Ok, I'm broke -- now what?

The last 2 years have been so hard on many of us. First, gas prices shot through the roof. We scrambled to find the extra cash to fuel up just to get to work and home. The price of a tank of gas now double what it was. Those of us who budgeted weekly for gas expenses began to feel the pinch. Some choose to downsize their vehicle to a smaller, more fuel efficient model. Some of us (including me) car pooled. It could be an inconvenience at times, but so was starving to death from lack of funds! Long distance trips were limited to practical and essential. We began to hear of independent truckers selling their rigs because they could no longer afford to fuel them up.

Because people could no longer afford to splurge on longer trips, and cash was tighter for most, the economy also began to feel the pinch. Just a little at first, but even after gas prices began to drop back down to "OK, this is much better", we started to see the effects. The price of food began to rise. Who remembers paying $7 for a bottle of cooking oil?

Then the worst. The layoffs began . Factories and businesses started shutting down their doors, leaving families scambling for work. Breadwinners laid off from jobs where they were already struggling to make ends meet. Unemployment lines so long, the employees there could not keep up with the demand, causing checks to be months and months away. Home foreclosures started to become a daily occurance. People were losing everything very quickly.

This has hit me very close to home, as I am sure it has for alot of us. Many of my friends have lost jobs, or had to close down businesses. I recently helped some close friends pack up their home and move to a much smaller rental because the bank was selling their foreclosure on Monday. So sad. He was a builder/contractor. That market has come to a halt. They have lost their home, their cars and had to sell whatever was left to try and make a fresh start. He is now doing odd jobs where ever he can find a little work. Life has changed drastically for them over the last 2 years.

Now, don't get me wrong. As bad as I feel for this couple, I am AGAINST living in debt. The last 2 years is exactly why. If you own everything you have, nobody can take it from you. With that said, where do we go from here?

First of all, don't give up hope. It's not over until you are under (6 ft that is). As hard as it is to lose all that stuff, that's all it really is - stuff. My grandparents spent their whole lives collecting stuff. More stuff than you can possible imagine. When they passed away, we had - guess what? A whole house full of stuff. That stuff meant the world to them. Now they were gone and to us - it was still just stuff. My point? It's just stuff - don't sweat it.

One of the biggest problems people have who have lost everything is humulity. They are embarrassed and ashamed that they have allowed their lives to get to this. We must not live in the past. You have to move forward. My husband, who has lived a pretty wild life back in his day, is not ashamed of the choices he made. He says those are the things he had to go through to turn him into the person he is today. This is so true. The struggles you go through today are only making you stronger.

Until next week - Hold your head up high and lets get through this.