Monday, February 16, 2009

Grin and Wheel-bearing It

A friend warned me two weeks ago.

She said, and I quote, "Of course, remember that now that you’re in the situation that you’re in, everything you own will break or stop working. "

I'm hopeful that she's not entirely right, but we DID just drop Dan's car off at the dealer to get a new wheel bearing. Before y'all post comments about saving money by not getting one's car serviced at the dealer, I'll let you know that we have some Subie Bucks that are only good at a dealer.

Some people get air miles on their credit cards. Some get cash rewards. Some get gift cards or money put into their savings plan. We get Subie Bucks. Though it feels as though we have to spend $10,000 to earn $100 in Subie Bucks, they actually rack up pretty quickly, and have come in handy more than once. I will lie to myself about how much the Subie Bucks cost me in interest expense and say that today, we are spending $100 less than we would have otherwise.

Oh, the credit card debt burden of our generation...how are we going to solve this? I really believe this is what sets this recession so far apart from any other. I often wonder if our generation has the creativity, resourcefulness and selflessness to get through this time the way our grandparents got through the Recession.

Dan was trying to talk to Popps about not mixing money and friends, and was searching for the right cliche to convey the thought. He asked Popps, "What did you used to say when you were growing up?" Popps replied, "I grew up in the Great Depression! We didn't have any money!"

What are your thoughts on "weathering" the current economic situation? Political, social, fiscal... I'm interested in everyone's thoughts.

3 comments:

hillary said...

here is my money-saving idea, with the caveat that i am poor, a horrible money-saver, and totally unqualified to comment: use dryel. i don't know if your work clothes need to be dry-cleaned, but i find dry-cleaning outrageously expensive, and dryel quite reasonable...

Kristin said...

I use Dryel too! I was skeptical at first, but it works.

Katrine said...

I am blogging about this today. It's been on my mind (saving money, not Dryel, since I don't even know what that is). I will let you know when I've got my thoughts all blogged out.