A Comment about Consumers these days

[Catty1]

Or under the sheets!

[zippy-kat]

LOL, Staci! I meant eat REAL cheese, not the processed crap! LOL

If it doesn't come individually wrapped and in a square, it's not REAL cheese!

[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.

[ramanth]

The local K-Marts are pushing layaway very heavily.

The concept of buying on layaway plan has resurfaced in Indy. Many people have stopped charging things & I think it's great. My Mom used
layaway to buy most everything but food back when I grew up.

[ChrisH]

A nostalgic look back at how things were must include...limited opportunity for women and minorities, segregated schools, lack of knowledge about what constituted healthy and not healthy foods, far less medical advances, dangerous food additives and lots of other not so good things.

With the good comes the bad.

I agree that as a society, overspending is a problem.

I just don't think we should throw the baby out with the bath water!

I like my computer. I like the convenience of being able to order books, make reservations, research and learn on line. I like being able to make friends all over the world. I like voice mail. I like the microwave oven. I think a vacuum cleaner is much nicer than beating rugs and a clothes washer far better than a rock at the river.

Of course I could do without these things. But I would rather not.

It is a matter of whether we manage our things or let our things manage us.

Well said, Sara.