I’m not a wealthy person and I’ve never been able to live beyond my means like some do.
I’m happy living a middle class life, but I’d be lying if I said I never wondered what it would be like to never consider your purchases and how they would affect your bank and thus your ability to survive.
I’m worried about every gallon of gasoline in my car whenever I drive one mile after the next whenever I’m trying to get to my destination. It’s a relevant fear right now since gas hit an all time high in my area when it jumped to $4.75 a gallon for a few months in the spring and early summer this year. My town has it down to $3.50 again, but who knows if it will drop further or climb again. There is a lot of economic uncertainty right now at all levels of the sociodemographic spectrum. Even if you’re not so poor you’re about to lose your home, you can still feel the burn from the costs of winter heating. I’m worried this year because I missed bill payments last February just trying to stay warm while using my furnace every single day. Using that much heat around the clock at home is extremely expensive, but what are you supposed to do? I have a family to care for and I can’t bear to see my wife and children shivering in their winter clothing. I hope that I can afford the costs this winter to heat our home. Otherwise, I might have to take out a loan to invest in a better furnace or perhaps a new heating system altogether. If it wasn’t so cold in this area each year I would get a heat pump, but there’s also the option of radiant heated flooring if I really wanted to.