Are you worse off financially than a few years ago? Are you driving less?

Question

Can you afford the same lifestyle as before?

Do you believe the US is losing it's middle class? Are we soon going to be a country of only the rich and the poor?

Are there any small business owners who are now struggling due to this -let's-face-it the RECESSION?

Answer 1

yes, i dont even have a job now

Answer 2

Yes, I am driving MUCH less. And I have a small car that gets great gas mileage.

And I am struggling financially. And I have what is considered to be a "great job" for the area I live in. And I have a college education from one of the finest universities in the country. And I am a model employee.

Answer 3

1) About the same.

2) More now

3) Yes.  But I live a simple life style.

4A.)Yes.  4B) Probably.  I think there will still be a tiny middle class

5)  My brother is shutting down his small business to help his wife manage hers.

Answer 4

No, I make a good living.  I drive the same amount.  The US lost it's middle class during Reagan's term.  Clinton worked at getting it back, but then Bush came in and ruined it again!

Answer 5

No I can no longer afford to live as I did before. No more DVD's, No more CD's, No more buying my lunch at work, no more a lot of things. I'm so sick of eatting chicken I could scream. I now drink water instead of tea or soda and I drive only to the store when I absolutely have too.

Answer 6

i am voting republican because i just love bush giving tax breaks to the big oil companies

Answer 7

I think we are losing our middle class.  I think there are rich people, and everyone else who faces inevitable bankruptcy in their lifetimes.

My wife and I are medically insured.  We recently had a baby.  We paid over $2000 for prenatal visits, labor, etc.  Then the rising fuel costs are putting a damper on us. Save money?  ha!  We are in the negative every month right now, surviving until I either get a better job or easier commute.  

I recently went to the grocery store and saw apples, 10/$10.  A dollar an apple.  Jiminy Christmas!  I'm just glad we rent and don't own a home.  It's a sad fact of life in America, when a person feels like they don't want to own anything because they know someone will probably just take it away.

I've just about come to the conclusion we will probably be life long renter's at this point.

Answer 8

Yes!  Yes!  No!  Yes!  Yes!  

No, I work for "the man".

I listen to very aggressive talk radio while driving home, and I have to say that today, I feel very afraid of what is going on around me.  As I was listening to the radio news stories and commentaries, I felt like I was listening to a re-enactment of an Orson Welles radio scare-a-thon.  I can't believe what I am hearing, oil prices, the values of currency, China, Guantanamo, Marines, Iraq, Bush, Hillary, Obama, all the problems we have and the lack of capable public servants, the decline of loyalty and increasing "wussieness" will leave us without those capable of serving in the armed forces, the sub-standard treatment of those who risked everything for G-d and country.  I'm sacred.  I used to be able to fill the car with fuel for $10, then $12, then $20, now it's up to $46, and that is only driving to and from work, and managing to work in any errands within that route.  I can't go to the library any more, it's too out of the way, and the traffic would waste too much gas.  I can't go visit my family unless I save for the extra cost of fuel to get there and back.  Do I sound like I'm complaining?  Am I that transparent?  It astounds me how so many "educated" people haven't learned anything.  We are supposed to grow up and work to make the world a better place than it was before - better, not worse.  I am scared, really scared, and I wonder how we are going to survive.

Answer 9

yes it seems lately my paycheck is not enough, I used to be able to save money but now its getting harder