How has the economy affected your life? Who is to blame?

Well, we were never well off. We've just moved up a bit from being poor in the last few years, we're barely middle class. So, we're normally thrifty, local buyers, flea markets type folks. However, even though we buy plenty of stuff from farmers and local growers, we do have to go to grocery stores. Since the economy's taken a more sharp turn, this past month though, I've noticed our money getting steadily tighter. I've been trying to encourage my Mom to do more of her grocery shopping at the dollar store and a few other small time local stores which're usually good for finding deals (with decent variety)...but just now that Walmart's selling out of their scarce deals, is she doing it. We don't have health insurance, haven't for over four years. We don't drive a ton to begin with, and can't afford to drive more at this point even if we want to. Who's to blame? Alot of people, actually. A little bit of people from the government, the huge companies and banks...and those that helped them shape this economy in the way it's been for the last few years. There's investigations now, so I'm sure we'll get a decent amount of them...but like our government's economic guys have said, there's not alot we can do to fix the whole economy short of a complete overhaul. For the rest of us, though...I think we gotta find creative ways to survive. I'm a young lady, I was supposed to go to college early, but I can't afford college right now...and I might not for years. My dream careers, because of this, are now out of reach. So, I'm trying to be creative. I'm hoping to micro-farm and make my own wares to sell locally...online...I might even travel to some nearby cities...I haven't figured it out yet. I'm hoping this'll be enough to build my life off of, to help feed my family since I can't afford to leave home and they can't afford me to leave either. Isn't it sad? If I work at it, I can afford to start up my own business of sorts, but I can't afford to go to college to secure a well-paying job for the rest of my life. And it's not even like I'm a slacker student or anything like that, I've always gotten good grades, I've always worked hard my whole life...but I'm having just as hard of a time as everyone else. In a more minor way it's affected me, it's insured that I can't buy or maintain a car. I'm going to try to get myself a scooter with 75 MPG, and some gear to make sure I can drive it during cold weather...because it's cheaper and I can deal with that easier than having to constantly pay insane amounts of money at the pump for simply driving to and from the city if I get a job there.

it had to happen when i turned 18. i'm afraid i'll live in poverty because of it

This is just MY opinion--- We the people are responsible for the mess this country is in. If we had not allowed politicians to spend their entire lives sitting in the senate the congress and the house of Reps. (NOT DOING ANYTHING CONSTRUCTIVE) spending Willy-nilly and for no good purpose except that it gets them in with the right lobbiest that can get them re-elected over and over (regardless of the poor performance at their elected jobs) and regardless of how much money they squander and the fact that WE the people have to pay the price for their greed and selfishness. The only way we are going to get out of this mess is to place someone with BUSINESS sense in charge of our budget and let them run it like the business it is (this would be painful for us all but worth it in the end). We have health insurance through my husbands work but we have defiantly quit making unnecessary trips to town or anywhere else, and our grocery allowance has been whittled down to the absolute minimum. Nothing is going to change until companies are made to take responsibility for their own mistakes and we the people are not expected to keep paying higher taxes to bail them out-this includes certain areas of the government. And that is MY opinion and no i don't expect many people to agree with it but it is what it is!

We've cut out unnecessary driving and wasteful spending...but not all of it. My husband is a disabled vet and I'm employed so we have health insurance and, while I have stopped buying some things at the grocery store, it's more out of protest then necessity. Of course, we're older...most of our kids are grown and independent...so our expenses overall are less. The answer to your last question isn't an easy one because there really is no one person to blame. A lot of people were involved in causing this...the oil companies, those who turned a blind eye to our energy needs, the financial institutions that gave home loans to people who could not afford them, the day traders on Wall Street, those who turned a blind eye to what was happening in the financial sector. There's a lot of blame to go around.

You bet it has. I do not drive enless I have to. I consolidate all my errands into one trip on one day. I budget for groceries and everything else. We cut a lot of stuff out. We do not go to the movies or things like that. We are still making it but it is a pinch. Especially when gas prices jumped a dollar here in 48 hours due to Ike. Heck we are not even close to Texas. My aunt in NC said she saw gas stations with $6 and up for gas right after Ike. Talk about a ripp off. Who is to blame? Well it is simple.ALL of our elected officials. Who are spending and printing money like there is no tomorrow. All the wasteful earmarks. Plus Congress has a hard time accomplishing anything because they refuse to compromise with each other. They are stuck in party lines and we are the ones paying for it. So both sides are to blame. THey saw the signs, they were told thsi was coming. Were they pro-active and did something about it? Heck no. THey are not really being re-active about it at all. And when they are it is usually to do the wrong thing. WE the tax payers are now bailing out all these companies for bad business practices. Anyone bailing you out? Nope. We as usual we are left holding the bag.