We don’t mean that literally or even that you should be watching The Hills on MTV, but let’s just talk about your money or lack of it in today’s economy. It’s hard to find a starting point and even harder to pinpoint where the end to our fiscal woes is going to be and when. The sad state of affairs we call our economy probably started after September eleventh, unfortunately. This isn’t intended to unite, divide or cause alarm to anyone, but every now and then, we need to put back into perspective what our wants and needs are in reference to the dollars that we do have. As I’m no economist, I can only offer an objective view on what I do see every day and what I see on the news; sometimes these two views of American life contrast sharply.

Today, we all pay more for the things we need as well as the things we want. Not a winning proposition; in fact that is the heart of our frustration. Essentially, our wants are drowned out by the need to partake in crazy activities like driving to work and school and eating food. A lot of this is created by the rise in oil prices. When it costs a manufacturer more to produce goods and deliver them to you. We’ll work backwards from here. Increased manufacturing and transportation prices are more of a result of our weak economy. Being in a recession, everyone cuts back, consumers are fickle which makes it difficult for manufacturers and retailers to predict what it is that they are going to buy. What makes it almost funny is that as Americans, we tend to buy things we want and skimp on, borrow or neglect purchasing the things we need. That’s why, when they say that consumer confidence is low, it’s almost all our fault. Another factor that is interchangeable with consumer confidence and increased prices on goods and services is unemployment. With manufacturing costs being high in America, manufacturers have turned to Asia, namely China to produce whole products or some of the parts that make up “American Made” products, putting Americans out of work. It’s easy to see the next step backwards is that those people with no or limited income, feel the crunch more than everyone. Before all of this started, the housing crunch began. This was a result of people taking full advantage of their bank prequalification letters, in my opinion. You all know what I mean, for years prequalification letters gave home buyers an estimate on what they could afford based on their credit score and debt to income ratio; for a while approvals were fast and loose on those guidelines. Yes, the catch was that they had to take an adjustable rate mortgage. Who’s to blame? Is the banking industry to blame for creating such a financial product or consumers for agreeing to pay massive mortgage payments? Looking back further, I find it comical to think that those people just needed a nice house with a nice driveway to park their nice car in that they could afford only because they got it at zero percent interest. Why did that happen? I remember about seven years ago, no one spent a dime; in fact we all thought the sky was falling and hoarded our money. That was until we could buy a turbo diesel one ton pick-up truck for $450 a month. I guess we can’t blame the auto industry for our woes, but taking our current situation into consideration, it’s really clear that (and I’m sorry to say) many of the issues we fact today, we have indirectly created for ourselves by making poor and hasty purchasing decisions in our past.

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