MP Dunleavy writes about people becoming more honest about finances recently in “feeling broke - discuss it?” and she’s wondering what’s up. She says she’s interviewed people and it’s been suggested that it’s due to people being in financial binds. I asked the question recently “why aren’t we be honest?”
I wonder if this is the first step of honesty? People aren’t actually discussing how much debt they have, how much they are spending, etc. But they are talking about feeling tight and not going on vacation. People are asking each other how much did they pay for heating oil and if they have a clothing budget? People are discussing the feeling of recession and a pallid economy.
Could this be a step in the right direction? The truth is are we all just starting to voice the fact that we don’t have any money? That our spending habits are all curbed because we are spending our incomes on basic living expenses or “needs” and less on “wants”?
Are you starting to discuss feeling the pinch with people? Has it been the mounting tightening of our incomes that has forced honesty?
I still feel very private about finances. Though yes we are discussing how expensive heating will be this winter and how much it’s increased year over year. Of course the topic of gas prices has been around for a year, as well as how expensive milk, bread, and other food staples have gotten.
No one has said I’m losing my home, or I can’t meet my bills. Or I owe $10k in credit card debt. It’s more a feeling of no vacations, tightening up slowly, etc. So maybe people are talking about what they feel but not the exact situation they are in.
7 responses so far ↓
1 Kristy // Sep 22, 2008 at 9:55 am
The only thing I have noticed is that people are complaining more about gas prices and food prices.
There is only one person (other than DH) that I discuss our finances with. I still not tell anyone anything that they don’t need to know when it comes to finances. I just don’t like talking about it I guess.
2 LivingAlmostLarge // Sep 22, 2008 at 11:40 am
I notice a lot more folks are worried about heating prices this winter. That it’s going up another 40%, well is a lot to any budget.
3 Meg // Sep 22, 2008 at 3:37 pm
A senior VP at my office the other day commented aloud in front of me and some other colleagues that she was going to have a hard time making her daughter’s high school tuition payment in December. She was disgruntled that her ex husband, who shares the payment with her, wouldn’t step up and pay more since he makes a lot more than she does and has more wiggle room in his new family’s budget. I thought it was weird but liberating and interesting for her to be so candid.
Another co-worker discussed many of the financial details when she bought and renovated a new house earlier this year; for a brief time she had 2 mortgage payments and she would comment on exactly how much the new flooring was going to run and how it was a good thing she and her husband had saved their bonuses for each of the last 2 years (a big chunk of her compensation).
Again, I thought this discussion was great - it’s good to know other people are saving very high percentages of their incomes and it’s good too when those who aren’t confess that they are struggling as a result. Of course we’re all bankers so maybe we’re just more comfortable with such talk.
4 fengshui // Sep 22, 2008 at 7:10 pm
We haven’t had many problems because we are shopping differently now. Before I became conscious about just how much money we were wasting by not using coupons and buying more on sale and freezing it, cooking more, eating out less, etc.
I also had a very bad “Walgreen’s” habit where I’d stop on the way to/ from work to “grab something” and walk out with $45 worth of things (beauty products/ make up/ misc. items that we didn’t NEED). Since I’ve cut way back/ made changes, it has enabled us to save more.
We do have some cc debt, but we really don’t see it as a big deal. We have a few cards that have 0% promotional balances that have big items from remodeling, etc on them, and a few other small ones. Our total cc debt is like $8k right now. Some people would absolutely FREAK OUT about this, but it really doesn’t bother me/ us and we don’t obsess over it because the rates are either 0% or very low (<9.9%) and we have a decent income so we know that they will get paid off soon enough. I’m OK with having some debt and other people just freak out about it.
I am NOT looking forward to higher heating costs, because it seemed like we FROZE last winter and it was still expensive ($175 month for gas furnace heating). This winter it will be $200 or more a month I’m expecting, and still freeze all winter with the thermostat at 62-65 when we’re home and 58 at night when we’re sleeping and at work….. ;-( BBBRRRRRRRR!
5 TC // Sep 22, 2008 at 9:40 pm
I think feeling “poor” is sort of the new affluence. Used to brag about the great stuff you bought? Now you brag about how much you are having to tighten your belt.
6 Tim // Sep 23, 2008 at 6:07 pm
it’s about time people are having to make decisions not to spend on the new ipods that just came out. this economic heart attack should be a good thing if it gets people to evaluate their consumption behavior and start to save; however, everyone wants to fix wall street so people can start spending again.
people aren’t talking about their debt, because people are embarassed by it and it would reveal that their lifestyle has been put on credit. there is a difference between people who read and write these blogs and other people who don’t in that the former are actively changing their consumption behavior and paying off debt or out of debt and saving versus the latter who aren’t.
yes, i feel superior because i’m glad that i woke up and got out of debt and started to live in reality. do we feel broke? yes, because we’ve worked hard and can’t buy the “wants” we want to buy and enjoy the fruits of our labor as much, because we have to save more now because of the economic situation in order to hopefully guarantee that we can continue to live as we do now in the future. i think many people think this way, although many probably have debt while we no longer do.
Is poor the new “affluence”? - Oct 24, 2008
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