Hi Cheri, I married a saver and it has rubbed off on me so we have a bit of a nest egg and no debt. My husband is constantly saying "How can they afford to drive around in those big gas guzzling SUVs and trucks?" And I always reply "They have different priorities than you. And they are in debt up to their eyeballs." Good article. Will be watching for the rest. Martha

Mary, Myke and Bill Thank you for posting. Myke, Bill, you are not alone in being caught short in the years that should be leading to what they call 'golden'. Just pick up any financial magazine, the AARP newsletter, or for that matter, Reader's Digest. Concern is growing among our generation that we should have been listening to our parents all these years. It isn't just an abrupt loss of income, such as you faced, Bill, though that adds a dimension that's tough to overcome. The buying power of our dollars is eroding faster than those few dollars we have been able to save are growing for the most part. But that's a discussion for another post. What I wanted to do here was to announce that the website I've been working on with Linda Caroll's help is up and running with new content, and was specifically designed to address these very concerns. Not just what happened, but what we can do about it. Because let's face it, the past is the past. We now need to look to the future to get back on track, and that probably means looking to something other than traditional employment for most of us. I hope everyone will go and visit to see what we are building there. And also to see Linda's beautiful work. If you don't know her, please give yourself the best gift of your online-business life and join her forum. She's the Real Deal, and listening to her will help you make the profit you want and need in your online business. But I digress. This thread started out talking about the need to save, which is about as profound as saying "The sky is blue." I mean, come on, duh! We all know we need to save. But you guys have already proven my point...how do we do it if we're stretched to the max and then some? Would it be helpful if you had a Saving Tip of the Week to work on? I've got a grundle of them, learned from raising four kids on one income. Maybe you guys could contribute others. If you like this idea, go on over to my website and subscribe to my newsletter. I'll implement it there. Cheri

Martha, You're right! Good for you guys...did you know you're in the top 1%? There are 90 million Americans who can't pay off their credit cards each month, and 33 million of them can only manage the minimum payments. What a disaster! I hope to be part of the solution, now that I'm no longer part of the problem. Cheri

Cheri, Most people don't use credit cards to their advantage. They also don't have control over their spending. We use our credit cards to pay for most everything but can pay them off every month. My personal card gets me points for a gift card to a craft store. Since I am a crafter this works great. I use the gift cards from the points I collected to buy my supplies. Our family card also get points that can be used other places. We have been able to get a number of items using the gift cards from it. Things we would have had to buy otherwise. Of course this only works to your advantage if you are disciplined and pay off the card every month. Martha

Thanks, Cheri. I'm looking forward to the other three. Fellow readers of this thread: You probably have read information on lottery winners. Check with them 3 years later to see where they are. There are some programs (e.g.,commodity options, network marketing teams)that attempt to educate their people to manage money. This, of course, is because there are too many people who cannot handle, for example, $x0,000/year. (Insert any digit for x.) It's the old story of the paycheck is gone before the month is. There are too many cases of people who may triple their income, but the story repeats itself. Many people act as if they do not know the difference between needs and wants. Credit cards have provided for instant gratification. I am guilty, are you? Yes, I know, I sound as if I grew up in a different era (and that's true!). Lawton