The State of Your Economy

Unfortunately for some that are reading this, I saw Suze Orman on Oprah today. Now I am on a soapbox. I think she is a very intelligent person and she shoots straight from the hip. I am a huge fan of these two qualities in a person.

Now I'll explain the state of your economy in terms that even an 11 year-old could understand. This I know because I have discussed some of these issues with my 11-year old. Don't believe me? Ask him how much a barrel of oil cost?

Here is the plain and simple truth. If you need a credit card to get through the month (meaning you will not be paying the credit card off in full at the end of the month or cannot foresee ever paying the credit card off), you are living above your means. Ole Suze says so what if you think you should wear high-end clothes, drive a high-end car, live in a big house, not look at prices at the grocery store. If your expenses and putting some money in savings is greater than your income; you are living above your means. Get honest with yourself. Your friends and family know where you work and can guess about how much money you make. You are not kidding anyone. Usually they see you and think, "there's Tom, he spends more than he makes". It is time to get real. You are the one that will have to work until you are 110. If money is stressing you out, swallow your pride and live the way you can afford and not they way you want to be able to afford.

My former father-in-law (he's very smart too and shoots straight from the hip) was constantly saying "you won't stay afloat long with champagne taste on a coca cola income".

So you'll know, our country thought we could make good spending decisions and made the money available for us to borrow. What was not factored in was that much of America was like a goldfish that would eat itself to death. Folks sat there and said if someone is loaning me the money, I must be able to make the payments. Come on folks, when you signed the deed of trust or credit card receipt, you knew right then and there you couldn't afford it. Like Suze said, sure you didn't see the fact that you would be laid off coming; but where was that six months of income you should have had tucked away? Did you get a job that made something while you were looking for a job? Okay I'm done.

Always make more than the minimum payment,

Michelle Perkins