Saturday, March 22, 2008

Priorities

I'm sitting here wondering if the day will ever come that when I need something I go out and buy it, instead of waiting for the need to become extreme. This is on my mind because the chair mat upon which my chair stands is so brittle that any scooting of the chair mutilates the mat and tears holes in it. It's been this way for months, yet I cannot bring myself to go buy one. Maybe someday it will get bad enough to make it higher on my priority list.

Well, I've gone a long while without mentioning it, but that ends today. "It" being the American economy. I don't write about everything I hear or read in the news about the market because while I do think there's a problem, I don't think the problem has to be as big as the media hype. Before it's all said and done, I believe the media will be to blame for breeding fear that could cause major problems in America.
My opinion? Americans don't fear what they should, and they fear what they should not. They don't fear consumer credit, (read Maxed Out) and have taken on debt to elevate their lifestyle to impress others, while neglecting to save for a rainy day. They do fear when the market has three down days in a row; even those with very little or none invested get shook up. People have skewed priorities.
True- amazing things have happened in recent days. Bear Stearns, a company, who as I understand it, survived the Depression and two World Wars, but couldn't survive in 2008, was sold for $2/share to JP Morgan Chase. That's HUGE. But I'd venture a guess that they had different business practices back "in the day" than they did in the last few years...
Anyhow, in the midst of it all, I have found something I like in all of this: people are willing to talk to me about personal finance. People will talk to you about money and saving, debt and reduction and frugality in general. I LOVE it. I'm sorry to watch foreclosures taking place all around my city, but I love it that people are willing to discuss budgeting now. Maybe I could start a business as a "Budget Coach"... ;-)
As for the the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, I got my notice about it from the IRS the other day. 1 husband+ me+ 0 kids= $1200 around early May. In the big scheme of things, I think the EcoStimAct is kinda cheesey, but I'm by no means gonna turn down $1200. I recommend doing what's best for your family with this money, not necessarily what the government asks you to do with it. I say securing your own finances is good for the American economy. We plan to spend ours eventually (more on that some other day.)

Well, I wish you all a Happy Easter. Take time to think about what Easter is really about, and then enjoy the spring air with family & friends.

1 comments:

Maria said...

Thanks for the comment on my blog -- I'm glad you stopped by. :)

I though Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace university was wonderful, and extremely motivating!

When we get our Economic Stimulus check, it's going toward debt and perhaps some will be used to build up our emergency preparedness supplies. But a trip to Wal-Mart to buy Chinese goods just isn't in the picture. Sorry, Uncle Sam.