Honest question about financial situations

[SandraVB79]

I have a question for you. It's an honest question, not stirring the pot, but I'm just somewhat confused.

In about every other thread I open/ read, someone/ many people mention(s) that prices are skyrocketing, people can't afford, with the prices as they are now, ....

Is it really hurting all of you THAT bad?
I mean, prices here are also very high (9-10 USD for a gallon of gaz), food prices are getting higher and higher, but I can't really think about that many situations where we are talking about it. On the news they talk about it, but it's not like we are all together talking about price increases. It's not like we don't throw weddings anymore or can't make ends meet regarding food etc.

So, I wonder, is the DIS just a micro-climate, where we like to vent about it, or is it really hurting so many Americans in a very hard way??

 

[Cindy B]

I know a few people that have quit thier low paying jobs because the gas cost too much.

I have read here on the DIS that people's vacations have been cancelled as well due to gas spikes.

 

[Mkaz]

In many cases yes. The cost of living/income ratio is becoming way off balance. People who were struggling before are really hurting now. I've seen people putting back items in the grocery store because they didn't have enough money. They were deciding between groceries and gas. It's really sad.

 

[Mermaid02]

It sure is hurting us. We live in Maine so we use our furnace a good part of the year. We still owe the oil company a good bit of money. No trips in our future (short term or long term) We have a 3/4 ton pick up (we like to go camping and we have a camper- older but it's ours) and that thing is just sucking up gas money. We don't want to get rid of it because we are hoping things get better.... We are taxed to death here in Maine- I would seriously move if my dh would go for it.

 

[freckles and boo]

There are many Americans who live very close to the edge of poverty in a paycheck-to-paycheck cycle. Most of the people I know who are being hit hard (including my mother) aren't posting on the Dis or DVC owners. They are people in low wage jobs who can only stretch a paycheck so far before they run out of money. Yes, it is hurting a lot of people.

 

[MushyMushy]

It's hitting us -- not to where we have to do anything drastic, but we've had to make changes. We don't just hop in the car whenever we feel like it. We no longer do our weekly shopping out of town where Walmart is. We really plan our trips. We stick to a grocery list now more often than not. We didn't take a WDW trip this year (the most painful of our changes). We don't eat out nearly as much.

If DH still worked where he used to, it would have hit us HARD. He worked 60 miles away from home and add that to parking costs... just traveling to work would have been more than our mortgage.

Maybe it wouldn't be hitting Americans so hard if we had much better public transportation. In my town there is nothing. No bus, no train, nothing. If we want to go to another town, we drive, period. The roads aren't set up for safe bike riding. Hell, many streets don't even have proper sidewalks!

 

[RitaE]

What we are seeing in the United States is kind of a Perfect Storm

Tightened Credit Standards, Lower Lines of Credit
YEARS of 0 to Negative Savings Rates
High Core inflation of Food and Gas
A HUGE dependency on Oil, little to no Public Transportation in many areas of the country...
Unemployment rates are actually pretty low, but Salaries are stagnant. (ie wages are not keeping pace with inflation)


So, you have a whole bunch of people that can't afford the stuff they are used to buying and have no Savings -- and now they have more limited access to Credit.

darn, now I'm all depressed

 

[alldiz]

I have a question for you. It's an honest question, not stirring the pot, but I'm just somewhat confused.

In about every other thread I open/ read, someone/ many people mention(s) that prices are skyrocketing, people can't afford, with the prices as they are now, ....

Is it really hurting all of you THAT bad?
I mean, prices here are also very high (9-10 USD for a gallon of gaz), food prices are getting higher and higher, but I can't really think about that many situations where we are talking about it. On the news they talk about it, but it's not like we are all together talking about price increases. It's not like we don't throw weddings anymore or can't make ends meet regarding food etc.

So, I wonder, is the DIS just a micro-climate, where we like to vent about it, or is it really hurting so many Americans in a very hard way??

For me personally....I'm just starting to feel it....it's catching up....I am pretty blessed though.

In generalities though....It has been a real burdon because over the last yr....it seems that cost of EVERYTHING has increased very FAST.

Our oil prices have doubled in one yr....Milk....everything. Many people here don't have small cars....so they have been hit particlarly hard.
This yr was the 1st yr that small cars have outsold SUV's. I personally think that is a great thing.

So yes as always.....the rich get richer....the poor get poorer and the middle class is shrinking.

I am a dental hygienist I see about 25patients per week.....I have about 5 people per week telling me they got laid off....pretty scary.
Kerri

 

[NY Disney fan]

For me personally....I'm just starting to feel it....it's catching up....I am pretty blessed though.

In generalities though....It has been a real burdon because over the last yr....it seems that cost of EVERYTHING has increased very FAST.

Our oil prices have doubled in one yr....Milk....everything.

Yes, this is the issue for everyone. Its not just gas its everything! Food costs. And it all kind of happened at the same time. This is a real opportunity for Americans to vote with their dollars. Buying smaller cars is good, using less electricity. Packing their own food instead of buying it. Society can really change (for the better) by cutting back...at least I think so.

 

[SandraVB79]

Sorry, didn't want to make you depressed

I was just really wondering about it. To us, the US is still the country where everybody is rich and happy; this is what we see on television/ movies/ ... Heck, take your average Lifetime movie, they are always living in HUGE houses, etc etc etc.

Whenever I vacation in the US, I don't really notice things going bad, but my last vacation was in October 2007, and must admit that that time, we didn't reall 'city trip' using public transportation. It was rental car, and a cruise and WDW, not much more, so no adventures in the real world.

The DIS (and some other message boards) is my window on the US. On one side, you read threads about how people try to limit Christmas gifts to 1000 USD per child (holy crap! I should tell my parents they owe me so many more gifts, lol!) and otherwise, you read about the current situation hurting everyone. It's hard to "get" what is really happening.
So thanks for the explanations.

 

[Todd&Copper]

Honsetly, I just don't see it as being such a big problem in my general vicinity. The parking lots at the mall and at restaurants are just as full as they always are in the summertime, and mall shoppers are carrying just as many bags as ever. Several folks were buying large LCD TVs at Best Buy last weekend.
I expected to see a surge in the # of people using the commuter bus into DC during the workweek once gas got up near $4 a gallon, but there are only about 1 or 2 new people on my morning bus.
I am guessing that people are just putting less into savings and spending more of their paychecks.

 

[DMickey28]

i don't see it in my area at all either.

For us, the increase in costs has come at a time when I became a SAHM so it was a natural adjustment anyway.

I agree with what you are saying though. You figure we were doing ok with gas prices at $3.50 so the $.55 increase in a 20 gallon gas tank is $11 more a tank. I probably only have to fill up my car twice a month at most so it's costing me $22 a month extra. If it made such a huge difference in my budget then i have no right staying home in the first place. My husband probably spends an extra $20-40 a month now as well.

As far as the gas prices, I started shopping sales and couponing more recently so my bill is actually still going down!!

 

[Magic Mom]

On one side, you read threads about how people try to limit Christmas gifts to 1000 USD per child (holy crap! I should tell my parents they owe me so many more gifts, lol!) and otherwise, you read about the current situation hurting everyone. It's hard to "get" what is really happening.
So thanks for the explanations.

Wow, I know that's not a realistic number for my group of friends (middle income). Dh and I try to keep it at about 200.00 per child or less. If we spend more its usually on an "experience" rather then a "thing". For instance last year DS wanted to go to track camp at FSU. We were willing to spend a little more on that, but it was his whole bithday present. We could spend more, but we don't think thats the right message for our family. Even if I had that kind of money to spend, I can't ever imagine spending 1000.00 on each child for Christmas.

 

[Michelle67]

Yep, it sure is. The gas itself is pinching, but then there's the grocery bill rising. It isn't a matter of not being able to afford steak and lobster; it is staple foods, some of which have increased (in my area) 70-100% just in the past few months. Pasta has increased by about 70% in my area, rice and cooking oils have doubled. These are the things we used to buy cheap (not the oil, but rice and pasta) to stretch a budget. I used to spend in the neighborhood of $100 to $125 on an average grocery shopping trip. I am now spending over $200. Believe me, I'm not buying the steak and lobster, either.

The trouble is that for most of us our income hasn't increased at all, and the prices of necessary items has jumped rapidly. Depending on the nature of your job, some of us are also taking a hit in the income department as sales and services are experiencing a drop because consumers have less to spend on things that are not strictly necessary. It's really a vicious cycle. For example, another poster mentioned people not eating out as much. This causes waitresses to lose both shifts and tips. So now it is costing them more to get to work, more to feed their families, more to heat their homes, and they are bringing home less money.

 

[alldiz]

Yes, this is the issue for everyone. Its not just gas its everything! Food costs. And it all kind of happened at the same time. This is a real opportunity for Americans to vote with their dollars. Buying smaller cars is good, using less electricity. Packing their own food instead of buying it. Society can really change (for the better) by cutting back...at least I think so.

I agree......with the bad comes the good. People will make changes....that will stay permanent I think. Usually high end stuff is hurting more....ie restaurants, top end merchandise that the middle class was starting to buy.

But the yang is.....with high gas prices people are not going to drive to home depot and walmart....they are shopping more locally which stimulates our local economies.

Cheaper items are doing good....ie....Mcdonalds, Applebees.....people are still going out....but to cheaper places.
Kerri

 

[NY Disney fan]

I can't ever imagine spending 1000.00 on each child for Christmas.

I can.




(when I win the lottery)

 

[Cinders Mum]

it is coming our way be sure of that, what hit the US a year ago is rippling and affecting Europe, we are seeing our prices increase and it will continue.

At $10-12 per gallon for gas/petrol I am sooo grateful I do not run a car, but we are still paying for it on our groceries and utility bills etc. To be paying almost $2 for a loaf of bread is a kicker.

We are tightening our belts, and although we are committed to our hols for this year, our annual disney trips will be a thing of the past if this continues.

 

[Magic Mom]

(when I win the lottery)

DH always teases me that the lottery is our retirement plan.

 

[Nancyg56]

We are feeling it. Not that we cannot pay our bills or that we compromise on the groceries, but in the extras that we enjoy. I do not just hop in the car anymore, but consolidate my trips. We do not eat out as often as we used to. My DH is our money manager and he told me on Saturday that he cannot understand why we have less left to save after all our expenses are taken care of, we are not just starting out. But, after oil, food, gas and electricity there is not as much left as there was last year.

I feel badly for people whose incomes are fixed or those whose incomes are not high to begin with. In our area $12 an hour is not going to pay bills, never mind increases due to higher gas prices.I believe that if the cost continues to rise there are going to be more economic consequences, and canceled vacations are just the beginning.

 

[Mom2Nick]

Is it really hurting all of you THAT bad?

Nope not all of us. We're not haveing any issues at all nor are we making any spending adjustments. I klnow a few people that are struggling with the price of gas, but those people are ones that had themselves slightly overextended to begin with so it's natural that they'd be feeling the crunch.