Life's little reminders...

I'm straying a bit from my typical blog entry. I need to vent.

It's been one of those months, the kind that reminds you of just how easy it is to be thrown under a bus by the economy, the kind that reminds you of just WHY it is so important to cut spending where you can. I'm glad that I have cut SO much from our spending, or I'd be hurting even more right now.

My husband just opened a new business on April 1. Amazing the journey he's gone through to get to this point! Of course, we're bootstrapping this simply because NO BANKS would give him any sort of a loan. Oh, I take this back: Bank of America would have given him a loan if he'd had over $100,000: WHY WOULD HE EVEN NEED A LOAN IN THAT CASE? (This just speaks to the fact that Bank of America is PURE EVIL, but then again, so are all banks...) So, we opened with little money and are taking a HUGE leap of faith. The business is growing very, very slowly...but maybe the "Slow and steady wins the race" theory will work to our benefit here. I hope.

As soon as he opened, my daughter became incredibly ill with a 104.5 fever. Three doctor's visits later, we still didn't know the diagnosis, but we owed nearly $300. Don't even get me started on the medical industry and how much they're overcharging those of us with insurance to make up for those who are on medicaid or medicare.

Then, of course, my husband's car breaks down. When I say breaks down, I don't mean breaks down but is fixable. I mean it needs a new engine. Like that can happen right now. It's not under warranty. In fact, we have not had a car payment for a couple of years, so I guess it is just that time. That's what I get for finally putting a few dollars into savings. And any of you that say I should have a savings account to cover this, you've clearly never lived paycheck to paycheck, barely getting by anyway. You've never had to trim costs down to the bare bone just to make ends meet. Some people simply don't have EXTRA money to put into savings.

I lost my position at work (I'm the sole breadwinner right now), but THANK GOD another position was created that I was eligible to take. It's not as "good" as the other one, but it pays the same. Beggars can't be choosers: I'll take it! I'd be crazy not to.

AND of course, there are the rising gas prices, which are also driving the cost of pretty much everything else up, making it such that my money will not stretch as far as it used to.

Regardless, I'm thankful for what I have, despite my very mild misfortune.

Sound familiar? I'll bet you this is the story of over 1/2 of American right now. It sucks. How many of you are tired as hell of being broke and getting screwed by different big industries? I know I am. SICK OF IT....and I don't really see the light at the end of this economic tunnel in the US yet.