<p>I also fret more about money than I did before. We stopped to get gas tonight on the way home for H’s car and I begged him not to tell me the total to fill his tank. The whole gas thing is really disturbing and I found myself thinking twice about driving somewhere’s that before was no big deal.
Our grocery bills, water and electricity have all gone up since S has been home for the summer, but that I am sure will level out once he returns to school. We are running our ceiling fans more and set the temp up so that air won’t kick on, unless it gets really hot.
I am trying to cut back on the ‘wants’ and only getting the ‘needs’. I have always had a fondness for clothes shopping, but last week during the holiday I cleaned out our closets. That was an quite the experience when I realized just how much clothing we have. No more shopping for awhile.</p>
<p>I’m listening to a speech by John Mauldin (I find a lot of useful information from his weekly emails) and his long-term comments are worrisome. He’s thinking of a slow two-year recovery followed by 3% growth for the next 18 years. It brings back stuff like DOW Theory, secular markets and Kondreytieff Winters.</p>
<p>Dad II, you have said elsewhere on this forum that your income is nearly $10K/month, and save nearly $4K/month. That’s a “low” income? </p>
<p>Really, now!</p>
<p>owlice, hopefully you are the only one who did not get that was a joke. </p>
<p>First of all, I said my income is not where near $10K/month. 2ndly, I did use the "new " math for that 4Kmonth saving. </p>
<p>The “new” math is such: we put in max roth and my 401K each year, then count in the 5% company match in 401K and a 5% company contribution to a cash carrying pension, then count in the principle part of our mortgage payment, and then count in the ssc and fica deductables and company matches. </p>
<p>If we count only cash saving for every day use, we will be lucky to save more than $500 a month.</p>
<p>Dad II: </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1060498270-post156.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1060498270-post156.html</a></p>
<p>Which you posted as an example of a household with $10K/month income and $4K/month savings.</p>
<p>thanks for finding the original post. Hope you do see that I was joking there.</p>
<p>How does that come across as a joke?</p>
<p>On a lighter note 
– A medium Diet Coke at McDonald’s in our area is now $1.53, up from $1.4something. I don’t keep Diet Coke in the house because I would drink too much of it, so once in a while I go through the drive-through as a treat. This just seemed like one more piece of the recession assault that I take very personally!</p>
<p>And a more serious note, re the original question about how the recession is affecting us: Our son will be an OOS student at a state university with a merit scholarship that gives him in-state tuition. Our hope is that he will graduate debt-free (our savings + his summer work + my return to full-time work + the checkbook), and we had “the conversation” about college options before he even applied. We have been clear that we do not expect him to work during the school year in his freshman year. Now we’re realizing that it’s time for the next level of family agreement: Times are so uncertain that we absolutely cannot predict whether he will need loans. It’s just reality. He is an amazingly sensible kid, so I think he’s okay with that.</p>
<p>I don’t see it either jym626</p>
<p>If I said our family made $2500 a week but we lived on 1/2 of that & I expected people to think I was " kidding", but I didn’t put in "quote"s or a or anything to indicate I was exagerating, how would anyone tell?</p>
<p>being able to put away $1000 a month into savings let alone $4,000 a month is a luxury that not money can afford. That isn’t a joke.</p>
<p>Well, Dad II, I didn’t see it as a joke, either. You’ve posted that your EFC is > $25K (<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1060240182-post14.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1060240182-post14.html</a>) and IIRC, that you have something like $200K saved for her college (but I could be wrong about that, as I couldn’t find the post in a quick look). </p>
<p>I did get that you were a bit creative in figuring the $4K/month savings, in that I got from your post that you were probably including your company’s match in the 401K, but all of it a joke? I didn’t see it that way.</p>
<p>I do agree with DadII that if it weren’t for money taken directly out of the paycheck and put into different company plans, I probably wouldn’t come up with more than $500 saved from paychecks.</p>
<p>And $500/month won’t buy a whole lot when it comes to an expensive college education. That’s why it’s imperative that parents start saving and investing when the kids are babies.</p>
<p>I can sleep at night knowing that we’ve banked 2 years of college expenses in cash for D who is a senior in hs. I just hope we don’t end up using it for OUR living expenses!</p>
<p>Geezermom, at stores that have fountains, many offer refills at a lower price, buy that big plastic “Macho” cup and you can refill it for $0.79-0.99 each time, which is half of the retail price for a new cup ;)</p>
<p>O.K., fine, my bad sense of humor. Don’t no body give me no paper towels. </p>
<p>Overall, unless one is very rich, I mean multi-million rich, the high gas and food price will effect their daily lifes. It just effects those of us on the bottom a lot more.</p>
<p>^. American tax concept is to tax income (wages) but promote business and investment. </p>
<p>Lets suppose two taxable entities: 1. A wage earner; and 2. A business that hires the (1) wage earner. Both entities are affected by high fuel and energy costs by the same dollar amount. How does each cope and effect on taxation.</p>
<p>The Wage Earner:
Must make more wages, to keep the same standard of living. But the increased wages increases taxes.
Cut back on other expenses to compensate for the increase fuel costs. Which is tax neutral. </p>
<p>The Business:
Increase business. Essentially a tax neutral proposition because expenses are expensed out.
Keep business activity the same but pay for the fuel expense out of profits. Which is a tax positive move on the business but a tax negative for the government. </p>
<p>I’d try to think like a business even if you make wages.</p>
<p>What we put into savings is largely taken out via payroll deduction. It’s by far the most pain-free way to do it, in our experience. All our medical/spending account reimbursements also go into savings. We refinanced the house six years into our 30-year mortgage to a 5.625% 15-year fixed rate. Our payment went up by $75. We could live with that in order to pay off nine years early! </p>
<p>Travel is our only vice, but we use frequent flyer miles, discounts, etc. and camp, so we have learned over the years to visit lots of places, but on the cheap. Our neighbors are always wondering how we are headed off to XXX – we don’t go without at least three free plane tickets! We buy groceries and picnic for lunch (farmer’s markets, fresh bread and cheese, etc.) or buy our main meal at lunch when it’s cheaper.</p>
<p>I’d like to travel more, but we never seem to have many frequent flyer miles, however every few years we’ve been able to tack a foreign vacation onto a science conference. Next year Scotland! We stay in really cheap hotels or bed and breakfasts, picnic, but fancy dining at least once in a while is our vice.</p>
<p>We didn’t get quite as good a deal on the refinance end, but did change a 30 year mortgage to a 20 year mortgage for very little increase in monthly payments.</p>
<p>But the main reason we don’t feel poor yet, besides the fact that my income has increased by quite a bit in the last two years, is that we recently inherited some money that is enough to pay for the college bills. Otherwise I’m sure we’d be singing DadII’s song - what looks like a big income, but not enough left over for college.</p>
<p>Counting Down mentioned camping…I’ve always said my favorite hotel room is my tent. My H and I attended a son’s graduation from a fancy boarding school while staying in a nearby state park. Another time we went to a posh wedding in Bar Harbor while camping at Acadia. We got some weird looks from other campers.</p>
<p>I read somewhere on the internet that 1 in 4 hotel rooms now have bedbugs :eek: (sorry, don’t have a source and can’t verify it.) I’d take that tent ANYDAY!</p>
<p>Outside of a random spider I have not had any hotel with bedbugs yet–but I don’t go to NYC where they are bad.</p>
<p>In reponse to bedbugs-- which has nothing to do w/ original OP, checkout [Reviews</a> of vacations, hotels, resorts, vacation and travel packages - TripAdvisor](<a href=“http://www.tripadvisors.com%5DReviews”>http://www.tripadvisors.com), select your hotel and then read the reviews. Fellow travelers will let you know about bedbug experiences! I do not book a hotel until I’ve read every review of it on this website-- it’s excellent</p>