Five years ago Mr. Money and I lived in Colorado. We were both working for a RadioShack store and Mr. Money was also teaching snowboarding. While we worked at RadioShack, we met this very nice woman who bred miniature horses. She was so sweet and kind, and the pictures of her horses she brought in were beautiful. She knew that I had grown up riding and training horses, and one day she asked me if I’d be interested in working with the horses. I couldn’t say yes any faster than I did. So I quit my job (with health insurance) and we moved out of our condo into a house on her property. We agreed that she would pay us $10 an hour each for our work. I would be responsible for cleaning barns, breeding horses, doing paperwork, and any other things she wanted me to do. Mr. Money would be the handyman. Fine and dandy, right? We thought that because we weren’t paying any rent (she said that the house was worth $500,000 and would rent for $4,000 a […]

Seriously? 17.5% unemployment? Yes, if the government would measure unemployment as they did 80 years ago.  The government’s calculation of 7.2% unemployment does not take into consideration millions of Americans who could not find a job or could not get full time employment.  So, if you’re that person with the master’s degree that’s working part time at your local grocery store, you’re not included in the calculation.  Technically you have a job. The government also tracks the “U-6” rate, which includes discouraged and underemployed workers.  Right now it’s 13.5%.  Currently we’re at a 15 year high for unemployment.  The number of Americans filing for unemployment is at its highest level in a quarter of a century. During the Great Depression, unemployment hit 25%.  But that wasn’t until 4 years after the stock market crash.  1 in 4 Americans was out of a job.  We think 7.2% (or 17.5%) is bad?  Hopefully we won’t see 25%.  That would be devastating.   My advice?  If you’ve got a job, thank your lucky stars.  Keep saving all you can, and be as thrifty […]