Living Broke in a Cashless Economy

I never had money. I've never been wealthy. I didn't have much growing up, and I still don't.

Lately, however, I'm finding it harder and harder to get along. The world seems more expensive and the old ways of barter are harder to follow in a digital economy.

Cash is almost non-existent. I need coins for busfare, but I can get a bus pass and eliminate that, too. Getting rides from folks isn't that hard, but is a hassle and I have to listen to their judgments on my life because I asked for a ride.

Getting things done, well, sometimes it's a pain, other times it isn't so bad. Stuff costs money. Medicine, laundry (unless I hand-wash), and toilet paper. All costs money. I can get food for free. Anyone can - just call up the local food bank. But pet food is rarely included. That costs money.

Shelter isn't hard to find. I just have to keep my nose clean, pay my bills (money) and be a decent neighbor (noise and dirt).

It just seems harder and harder to do all this. My income hasn't gone up for over 2 years. Meanwhile, groceries have increased in costs by over 17%.

I got a notice that my anti-virus software was going to charge me for renewal and I didn't decide what to do about it before it did. So, for two months, I'm overdrawn at the bank, paying for it.

Other stuff I can just cancel or stop. But the anti-virus - I actually forgot about it, and because I didn't cancel it, my bank account got dinged.

There is free anti-virus software available. Avast is a good one. 

I'm finally in a decent living situation where there isn't a lot of hassle, no drugs, no bugs, and a responsive maintenance team.  After 3 years of living in nasty slum-like conditions, I'm actually blessed there. I don't get molested on the way to my apartment, and the neighborhood is pretty safe.

Utilities are included in my rent. So that isn't too bad.

Still, without my income going up, and the costs of everything else skyrocketing, it's tough.

No wonder people hate living on social security!

To any young folks who read this - those still working - SAVE FOR RETIREMENT!

Really! Don't touch it when life gets tough. I did. I went through all my retirement savings because "the system" required that I had no resources before it would help me. That meant no food stamps or health care assistance unless I went through my retirement accounts.

These days, they don't require that - but the funds have to be in a retirement account or 401K account that is controlled by someone else. If it's in a savings account, they count that as assets and require you to spend it down.

Home ownership can hurt you, too. That's something they don't tell you. It's an asset. You can take a loan out against it - even if the interest on the loan is much higher than you pay for the mortgage. That doesn't matter.

It's all geared so that those with money can keep it and those without never get any.

You see, I'm living below the poverty line - like half of the poverty line. I could double my income and still be barely above poverty.

Truth!

I guess I just wanted to gripe. I've been trying so hard to cut costs and stay on top of things, that I feel exhausted by it.

And I'm angry because no matter what I do, I seem to fall farther behind.

And I'm pissed that I'm overdrawn again. It's been an entire year, just trying to get - and stay - in the black.

Economy - Recession or Depression? It's 1975 Again.

I've been thinking about the economy lately.

There are few jobs out there, and what there are, pay a lot less than what we used to make. However, prices aren't falling. We still have expensive gas, food and utilities. Housing costs may go down a little bit - but do you really think landlords will lower the rent? Not unless you move to a cheaper, smaller, less desirable place to live, anyway!

So, this is beginning to sound a lot more like a depression than a recession. A recession is when the economy is contracting. Our economy is beyond that. It's trying to rebound, but there are too many downward forces, and that defines a depression. That and high unemployment.

The figures you hear about are skewed - too many folks are out of the job market - no jobs, no benefits, no tracking....

People in the generations after me are likely not prepared for this. Even folks in my generation (boomers) aren't really ready for it! Our parents are children of the Great Depression, so they know how to do things, cut corners, and make a little stretch a ways...

Folks in my kid's generation and younger (just now welcoming twenty-somethings or grandkids), are not prepared for this. Some of them even had everything handed to them, in compensation for what we didn't have as kids....

Let's face it, we do that - we want our kids to never know the privations we endured - whatever they may be. There are generations that were never allowed to fail - all kids had to succeed - even if all they did was show up! Those folks don't know how to handle disappointment, failure, or privations. Those folks are the least capable of surviving what's still to come.

We are all told to prepare for retirement, because government spending is so out of control that social security (which we've paid into our whole lives) is not going to be there for us. Well, I'd like my money back, please.... I never said you could use those earmarked funds for something else, did I?

It's a mess, that's for sure. We will be living with the grand ideas of the 80's, 90's and 00's for a long time. I truly believe we will be going back to the days of the oil embargo - at least financially. I remember that, and the recession that followed it. I was just out of college and couldn't find a job. There weren't any. And that's happening again! So, yeah - it's 1975 again.