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All I have to say is... welcome to reality. I hit that place a few years ago and now live on a fixed income. I have one treat a year to save up for... usually a trip and everything beyond necessity is balanced with that. (Be suprising what you can save if there is a reason)
Lots and lots of people will learn a hard lesson before this is over, especially given the next few housing and other waves. Nobody has talked about the social concequences of this but I believe they will be high, and maybe for the better. The people who grew up in the depression did not randomly spend, but saved. They bought their toys with real money and didn't have massive debt. Its unfoutunate that our economy is tied to overuse and frivolous expenditures on credit because I would hope that people suddenly and harshly faced with the reality that there really are basic necessities and beyond that its toys will keep remembering.
The wealth of too many people has been built on air. Morgages and loans cannot be avoided but spending on your credit cards and not subtracting the balance from your earnings does not compute. And there is no free lunch. Anyone with a little forsight could have seen this coming with all the subprime and no documentation loans that would bite back in a few years. Your worth the balance and a lot of people would be surprised, or *will* discover that soon.
Not to mention the suddenly homeless will get a lesson they will never forget and which will always remember in reality and basic survival. And those teetering on the brink will hopefully see the light before they join them.
Not being a doomsayer here, but have seen the practical part from the otherside and am not sorry about that.
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