We received a phone call today from one of our relatives who we don't get to speak to very often. She wanted to wish us a happy new year and send some belated Christmas greetings. It was a rather depressing discussion, as she recently lost her job and is having trouble paying her mortgage. I tried to cheer her up. I'd like to help, but money is tight for us right now, too.  read more »

When times are tough, I see lots of small businesses tightening their belts in an effort to cut costs. They might raise their prices, or start charging new fees for services that once were free. The airlines are a good example. Suddenly, passengers have to pay surcharges for their baggage, and you don't even get the complimentary bag of airline pretzels on some flights. On paper, this makes sense. Less money is coming in, so operating costs need to be lowered. However, if we look at the bigger picture, I think that these companies aren't doing themselves (or their bankroll) any favors.  read more »

Like many people, this economic crisis is hitting my parents pretty hard. May father builds custom homes in the million dollar range, which aren't exactly selling like hot cakes right now. As a result, they've been forced to put their own home up for sale, which is really killing my mother. She's very upset at the idea of selling the home where her children grew up, in which she has resided for twenty-plus years. My father has put a lot of work into that house, as it was a run-down rental when we first moved in. But they have no choice.  read more »

After twenty plus years, my parents recently put their house up for sale. It wasn't an easy decision, but my father is a custom home builder, and the market right now is weak. My mother is very upset, for good reason. While I don't think she would consider their current home to be a perfect "dream" home in any way, it is difficult to leave behind any place with so many years of memories.  read more »

Now that the bailout bill has passed, I'm wondering what kind of trickle-down effect (if any) we're going to see at our local banking establishments. Before the bill was passed, I had inquired with my local bank to see how the economic crisis was affecting them. He stated quite plainly that it wasn't affecting them at all. That certainly flies in the face of what the government was saying about "Main Street USA". And so I am curious to see if we'll see any benefit from the bailout here in "the sticks".  read more »

I was just thinking about this whole Wall Street bailout plan, and I have to ask...  read more »