A Comment about Consumers these days

[RICHARD]

I am not going to live without my electricity either. I do read, and use a lamp to help (compact fluorescent).

LOL, I should have been more succinct! I was thinking about the people who cannot live with out their PDA/cells and feel like the are entitled to plug in a charger everywhere they go.

"My cell is almost dead, can charge it up here?"
Or they go to a public place that has a plug for the janitors to use. I laugh when I see a person squatting next to a plug using their phones for free.
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What I meant by the "lights going out" was that when the electricity goes out-people who are accustomed to 'everything' electric in their lives will panic.

Not me, I gots my propane camping light and me books!

[caseysmom]

LOL, I should have been more succinct! I was thinking about the people who cannot live with out their PDA/cells and feel like the are entitled to plug in a charger everywhere they go.

"My cell is almost dead, can charge it up here?"
Or they go to a public place that has a plug for the janitors to use. I laugh when I see a person squatting next to a plug using their phones for free.
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What I meant by the "lights going out" was that when the electricity goes out-people who are accustomed to 'everything' electric in their lives will panic.

Not me, I gots my propane camping light and me books!

Hope you don't use that in the house!

[Catty1]

Or under the sheets!

[Twisterdog]

One of my employees and I had a conversation about this today.

Everyone was discussing the economic hard times coming, recession, depression, etc. in close to panic mode.

Terry and I looked at each other and said, basically, "So what?" We will continue to live exactly like we live now, and have always lived ... frugally, within our means. We were raised by parents who lived through the great depression.

We know what it is to plan and save for a purchase, and wait until you have the cash before you buy. We know how to plant a garden, and how to can food. We have had periods in our lives when we didn't have a television or a land line phone, let alone a computer and a cell phone. I'm not saying we always do this all the time ... but we know how, and we would not bat an eye if we went back to doing it on a regular basis.

I go to yard sales and thrift stores. I buy in bulk. I wait for sales. My husband sometimes makes fun of me, saying, "Shanna, we make x-amount of money a year, you don't have to live like we are poor anymore." Well, why not? It doesn't hurt anyone.

[sasvermont]

I am guilty of this, I am afraid, although have a handle on it right now. I know how tempting it is to spend, spend, spend, when you have hundreds of ads on TV and the INTERNET, inviting you to buy beyond your means. The secret is to stay grounded. It is oh so tough to do so.

My parents were good examples for saving and spending within your means, but I must confess, from time to time, I go in to debt. I think the marketing techniques used today, to spend, are quite convincing. Many people get sucked in to the abyss.

I don't have much hope for many of the folks in debt up to their eyeballs. I suspect they will go bankrupt, personally, eventually. But can half of society go bankrupt? Maybe I have the wrong attitude, but I think there are many people living on the edge and will not make it through this economic hard times, in one piece. I have bad feelings about our future, money wise.