How is it for you?

[smallisland]

Just wondering how you're feeling about your own personal situation just now?

I am in the UK and despite all the doom and gloom I read about on end-times websites my own life is actually pretty much unchanged since I started watching here in 2006. In my own town the developers are building again, I don't personally know any of my immediate circle who are not in work, and property prices and interest rates are slowly starting to climb once more.

Sometimes when I come on here it feels like I'm entering into gameworld as many of the things I read about are so alien to my own experience.

I do believe we are in the end times which is why I continue to watch, but as I say, as far as day to day life goes, all continues much the same as ever.

[ToledoDebbie]

From Toledo, Ohio - USA here to respond to your question.

In my area of the world, things are not just bad, they are horrible!! We were plummeted into one of the worst financial recessions you can imagine in 2008. While many other areas in the USA have started to feel the recovery the media talks about, there is very little improvement here. We occassionaly get good news about a new company adding workers, but, in the same breath there are 3 or 4 other businesses that are laying off, closing their doors completely or cutting pay and benefits again for the employees that are left working.

Unemployement is still over 9% (was as high as 15% at one time) and I personnally know 12 people who have been out of work for over 6 months with no prospects or hope in sight. A few of these friends and family members have lost their homes, while others are hanging on by a thread!

I have had my pay and benefits cut, every year for the past 4 years. In addition to pay cuts, our workload has been doubled. We used to have a 401K (which was abolished last year) and great Health Coverage. I now have a $2,000 yearly deductible that I have to meet before my insurance pays anything. Then when my out-of-pocket costs reach $5,000 the insurance goes to 100% for the rest of that year. January 1st each year, it starts all over again. This catastrophic care plan is through my employer for the bargain price of $400 per month, withheld from my paycheck!!

The new corporate attitude I am seeing is "if you don't like what we tell you to do, or complain about pay-cuts or reduced benefits or whatever, that is fine - get out. There are plenty of unemployed people that would love your job!"

The government keeps saying inflation isn't that bad, but, the things I have to buy every week, food, gasoline, clothing, etc. get more expensive every time I shop. I have been keeping track and while some things have increased by 10-20%, other items have doubled in price in the past 6 months. I have eliminated everything in my life that I can and still survive. I shop as carefully as possible and never buy anything I don't absolutely need. I used to go out to dinner with friends a few times a month, and that is simply not possible anymore. Even being as careful as I can, my money never lasts to the next payday and I often have days when I have nothing at all left!

If you could have seen how different things were in my life, just 4 years ago, you would be shocked!

Debbie

[GodsStudent]

South Carolina, USA:
1) My parents, both over age 65, are working full time plus jobs now. Thanks to a serious stock market crash in 2008 that left their retirement accounts in shambles, they cannot afford to retire.
2) My father and brother had to find new careers in 2008 when the crash occurred, as they worked in the development and construction industry. My brother works for various people as he still hasn't been able to find a new job. Did I mention his college education is in a totally different field, and there isn't any work there, either?
3) I, personally, know many people who are unemployed or underemployed and need help from friends and family just to put food on their tables for themselves and their children. While I struggle to help some of these people, inflated food prices in the grocery stores causes my money to go less than it did, even a few years ago, and I cannot help as many as I used to. The food banks are begging for food all the time and they say public contributions are down. I often wonder if public contributions are down, or if the same money isn't going as far for the food stuffs we purchase.
4) I work in real estate. The industry is in shambles from many different perspectives. First, the numbers are way off as to purchases. Second, the numbers are off with respect to purchase prices. Most Americans, who didn't have lots of extras to pour into the stock market and other investment vehicles, invested heavily in their houses. Those houses are down in value sometimes 30-50 percent. In all cases, the value of their homes is down, and few walk away from the closing tables at sales with a happy look on their face. Frankly, the majority of our work comes from the foreclosure side of the business, and not the sale and refi side.


The above is only a few representative comments with respect to economic changes that are directly impacting me or those near to me. I haven't even gotten started on what it's like to move around in the public these days. Immorality, selfishness and a whole host of other implications have breed themselves into our society, and if it's not downright dangerous sometimes to enter into the public, it is at least discouraging. I see, hear and witness more than I ever thought I would.

I could make a list that would be pages long of what changes I've seen since at least 2007. Rome is burning on so many different levels, right before my eyes. I cannot imagine anyone here in America saying something like "My life is pretty much unchanged." My life, my world....it has all changed right before my eyes....and I'm still trying to grasp the many changes and determine the most appropriate responses to the various issues that I encounter very regularly as a result.

[smallisland]

Thank you so much for your replies.

I'm beginning to realise how much we have to be grateful for that we take for granted in the UK.

[mrgravyard49]

Well Here in Sarasota fl you really REALLY see a division between RICH and not rich.. Sad Lots of Homeless also.
After living in Kissimmee (20 west of Orlando ) for 20 years, in 05 we moved here.. Big Mistake. Trying but cant get back to Kissimmee.. I work around the rich, they are all in a fog they only care about themselves..
Unemployment here in florida is around 10 %... The Press and Obama say things are getting better, they say inflation is only 4% I disagree, Id say 6% or Higher... sad..

[sherrimae]

My husband and I are worse off than we have ever been in our 25 years of marriage. I'm a pharmacist who was laid off twice in 2009 and I haven't been able to find a job in the three years since then. The first time I was laid off from a hospital having financial problems because I was the last person hired. Five weeks later I found another job but two months later the pharmacy went out of business. The few employers who have been interested in talking to me lost interest immediately when they found out I have been home with my children for a few years. Our state (Alabama) has an oversupply of pharmacists due to a major pharmacy chain going out of business several years ago. I'm 50 years old and most employers are not interested in hiring older workers. It's looking very doubtful that I will ever work again in my field.

My husband, also 50 years old, lost his contract job last September. His job was cancelled because Obama decided to get rid of contract workers (who usually vote Republican) and replace them with government workers who are much more likely to vote for Democrats. My husband has applied for over 70 jobs. The only job he was able to find was about three days of temporary work delivering phone books. His resume has been reviewed by professionals who are helping the unemployed look for work and they say the problem is not his resume or his work experience. The problem is no one is hiring. My family is surviving on my husband's meager military retirement pay, help from family members, and our savings (which we obviously cannot continue to do). Our retirement savings took a huge hit during the 2008 crisis.

We have a child with multiple disabilities who has just been tenatively diagnosed with a progressive muscle disease that will eventually be fatal. Her already large medical bills have increased greatly. Our health insurance (provided to military retirees by the government) is becoming almost worthless. We are losing formerly covered services and the government pays the doctors so little that it is almost impossible to find a doctor who will accept this insurance. The government wants to charge us $4,000 more a year for this insurance starting next year, with future increases of 345% every 2 or 3 years after that in the future. It is looking like the new health care law will ration our disabled child out of care rather quickly if we cannot vote Obama out of office. (I have personally read much of the law). If that happens we will have to spend our retirement savings to pay doctors and medical facilities who will agree to treat her for cash payments. My husband and I will eventually run out of savings and then I am not sure what we will do.

My family is among the many families in the US who are only able to afford gasoline and groceries and we have been in that situation for quite a while. But the liberal media here in the US pretends that people like us don't exist and that the economy is getting better, which it isn't. I have no hope that things will ever return to "normal" in my lifetime.

[mrgravyard49]

Well,, my wife works for the Sarasota school system here as a teachers aide. they work in a school for handicap children.
All the teachers and aides today got told that beginning in the new school year Starting in September they get a 5 % pay cut and lose 10 days off the year.. Nice.. They havent had a raise in 4 years. and now this..
I work part time and its for a property company working around rich people. They at times tell me, 'yes the economy is getting better" After the news my wife got today, the next time one of them tell me "ITs getting better" I may end up in jail.. Ugh....

[ThomasDGW]

I advise sherrimae to immediately attempt to sell their house if they own it and move to a country with a low cost of living. I have lived in Bolivia for the last 14 years. I am now 55. I don't have a clue what the military retirement pay is worth, but an income of $500 is quite adequate to support a family on, especially if you can get a house paid for here. You don't really need a car here. Medical treatment is B grade, good but not excellent, and is about 1/20 the cost. When I last had to have a root canal, it costs about $50, and it has given me no trouble. There is a big demand for English tutoring. Get a piece of land and try to grow your own food and save the retirement income for things requiring money like a major operation that could cost up to $2000 here. I know people think it is akin to colonizing Mars, but I assure you that you can actually breathe the air here, there is no danger of falling off the earth, and Bolivians are actual human beings. A lot of them even speak English.

[ToledoDebbie]

Dear ThomasDGW:

That is an interesting suggestion - move to another country. I am curious, are you an American? I did my share of complaining in this thread, but, when push comes to shove, I am not ready to give up on my country yet. It may be too late, but, I still pray for America and her people, everyday.

I am feeling the stress of what is happening, just like many others that have posted. But, this is where God put me and where I feel he wants me to be. So, I will stay and continue to do the best that I can. My lord is still on the throne, and in control and I trust him to do what is necessary. I do petition for my situation to improve, but always with, "thy will be done" as the final word.

Debbie

[Exit40]

Ya know, I used to complain about the weather, but I never did anything about it. So I stopped.

The thing is, the world is always going to be the world. The way it changes is always the same, nothing new under the sun.
We have to all separately arrive at the same conclusion, we are pilgrims here. This is not our land, we are just passing through it. To let the woes of the world bear weight on us is to relinquish our true heritage and walk in the same darkness as others who don't know Christ, who is our Light in this dark place. Once we get past the fear the world lays on us we can realize the basis of it is caring concern for others as well as ourselves. This is what the devil wants to steal from us, our Love for others, as Our Christ Loves us. Think about it. What is it the world can offer us we would want so desperately we would give this up ? No matter, the world offers only darkness. Nobody gets out alive, we all die, don't be fooled. The good news is, we only have to die once.

How am I doing ? Getting by financially, the affects of a life of hard work are wearing on my body. Sometimes I'm down, sometimes I am up. Truth is, I don't know how to grow old gracefully yet, but I suspect it will come to me. I have a fierce Spirit within, the Lord has given me. The hard part of this life has been controlling it, and learning I have no enemies here, although this has been hard. I have discovered my worst enemy has been me, for walking the broad path, even though I have sought the narrow, the path less traveled it seems. I want to give up the things of this world, but I have learned to spot the takers, and avoid them. Plus I pray to be hidden from them.

This seems like a ramble but actually it is a reflection. I feel I am coming to another crossroad. Got to watch for these and especially the side traffic lest I get T-boned.

May the bountiful Grace of Our Lord Bless us all

David

[Abiding in His Word]

Thank you for those wise words, David.

[GodsStudent]

Thank you for those wise words, David.

I agree, Abiding.

[Exit40]

I'm older for sure if my words are counted as wise. Thank you for your kind words, Sisters.

God Bless You

David