Comments on: Trailer Dreams and Open Field Wishes

By: Frannie Farmer

Frannie Farmer — Sat, 31 May 2008 19:15:56 +0000

This could be my personal diary entry, we have cut back more that I ever thought we could and yet we are still struggling. We refer to our money days as “BC” - before children, we had money then … but certainly not now.

By: Manager Mom

Manager Mom — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:50:56 +0000

Yeah, that totally sucks. I got a nice 3% raise this year, which barely covers the increase for gas, food, clothes, heating bills…not to mention the psychotherapy and added whiskey that I need to deal with the sticker shock…

By: Daisy

Daisy — Tue, 20 May 2008 00:29:26 +0000

We’re glad we bought our home when we did (12 years ago) and kept our mortgage smaller than the bank suggested. They told us we could spend $XXX on a home; we said, uh-uh. We’d like to be able to feed the family after we pay the mortgage.
In this economy, our biggest concern is gas. I work locally; my husband works in a neighboring town, a 40 mile commute. He doesn’t have the option of moving his job closer to home; we just have to cut from elsewhere in the budget.

By: nancy

nancy — Sat, 17 May 2008 13:38:38 +0000

I’m in favor of smaller houses, and I think that owning a larger home will only get more expensive as the price of energy increases. But, if anyone needs a large house, it is a mother with three young kids who works from home. Good luck selling, but make sure you have enough space for yourself in your new place.

By: emmak

emmak — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:00:31 +0000

Advantage of having crazy parents: I am actually way ahead of them and more financially secure than they were at my age.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Baltimore is the cheapest city in America. You can easily live on one salary of say $50,000 although my husband earns more. you should really relocate somewhere
xx

By: Julie Pippert

Julie Pippert — Fri, 16 May 2008 00:09:47 +0000

OMG if I had a dollar for every time I uttered that (”I’m almost 40, shouldn’t I be more financially secure by now?” I’d BE financially secure.

We’ve downsized twice—including moving across the country to a cheaper cost of living area—and find ourselves pinched, again.

I’ve finally accepted that we outlived our parents model, and maybe they did too.

My father met Mr. Layoff for the first time in his 50s. Since then, he’s never, ever uttered another scathing diatribe to me about those jobs I lost in the early 90s.

The bottom line is, as always, the bottom line. It’s tough and costly times. Tighten the buckle.

On the upside, reducing consumption is great for your carbon footprint.

Will go read your article at Babble although…I never can recall my login so this will have to count as my comment.

By: MammaLoves

MammaLoves — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:23:09 +0000

I guess we all need to move to the middle of the country.

Let’s just pick a random small town in IA and meet up. We won’t have to work, we can meet up over the clothes line and chat. Whaddya think?