Remembering a REAL Recession

It takes living for awhile to get perspective on the recent wild swings of the Stock Market and the Economy. We had two young children and were living in a trailer when the Recession in the early 70's hit. We were a one income family, with few debts, but it was still a difficult time.

I remember that somewhere along in that time frame we tried to get a mortgage to build a new home on our lot, and although we qualified for the mortgage, we could not get the loan ... because mortgage money had literally dried up. Sound familiar? The big difference between now and then was that we were very good credit risks, but we still could not get financing.

God has a way of watching out for us when we really think He's turned his back on us. We were so disappointed in not getting that house, and now I am so glad we didn't. You see it was one of those split level kind where the front foyer has steps leading up or down to the living areas. I have a Movement Disorder. We would be forced to move out of our home if we were living in one that involved using steps every time you wanted to go just about anywhere in the house. But that's easy to see in hindsight, not so easy to accept at the time. And yes, some years later we did build on our lot, and we're still living in our Dirty Butter Estates on Hard Scrabble Hill.

But I digress. What I do remember very distinctly were a few Christmas shopping sprees where my credit was denied at the cash register, because I had charged over my limit. (Back then even going over a dollar was enough to have a purchase denied.) It was embarrassing, and it didn't happen very often, but it did happen.

When our older daughter started using her first credit card some years later we were mortified to find that if she went over her credit line the card companies would just up her limit, or gleefully charge over the limit fees. But they never stopped her from charging anything. And they never seemed to mind how many cards she applied for and got, either. It was like a bottomless well of credit, and she simply thought we were old fuddy duddies for even suggesting that this was not the way it should be.

She's older and wiser now, but has had some life threatening health problems that have her and her husband watching their money very closely now, after lots of health care expenses ran their bills up again. At least this time it's not from the free spending days of her twenties.

So, some people say we are in a recession, and some are even saying we are in the beginnings of another Great Depression. But hubby and I have seen the Savings and Loan implosion from the 70's, the long lines at gas pumps when we were only allowed to even try to get fuel on certain days of the week, interest rates on home mortgages up in the teens, and we've seen the Health South, Enron, dot com bust, and plenty of other scary events in our adult years. And now the current economic "crisis". This situation seems to be a natural consequence of way too casual a view that far too many people, and companies, have had for way too long about the risk of incurring large debts.

I hear and see on TV so much fear about the current problems, and I'm not saying they are not real problems, but what I am trying to say is that we Americans have dealt with bad economies and scary financial times before, and we have gone on to thrive and prosper. We have been burned before by poor choices, and learned from our mistakes, and been better people because of it.

I hope people will look at history, find some perspective on today's news, and breathe a little easier. I know my hubby and I do.

A Tank of Gas

My hubby tells stories of him pooling his change with his buddies on Friday and Saturday nights to put a dollar's worth of gas in his friend Johnny's old car, so they could drive around and hang out together. They would go to Sky Castle's and one of them would order a coke while they sat and talked, and when the waitress would be about to shoo them out, another one of them would order something. It was all like a scene out of Happy Days! That was way back in the 50's, before we met and started dating.

I was reminded of his stories when I saw this in the newspaper the other day:

When I was in high school in the 60's, I could fill up my car with $2 worth of gas. Interestingly, I couldn't afford a tank full of gas back then, either.

So, is gas really all that high even now? I'm not so sure. Our first apartment was $52.50 a month. Our first home cost us $101 a month, and it was all we could do to qualify for the payment. My first teaching job paid a whopping $265 a month, after paying for college to get it. When you put the prices of everything else from way back then in perspective with what those things cost today, gasoline probably is right about where it should be. Not that I like paying $4.00 a gallon, mind you. But considering how much money everything else costs, I think our reaction to gas prices may be more emotional than intellectual.

Any thoughts???

"Better Than I Deserve"

My DH and I both retired early to take care of parents, quitting before we were eligible for Social Security. I had a great retirement package as a public school teacher, but my hubby really just quit. Mind you, we're not wealthy people. But I had been working toward retirement for many years, always saving any pay raises I got, and purposefully living below our means, paying off credit cards in full each month and limiting our debt as much as possible. Now, we have DH's SS, and this next year I will be eligible for it, too. I've since inherited my Daddy's estate, part of which we gave to our daughters, so we could enjoy seeing them make good use of it. But there's a good bit in the bank right now, waiting for us to decide how to best invest it for future growth.

Am I bragging? Well, maybe, but really I'm just stating the facts, Ma'am, just the facts.

So, it's been really interesting to listen to the Dave Ramsey show on the radio every morning, as we were living the debt free lifestyle long before we ever heard of his Financial Peace ideas. I can testify that it does pay off.

We both owe our frugal ways to the upbringing of our parents, products of the Great Depression. Fortunately, unlike so many couples, who have succumbed to easily obtained credit cards, payday loans, car title loans, and sub prime mortgages, we always strove to stay out of debt. When we did find it necessary to use credit, we were careful to get the best interest rates and pay everything off just as quickly as possible. We also tithed through almost all our married years, although there were a few times when we didn't - something I'm not the least proud of. That good stewardship of our money left us financially able to quit our jobs and take care of our loved ones. We are both very grateful for that, and wouldn't have had it any other way.

So, if you are one of the many who is carrying a load of credit debt, I would urge you to spend some time listening to the Dave Ramsey show, reading his books, or exploring his website. If you weren't fortunate enough to have had prudent teaching from your parents about how to live within your means, or you just didn't follow their good example, then he may be able to help you live better than you deserve, too.

Do You Believe There's Only ONE Person for Each of Us??

My wonderful hubby and I have been head over heels in love with each other since 1960. I would hate to think that there is only one perfect mate for each of us, what with all the divorced people, widowed and such, out there searching, but, in my case, I think I found him!!

And why, do you ask (you ARE asking, aren't you?) did I come up with that to blog about today? One of my blogs is a lost toy search service, as part of our Plush Animal Shoppe. We get lots of stories from parents looking for a toy that their child is just heart sick without. Sometimes we can help them, and sometimes we can't.

But I've been writing back and for to a young fellow the last few days who has one of the most heart wrenching stories of any we have ever published. With that said, here is his story, in its entirety.

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Greg is not the only one looking for this particular elephant. Try as I might, I haven't been able to locate one, or even a picture of one. He posted this heart wrenching story as a comment on a previous search request here on Plush Memories, but I just couldn't leave such a story buried in the comments!

This must have been some Elephant! My wonderful girlfriend, and soul mate, told me stories about her Elephant (which is identical to the one you're looking for) She got hers from her father as she was torn from him arms in Saudi Arabia (she's American) Her and her mother spent some time in Saudi custody before the American Embassy stepped in and had them sent back to America. The trauma was too much for her mother and my girlfriend was eventually put into an orphanage where she was separated from the only thing she had left to remember her family (her elephant). She got a letter when she was 15 telling her that her father in Saudi desperately wanted to come to her, but was killed in the process.

She cries when she talks about it, and she's pretty much come to terms with the fact that she'll never see him or her elephant again. If I can find an elephant like this one, my plan is to tie an engagement ring on a ribbon around it's neck and give it to her. It's very symbolic of "family" to her and I think would be the perfect way to tell her I want to spend forever with her and start a family with her. If anyone can help me locate this elephant it could help a beautiful young girl get some closure to a horrible childhood, and could help me give her a feeling of security for the future! Please help!

The elephant was yellow, had pink inside the ears, sang "You Are My Sunshine," and the head softly moved while it was playing. I believe it was made by Eden. Thank you so very much!

If you can help Greg find this oh so special musical elephant, please Contact Us, including #081607-1 in the subject, or Comment Here.

Searching for a toy - Originally posted 08/16/2007

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He wrote me today to thank me for making the extra post about his search, and that's what got me to thinking about how great a marriage my DH and I have, and how much I would love to help this young fellow pop the question with this Sunshine Elephant!!

Thank you so much Rosemary! Everything about this relationship has been very unexplained, how we came together, etc. We are both from very different backgrounds but I have fallen for her and there isn't anything I wouldn't do for her. :) As they say "there is one girl for every boy" We were lucky enough to find each other. Thanks again Rosemary. Bless your soul.

I've posted lots of sweet stories, but I can't say that I've had another one that touched me so much personally. Please pass this request link along on your blog, and let's see if we can make his dream of proposing to his "perfect girl" come true.

First Home Memories

Things are finally beginning to fall in place around here as far as handling Daddy's affairs are concerned. We finally did get the Death Certificate last week, so we have an appointment Thursday with our niece, the lawyer. Our DD and SIL have been busy already planting flowers and painting and re-doing the front porch up at Daddy's, and hopefully soon the house will really belong to them. They've already talked to the mortgage people, so it's just a matter of getting the legalities taken care of, and the house will be theirs. It's so much fun watching their excitement, and it brings back great memories of our first house, and when we built this one.

I can still remember that wonderful rush when we signed our first mortgage and moved into our first home. We barely qualified for the mortgage back then for a whopping $101.00 a month! Back then they wouldn't take the wife's income into account, because she would probably be quitting to have children. That $101.00 got us a really nice house, too!! Now, I shudder to think what our children must pay for their mortgages.

Used to be, if I wanted a quick idea of how prices have changed with inflation, I could multiply what we paid for something way back when by 5 to get an idea of how expensive it would be now. For instance, for a long time this worked for gasoline, as we paid 29 cents a gallon when we got married in the 60's. That would put it about $1.50 now, if only inflation were involved. Obviously, gas is more than that, but that's the idea anyway. At the rate things are going, I'm going to have to change my estimation to 10 times to come closer to modern prices. After all, Cokes were 10 cents when our children were little!!

Well, I digress. I guess the day will come when DD and SIL will look back on the mortgage they paid for this first home of theirs and be just as amazed at how little it was per month. But right now, it sounds like a fortune, just the way our $101.00 did.

It's so much fun listening to them planning all the improvements and changes they want to make to the house, knowing full well that most of them will stay in the realm of pipe dreams, once the reality of paying for it all hits home. But let them dream ... it's got to be one of the most exciting times of their adult lives, and I'm glad to be able to share even a little bit of their enthusiasm.