MOMania

By JATL

September 23, 2008 8:01 AM | Link to this

I guess the bloggers have a point about people spending more time with their kids and kids having to be a little more resourceful to have fun, but WOW, what a SAD SAD commentary on our society and parenting if it takes recession, job loss, and financial crisis to make a lot of people be actual “good” parents!

By Amy

September 23, 2008 8:14 AM | Link to this

I don’t even know how to comment on that one - the conveniences I have finally been able to enjoy as our family got a little more financially stable helped me be a calmer and more communicative mom - the extra effort lands on the mom to cook these cheaper dinners from scratch and cut out the coupons and scour the sales ads for food, when it was such a relief to run by and pick up some of the pre-packaged dinner items from the store. Or just get what we wanted instead of what was on sale. The security is gone and more work is in my future. Sigh.

By JATL

September 23, 2008 8:14 AM | Link to this

I guess the bloggers have a point about people spending more time with their kids and kids having to be a little more resourceful to have fun, but WOW, what a SAD SAD commentary on our society and parenting if it takes recession, job loss, and financial crisis to make a lot of people be actual “good” parents!

By Jesse's Girl

September 23, 2008 8:50 AM | Link to this

It doesn’t affect our family time at all. We were a very close-knit family before we began pinching pennies…and we will continue to be. Soccer is over and piano has started…we share the responsibility as parents for transportation to that. As well as cheerleading practice. We turn these small jaunts into meaningful one-on-one time with the kids. Our kids don’t have gaming systems…well, they have a WII, but the novelty of that vanished in a week. So, that was certainly money wasted:) Anyone want one for cheap? I think for families that were doing way too much anyway will notice a difference. But we have never allowed more than one activity at a time and our kids have never been permitted all the latest gadgets and such…..so no. Its pretty much status-quo around here.

By Robin

September 23, 2008 9:12 AM | Link to this

Less spoiled? I think so. We had started trying the “you can pick out 1 thing”, when we went to wal-mart, but now every penny must go toward food and/or gas, so that was ABRUPTLY stopped. In fact, the first time I had to tell her we can’t get you anything, was just awful. She just didn’t understand, and I had to hand the toy to the greeter as we left the store. She was crushed. Now, she understands better, and I wish we had never started the ‘you can have one thing’, in the first place.

Also, we don’t eat out at all anymore. Can’t afford to. She still asks that we go somewhere and eat, and, hey, I would LOVE to as well. But, just not able to. So, I think that not only is she being spoiled less, we are too. ;+(

And, that is a good thing.

By OhTheDrama

September 23, 2008 9:23 AM | Link to this

I can’t argue with with the blog at all. If only it were easy to achieve the lifestyle they speak of without having to go broke to do it!!

By My3Kids

September 23, 2008 9:26 AM | Link to this

I don’t know if the economy makes better kids. I believe it depends on the child.

My sister and her ex always gave her boys everything and they still do. My nephews, who I totally adore and are like my own children, thought I was a neglectful mom with my oldest because I could not afford to give my oldest 1/8 the stuff they had. It took a long talk and some major discipline from me and their parents before they woke up. With the problems my oldest daughter has, I don’t know if the economy is an influence on her. She does think I should cater to her every wish and she always has been that way. You would think at 14 she would get it by now. Some days she does, some days she doesn’t care.

My middle daughter is a child that has never asked for anything expensive except for a John Deere Green Tractor. She is one of these kids that is wise beyond her years and she understands that we buy things as we need them and can afford them.

My middle one asks to do more chores to earn things and she is 6. My oldest has also asked for extra chores to earn things but she never does them.

By lovelyliz

September 23, 2008 9:31 AM | Link to this

Bad economy might be okay if you keep your job, but if things tank out, you’ll find yourself, like I was earlier this year, laid off and taking a lower paying job because any job is better than none. Of course you could be one of those unlucky sods who loses a decent paying job that allows you to support your family only to replace it with 2 jobs that pay considerable less because that’s what you have to do.

By Numbers Guy

September 23, 2008 10:29 AM | Link to this

lovelyliz has it right, I think. As long as you still hold a job, this is a good opportunity to teach those lessons, whether you have to or not, really. OTOH, if you lose your job and you’re struggling to provide food, that isn’t a good thing no matter how you view it.

By lakerat

September 23, 2008 10:36 AM | Link to this

No

By Rachel

September 23, 2008 10:58 AM | Link to this

Sounds like every one is giving up and resigning themselves that we will be in some sort of “great depression”. First and foremost, this is just going to be a recession and no large scale economic disaster will take place. If you are already “pinching pennies”, then it has nothing to do with the economy and really has to do with your own personal financial mismanagement.

Thinking that all these “luxuries” in life are going to disappear is just ridiculous. Youth sports programs are not going to disband and piano teachers are not going to go hungry.

It IS a sad state of affairs that it takes an economic panic to get parents to wake up. Eating healthy can be achieved in a booming, busy economy just as it can in a perceived downturn. Spending quality time with your children - the economy is no excuse for being a lax parent. If you would have been awake and spent your money wisely, you would’nt be in this mess noe would you?

One thing certainly will ring true, the rich will get richer and their children will be the winners. I feel sorry for any child that has to be raised by financially ignorant parents.

By Jesse's Girl

September 23, 2008 11:11 AM | Link to this

I don’t think you could be more wrong in your assessment that pinching pennies equates to poor money management. I think its responsible behavior. Most expecially if you have multiple children, college tutiton and/or a large vehicle. We are considered well off by most standards. Watching what and where we spend…coupled with the blessing of sound careers…has contributed greatly to that. I don’t care what your bank balance shows….minding your financial p’s and q’s is just smart.

By lakerat

September 23, 2008 11:28 AM | Link to this

I’m a loser and I have no friends….

By Cheryl

September 23, 2008 11:35 AM | Link to this

Having to cut back in harder economic times when gas is 4x what it used to be has nothing to do with having to spending your money wisely. It’s good money mangement.

By Kathy

September 23, 2008 11:50 AM | Link to this

My husband and I became serious penny pinchers when we decided that I would quit teaching to stay home full time when our daughter was born in 2005. It was a serious adjustment at first (we cut our income in half), but we got used to staying home more and spending much less. We decided early on not to get into the habit of buying our daughter something every time we went to the store. In recent months we have watched friends make some serious changes to their spending habits to accomodate the changes in the economy. I am so glad that we were already pinching pennies and not spoiling our child before the sh** the economic fan. We are actually doing okay.

By Nixon710

September 23, 2008 12:12 PM | Link to this

Well some of us have always lived within our means.

Some of us don’t go out to eat every meal.

Some of us don’t give our kids everything they think they are entitled to.

Some of us actually spend quality time with our kids, hiking, walking, watching movies, TALKING TO EACH OTHER, eating dinner at the table as a family every night, etc.

Some of us combine our errands with the neighbors to save gas.

The economy is not responsible for the behavior of my kids.

Our kids have grown up knowing if they want something, they have to work for it and actually earn it. I’m not turning them loose into society with them thinking everything will be given to them. One must work in order to earn what they want.

By nurse&mother

September 23, 2008 12:29 PM | Link to this

Theresa, funny that you mention that. I have had that very thought on my mind the past several months. I have been thinking in more broader terms, though. I have thought for years that our younger generation knows nothing about customer service and courtesy (generally speaking-I know there are some well mannered young people). I have told my husband a few weeks ago, that businesses will start being more friendly to its customers because times are tough and people have less money at their disposal. They are now having to really WOW its customers. We first noticed this in restaurants.

I certainly don’t want the economy to get any worse, but I think there are several good things that will come of it in the end. I have thought about my grandparents who pinced every penny and saved every stryofoam cup, reused alum foil, etc. I used to laugh behind their backs, but I realize that they lived through the Great Depression and that made a huge impact on their lives and spending habits (run on sent?). I think once you have it that hard, you can never truly waste money anymore. I have always bought some off brand items at the grocery store, but I have found myself trying more than I used to. I think that even if/when the economy gets better, I will continue my new penny saving methods. I make less trips into Chattanooga (25 minutes away) and I usually only buy stuff I really need.

Overall, I think that some good things can come out of a bad situation. I certainly do not wish for anyone to lose their job.

By nurse&mother

September 23, 2008 12:35 PM | Link to this

My husband and I live within our means and have been frugal in a lot of ways, but the economy has helped us to do a better job of this.

We do a lot with our kids as a family. We have been guilty of giving our kids a lot more than they need (but certainly not as much as some others).

I agree that a little humility will help build character in the younger generation ( and maybe the older generation too :-).

By Thank You

September 23, 2008 12:39 PM | Link to this

Blogreaders: Is an excess of money causing you to spoil your children and not spend enough “quality time” with them? I am here to solve your problems! Just send all that extra money to me courtesy this blog. Cashier’s checks only please. Remember, the more you send, the more it shows you love them!

By Becky

September 23, 2008 12:55 PM | Link to this

I have always been a peeny pincher on some things..I shop at thrift stores for clothes for me & my grandbabies..I clip coupons, & try to buy things only when they are on sale..I plan my trips to be able to do everything with one trip..I’m lucky in that me & my husband both make decent money & all of our vehicles are paid for..We as JG said, don’t need something to bring us closer togther, we were there already..

nurse&mother, when I go somewhere & get bad service, I just look at the person & say “you aren’t a people person are you?” That or “you don’t get paid for your personality (sp) do you?” Works every time..I agree word for word with your last sentence..

By JJ

September 23, 2008 1:02 PM | Link to this

Uh, Oh - sounds like Smart Ace, F/K/A “You people are LAME”, is off his medications and is trying to pass himself off under 3 different pseudonyms - a 2nd “lakerat” (I am a loser and I have no friends), “hoochie mama”, and, now, “Thank You”.

Here we thought you had turned over a new leaf and had given up your LAME identity! No more vodka for you!

By Karia

September 23, 2008 1:14 PM | Link to this

I’m in the “already pinching pennies” camp. I’m also a homeschooler with traditional values so we already spend a lot of family time together. When my kids wanted an Xbox, we agreed to pay half if they earned the other half, and they did. They take care of it more because they invested in it.

The one thing I suppose I think is cool about a recession (hey, gotta look for those silver linings, ya know?) is that more people are getting on the bandwagon and that means my kids no longer think it’s odd. They’re good kids, though…they’ve always been understanding when we couldn’t buy something they wanted at the store, and now that they’re older, that’s completely eliminated. Because when they get a case of the “Gimme’s” I tell them, either pay for it yourself out of your allowance, do more chores to earn more money for it, or you can wait and see if you get it for your birthday or Christmas.

We’ve been a one-income family for so long, it’s second nature to us. We’re even trying our hand at gardening to help cut corners and be more self-sufficient (and healthier). Yes, it’s time consuming, and there are plenty of times I wish we could just run to Chick-fil-A for dinner. But, we make do with what we have, and it’s a good life. Even some of the poorest among us have it better than our grandparents and great-grandparents who lived through the Great Depression. We need to be thankful for what we’ve got, and instill that in our children. So yeah, I think there is a very good side to this economic downturn.

By Dadof3

September 23, 2008 2:05 PM | Link to this

Economies dont spoil kids, bad parenting does! What a joke! People are losing jobs, homes, they cant pay for their electricity, fuel, groceries, etc. the thought that , hey maybe this will help me raise my little guys better is pathetic. If it takes an economic meltdown in order for you to tell your little princess she cant have the latest cell phone/pda then maybe you shouldnt have had the little princess in the first place and on a larger scale maybe its a small part of the overall problem in this country these days, both socially and economically.

By Bob

September 23, 2008 2:13 PM | Link to this

My wife and I live in a house that is LESS than we can afford. I drive a nearly 5 year old car that is in good shape, and is paid for, so why buy another anytime soon? I may get one in two or three years but I will not buy anything that I have to finance.

WE have recently gotten our second child through Pharmacy School and she has a good job.

We are thankful that we have no debt. And that our daughters have NO college debts. So things are not that bad on my home front. I probably will not want to retire unless my health dictates it. Things could change on a dime so I do put aside money (pay myself) with every paycheck. And although we are not wealthy, we do go out and eat from time to time. Hopefully there are still a lot of Americans like me.

A very good consumer economics education class in college and regular attention to such guys as Clark Howard and Dave Ramsey hasn’t hurt.

By Stacey

September 23, 2008 3:04 PM | Link to this

We have definitely had to tighten our belts in a lot of areas. I have always been a coupon clipper, bought what was on sale / store brands, shopped the clearance racks, etc but we have had to cut back entertainment. We used to have some kind of small family outing at least every other month (movie, ball game, zoo) but that stopped a while ago.

It really hurt this summer not to be able to take my son to Disney World like we had planned to. He knew about the trip and had really been looking forward to it but something came up and we had to use the money elsewhere and just do a “staycation”. While he had fun, it definitely wasn’t Disney World and he asks if he can go to DW next summer.

We did let him join Boy Scouts because his troop allows us to pay quarterly instead of one lump sum. He’s also participating in a couple of extracurricular clubs that meet while he’s at ASP anyway. While the $30-40/mth we are spending for those activities could be spent elsewhere or put in savings, we are blessed that (for now) we are still able to “spoil” him some.

By SmartAce

September 23, 2008 3:18 PM | Link to this

@JJ

Um I think you have mistaken me for someone else…..seriously….I’m not kidding here…..

By nurse&mother

September 23, 2008 3:21 PM | Link to this

Dad of 3- I sense a little hostility. I don’t think that anyone is saying that losing one’s job or house is good for the kids.

It is easy to point fingers at those that live a lavish lifestyle. It is easy to get caught up in spending a lot on one’s family when society in general (American that is) is living it up. I’m not saying that is what we do or that it is right.

“and on a larger scale maybe its a small part of the overall problem in this country these days, both socially and economically.” Based on this comment, it sounds like you are actually agreeing with Theresa’s point.

By SmartAce

September 23, 2008 3:22 PM | Link to this

I hope you are feeling better JJ BTW.

By nurse&mother

September 23, 2008 3:25 PM | Link to this

Stacey- how much is Boy Scouts? Is Boy Scouts different than Girl Scouts? Maybe it is because we live in more rural north Ga and most of the folks here are middle class. My daughter is in Girl Scouts and it is only $10 for the year. We supplement other trips, but most of them are free or greatly reduced.

By Calhoun

September 23, 2008 3:44 PM | Link to this

Well we live in a house we can afford, drive older cars, and we don’t HAVE to keep up with the neighbors.

I refuse to live in a big house, more cleaning for me.

I refuse to drive a huge SUV, too expensive and gas is too.

We have 3 kids. We do alot of free stuff. We have one game system, Wii, which the entire family plays.

We rent movies and have junk food, or “clean out the refridgerator night”.

We go on one vacation a year. We save all year for that one vacation.

We pay our selves first, then the mortgage, etc. no credit cards either.

By nurse&mother

September 23, 2008 4:07 PM | Link to this

Just curious- Do many people live beyond their means?

Fortunately our house is paid for. Although, it is a very modest one that my husband helped to build. My car is about to be paid for in 8 months (the dealership offered no interest when I bought it). We do have a credit card, but we pay it off every month (we are earning Disney reward dollars). We try our best to not have any debt. This has helped us tremendously. Our motto is if you can’t afford to buy it, then don’t.

By new mom

September 23, 2008 4:28 PM | Link to this

I think it probably is harder to restrain yourself as a parent and not spoil your kids when other people are ‘living it up’ when times are good (even if they are going into debt to do so, and aren’t saving) We haven’t had that problem yet with our baby girl—but she does gets spoiled by her grandparents!

For us, having a baby and me staying home with her has made it easier to eat in! I can’t imagine why parents would choose to take their kids to restaurants a lot anyway, for us it’s a LOT of work to keep her happy and quiet…and for us to get a bite or two of food.

I’ve referenced this fable before, but here is ‘the ant and the grasshopper’ story that I read when I was little, and the moral stuck with me. So many people spent and played like grasshoppers when times were good….http://www.bartleby.com/17/1/36.html

By new mom

September 23, 2008 4:49 PM | Link to this

nurse&mother, I think there are LOTS of folks out there who have lived beyond their means for years…now I don’t mean to sound cruel. But I know a lot of people who, on the surface, you would think ‘wow they are really doing well!’ but in reality, all the “stuff” was purchased on credit, and they were not saving a single dime. We have family that have always lived like this. And now they can’t handle prices going up because they are strapped and can’t afford gas.

Again, I don’t want this to sound mean, but we all make our choices along the way and we reap the effects of them, good or bad.

By Stacey

September 23, 2008 4:52 PM | Link to this

Nurse&Mother…Boy Scouts dues equate to (roughly) $10/mth plus a yearly rechartering fee of $30. Then they have different activitys that are less than $20/mth. I’m told that it equates to about $300/yr plus uniforms. His troop also allows us to get the uniforms piece by piece instead of all at once.

By Theresa

September 23, 2008 4:56 PM | Link to this

Hey Nurse and Mother — I definitely think there are lots of folks living beyond their means — I look at some of the neighborhoods around us and I’m like who can afford to be living there — One of my girlfriends was looking in north Gwinnett for homes — She couldn’t believe all the $500,000 houses being forclosed on — because people borrowed more money — on crazy loans— than they could afford to pay back. So absolutely lots of folks charging and financing more than they can pay with their monthly checks. (But also a broken system that allows them to do that.)

By new mom

September 23, 2008 5:11 PM | Link to this

Theresa—I’d like to add to your comment about our broken system. I agree, it’s broken.

But there’s a piece of that system that is a huge culprit, and that’s the CRA (Community Reinvestment Act) I used to work in a bank, and saw firsthand how banks are FORCED to ‘give back to the community’ in the form of making loans they would never make, because the people couldn’t afford it otherwise and had no means to pay them back. That has crippled the banking industry.

Yesterday Neal Boortz went on a rant about the CRA and I was so happy that finally I heard someone else make the same comments!

So guys, it’s not just greed that’s started this mess—it’s the government trying to make things so ‘fair’ that everyone should be able to afford a house, even if they have no savings, no income, nothing. And now the government will be buying all those bad loans, and all us folks who actually pay our mortgages will see our taxes soar. Brilliant.

Sorry, I normally try to stay mild-mannered, but this one really burns me up. :)

By FCM

September 23, 2008 8:20 PM | Link to this

N & M—-YEP! People live beyond their means….I cannot get into how I know this, but I know it to be a fact. Credit debt, student loans, and mortgages (ARM’s especially)….add to that some very lucrative offers for cars…..Loans/credit was extended to those with ‘less than perfect’ credit based on the idea that economy would keep rising. Nothing can keep rising forever except people’s stupidity!

I think of my ex-BIL he makes a nice 6 figure salary. He buys his kids whatever they want….he told me he sees it as his right and privledge to spoil them and would love to see them drain his bank account.

I recall thinking at that the time, how sad to be his kid! I would rather my children have less and appreciate it than have expect everything. What kind of spouses will support these kids? What is he teaching them about life/the real world?

My kids work for things. They earn tv time, computer time, and ‘specials’. They do not earn soccer, school events, or love.

My oldest told me the other day she hated being ‘poor’. I asked what made us poor….she said “well, you don’t buy me Hannah Montana perfume, you said if I lost the notebook/diary you just bought I had to earn a new one , you made me do housework to pay for the towel I got green paint on.” I thought for a minute…..”Do you live in a nice place?” yes. “Do you have good food to eat?” yes. “Do you have cable and computers.” Well I have to share yours! “Do you have nice clothes?” yes. “Do you have more than one pair of shoes?” yes, but only one dress and one sneakers. “Do you feel safe when I tuck you in at night?” yes. “Are you loved?” yes. “Are you sure your poor?” um, but we don’t have stuff! We have some things, like you said. “Do you think there are hungry people out there?” yes. ” Do you think there are people who are afraid” yes. “Do you think there are people without homes, food, tvs, clothes, shoes, or a Mom to tuck them in?” yes. “Are we really poor?” um, no I guess not. Mommy, I love you, but I still want the Hannah Montana perfume. “Well, birthday and Christmas are coming.” Ok, but Santa better remember!

Shalom.

By Theresa

September 24, 2008 8:40 AM | Link to this

hey New Mom — I’ve never heard of that — very interesting —- why aren’t the guys on TV mentioning that when they are talking about all the loans?? They make it seem like it was just purely greed and bad decision making going on —- glad you brought it up!

By MomMania#1Fan

September 24, 2008 9:07 AM | Link to this

CRA is part of the problem, but its not even 15%. Read the good newspapers and don’t get your information from a radio talk show host who is an Entertainer.

Is a Recession actually good for your kids? NO. Seeing the old man out of work and having the pressure and stress in the household is something children should not be exposed to.

Give children everything the NEED, provide them only with some of what they WANT.

A Recession is not good for children

By Numbers Guy

September 24, 2008 9:08 AM | Link to this

Oh, there’s plenty of blame to go ‘round. You have banks making stupid (and stupidly structured) loans. You have a government prodding them to do so in the name of “fairness”. You have idiot borrowers buying 3 times the home they can afford and leveraging themselves to the eyebrows to do it. And then borrowing some more when cash gets tight. Over and over. Why is no one pointing out the idiocy of the fools who stood in line to apply for “subprime mortgages” when they should have known it was unworkable?

And when the sand that was used as a foundation finally gives way, folks like me who actually made smart decisions get to pay for it. Yay.

By DB

September 24, 2008 9:41 AM | Link to this

I was in the mortgage business during the 80s, and I agree with NewMom, that CRA business just left off one letter — the “P”! I can vividly remember, pre-computers, trying to fill out those reports. You couldn’t use race as an evaluation criteria, and so many people didn’t fill the demographic information out — thus the number of “unknowns”, which would really tick off ACORN and other groups. As an underwriter, and later manager of mortgage P&P for a large bank in Florida, we had fairly strict lending guidelines, and the less you put down, the stricter the guidelines. We had a little leeway if we were willing to hold the loan in our own portfolio — funny how much more careful we were with those loans than the ones we were selling. :-) Plus, we had the ability to actually evaluate a person’s credit, instead of these stupid credit score numbers that get spit out now. When we moved to Atlanta, I decided not to re-enter the business up here, and I think it was one of my better decisions, because later subprime mortgage guidelines would have given me ulcers.

Banks get tired of financing low-income housing — the developer gets paid, the land owner gets paid — the only one that doesn’t get paid is the bank, when the residents skip out on the loan and you discovered that the developer/builder helped the buyer to lie on their application by misstating the downpayment, etc. Yet, when you tried to verify the downpayment funds, you were accused of being biased/racist/bigoted because people “may have chosen to keep their funds in non-traditional places”, i.e., under the bed or in the coffee can. Yeah, right …

By new mom

September 24, 2008 10:13 AM | Link to this

DB—thanks for your perspective. I was an assistant to a bank president, so I saw some of the behind the scenes, of how hard it was to try to constantly meet the demands of the CRA while still making sure all the budgets balanced. It was like trying to juggle with one hand tied behind your back!

And I’m certainly not saying that it’s the only factor in this whole debacle, as numbers guy mentioned, there is PLENTY of blame to go around. I love hearing both candidates saying how their priority is for homeowners to stay in their homes…sure makes for a nice soundbyte, but what if they could never afford it to begin with? When did homeownership become a right, and not something you worked hard for, saved for, and sacrificed for??

By Numbers Guy

September 24, 2008 10:18 AM | Link to this

new mom - I think that was right around the same time that it was decreed that failure absolutely HAD to be someone else’s fault. Two sides of the same coin, really.

By Lisa

September 24, 2008 11:12 AM | Link to this

All interesting comments

Yes a bad economy is good for the kids if presented correclty. I have a 5 and a 7 year old. We don’t go on family vactions like normal people. Since they were infants our vactions are visiting out of town Siblings every 2 years or so (Buffalo,NY and High Point,NC.) We do try for 1 amusement park locally per year.

We are lucky my Mom has a second home about 130 miles away in PA (just south of the Poconos)so this is considered a vaction by my kids. We go 2 or 3 weekends a year, (holidays-Memorial Day, July 4, Labor day, Presidents Day). These weekends are fun and cost us only food. The developement has a lake, pool, and pond. We fish and boat as we have a canoe there. We add a little like a movie, bowling or snow tubing.

My kids are in a bowling league once a week and they are very aware of money. We do very fun inexpensive things like apple picking or free things playgrounds, bike riding, hikes, and Geocaching (geocaching.com). As mommy has lost yet another job in less that 2 years.

Yet some how we are still surving. I’m in my 40’s and know that I may never have a house but so what. We have a co-op aprtment as an investment and no real repair bills.

Yes making ends meet is tough (so no savings or college funds right now-but big 401k’s for our future). But kids can learn to budget at an early age. When I asked my son age 7 did he want fruit punch or lemonade (2 liter bottle) he asked which costs less and took the one which was 25 cents less. The young many stocking the shelves was in shock hearing this.

My kids know value. My son saw a Leapfrog stick in a box in the basement and asked if he can have it. It was in need of batteries and plays Math, spelling, etc in B&W (about 6 games and multi levels and rooom for more games to be added it must be 5 or more years old) He knows he must share with his 5 year old sister but hapy to do so. I saw this on Amazon new with 2 cartridges for $120 we got a bargin

Bold: Teaching my kids The Value of Money Near NYC

By FCM

September 24, 2008 1:07 PM | Link to this

“very interesting —- why aren’t the guys on TV mentioning that when they are talking about all the loans??”

Bill Clinton was in a State of the Union….he said he wanted a Bachelors Degree to become the standard for (my) generation like the HS diploma was for (his). He wanted every American to have the American Dream….a house and a car….he promised the people he would get that for him.

The reason you do not see much of that mentioned in the news is they are left wing nuts who cannot and will not admit that the Democratic party (like the Republican party) is not out for the ‘people’ or the ‘voters’.

Come on folks….The Clintons were at the center of the S & L crap….what makes you think they would really promote good practices on the mainstream mortgages? Most of this started back then and is only now catching up.

By Big Picture

November 5, 2008 1:14 PM | Link to this

@ all the big bank supporters. I’m sooo sorry your poor little bank isn’t getting paid, and the Gov’t is hurting you by making you give loans to the less fortunate. You know what else the Gov’t did? Made it a law to not give interest to consumers for checking accounts, this law lasted approx 70 years! God forbid we get paid when we let YOU borrow OUR money. but I do believe the Gov’ts interference has hurt our system. But before you blame the unfortunate for “never working” “always wanting a handout” etc. Just remember it was the Gov’t that invested in nothing but big business to artificially support the stock market. It was them who created the Federal Reserve where interest could be made (for the banking industry) off of newly created money, that came out of thin air. This in turn makes it impossible to simply save, due to inflation and decreasing value of money. So just remember THAT, when you’re thinking how the gov’t “wrongly” helps out the lower class. They hurt them, then they try to help them. So don’t forget how the international banking industry has screwed us with the lie of fiat money, and that’s why they’re putting all the chips in to save the system. There’s more to it than “anybody can grow up and make anything of themselves” it goes back too far, this country was a mess when it was started and it’ll be a mess when it’s over.