Talkin Bout eCOnoMICS

I have been a bit apathetic with regard to posting, lately. A variety of things are responsible for my feeling that way, and none are particularly good reasons.

One big thing happening in my life, as in yours, I bet, is that money is getting tighter for me. This has had a variety of small impacts on my life, but not anything that has felt too much like a big squeeze to me, yet, thankfully.

With regard to my hobbies, I have gotten off fairly easy so far. I have continued to pick up my comics pretty much weekly. I have continued my 1 at a time Netflix Subscription with instant watch. I previously paid for a year of Marvel Comics online, and we have no plans to cancel our cable any time soon.

On average I spend less than 20 bucks a week on comics from the shop. That can seem like relatively little, or that can seem like a ton of money. I get a relatively small number of comics on any given week, and I try to drop titles as soon as they aren't justifying their expense to me, but I do pick up impulse buys, and sometimes I use really slow weeks as an excuse to pick up a trade, instead of using it to lower my expenses.

Most of my financial situation is a result of my over-dependence upon credit cards, and I am still inclined to want to get everything I want as soon as I want it and let the magic cards take care of everything. The problem with this, my wife assures me, is that the cards aren't actually magical. All of the expenses are revisited upon us with interest and finance charges apparently.

We have been able to live with this so far, and not feel too much of a pinch, and pay all of our bills on time, and live fairly well while doing so. We aren't rich, we have lived beyond our means, but as i said, we pay our bills on time.

Recently I found out that my company is cutting staff salaries by 10 percent for at least a quarter. I am a nearly twenty year employee, and that is a pretty decent hit. What it isn't, is a loss of my job, and for that I am grateful. I think we can handle this without my youngest having to quit tae kwon do, or my oldest having to skip girl scout camp this summer, but I am not sure things that will pretty instantly seem frivolous to me will be able to make the cut that will inevitably have to come to handle such a reduction in income.

I am not sure what I will be able to pick up. I am sure that I will greatly reduce my pulls, and probably have to cut out impulse buys. I imagine I will cancel netflix, and be very careful with my purchases. What I won't have to do, for certain is give up comics.

I have a book case filled with trades, and a dozen or so comic boxes (yes, only a dozen or so) that contain my accumulated comics collection that I started building since elementary school. I have a good public library system, and computers that can tap into a bounty of online comics (the legal kind). I won't stop thinking about them, and I certainly won't stop talking about them.

I am reluctant to mention things like this, as I realize how fortunate my family is right now that we are facing such a relatively minor setback. My heart and prayers go out to anyone facing similar issues or worse. There are tough economic times for everyone, and even when we can see an end to some of the tough times, it will still take a while for people to climb out of the deep hole that's been dug. The good news is that we can still have our passions and our interests, and we can still discuss and enjoy them on at least some level.