Anyone as Stessed Out as I am??

[DayCruiser]

I have seen recent Polls out that talk about how many Americans are unhappy with their lives. I am happy with one side of my life--boating and personal. But I really anxious about the financial side. Anxiety has been building for a good many years now. I can forget about it for awhile when I am boating. Amazing how therapeutic boating is. But then it is back to reality. The Price of everything is going up drastically and my income is not keeping up with it. At some point I will have to take money out of my savings. I am self employed and the cost of doing business are escalating at a time when customers are trying to cut expenses. Then there are the personal cost that keep going up--ie electric, water, insurance, groceries, gas...I am not talking little price increases either. EVERYthing went up this year! Property taxes jumped as well. Income taxes went up. Auto Ins went up and I have never had to use it. Water bill went up. Electric rate increased. The use of Ethanol has really pumped up the price of groceries.. 2 people are going to spend $100 per week+ minimum on just the basic groceries. Some of these things are going up every year.
How are some of you non wealthy people coping? I really don't know what the future holds and that is frightening in itself. Capitalism gone wild in my opinion. I don't want this to turn into a political discussion. This effects boating for the middle class at least the worst. Boating is a luxury item

 

[smclear]

Re: Anyone as Stessed Out as I am??

I am stressed as well. I don't know how a serious discussion can be had without it being political. It is the policies created by our elected officials that have created this mess. (both sides are equally responsible)

 

[DayCruiser]

Re: Anyone as Stessed Out as I am??

What about big business? They buy each other out and "upgrade" and expand. Then they pass along the cost of doing these things to us. They buy out the competition so there is no way we can get a better deal from anyone. Just look at At&T's, Duke energy expansion and/or latest acquisitions. Many focus on Politics when much of the problem lies with big business

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Anyone as Stessed Out as I am??

What polls? Who's unhappy? Life is what you make of it. . . You are in control.

BTW - this has the makings for a political thread, might get locked.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Anyone as Stessed Out as I am??

What polls? Who's unhappy? Life is what you make of it. . . You are in control.

BTW - this has the makings for a political thread, might get locked.

Good points

My only disagreement to the original poster...... regardless of "class" stress is available and applicable at ALL levels. I have seen miserable rich people and happy poor people. It all depends on how you deal with things.

My personal observations........ the older I get....the more expensive decisions are that I make......then I make adjustments......... pick your battles or the stress will kill you. If a decision is not fatal then it is no big thing.

 

[agallant80]

Re: Anyone as Stessed Out as I am??

Financial stress scales every class. I remember once when I was starting out in IT I had some clients on the side. One of my clients started a company that was doing about 1Bn in revenue. This guy was loaded. His wife asked me to put in a fax line and a private line in her home office. A few weeks I get a call from him asking why his phone bill went up $40/month, I told him it was because of what his wife requested, I did not think it was a big deal seeing as this guy bought a new 7 series, S-Class, A8 every year. He told me everyone has a budget and if you don't stick to it things will get out of controll.

It is getting harder and harder to save, I would like to put away 20% but I can only really do 12%. I have considered cutting things in my lifestyle, getting rid of the big expensiave Diesel truck in favor of a car that costs about 1/2 to operate, not having cable TV etc. One thing that really helps and I am no financial advisor is I have started paying off my credit card accounts and closing them. I know it will ding my credit but I don't think its as bad as loosing several hundret to credit cards every month to pay them down. Pay them off one at a time and close it.

 

[britisher]

Re: Anyone as Stessed Out as I am??

America like a lot of other western world countries has become so consumer, materialistic driven driven, it is no longer funny. Far too many people have champagne lifestyles based on beer budgets. Often folks cannot differentiate between 'Musts' and 'Needs". Understanding those differences is crucial to balancing the budget. I've seen both sides of the worker fence; 20 years working for a company and 20 years working for myself. When you are self-employed, no-one owes you a pay check at the end of the week/month. You get up in the morning and go out and earn it. Moving from salaried to self-employed is a big wake up call.
Is boating a luxury? I'd say, most definitely yes. If mt budget was squeaking would I give it up? Yes.
Could we all save money if we really wanted to? Yes. There are loads of ways of cutting the cloth, without living the life of a peasant. Take the earlier post about the wife and the 2 lines and $40 per month more. Most people would research ways of achieving that at a lesser cost (especially with VOIP and Skype, which is free), but there will always be those who simply can't be bothered and throw money at the issue. Good luck to them if they can afford to do that without thinking. I wonder if they are as careful about their investments & savings? Likely not.
All that said, we only get one life. Most get to enjoy it for a long time, whilst others are not so fortunate. Life is for Living, so enjoy it.!

 

[southkogs]

Re: Anyone as Stessed Out as I am??

We define "poor" a little weird in our world. I've worked plenty with people who are in poverty, and while some really are in true poverty - most really live pretty close to how I grew up. Go to the other end of the scale, and the "rich" ain't doing so sweet either. THIS list is a sobering reminder that success, fame and money doesn't necessarily help.

It's about being content. Sometimes that contentment can afford nice, new fancy stuff. Sometimes it can't.

Much like the OP, I'm not so certain I know what's going to happen financially - or if I can prepare for it. But, I can be prepared to be content and make the best of what I do have. Like Ted said, we do have control over our lives … mainly our reactions.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: Anyone as Stessed Out as I am??

I don't know what you do for a living, but would you have less stress if you went back working for the man? At least you'll have a steady income. A paycheck every 2 weeks. I am self employed too. However, I have a wife that makes a good income which relieves some of the burden of myself not having a steady income. In my world it's feast or famine. Maybe the same in yours. I've often thought about getting a "real" job again where I can go to work for 8hrs, punch out and forget about it until the next day. Then deposit my paycheck every 2 weeks.

Eliminate extra bills like credit cards, as someone mentioned. That in itself will ease stress. I've finally made up my mind to hit them hard with payments and not add to them. And if you don't have any credit card bills you probably have a lot less stress than others......

As far as not knowing what the future holds, none of us do. Worrying about it is just added stress. Need to take one day at a time..... Shut the tv off every now and then. The news is nothing but doom and gloom, take a break. And stop looking at the polls!

 

[britisher]

Re: Anyone as Stessed Out as I am??

To the OP, ignore the political pools, etc. In the stark light of reality, the actions of Washington have very little impact on the bulk of us. The media, which has a big influence on how we see and understand information is driven largely in a commercial world. The TV news is a program or show I have heard it called and has to have it's level of popularity in order to sell TV advertising. The dwindling newspaper world has the same constraints. Therefore, many media outlets focus on sensational/negative reporting to gain your attention. It's the typical 3 killed in aircrash news story. it does mention the 497 who escaped unharmed. That's the world we live in and you either ignore it, take it with a pinch of salt or dissect it bit by bit. Most of these' surveys' are a waste of space. The survey audience is usually minute and the authors then have the audacity to 'claim' it is representative. it is not. it is a minute snapshot of people who may or may not be telling the truth to begin with. Also many surveys or polls are so designed to ensure the outcome is what the authors wanted in the first place. Ir recall reading the results of a 'survey' done on the health and life benefits of drinking tea. The reports waxed lyrically about how good it was for you, blah, blah. Who were the authors? The Tea Council!
There is a saying;; Don't Stress out over things that you cannot control'. It is so true. Focus on yourself and your family and the things you can control. To the OP, sit down and review your Expenditure and classify Needs and Musts. That will help set out a realistic budget. Than look at your Income. If E is greater than I, then yu have to make decisions about Needs and Musts. We all thing we Need certain things, but we don't, they are Musts. When you have identified Musts, review them and see if there are ways to reduce their cost further. That will allow space for Needs. Do the same with Needs.
Is Electricity a Must? Yes. Is lighting up the whole house, the whole time a Must? No. Do I Need to light up the whole house the whole time? No. You will be surprised at how you can trim expenditure and NOT really lose much comfort. Very finally, if you are saving, is what you are putting by realistically large or too small? I recall a girl I chased many years ago. We bother worked in the same business and I knew how much she earned. She was always complaining of being broke and having no money to do anything. I talked to her about it and it transpired she had ALL her salary put into Savings each month, with nothing going into Checking. Not surprisingly she was 'broke' in the literal sense. In reality, she was being totally unrealistic in her savings habit. Again budgets.

 

[avenger79]

Re: Anyone as Stessed Out as I am??

financially? no, money comes and money goes, do the best you can with what you got. as far as job/life/home etc eh the days get shorter and the years go faster. lots of things I haven't done yet and it seems like there's more and more things that I shouldn't do anymore.....
more responsibility at work, longer hours, less family/me time etc. that's just the nature of the beast right now. employers are chewing up employees like their a dime a dozen, mostly because they kind of are.

smile when you can, and when you can't, just grin like someone who farted, at least they'll leave you alone for a little while. LOL

 

[DayCruiser]

Re: Anyone as Stessed Out as I am??

Lots of good advice and input here..thanks! Nobody commented on Corporate greed lol I pay off my credit card monthly. Very careful to cut the lights off. Keep the heat and air cond to a minimum. We eat a lot of leftovers.
We are just faced with never ending price increases on the basic necessities. Like Duke energy needs another huge increase this year. Well they just bought out another energy company in NC for over a $Billion. They are building more Nuclear plants. Despite you freezing in the winter and burning up in the Summer your power bills goes up. The more energy efficient we become the less money they make then the more they need to raise rates--because they spent every dime you gave them.
Then there is At&t who bought back Bellsouth and then bought Alltel. Steadily going up on the phone bill. Not only did they buy alltel, they are going to make alltel contract customers get rid of their current phones and rate plans for at&t phones and rate plans
Then my property taxes went up. My business insurance almost doubled--never been used. My auto insurance went up $20 for no reason. Cable goes up regularly and there programming hasn't improved--yea it keeps the ole lady occupied so it is a necessity lol I don't know if going back to being cave dwellers in the option. These huge entities will sooner or later bankrupt us all. They own everything that would get in their way of doing so. Just call around for health ins or auto ins quotes and you will find most are the same. I don't even have Health Insurance anymore after having it for 20 years because of the every other year price increases. So if I get a major illness cave dwelling here I come and I bet the bill collectors will follow me there

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Anyone as Stessed Out as I am??

Have property taxes ever gone down? Have insurance costs ever gone down? Has the grocery bill or many other things ever gone down? I don't think that costs go down, so plan accordingly.

Does anyone plan that costs will stay the same or even go down? What would be the historical basis for that to happen?

So, I say, relax, this 'rising cost' stuff is just a natural occurrence and has been going on for a very long time and will probably continue.

 

[Vintin]

Re: Anyone as Stessed Out as I am??

Worry about all of that stuff when you're dead!

 

[jkust]

Re: Anyone as Stessed Out as I am??

Well, some nights when I'm trying to get to sleep, I feel like the world is closing in on me as I lay there and all the things start running through my head. In the morning I take a step back and realize these are the 'good' times and we have it good. Everyone is healthy and all of our long term plans have worked exactly how we intended. Our issues are mostly a function of our lifestyle that we asked for.

 

[avenger79]

Re: Anyone as Stessed Out as I am??

Worry about all of that stuff when you're dead!

nope that's when I'm gonna sleep. LOL

 

[avenger79]

Re: Anyone as Stessed Out as I am??

Have property taxes ever gone down? Have insurance costs ever gone down? Has the grocery bill or many other things ever gone down? I don't think that costs go down, so plan accordingly.

Does anyone plan that costs will stay the same or even go down? What would be the historical basis for that to happen?

So, I say, relax, this 'rising cost' stuff is just a natural occurrence and has been going on for a very long time and will probably continue.

both my prop tax and my car insurance have gone down recently. I wouldn't plan for it though

 

[jkust]

Re: Anyone as Stessed Out as I am??

both my prop tax and my car insurance have gone down recently. I wouldn't plan for it though

Insurance can be shopped and brought down in competitive times generally. My prop tax has gone up every year for 10 years yet the taxable value has gone down at about 5 of those years. Plus I'm guessing the OP's income isn't going up as fast as everything else is. That is stressful.

 

[DayCruiser]

Re: Anyone as Stessed Out as I am??

Insurance can be shopped and brought down in competitive times generally. My prop tax has gone up every year for 10 years yet the taxable value has gone down at about 5 of those years. Plus I'm guessing the OP's income isn't going up as fast as everything else is. That is stressful.

Usually if you find lower priced health insurance, you are getting less coverage. They have catastrophic plans for less $300+ per month--$5000 deductible. Rates are higher in the South. Some will start you off at a lower rate just to get you to switch. Then they regularly jack the price up. Young people can get decent rates. People past 40 and 50+ are going to pay $500+ for plans with low deductibles that cover doctor visits etc
Yea taxable valuable went down so they raise the millage rate to make up for that.
I wouldn't say "everyone else". I think a lot of peoples incomes are not keeping up with the rate increases we've had this year

 

[quad59]

Re: Anyone as Stessed Out as I am??

Im only 34 and the situation is getting worrysome for all. I am a federal employee, and due to ignorance from the top at the highest levels I spent my summer giving up 16 hours of work per pay period which accounted for about 900$ a month. Than got furloughed at the end of that and lost another 900 in two weeks. Happiness is what you make of it, I was stressed out alot, but it worked to my advantage. Being in a supervision position I still had to show up for work everyday so I took off hours at a time instead of days. I got to see my kids off to school everyday and make them breakfast before I went to work, left early and beat them home to make a decent dinner early which allowed for homework and the chores to be done for plenty of afternoon play time. I miss it, and wish there was a happy medium between that and the usual full time schedule. I was short alot of cash, but we found so many ways to have fun for next to nothing. It actually reset my mind into how much money we were wasting as a small family. ( single dad two boys) I do not have any debt except my truck and my house, I only achieved this last year after working hard to pay off CC for things I bought in my early 20's, I can tell you this if you can get to this position you will not miss the "stuff". Its so nice to only have to worry about your household operating costs. On a side note the GF dropping marriage hints is alot more stressful than finances!!!!! any ideas for derailment of this train?