do you ever worry about money, housing, and taking care of yourself?

[2Design]

Just don't seem to know how to get more income.
When I build something up, it seems to reach the peak of just comfortable and starts shrinking
Been a struggle for decades now.

Just feels sad
There is no plan because the income is not there
Housing keeps going up
Food goes up
Utilities go up

I am now at half of what I was making a year ago

I just don't seem to have the charismatic personality to generate more income or likability in the work place or saleability in the job market

Self-esteem and self-confidence have taken a big hit over the years
Not sure how to compete with younger more talented
I once thought I was great at drafting and that was on the board, CAD changed all that
Then I was good at fixing computer machines and networks, the pc changed all that

Now I can't seem to get good or great at anything

anyone else feel this way and what to you do about it
How do you get out of these slumps?
How do you recover from taking a road that led away from riches?

[Xipe Totec]

1. My friends are leaving this Sunday

They just, finally, managed to sell their house for $270K, which they bought for $350K six years ago, and invested over $100K in home improvements. Shortly after buying this house, he lost his job as a high ranking director of a bio-tech lab, and sat on the bench for three years looking for another job, living off of his life savings. He finally found a job after three years in Philadelphia, and had to pay mortgage on the house and rent on an apartment there for the next three years.

He considers himself lucky to have made it this far.

My heart aches.

[Crazy Dave]

2. We were doing everything we were supposed to and it still wasn't good enough

Saved money, paid off our home, etc. but with our salaries shrinking every year and health, auto, homeowners insurance, gas and utilities going up we're almost paying out now what we did when we had a mortgage and all the kids were still at home. I'm making $10k less a year than I was making 12 years ago. Twelve more years and I'll be making minimum wage again.

[jdlh8894]

3. Don't look back!

Plus, you can't recover that riches road.Look FORWARD! Build a new road.Good luck and best wishes to whatever road you decide to travel.

[glinda]

4. I am selling personal belongings on Ebay to make up for the $600/mo. increase on

health Insurance, utilities, car insurance, food, etc.... Don't know what we will do when I have no items left. Am working on husband to put the home up for sale even though we still owe.

[madrchsod]

5. i think about that everyday.

my biggest concern is paying for my medical care. my wife has insurance on me but we can not afford the co-pay and the 20%.

hell of a way to live in the wealthiest country in the world

[Speck Tater]

6. I've been in the same boat for a long time.

It all started about 15 years ago when I found myself with $7 to buy a week's supply of groceries with. Since then I've made a study of voluntary simplicity and living frugally. I have less than $1000 a month coming in, but after years of study and "emotional adjustment" to accept my situation philosophically and with grace and equanimity, I find that that amount is more than I need. There are ways to live better with little or no money. The first lesson is to learn that self-worth should not be measured in dollars.

Then Google "voluntary simplicity".

I shop roughly every third month at a restaurant wholesale supply house and buy my supplies in bulk. I never buy factory food (boxed, frozen or canned ready-made food like boxed Mac-N-Cheese, canned spaghetti or beef stew, or frozen dinners, pizzas, etc.). Those are a huge waste of money. I don't eat out, which is fine with me because I've never really enjoyed eating out. (Restaurants are too much hustle-bustle. Not conducive to good digestion.) I buy staples like dry beans, rice, flour, bulk pasta, bulk bags of frozen chicken, bulk bags of frozen veggies, etc. In the summer I raise and freeze a lot of my own veggies. I also make all my own jams from my backyard strawberries, blackberries, concord grapes, and plums.

I drive an 18-year old car that I paid $100 cash for 6 years ago. My current computer was purchased second-hand for under $100. I have basic cable and a cheap NetFlix subscription. I pay $8 a month (on average) for a pay-as-you-go cell phone and I have no land line. I have an old-fashioned picture tube TV, non-HD, non-flat screen.

And I way happier now than I was when I was still playing that pointless game of chasing money.

Hang in there. It is possible to be happy and fulfilled with little or no money.

[2Design]

7. housing costs are 775 and that is cheapest for this area and in a safe neighborhood

Housing is a huge cost

Cutting the rest to the bone has been my trend

[Speck Tater]

8. I bought LOOOONG before the bubble, and I have house mates to share the mortgage. nt

[jotsy]

9. All of the above, every damn day.

The word I think that might be in play here is obsolete, not that you are, but that you've been made to feel that way. I think it's wrong to make people feel inadequate in a fluidly moving technological society. I've taken to something of a saying lately and I think it applies here.

Man as machine is not merry in the making

It seems we've reached that moment in development where many a line is blurred between life and the artificial extension and will of its invention.

It's who you are that is of truest and deepest value, not what gadgets you know how to manipulate, not matter what they say to convince you otherwise. Hold fast to that and be as well as any of us can be.

[Peregrine Took]

10. Yes, like every day! n/t