So the national average price of a gallon of gasoline has finally hit $4.00? Is anyone surprised? We live in a world where it seems that everyone has their hand out for more than what they used to collect from us...because everyone has their hand out to collect more from them. Our purchasing power is shrinking, and our ability to keep up with our obligations is shrinking. For most of us, the question "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" isn't a difficult one to answer. Speaking for myself, it's a complex one to answer, because I'm certainly in a different place than I was a year ago. Things are different, and while I can't say that my financial situation is worse, I certainly can't say that it's any better.
For better or worse, we are where we are. It might not be where we might like to be or where we would choose to be, but here we are. I don't pretend to understand all of the market forces that have combined to put us in this predicament, but what I can do is to try to do the best with what I have to work with. We managed to live with the good times, and anyone with even a passing knowledge of economic cycles understands that the good is too often followed by the bad.
My challenge is going to be to get myself to a financial place that's a simple and easy to manage as possible. I don't need (or want) two cars, or three mortgages, or anything else that will add stress to my life. What I want and need is simplicity, because it's just me now and I don't want to have to devote a lot of emotional capital to worrying about the economy. I want to be able to control what I can, make sound decisions (something I haven't always done), and hope for the best. Hey, if I'm going to lose sleep over something, I'd rather that it be something a whole lot more interesting than the economy.
