Realy chaster when wages dont keep up with inflation people fall behind. It all started when peoples disposable income got destroyed by gas prices and food inflation, yea I know everyone should have lived like paupers just in case the economy turned sour, its all our fault.

No, BOTH sides are to blame. First of all the banks say Congress made them make all these shady azzed loans and increase debt among people to "Stimulate the economy." Frankly if a business is told to do something questionable or illegal by a government they usually will say "HELL NO." No this is worst. Blame Clinton and Deregulation of LENDING. I am not going to believe that Congress was able to be a back seat driver to all these loans. The banks could have said no but they got greedy. Banks are part of Wall Street. Do not assume they don't have strategies to profit from a depressed economy. They do in all reality.

Next you know the saying "give a dog a foot of leash and he will try to run with a mile of it?" Well, Sheepple are stupid. Having credit flaunted as an easy way to a higher life style had the wannabes living above their means. So the consumer is likewise to blame.

But what allowed for this perfect storm? Well, again deregulation. Also the Federal Treasury is not held responsible for bad decision making. There is a strong lack of personal responsibility on ALL sides here!

And Illegal immigration on the scale we face is having a negative impact on our nation. Liberally minded people refuse to see or acknowledge that fact!

Now who was twisting everyone's arm to buy a Hummer? there is a Mercedes Benz that is bigger. The Lincoln Navigator is no itty bitty box on wheels either. All these Americans are under some delusion they are safer in a larger vehicle but they sure can't afford to feed them or know how to drive them!

Worst is how apathetic and Complacent most Americans are with the way things are. Long as they got their beer and TV they are fine.

Like I said, if you want to make a statement, if you bank with a large bank pull your money out and go to a smaller bank or a credit union. Convenience costs and sometimes the costs are too high!

Today, President Bush held a news conference where he discussed the “way forward” for the economy in 2007. Renowned Morgan Stanley economist Steven Roach says the the “odds of the U.S. economy tipping into recession are about 40 to 45 per cent.” New York Times columnist Paul Krugman notes that “the odds are very good — maybe 2 to 1,” that the U.S. will teeter toward a recession in 2007. Bush’s solution? “Go shopping more.” Watch it:

[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2006/12/bushshopping.320.240.flv]
Yea I know its old news just trying to put some hisorical perspective to this topic.

Living within your means and living like a pauper are two different things. You don't have to buy a house you can live in an apartment or you could buy a smaller house. You could buy a cheaper car, you dont need that new PC or ipod, you dont need brand name clothes. When the average is bringing home 43k you dont live like a pauper.

I dont think your getting it. In this economy what at one time was affordable stopped being so with the rapid rise in the cost of liveing and the stagnation of wages. I know from personal experience when gas shot up I had 700 a month disposable income with my comute my fuel bill doubled and my disbosable income halved then food shot up as well. Unlike you chaster many americans also have children to tend so its realy not a matter of one less dinner out a month to make up the differance. To lay the blame on people who got over extened simply has no basis in reality.

When we are in a recession or recovering from a recession we can't worry about the debt.

This comes from top economists.

Those who are so worried about the debt do not really care about this countries well being because they are willing to let us go back into recession or worse.

yea, obama is trying real hard to bankrupt us.... luckily there is a few smart people left in there to stop him...

Ok, my last job I made about 51k. I never budgeted my money and saved about 10k. That includes buying a 15k car, paying off a 5k loan, taking a trip to Japan for a month that probably cost over 5k. I am pretty sure I could have supported a family with that fairly easily if I had to without sacrificing much but my trip to Japan. I also would have been allowed a much higher tax credit and been in a lower tax bracket and since I lived in NY state taxes were high.

50k is a very doable figure to support a family...

Who lied all along! Top economists do not want you to have the right information becasue they can't profit if everyone rides the same wagon! Until we get back on track with manufacturing and trade and don't even mention GM, we are going to see the slide backwards just get worst.

And Bestinshow, I know people within the industry of credit. Many of these people who 'just over extended' over extended themselves by tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is not a case of a large percentage of people being ten or twenty thousand in debt, they are WAY over that. That is not counting their upside down home loans.

Folks, the shiit is not done getting flung from the fan! the big plop of poo poo has yet to hit the fan! Wait for the dollar to collapse or better yet IMPLODE on itself!

My point was you could do it with that average of 43k. So you wouldnt be living like a pauper.

Now, now.
Did ya'll forget that Hussein told ya'll to hunker down?
Ya' needs to get down lower.

51 k is not doable for a family unless you get food stamps. One would have to shop at goodwill and forgo music lessons for kids on that money. Or maybe live close enough to work that you could walk.

haha...

Incredible..

That is ridiculous.

printing money and deficit spending cause inflation. why the hell do you think gas and food prices are steadily rising?

for every "top" economist that says the chicago school of deficit spending is good, I'll show you 10 that say its suicide.

So you are saying I couldnt have supported a family with that 20k extra plus more if I actually budgeted? I seriously doubt that. Not to mention all the extra tax credits I would get for having dependents.

It would be hard scrabble, it may look ok on paper but kids need stuff. Sports equipment for one is allways the sneaky budget killer, Fees to play gas to transport to and from, co pays for insurence for a couple kids who can get sick once a month, especialy an infant with an ear infection. You could get by if your extrememly bugget aware but thats no way to live. one kid maybe but not two. You will want to start a collage fund, get life insurence for yourself. etc etc. I would say 70,000 is minimum to give your kid everything you think they will need to help them develope into a productive member of society.

Yes you can get by on fifty thousand and one kid it would be hard but doable, seventy thousand and the kidd has a chance at collage. and some type of inheritance. Of course you could choose a poorer section to live in and have ten kids but that has its own set of troubles.

Calling BS on that. It is not gonna cost you almost 1k a month extra per person in the family. Oh and some of those expenses could be accounted for as in that year I bought full snowboard equipment, a season pass for snowboarding, took martial arts, and paid for a private japanese tutor.

Before you forge ahead with your family planning, you might want to take note that the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates the lifetime cost of raising a child is well over $200,000 -- and that doesn't even include the cost of a college education.
http://www.parentdish.com/2010/02/24/how-much-does-it-cost-to-raise-a-child/


Everyone knows that it’s expensive to raise a kid. Just how expensive is it to raise a child? The real price tag on raising a child from birth to 18 is pretty staggering- it may be far more than you ever expected it to be. Each child that you raise will cost more than buying three brand new, 2011 Jaguar XFs.

When you think of the big, expensive times in a child’s life, your mind might linger on two major intervals in their lives: when they’re a baby or when they’re a teenager. However, there is no inexpensive time in a child’s life. Every phase in a child’s life comes with extensive expenses that can make budgeting difficult for most families.

During the time from birth through age two, it costs about $11,700 to raise the younger child in a family that earns a middle class income and has two parents and two children.Click on the graphic to find out. While this sounds like a lot of money, this is actually the least expensive three-year period in a child’s life. What is the most expensive one? Even if you’ve had kids, you may be surprised how expensive each phase of a child’s life really is. Few parents really take the time to add up all of those expenses, both small and large, and the real cost of raising a kid might come as something of a sticker shock



Visual Economics: How Much Does It Really Cost to Raise a Kid? - VisualEconomics.com http://www.visualeconomics.com/how-much-does-it-really-cost-to-raise-a-kid/#ixzz1CLF8wm00
http://www.visualeconomics.com/

My point was those could have easily been the kids "sporting equipment". Why would I need daycare if I have a wife at home? If I don't have a wife at home then I have duel income and thus more than 51k. Either way I still say 20k is more than enough for a child for a year.