Has the devastation caused by Katrina inspired you to save more or be more frugal?

[ElizaB39]

Also I am not "very worried". I am hopeful, knowing that I am doing my part in assisting the victims of this disaster. I am being cautious about spending, nothing to do with the economy or Katrina, just a new way of DR thinking. I will spend less because of Katrina, but the $$ not spent will go to donations for those affected, still supporting the economy just through another person, not just myself.

 

[dvcgirl]

More than the economic reprocussions, I worry about social reprocussions. I am an upper middle class caucasian woman so, I can not fully interpert/understand what the African American population is feeling as a group but, the don't seem real happy about the way things have been handled (according to the media at least. I don't trust the media farther than I can throw them personally - especially when it comes to politics, but, they must be getting things right some of the time). I see dissatisfaction as another road block in this county's sense of unity and healing the huge probelm with racism (on all sides of the problem - black, white, yellow, brown...everybody).

Yes, this is going to be a big mess socially, and for some time. What disgusts me about the whole issue is that African American leaders, many democrats and the Media are trying to turn this into a racial issue when it really is a class issue.

I find the whole issue incredibly frustrating. In many ways I think that the population of New Orleans is getting all of the attention from this catastrophe when there are thousands and thousands of people in Mississippi who have lost everything as well. Lots of them are probably in hotels now or with family members, and not standing in line for $2,000 debit cards.

I can't even imagine being in a position where I'd have no place to go...and had to stay in a shelter. And so I really and truly feel for those people. But boy, if this catastrophe isn't the catalyst for people to start creating their emergency funds, I don't know what is.

 

[BoyLovesBuzz]

Actually I tend to the opposite, perhaps irresponsible, direction. Despite what you do, you may be a mere tropical low pressure system, a broken levee, or a jumbo jet away from loosing it all. Live Life!!!!!!

 

[cascadecupcake]

Let's chill some and not go off the deep end without any "facts" to support your fear.

Woah. I think you misunderstood my post. Didn't mean to make it sound as if I'm running around all willy-nilly hoarding water, stuffing cash into my mattress, and standing in line to fill up my six gas cans at the pump. Must've been the bold VERY. Let me re-phrase....I'm concerned. I'm re-thinking many of my spending choices trying to be prepared for the long term effects of this.

 

[ElizaB39]

Woah. I think you misunderstood my post. Didn't mean to make it sound as if I'm running around all willy-nilly hoarding water, stuffing cash into my mattress, and standing in line to fill up my six gas cans at the pump. Must've been the bold VERY. Let me re-phrase....I'm concerned. I'm re-thinking many of my spending choices trying to be prepared for the long term effects of this.

hee hee it was the bolded very that got me...

 

[DMRick]

I have done just the opposite. I booked another vacation..we always said we wanted to see Disneyland, and now we will. Life as we know it can be short, and as you can afford them, I believe we need to fill our "wish we coulds" list before they become our "wish we dids" list.

Living in the northeast, I've always kept frozen jugs of water in my freezer, and always kept some cash, in cash the ATM machines went down in a storm.

 

[ladysoleil]

I've been more frugal only in the sense that I am cutting my spending in order to be able to donate more. I've been living minimally for a week (not suffering, just skipping things like newspapers and sodas), and managed to sock away an extra $20 to add to my donation fund, as well as spend more on care packages a friend is making to send to her family members who resettled in Texas...they literally need everything from toothpaste to shoes and a lot of stuff in between. I'm probably going to stay on this regime for a while in order to keep helping them out, but really, I'm pretty frugal to begin with so there isn't a lot more I can cut back on, these savings are coming out of my "mad money" fund.

We also decided that anything left over from our Disney trip budget for next week is going to be split evenly between our savings account and America's Second Harvest. We're bringing the same amount we did for our last trip, but with the free dining, I think we won't spend nearly as much, even if we do buy souvies and gifts for families. We have $600 each to bring, for a 5 day trip with 3 park days. I suspect a good chunk of that will come home with us- I brought home over $100 last time, and we didn't really deprive ourselves of anything, just ate in the room a couple of times because we felt like it.

I'm also trying to get DH and myself into better habits about our energy use, as I know that fuel prices this winter are going to make our utility bills jump dramatically. If I can get us acclimated to things like closing doors to preserve room temperature, cutting a minute or two off a shower, not having to need the light on in every room, etc, once winter comes it'll be easier to keep up those little energy-saving habits, and by then, it probably will make a difference.

 

[momof1princess]

i'm concerned as well...only driving back & forth to take and p/u my DD to school & 1 trip to town per week, and not spending money whenever possible. i also agree with dvcgirl-everyone is so focused on what's happening in new orleans, there's little to no help for the gulf coasts of mississippi and alabama, which were devastated as well. it outrages me as an alabamian-sure millions of people come each year to enjoy our beaches and our hospitality-where are those people now? oh i forgot, they're busy in dallas, houston, etc., making sure evacuees from new orleans are taken care of...too bad for the people in biloxi who've been living under tarps in parking lots since the storm and haven't seen a red cross or fema vehicle yet.

i'm sorry, i really didn't mean to rant, i guess i'm a little more nervous and frustrated than i thought...*sigh* perhaps i should watch a little LESS news for a while.

 

[DiznEeyore]

Be careful in your spending, be thankful for what you have, be calm in the face of adversity, be generous to those less fortunuate. Have your own plan for a disaster.

Very well said!!

 

[georgina]

Haven't changed anything, but I feel I've been pretty frugal all along. I'm trying not to worry about the immediate future, with gas prices, the economy, etc, because there really isn't much I can do about that. We have a fixed natural gas price for a year, and that expires in November, so I suspect my heating costs for the winter are going to jump.

 

[dizcrazy]

We are also REALLY loking at our spending and trying to put more aside for emergenices. The cost of gas (for the car and to heat our house this winter) had me nervous. I have a long commute to work - lots of gas $$$$

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Yes, we have. After losing all of our food to Katrina (Homestead area in FL) .. we didn't have enough to buy more so now we're keeping lower amnts of food due to hurricane season. Chicken and sandwiches daily = aagggghhh!

No food spoilage insurance?