My Thoughts

My Thoughts
typewriter182

Everything is more expensive these days than ever. And if it seems like there’s no relief in sight, that’s because there’s not.

The world is becoming a very expensive place to live. The cost of everything is going up. Of course, there’s the obvious – gasoline, electric, cigarettes, cable, health insurance and taxes. Those will continue to increase with wild abandonment with the way of the world. But there’s other things that normal people do not think about – milk, eggs, meats, tomatoes, potatoes and cheese. Those are all at the highest levels the old guy has ever seen. The good news: Insider is not the consumer the American economy thrives on to succeed. The bad news: most of you reading this probably do fall into that category and you are paying the price, in more ways than one, for being in the target audience. To offset these rising costs, businesses of all shapes and sizes are being required to increase their wages, putting unimaginable pressure on the companies to keep their bottom lines in good shape. It all comes down to finding a balance and it starts with the individual.

Insider’s biggest complaint of the young-timer world is people simply do not know how to live within their means. That’s a big difference between the young-timers and old-timers. If you make $50,000 a year, perhaps you don’t need that $3,000 over-sized, flat-screen television, that $4,000 all-inclusive cruise every year, that gas-guzzling SUV or the latest, greatest computer with all the gimmicks. Old-timers are better at living on fixed incomes because most of us do it every day and have done so all our lives. It’s how we were taught. Insider has saved all the money he’s going to save in his life. He needs to make it all last until judgment day. He will because he realizes he does not need to lead an extravagantly material life to be happy. He’s a simple man with simple needs.

Young-timers are more complicated. They need to be surrounded by pricey material things to be happy. It makes them fit in with fellow young timers. They are simply buying things they are unable to afford as a result of pressure they put on themselves, but, meanwhile, they are simply mortgaging their future for a debt-laden present. That’s no way to live. If only the old-timers could let the young-timers know the mistakes they are making, but they will not listen. Unfortunately, they will realize their mis-steps, but it will be too late. They will be surrounded by all these beautiful, high-tech things, but they will not be able to get themselves out of debt or keep their blood pressure down.