Some DU'ers seem to be doing okay in this Economy...

[KoKo]

How have you survived?

What advice could you give so that others here can see the "way going forward" that seems more "UP" than the "Down" that others of us see.

If you can post anecdotal stories it would be helpful. Also, if folks who are doing better now than under Bush II could post about how the changes in Administration have helped their lives and the way they see going forward that could help others take heart than things really are getting better.

I hope this to be a constructive post with replies that don't get into stuff that gets your post deleted or causes other DU'ers to get into fights with each other.

We are now approaching a new Election (2012) that will either re-elect a sitting President for another Four Years...and we see some incremental change after the devastating years of Bush II or some might feel some issues still need to be addressed for them to feel that things are getting better.

Can it be discussed in a constructive way? We, as Democrats, need to really get together on the positives and negatives before we go into that Election Booth in 2012.

What's good, what needs to be improved in America going forward?

[Cleita]

1. Fortunately, thanks to FDR and LBJ I have

Social Security and Medicare, but I'd be in dire straits if I didn't. I wish all Americans had income and health security. This would be one heck of a nation then. We need to move toward social democracy and away from corporate fascism. I really think the Republican Party is treasonous and wants to trash the Constitution and the very foundations of our Republic.

[Bluzmann57]

2. I work at a Union place

And we are real busy. So I thank my lucky stars that we are Unionized.
In closing, fuck you Walker and Koch Bros. Just sayin'.

[47of74]

3. Well...

If I had my way...

First, through a constitutional amendment, make it clear that corporations are not persons, and that the rights of people shall always be held as superior of corporations at all times.

Second, make electoral fraud like what happened in Wisconsin a crime punishable by life imprisonment. It may not seem like a violent crime, but this is a crime that strikes at the very heart of our country, and must be punished severely. Maybe if Republicans realized that fucking with an election could lead to them going to prison for the rest of their lives maybe they'd stop that crap.

Third, withdraw from NAFTA and any other free trade agreements.

[vi5]

4. I've learned my lessons.....

I always say the best thing that ever happened to me was graduating college in 1992, the last time things were this bad (although I think they are much worse now). I graduated college and couldn't find a single job in anything I had even remotely studied in college. It was demoralizing. I went on multiple interviews where the person interviewing me showed a 2 foot tall stack of resumes and said "You think you have what it takes to stick out from this pile?"

I ended up being lucky enough to get a job working as a maintenance man in the company that I had worked at during summers and they were flexible enough to let me go on interviews. But having to walk around that place and have all the people there in the factory floor ask me "How's that college degree working out for you?" and things along those lines taught me humility and it made me aware that I can always do any kind of work I can find, no matter what or no matter how much I think it's not what I really want to do.

It also taught me to be very frugal with money. I was lucky in that I had very supportive parents and I never took them for granted. I have since that time always lived like unemployment is right around the corner. That means not charging things if I can avoid it. That means no frivolous expenditures. It means just being very aware of money and keeping our monthly budget tight even if we can afford to treat ourselves. This has let us build up savings so that if something should happen (my wife and I are both lucky enough to be gainfully employed) we'll be o.k.

I think the biggest problem people my age (Im 41) and younger (my wife is 35) had was that they came of age and graduated college in a time when everything was going well and living high on the hog and spending money on status things was the norm and not out of the ordinary. So now those are the people who are having the most trouble.

[NNN0LHI]

5. My union contract pretty much saved me with a small pension and good medical benefits

I get cuts in both every year instead of an increase just like a lot of people but without that my wife and I would be living in the streets by now.

Union is the only thing that saved us from being destitute by now.

Don

[shanti]

8. me too

i'm recently retired from my union job with a modest, sustainable pension and full medical benefits, so can't complain. no cuts so far, but of course, everything goes up! i really don't know what i'd be doing without it, but it probably wouldn't be pretty!

[distantearlywarning]

6. I was lucky enough to move to Pittsburgh, PA in 2003

It's pretty much the only place in the country that isn't experiencing a downturn. Our (very low-COL) housing market has been growing slightly every year for the past half decade, and we have the best unemployment rate in the U.S., 2 pts below the national average. Everything here is doing great. I don't know anyone who lives here who has really been affected too much by national economic stuff - there really isn't a recession here.

[scheming daemons]

12. You're right.... my wife left her job for a much higher paying one...

...and had multiple other offers.

We are in Western PA as well.

The economy really is doing well here.



The question is... what are we doing right and what is everyone else doing wrong? I think what happened is that we never had a housing bubble here.

[OneGrassRoot]

16. Interesting...I didn't realize that about Pittsburgh.

It's my hometown but I haven't lived there in decades.

Good to know. :)

[Curmudgeoness]

26. I think that there are a few things going for Pittsburgh,

although I am north of there and unemployment here is high. Pittsburgh diversified a great deal after learning a lesson with the collapse of the steel industry. Not having the housing bubble really has helped too, since that does not leave thousands upside-down on their mortgages. And one thing that other areas cannot benefit from is the Marcellus Shale boom. The gas drillers are here now because there is gas available to them, and there will be more activity in the future. This will bring jobs, although I am not so excited about the other things it is bringing.

[mmonk]

7. The problem is our society is being restructured.

That restructuring or reform is the problem.

[Lorien]

9. I lived well below my means when I made a good income

I had six figures coming in during the Clinton years, but watching my mom struggle during the mid 70's and struggling myself during the Reagan era taught me to be frugal. I purchased a home that was worth 1/3 of what I could afford in an up and coming neighborhood. I don't have a credit card; I only use AmEx and debit cards. I drove my last car for 16 years (until it started having trouble, I get DVDs from the library instead of having cable TV, I buy whole foods in bulk or at farmer's markets and make most of my meals from scratch. I have a lot of medical debt, but otherwise I've gotten by. Lesson: if you are doing well now, then save as much as you can for the day when you might not be doing well.

[Tesha]

31. We're not as aggressive as Lorien, but our plan was similar.

At the end of the Clinton years, Mr. Tesha and I moved
from a paid-off starter home to a house that was a bit
of a stretch for us but not *THAT* much of a stretch.
We financed the difference with a 15-year mortgage and
not a 30-year mortgage.

When Bush was "elected", we immediately entered full
"hunker down" mode. We lived pretty much within our
means. When mortgage interest rates dropped and re-fis
were all the rage, we did it too, but we only re-
financed the same balance that was still owed on the
house; we *DIDN'T* take out a dime in equity. We also
re-wrote the loan for ten years instead of fifteen so
just about the exact same term as still existed on the
original loan. So while the real-estate bubble hit our
neighborhood hard, costing us a lot of money "on paper",
the practical reality for us is that we still live in
a house that is worth more than we paid for it and in
22 more payments, it will be all ours.

Full hunker-down mode also turned out to be a good plan
as the Bush years played out. Mr. Tesha had changed
employers back in 2000 (before the selection) and that
was very good for his career for a while, but eventually
his job was out-sourced to Costa Rica; he spent about
a half a year out of work. Our modest "hunkered-down"
savings were what kept us going.

Eventually, a job showed-up; it wasn't a good job and
it paid less than he'd been earning before, but it
did pay a salary. And that salary meant the mortgage
kept getting paid and we'd already learned to hunker
down.

Along the way, I wanted a new kitchen; we built it
ourselves using inexpensive IKEA cabinetry, doing
everything except the countertops and the more-
difficult parts of the gas work.

We replaced a couple of cars, but the replacements
were both used and Mr. Tesha is *STILL* keeping his
old '96 Dodge Caravan alive (although that car indeed
gets "dodgier" with each passing month).

I wanted a nice ornamental garden outside; One summer,
Mr. Tesha spent an hour or two each day after work
digging the terrace for the garden into our sloping
landscape; once that was done, I've spent several
years accumulating the plantings. Together, we're
most of the way through turning another existing
(sunnier) ornamental garden into a vegetable garden;
last year, it produced zucchini, tomatoes, eggplants,
cucumbers, radishes, hot peppers, and one "volunteer"
cantaloupe. This year, you can add onions, rhubarb,
and actual planted cantaloups to that mix and in a
few years, the blueberry bushes might give us enough
berries for a dessert or two.

Last summer, a much better job opportunity finally
arose for Mr. Tesha and after talking it over with
me, he took a chance and jumped at it, spending
almost a year working as a well-paid but very job-
insecure contractor with just expensive COBRA
healthcare. This has just now finally turned into
a full-time permanent job (back at the old not-
so-great pay rate but with at least some health
insurance). So we've stayed in and will continue
to stay in "hunker down and pay it off" mode,
continuing to employ the old advice to "make due,
fix it up, wear it out/use it up, etc."

Yes, we're the folks responsible for the economy *NOT*
taking off again, but having lived through the Great
Recession (so far), we're not about to open up the
spending spigot and find ourselves in a jam after
the 2012 Election.

Tesha

[catabryna]

10. I'm doing alright...

but, it's not a pretty story. The only reason we are doing alright is that my husband died, I quit my job, my son and I receive Social Security, I stay home to take care of my kid, and I willingly moved to another state. All of this was done to get away from my family and friends who decided that they would rather be takers than givers.

Told ya. It isn't pretty.

eta: Except my Dad! Love you!

[Dreamer Tatum]

11. one word: math.

Has been very very good to me.

[bluestate10]

17. Same here. Math and hard science courses. Tough,

but I have been rewarded.

[Webster Green]

13. I'm collecting SS retirement and still working.

I've downsized my housing and drastically cut my expenses. I buy clothes mostly from thrift stores. I grow veggies, and other desirable crops. I get by OK, and have enough to buy a few semi-expensive goodies that I really want, such as cutting-edge computers, and really good leather boots.

In this economy, providing an essential service is a good occupation to have. I'm a chimney sweep. I do pretty good in the winter, even in CA. It gets slow in the summer, but there always seems to be just enough work to get through.

I must add that it's getting harder all the time, due to the ever shrinking economy and my reeling in the years. I'm 64, and the work keeps me fit, but it's more difficult every year to fool my body into thinking it's still 25. :smoke:

[RebelOne]

21. I was also still working and collecting social security

until 2010 when I was laid off. I am now 72, but I wasn't laid off because of my age. The company was downsizing. Others who were laid off at the same time were much younger then me. Thanks to my 401K, I have enough money socked away so that I won't have to live on rice and beans for a few years yet. Because I do not have to drive to work and back, I am saving about $150 a month in gas. I don't buy clothes because I do not have to go to the office anymore. My daily apparel is jeans and T-shirts. I am a vegetarian, so I do not buy meat. My only big expense food wise is dog food for my three small dogs, a Chihuahua, a mini-pin and a French bulldog.

I live in a mobile home that I own, so my lot rent is only $360 monthly, which includes water and garbage pickup. I have no bills other than utilities, Internet, phone, car and home insurance. I do not have credit cards anymore.

[trumad]

14. Network Security

Fear sells.

[Skidmore]

15. Surviving is the word.

I have been unemployed for nearly 3 years and jobs in my field are still disappearing. I'm in the 55+ age group so that doesn't help. My husband continues to work to keep our health insurance coverage and he just turned 70 this year. Our retirement savings plan has been greatly reduced due to the freaking stock market and we are concerned it will be taken away altogether. Not getting younger or more physically able.

What need to be improved is that citizens need to step out and find ways to do things without the big institutions. Citizens need to quit fighting and find common ground without the political structure.

[marybourg]

18. 2 things:

1. Luck, in that my generation's parents voted for FDR and Kennedy/Johnson

2. Never ever watching commercial TV, so I don't know that I need cable, call waiting, granite countertops, soda, mcburgers, yearly vacations, new cars, books, tapes, dvds from the store instead of the library, bottled water, etc. etc etc

We live simply but comfortably and were able to retire very young, travel around the U.S simply and settle down to an enjoyable retirement (now going on 25 years). There's not a heck of a lot any individual can do to re-create #1. But re-read #2.

[femmocrat]

19. We are doing well now, but it took us a long time to get here.

Ten years ago, we were both unemployed and facing a medical emergency. It was the year from hell for us. It took a long time to get back on our feet, but we did it and now we don't take anything for granted.

What's good is that democrats still have the WH and the Senate. How can it be improved? We need to get back the HR and pressure the president to become more progressive in his second term.

[sendero]

20. I'm doing OK..

... because I saw this coming in 2005/2006. And I caught a certain amount of bullshit, which I continue to catch, for pointing out the obvious around here.

So, for those who are starting to catch on to the FACT that there is NO RECOVERY and there isn't going to be one for a very long time IF EVER, the simple rules still apply.

Don't spend any money you don't have to. If you are in debt, try to get it paid down, or if that is a hopeless possibility, just go ahead and declare bankruptcy and get it over with.

Scale down your expenditures to what is easily sustainable. If you are married and both are working, try to position yourself such that you could survive one one income instead of two.

We're talking about a self-imposed austerity program and it sucks that we are in that mode but clearly this is all out of our control. We're stuck with bankster bailouts, zero interest rates, high unemployment and probably increasing prices for daily-use commodities for the foreseeable future. Our "leaders" in DC, Reps AND Dems apparently don't have a fucking clue what to do, or they have no power to do anything and keep still their cushy-assed perk-encrusted jobs. So nothing is going to change in the near term, get used to it.

[catabryna]

22. +1000

People never think that something bad might happen to them. It happens.

I must not have prayed hard enough. :P

[Odin2005]

23. I got a job at a thrift store. Cheap used stuff is one of the few things in demand right now.

My advice is to find a job that helps with building a sustainable society before the environmental-economic hurricane hits with full force and hold on for dear life. Stay away from fields based on unsustainable consumerism.

There is no recovery, there will not be a real recovery until the Corporate-Consumerist monster is taken out and we start building a SUSTAINABLE society based on HUMAN NEEDS and HUMAN VALUES instead of consumerism and profit.

[mmonk]

29. +1

[quaker bill]

24. Lucky so far

the layoff list where I work comes out in a few weeks. I believe I will get past it, but cannot be certain until it is out. I did better financially under Bush II, but he had nothing to do with it, and he had pretty much everything to do with the risk I am facing now.

I have made it so far, and expect I might continue to because I do not specialize.

[palmtree guy]

25. business is back to normalish....

but last year I got by supplementing my income by selling "herbal incense" laced with jw8 compounds to local headshops....was kicking some serious ass at it to till Texas outlawed the compounds, luckily at the same time business started picking back up, thanks to some serious cold weather upstate, sold a lot of replacement trees this spring !!

[Marrah_G]

27. I was a struggling single mom until last spring.

Now I share a home with my fiance, my two children, his son and daughter in law and his ex wife. Yes it is no the norm, but it is allowing all of us to share costs and reach our goals. We are very fortunate to have a low drama group. Now instead of 3 people paying 2 mortgages, we have 6 people with incomes. Our next move is a self sufficient farm in nothern VT,

[justabob]

28. doing about as well as I ever have economically speaking

I wait tables, not fine dining, so that isn't saying much. I work as much for as little as I ever did, but hopefully improving a tiny bit in the coming weeks. What has changed for me though is that I am much, much happier on a personal level. Seems crazy, being in this hand basket routed for Hell, but one day I just realized that much of the Problem is out of my hands, and there is not a god damned thing I can do about it. They are going to do what They do. It has been liberating in a way, I guess. It is what it is and my energy is best spent being constructive rather than getting myself in a tizzy and feeling my blood pressure rise with every news article etc I read, and every new outrage. (My pitchfork is still sharp, we just aren't quite there yet LOL)I have recently had the opportunity to help two dear, dear friends open their own restaurant which is a long time dream for them. I don't think I can adequately describe in words just how rewarding that has been (not monetarily :) ) I helped them through the construction/remodel process and now wait tables there. (We have been open one month and posted our best day yet today. WOOHOO!)

[Taverner]

30. I am damn lucky to have a job

So, yeah, survival..yay...

[Ninten12]

32. Busting My Boo-Tay!

I work in a US Government office for a contractor and the job is pretty secure. The pay and benefits suck (being a contractor and all) so I supplement my income by running a side biz selling just about anything I can get my hands on!

A medical problem and the lame "insurance" saddled me with a bill in the thousands. I have debt that I am managing. There is little room for error but I can get all of the bills paid without a problem. I always keep in mind that I will need to pull a rabbit out of my hat as being a woman of color, the disadvantages will fall heavier on "my people" than any others.

[Obamanaut]

33. I'm retired. We're doing fine. nt

[FreeJoe]

34. Things are very good here

I'm in the oil & gas business and live in a part of the country (Houston area) largely untouched by the recession. In my neighborhood of about 100 houses, only one house was foreclosed in the 7 years that I've lived here. A couple of people here have lost their jobs, but they've all gotten new ones within a couple of months.

Financially, my wife and I have been extremely fortunate. We both screwed up our finances in our mid 20s, but have been very financially conservative since then. We're in our mid 40s and have no debts. We paid off our house last year. Our retirement, college, and general purpose savings are all where we want them.

Personally, things could hardly be better. We have a great neighborhood with lots of neighbors that we enjoy socializing with. Our kids are healthy, happy, and blessed with lots of friends. Our local school public very good and is walking distance. My wife is a SAHM and spends most of her "free" time volunteering at the school.

The company I work for has been doing well and has rewarded its employees commensurately. I really like the company that I work for - both the corporate leaders and the people I work with. I have one of those rare jobs where I get a pension and a 401K. I get good health, dental, and vision insurance. I can retire at 55. I get 6 weeks of PTO (vacation and sick time combined) and that will go to 7 weeks next year. I can pick my hours (within reason) and can take every other Friday off. They match my charitable contributions dollar per dollar.

What's my secret? Mostly just being lucky. I love my job and, as a consequence, I work hard at it. I have had the good fortune of being recruited by friends/former co-workers to increasingly good companies. The only time I took a job without knowing someone there, was a disaster (I got into a heated argument with the CFO over the fact that he was ripping off my employees by claiming that the FLSA didn't apply to them).

My industry has benefited from worldwide economic growth. Being a commodity business, it has also benefited from inflation driving up the price we sell our products for. In that sense, all the easy money of the last decade has been a big boon. I'm considered crazy at work because I advocate significantly higher taxes on fossil fuels with higher energy costs offset by some form of widespread compensation.

[bvar22]

35. Some suggestions:

1)Find a job with a cut throat Health Insurance Corporation.
That is and will be a growth industry, especially after 2014.
Forget any job actually delivering Health Care, especially nursing.

2)The Armaments Industries are booming (LOL),
and will continue to do so.

3)Private Intelligence Gathering is also expanding.
There will be plenty of good jobs available Spying on Americans.

4)Creative Re-writing of History
Those with creative writing skills can find secure employment
feeding The Memory Hole and redesigning the language.
This will absolutely be a growth industry,
but hurry!
The History Books are already being re-written.
Google: "Winston Smith" for a tutorial on this exciting job.

[Liberal_in_LA]

36. kick. great thread idea.

[B Calm]

37. Thanks to Pres Obama and his Cash for Clunkers I've been busy since.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

38. Dumb luck of being born in a family that valued education AND had the means to provide it.

The rest just came naturally.

[MrMickeysMom]

39. WE need to revitalize our business sector in ways...

that take a failing (let's say) industrial park and insert green industries.

Currently, I'm trying to make this happen in my area. There is a guy who understands soils and permaculture and all those things are important to many people who can support his product in big ways and small. He also can take in compost from restaurants and other recyclers of organic materials for his soil. The old industrial park areas have 1 to 2 acre lot areas with a warehouse...

This is but one idea, because there are others that IF ONLY we had an energy policy and similar mind set (see South American ideas, those pinko commies) to actually want to protect our natural resources by law in ways we can't imagine.

We have in exhaustible sources of solar, wind and business to business adaptable "green industries" that could be poised to help rebuild homes and more energy efficient buildings that are in need.

This happens only with constant pressure to lead or get out of the way for someone who can lead. We need to hear the science behind a different business model in the effort to revitalize cities. This is one way we can immediately get to work on "moving forward", IMO.

[taught_me_patience]

40. White collar worker doing well

not affected by the downturn very much. The real negative is that I've been stuck at my job for the last couple of years. Wife is a doctor and hasn't been affected at all by the economy. How did we make it to where we are today? Well... a lot of hard work. I got an MBA from a top twenty school while working full time. She went to med school and got through a tough residency. Getting my current job six years ago was really really really tough. We both have heavy debt... but our payments toward it are miniscule compared to what we make.

We life a modest lifestyle, considering our income. She drives and eight year old bmw, and I drive a used Ford. We recently bought a two bedroom condo for much much less than we could afford. We've saved a nice wad of cash from living frugally.

[Awsi Dooger]

41. Lots of stock in Apple

And I touted that stock on this forum and elsewhere for years, long before it quadrupled. Plenty of opposition, including one specific poster in the Lounge.

In fact, the only reason I've kept this corporate avatar uninterrupted for more than a half dozen years is as a reminder of those arguments in the Lounge, and my smug confidence in whose side would prove successful.

Otherwise, I have some well researched and logical sports betting systems, notably on golf head to head matchups and college basketball. They are a grind but it's volume and an edge.

I have no idea how a conventional approach was supposed to succeed over the past decade. Luckily that's never been my focus.

[phylny]

42. Part luck, part hard work, part long-term planning

My husband works in the gas and oil industry and has for 30 years. He has worked his ass off for our family, and we are very fortunate that he has a good salary, great benefits, and a retirement plan, 401K and investments that should enable us to live comfortably until we both die (whenever possible, he contributed the maximum amount we could afford toward our retirement). He now works from home for the same company he hired into in June of 1981. He survived several downsizings by making himself indispensable, always giving 110 percent, and working ethically in all his endeavors. Our family owes him a great debt of gratitude, and I thank him frequently for his dedication to us and to his corporation.

After being in public relations and then being a stay-at-home mom, I did some research on careers that were forecast to be in demand, went back to college when our now 19-year-old was 18 months and, going to school part-time, got a second bachelors degree and a masters in communication disorders. It took me six years to do it, with much support from my husband and then young children. I now work as a speech-language pathologist and have always been employed since graduating, and get several job offers a month. It's a growth industry with a shortage of qualified candidates.

Throughout our lives, we have lived well, but frugally, especially during our younger years. We were very lucky to have bought and sold homes that increased in value (those days may be behind us, but we are in the home we will retire in). We did not go on expensive vacations (our kids are possibly the only ones we know who never went to Disney), purchased reliable, non-flashy cars and kept them until the cost of repairs would outweigh their value to our family. We did every type of work we could by ourselves, hiring out only the jobs that we were unable to tackle.

I think nowadays, it's tough to find companies that offer enough retirement benefits, but I think that they are crucial to the well-being of our nation. I think that health care should be offered to every American (and in speaking to my conservative friends, relatives, and co-workers, I always make it a point to say we should have nationalized, comprehensive health care - especially when I hear a tale of woe regarding someone who is struggling due to a health issue).

Every American should have what we have been able to build toward during our 30 years of marriage: Affordable, relevant education (I got my degrees from a state university), adequate health care, retirement benefits, and Social Security.

FYI: To anyone with college-aged children, in most areas of the country, the professions of speech-language pathology, physical therapy, licensed physical therapy assistant, certified occupational therapy assistant, and occupational therapy offer near constant demand for employment. My company has been looking to hire for a pediatric physical therapist for 3 years with no luck.

[ProfessorGAC]

43. The Kind Of Work I Do. . .

. . .can't effectively be imported, fortunately.

And, my wife and i have always lived below our means. So, even though we're only in our mid 50's, our house has been paid off for 6 or 7 years, we have no car payments, and we use our credit cards like charge cards.

So, when everything went south, we lost some value on the real estate, but since we owed nothing, that was only "money on paper". Really didn't affect us/ Maybe it will make a difference one day in the future, but for now, it's just a number.

Our "extravagances" are imported beer and good things to grill on the weekend. So, we're not exactly living like the Rockefellers. (Does that example still mean anything? Maybe i should have used the Kardashians.)

Is it luck or good planning or wise choices or a complete coincidence? I don't know for sure. I'll let others decide.
GAC

[PCIntern]

44. I treat working-class people and work with then and their insurance plans

and the people, and not the money, have always been my number one priority. If you trat people right in my profession, the money comes to you and you have a loyal following. If you do it just for the dollars, then when thigns get bad, people leave you in droves for cheaper. Even $1 cheaper...that's how little loyalty there is when the patient perceives that you're running a 'business' and that there's litle or no humanism.

[Evasporque]

45. Work well...live small

Bought a small house for 70k in the inner city in June 2009 I work in IT for a large regional medical center.

Live small and work in a growing industry that requires your skills. Stay sharp, selfless, honest and be reliable.

Keep your housing and other expenses low. THrow Republican personal responsibility back in their face at every chance...

I think that the changes Obama made post economic collapse helped spur the economy and open the beginnings of economic growth. I say this because for 8 years there were no IT jobs to be had in my field. They were all outsourced. But last year the market picked up fast...and in November of 2010 I posted my resume and in less than 6 days I had a new job offer.

[blueamy66]

46. We're doing okay.

We both work damn hard though. My guy travels almost every week with his job. It tires him the hell out.

We have gardens with alot of veggies...don't have to pay $1.99 a lb. for tomatoes.

We don't go on many vacations. When we do, we use my guy's free nights.

I use coupons faithfully. I go through all of the sale ads every Wed and Sun. When buying meat, I go to the marked down area first...you know, the meat that is going to "expire" soon. I freeze it.

I buy most of my clothing online, at Old Navy. The clearance prices are remarkable. If I need dress clothes, I go to Marshall's or TJ Maxx. I haven't stepped foot in a fancy dept. store in at least a year.

My guy has a company car. I have a $3000 Chevy Cavalier. I refuse to have a car payment. I think car payments are the downfall of many people. They just HAVE to have that new car with all of the bells and whistles.

I'm lucky that my company is booming. I got a raise this year and a NICE bonus last Christmas. But you never know....

[snooper2]

47. By not spending all my time on message boards

:)