Posted by MarkStrand4Liberty on 10/24/09 4:44 PM [Older: Pride and Prejudice: The case to close the border(s)]

I'm happy to report that things are finally starting to look brighter in my personal life. It has been one year since my wife and I moved out of our (really, Wells Fargo owned it while we attempted to make payments) home. I have learned and grown so much in the last year. I learned that buying a home with zero down is never a good idea, especially when the home you buy needs repairs and you have decent credit but zero savings. Losing a lower management position at the local grocery store didn't help either. Neither did having 2 new vehicles with 6 year loans and vehicle payments over $850 a month. Hey, at least we were buying American and not paying any interest. I think my wife and I were caught up in what a lot of other Americans were, impressing people that could care less, and spending more than we were making because it was the thing to do.

My wife also lost her position at the local hospital, and has been under-employed since then. That was in May of 2008. I was unemployed from April 2007 until July 2007, then underemployed (I was lucky to work 10 hours a week until May!) from January 2008 until June 2008. We literally lost everything we had worked for last October when we filed for bankruptcy.

We are people that always paid our bills on time until it was no longer possible. I think a lot of people are in a similar position. We have received a lot of greif about filing bankruptcy and putting the burden of our debts on other consumers. It was a decision that has kept me awake at night. I sleep much better now, and have learned many valuable lessons that I am now teaching to my kids.

The American Dream of having it all and paying for it as you go is no longer a dream, it's a nightmare, especially when you're faced with job changes. I'm thankful that my wife and I are young enough to recover from our losses. She has returned to college, and I plan on returning to better solidify our prospects of advancement, once we have all recovered from "the Great Recession." My dream now is to live within our means, use credit only as an absolute last resort instead of a way of life, and to go without unless and until we can pay cash. Eventually, I would like to see our state government do the same, as well as our Federal Government.

When I hear people say that the US is the richest country in the world and we can afford it, I laugh. When does spending the most (on credit) make anyone wealthy? When companies claim to make a profit, is it a cash profit or a credit profit? Does printing more money mean you have more money or does it mean that you have less purchasing power? If you give someone a minimum wage increase of 100% over a decade and you have struggled to get to where you are and not received the same 100% increase in pay over a decade, does that make goods and services more or less expensive?  How can a person get ahead and save when everything is taxed to the hilt and inflation is rampant. Doesn't anyone else notice these things? These are questions I am requiring my representatives too think about before voting on legislation that makes the middle class and working class into the second class of America.

Posted 10/27/09 12:22 PM ToddWelch Baldwin, WI

Mark, Glad to hear you are learning from your mistakes, that is the number one thing that many people do not do. I strongly recommend that you read the book "Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey as it is a life changing book if you take it to heart.