How I Really Feel About Our Economy

This is what happens when I think too much. Well...here goes nothing:


I never thought that our nation's economic crisis would be hitting us so close to home. I've watched the news and I've been aware of how the unemployment rate keeps rising every month. I've felt for all those people out there who have children, who now have to face the uncertainty of being laid-off or unemployed. I've thought of how helpless they must feel when they look at their children and wish there was something they could do to make sure they have enough money. But I never imagined that we would become one of those families. I never thought that my husband would be another number to add to the statistical analysis that demonstrates how terrible our economy is doing.
But somehow I do believe that the state of our country is serving as a wake-up call to many, many people.
We, as a country, had grown accustomed to spending carelessly, confusing our needs as opposed to our wants, as in:

I need food, but I want to eat out at a restaurant just about every day of the week, and I'll take a steak and lobster while I'm at it.

I need a car, but I want an expensive one, and make it brand-new.

I need a purse, but I want one that costs the equivalent to a month's worth of groceries.

I need a place to live, but I want to buy a house that costs half a million dollars, even though I can't really afford it.

I need furniture and appliances for said house, but I don't have any money saved up so I'll just put it all on credit, and then I'll complain about how much debt I have.

And can someone please tell when it became acceptable to pay more for a latte than you would for a fast-food combo meal?

What it comes down to is that we have wanted self-gratification in a moment's notice. We can't make ourselves wait or ((gasp)) just do without that $200 pair of jeans. We've taken for granted the things that have seemed to come so easily to us, without realizing that they can almost as easily be taken away.
I, myself have been guilty of self-gratification. And yes, I've been known to be a patron of the above mentioned FiveBucks Cafe, but my resources have been limited. I haven't been at leisure to spend my money in any way I please because, well, I've got responsibilities that outweigh my frivolous wants. I haven't eaten at a restaurant every day, or bought the insanely expensive house because I haven't been able to. Nor have I bought a $300 purse, not because I haven't been able to, but because I could never see myself paying that much for a purse that is just going to be kicked around anyway.

When I lived with my parents before I got married, I never worried about money. But when I did get married and moved out into the real world, worry set in right away. Miguel and I were young. We were kids, essentially. Mig had just turned 20 and I was still 19, but we were determined to be independent and make it on our own. Mig worked as much as he could to support his new little family, and I had a part-time job that didn't pay much, but of course it helped. I've been in school this whole time we've been married, so we've never had an abundant amount of money. Even now, we may not have everything we want, but we certainly have everything we need. We've been comfortable, but we haven't been complacent either as I've had to meticulously watch our budget to make sure spending on the 'wants' does not carry over into money allocated for the 'needs.'

I just recently quit that part-time job earlier this year after Michael was born so that I could go to school full-time and finally graduate. And though that was a tough decision to make, we thought we'd be ok on one income. Mig would just need to work a few hours of overtime each week, and overtime was usually not hard to come by. So I suppose we took Mig's job for granted. We thought that it would always be there.
But if I'm being honest here, I have to say that I feel this lay off is really unfair. I feel that Miguel and I have tried so diligently to be good managers of the little money we do have. We've sacrificed so much so that we could save money for a down payment for a house. Miguel has worked so hard to provide for his family and now he is being made to feel as if he is incapable of providing for us. It just really seems unfair, but I don't really have anyone to blame. So we just have to deal with it and try to stay positive.

I don't know what will happen in the coming weeks ahead...
All I can say is that I'm sure we'll get through them. I mean, we have to right?

(If you decided to read this post and you made it all the way through, please contact me for your Achievement Award. Kidding. See? I'm trying to stay positive.)