Is it just me? Or does it seem like it is next to impossible to get out of bed in the morning and not spend $100? I swear, as soon as my foot hits the floor, it’s $100 GONE…just like that! Whatever happened to the almighty dollar? Did it just go bye-bye without anyone saying anything because honestly…NOTHING costs a buck anymore. If you can find me anything that is not bought off McDonald’s value menu or at a $1 thrift store, I’ll buy you a Big Mac…and they’re $3.98 nowadays. And that’s a CHEAP sandwich!
I swear, gas costs $50 in one vehicle and $32 in the other, groceries are a little over $120 (and my kids are only 8 & 6), life/health/car/property/bite me insurance premiums are outrageous, kids clothes, adult clothes, dog food, cat food, electric, water, you name it it is ALL seem to cost over $100 (when bought at Target…). And don’t even get me started on phone bills!!! WTF???
Oh I’ve heard the word…consolidation. Everyone needs to be organizing and cutting their budgets! We need to slow down and stop spending so frivolously. Well….YEAH. But how can we do that when everything is so damn expensive? We NEED food and gas and clothes and water and trash pickup. It’s not like you can go without those things. And even the smaller things that aren’t needed but are still important (violin lessons, football gear, school supplies) all seem to be on the high expense spectrum. I dunno where this country is going today but I doubt I’ll be able to afford it.
I had a friend tell me the other day that he pays $19,000 a year for his daughter to go to a small college. And that doesn’t include books or board. My wife and I have started a fund for our kids but at the rate that it’s going, there’s not a chance in hell that it’s gonna be able to cover more than one year for one of our kids, let alone get both of them through with a decent education. Guess I just need to hang on to my ass and hope I can get through.
Oh $100 bill…you used to be so magestic, with your green print and Ben Franklin eyeing me with his “Spend me” attitude. But now all I can think about is how little I get out of you these days. $100 USED to be so important…and now it’s a drop in the bucket. Sad…it had so much potential…
A Round World Through Square Glasses 
I have a very different take on college education. I don’t think it’s something that parents should pay for for their kids. Help out? Sure we can do what we can, but face it, parents can’t afford it these days. Like you show, they’re just getting by. Student loans suck, but if you have a great financial assist through your school, you can learn the ways to avoid adding on interest as you can and kids can use those loans to get through school with books budgeted and pay their own way back later.
Why do I say that? I have a daughter. I’d do anything for her. However, I’m also an adult responsible for my own education. I use loans. I pay nothing while I go to school. I live on my own. I had to wait a little while to do it, but it’s worth it. I appreciate that education all the more because I waited. It’s a necessity. I cannot afford to put my kid through college. I never could. Add in parents who have multiple children, how do you manage to pay for two kids? Three? Four? My brother has four. You don’t, not on a working man’s paycheck.
How does a kid learn the value of an education fresh out of highschool? They rarely do. What about if they’re making their own way through it after mommy and daddy no longer pay their way on everything? It can be the difference in the value of that education and one of the better ways to teach responsibility. My parents didn’t buy me my first car either. They didn’t toss tons of toys my way, electronics, gadgets, trips to wherever I wanted to go. They didn’t garb me in the finest in-style clothing. They couldn’t, and I learned far more value because they couldn’t and I’m far more able to take care of myself as an adult because of that.
Anyway, yes, I know the cost of everything is going up ridiculously. I moved from an area recently where I made higher wages than where I moved now to go to school, however gas and everything else is more expensive here. It makes little sense to me.