Fed Up American  

As yet another bank goes belly up and wall street crumbles in the aftermath, as the cost of gasoline skyrockets, as prices overall rise and wages remain stagnant, the GOP candidate for President delusional claims that the American economy is fundamentally strong.

This is a fine example of a candidate being out of touch with reality due to ignorance, dementia or both. One need only take a brief pulse of the people that are hardest hit by this floundering economy – the middle class – to see the harsh reality of a dire situation. The economic woes of America remind me of another Republican mess, the occupation of Iraq, in regards that there is no end in sight.

With the rapid pace of the rising cost of living, coupled with wages that have remained flat, how long will it be before the backs of the American worker are broke? One can look at facts and figures, statistics and graphs and the voices of the pundits and so called economic experts then point the finger of blame in every possible direction but that will do little to help a bad situation. In fact, it could make it worse. Even though we must realize where things started going awry and remember the mistakes made, we must focus on solutions. What can Joe Average American do to help turn things around?

Of course one thing you can do is exercise your power as a citizen and vote. Find a candidate that closely meets your ideals and go from there. Get involved in your community and become an activist. There’s an old adage that claims the squeaky wheel gets the grease, so make some noise and see what you can accomplish and change.

But at the same time, you need to get your financial house in order. To do this you need to objectively look at where you are, right now, financially. Think of it as if you are being asked for directions to your home. The first thing you would need to know is your guests starting point or where they are now. What are your cost of living expenses? What are your unsecured, credit card debts? Are you saving any money for the future or those rainy days?

Once you have all this information in front of you, and it may be painful to look at, you now have a starting point. Next, think of your destination. Set goals of where you want your finances to be in a week, month, year and beyond.

Set up a budget for yourself and your family and stick to it. What areas of spending can you cut back on? Can you pay off some of your higher interest credit cards?

Perhaps you need to increase your income. When people are in this position, they think of finding a part time job, which is not a bad idea, but maybe you should instead think of developing a part time business instead.

What is it that you love to do? What are you passionate about? What will you need to do to make some extra money sharing that passion with others?

We are living in turbulent economic times and if you are to make it through, you have to start thinking outside the box.