Moneyes wrote:

FrugalFran wrote:

Goldbug wrote:

FrugalFran wrote: It's just a shame that we have to work so much harder and spend less time with our families to make ends meet.

It is a shame. That's why I'm always on the lookout for better ways of making money, managing my money, spending my money and investing my money. There are ways around the inflation / cost of living ratio.....there has to be. For every financial regulation and and adjustment that comes from he top, there is a loophole. Financial experts may be experts, but they are not perfect.

The counter argument is governments are so inefficient the individual should be more responsible for themselves and many do not want to be told what to do by the government.

FrugalFran wrote:

Goldbug wrote:

FrugalFran wrote: It's just a shame that we have to work so much harder and spend less time with our families to make ends meet.

It is a shame. That's why I'm always on the lookout for better ways of making money, managing my money, spending my money and investing my money. There are ways around the inflation / cost of living ratio.....there has to be. For every financial regulation and and adjustment that comes from he top, there is a loophole. Financial experts may be experts, but they are not perfect.

Goldbug wrote:

FrugalFran wrote: Something changed and I'm trying to figure out what. Is it just because everything became more expensive and salaries aren't rising with the cost of living?

According to Investopedia , cost of living has been rising faster than inflation would account for since 1994. Wages have increased as expected, but things like gas have nearly tripled in price over the same period. A dollar really doesn't go as far as it used to, and savings have been eroding as people try to make up the difference. After 20 years of this, there's not as much money around as there was.

That makes sense and, boy, we all felt it when gas went up to $4.00 a gallon! It's just a shame that we have to work so much harder and spend less time with our families to make ends meet.

Egghead wrote: HJM later said half were closed and some were store cards, but still, 16 is a little OTT in my book. I'd love for the previous posters to come back and update on how they are doing. Sometimes I feel like I am reading a book with no final pages!

You are. We are all the authors of a story that wasn't meant to be finished. Welcome to the internet.

Sixteen cards though is over the top regardless of how well you think you handle money. IMHO.

FrugalFran wrote: Something changed and I'm trying to figure out what. Is it just because everything became more expensive and salaries aren't rising with the cost of living?

According to Investopedia , cost of living has been rising faster than inflation would account for since 1994. Wages have increased as expected, but things like gas have nearly tripled in price over the same period. A dollar really doesn't go as far as it used to, and savings have been eroding as people try to make up the difference. After 20 years of this, there's not as much money around as there was.

I could not agree more. There needs to be personal finance classes taught in everyday school.

More financial education on the high school level is needed. Not Trigonometry......not calculus......but the math skills needed for real life. The first two examples, and other studies like that, should be saved for career specific education.

I hope you don't have outstanding balances on those all of credit cards. You need to be very careful with that.

I'm really sorry to hear that, Breakinger. I just don't understand where it all went awry. I know some people who are living high on the hog and they could easily scale back to keep one parent at home and still save for the kids, but they choose not to because they don't want to give up their huge houses and BMWs. That's just selfish, in my opinion. That's not the norm, though, and most people are just scraping by with two parents in the workforce. Something changed and I'm trying to figure out what. Is it just because everything became more expensive and salaries aren't rising with the cost of living?

I completely agree with you on this one, FrugalFran. I know that both of my parents worked really hard and they couldn't help my sister and I with any college expenses. We both had to pay for it ourseleves. Right now my husband and I are in the same boat, we have three children and we won't be able to send them to college either. Something needs to change.

HJM later said half were closed and some were store cards, but still, 16 is a little OTT in my book. I'd love for the previous posters to come back and update on how they are doing. Sometimes I feel like I am reading a book with no final pages!

The problem with student loan debt started when parents stopped paying for education. Everything is so out of whack these days. Families used to be able to live with one working adult and things like college and weddings were paid for by the parents. I'm more interested in knowing what changed that forced both parents into the workforce and, even with that, they can't help with the traditional extras.

hjm331 wrote: I think I'm a good example of how every teenager should be when it comes to handling credit. I currently have 16 credit cards and an auto loan and I'm only 19. Imagine where I will be in 5 years from now.

Wow! Why do you need so many credit cards at your young age? I haven't had that many in my entire lifetime. They will hurt you in the future when you try to get a mortgage.

5/11/2009

There's a relief for ya!