So I log on to the internet to see yet another plan to bail someone out. Again, I ask the question...from where is the money coming? How much am I and my children/grand children supposed to pay to bail failed businesses out?

I understand that there are many jobs at stake, but what makes this particular industry any better then any other industry out there? Why are they deserving of a bail out package all by themselves? After all, the last one we did, allowed the insurance company AIG to give everyone working for them a raise AND better benefits..on my dime? Hey you know what, because of the failing economy, I didn't even GET a raise this year, but I'm suppossed to pay for yours??  Please someone explain this to me?

Car companies should take a look and re-evalutate what they're doing. Let's face it, the economy is bad, no one is looking to buy a new car and take on more debt when they're not sure if they're going to have a job tomorrow or not.  They can't pay for the house they live in or put food on the table, they're not looking to run out and buy a snazzy new car to add to it.

There are a lot of companies closing down, going out of business, people lossing jobs. Are we going to have a Starbucks or Circuit City bail out package next? How 'bout a restaurant bail out package..after all aren't they tanking too? QVC has gone the way of the dinosaur..is there a Home Shopping Network bail out package in the works?

To me, the people of the US have been pulled through the wringer by auto,  oil and a lot of other industries for a very long time. I guess now they're learning how things really work. It's a give and take, like all relationships. They kept taking, we kept giving, but we can't do it anymore, they need to work at giving us a little something back.

They put the gas prices up so high that people had to make choices between gas and food, or other important needs. Cars are just crazy and only the well off can afford their hybrid cars. The rest of us have to make due with what we can afford. In the 70's you could buy a house for what you pay for a car today. It's just crazy.

I guess they are learning that they can only squeeze us for so long before we decide to take matters into our own hands and our survival instincts kick in. We make cut backs, we survive, the trade off is, big buisness apparently don't.

At our house the things left on the chopping block are cell phones, cable and the internet. I guess they'll be bail out packages for these too soon.

These are the last things we have that we do not need. We've already cut going out to dinner down to almost nothing. I've been brown bagging lunch for a while now.  We've dropped all the movie channels from our cable to get the bill down and hang on to some of what we have left, but with the holidays coming up, I can think of other things I'd rather spend the money on then cable. After all we lived with out cable, the internet and cell phones for most of my life. (although I must admit, I'm not really sure how)

I had recently obtained a copy of the "Transferring Your Debt Into Wealth" CD's. Apparently the first step to getting out of debt, it not to create more debt.

Maybe this guy should have a meeting with the powers that be that run this country and talk a little common sense into them. Maybe they should teach classes in school or we should teach our children a little bit about finances before they grow up. I know I've been teaching mine.

The word Responsibility is a pain in the ass word that comes up alot around here.

When you take on a debt/bill it's your responsibility to pay it back. It's your responsibilty to look at how much you make to see how much you can spend.

Someone should have sat down with all those people buying houses they couldn't afford and told them to bring in all their bills and their last 4 pay stubs and their latest credit report.

They should have added up their last 4 pay stubs to show them this is how much you make in a month.

Then added up all their bills and say this is how much you spend in a month.

Then subtracted the two to say This is how much you have left at the end of the month to spend on food and extras. 

This is how much the loan for this house will be and this is what an ARM is vs a locked in rate. This is what all of this means. 

Instead the banks said," Hey' we're a bank, we know more about these things then you, doesn't matter what you say you can afford, we can make it all work out on paper, we can get you into a house worth twice what you can afford and give it to you at half the cost. Don't worry about the word ARM, it's just a cute little meaningless acronym. Just sign here and here's the keys to your dream home."

I know, because this is what mortgage companies and realtors tried to me when I bought my home. But I argued and fought with them until I got what I wanted. My only mistake is I wanted to use Wells Fargo, I thought they'd been around forever, they're a good bet. I let my realtor talk me into using someone she "knew" and my mortgage has been sold 3 times in the past 2 years, because the company that made it originally tanked. I should have listened to me on that too.

They have all these commercials saying mortgage companies are willing to "help you out" I called mine just asking if I could split it into two weeks, I was told. "No we don't do that here" I didn't even ask for them work with me to lower my payments, help me ditch this stupid PMI crap, (that was in my opinion made to screw us over) or anything of that nature, just let me split it in half and pay it. No Go.

People take a look at credit cars like it's extra money and not like it's a loan. I know someone that thought this way, heck my sister was made when we went over her bills and wanted to know why if the credit card company looked at her finances, would they give her credit that she couldn't afford to pay back. 

I was shocked. She should have known what she could afford and not even bothered with the card. or at least if she got it, not have run the whole thing up and think it didn't have to be paid back at some point in time.

Has any one else been tightening their belts to keep the wolf at the door at bay? What are you doing to cope with this failing economy? I can only guess after the holidays, it will get worse, because I really don't think there's going to be a load of people out there spending money hand over fist like in years past.

Any thoughts?