurance, somehow pay for college, and all the other expenses. Yes, he is working right now for $7.00 an hour. He is trying to save for his first car. Unfortunately, when you live in New York, the average car insurance for a teenage boy is around $5,000.00.

We live in a very modest three bedroom, one bathroom home in New York. Our property taxes are through the roof. We pay $6,300.00 a year just for our property taxes. We do not have an inground pool, garage, a deck, or any other amenities. Our oil fuel prices averaged about $500.00 a month. Our electric bill averages about $230.00 a month. Our electric company is one of the highest in the nation. Why? We all ask ourselves that question. It is simply because they can. Shoreham, a fiasco in the 1980's brought us to where we are today. The corporate leaders made big, big mistakes and we are still paying for it.

My grocery bills average around $250.00 a week. That is with me making home cooked meals. My telephone bill is a maze of confusion. Seven to ten pages long. I wish I could scrutinize it like I use to. I had figured out about two years ago between taxes and surcharges 33% of my telephone bill was going toward that. My home insurance has tripled in the last couple of years. Why? Again, because they can. No explanation. Health insurance. My biggest concern and nightmare. My husband was self-employed for many years. We paid our own health insurance which was about $1,500.00 a month. This did not include dental or eye care. Also, each prescription averaged about $40.00 each. If you are taking 10 medicines a month like my husband who is a diabetic that is about another $400.00 a month out of pocket.

College, car insurance, health care insurance, dental bills, house insurance, the mortgage, clothes, school supplies, after school activities, the water bill, groceries, gas for the car, electric bills, oil bills, maintaining a home, telephone bills, car payments, small family vacations, doctor visits, prescriptions, a major setback like an appliance or a cesspool going, Holiday presents, school lunches, birthday presents, graduation presents, teacher presents, charities to contribute to, cable to get the bare minimum, taxes upon taxes, saving for retirement, bank fees, the rare occasion of going out to dinner, surcharges

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