Am I A Serf?

Marcie has inspired me to write my feelings on society today...I agree 100% with what she said in her blog. This has been a running conversation in our house for many, many months; I have not had the motivation to write a blog that was deep because we all know I like to write light and fluffy. I want to make you laugh. I am afraid this blog will not make you laugh, so make sure you read my grasshopper joke in the about me section on this blog.

The expression "Money Makes The World Go Around" is so true and those of us who do not have enough to spare feel that the world stops and hopes that it will start spinning again. Wesley has a superb job, works on average 50 to 55 hours a week. We do not have a car bill or any credit card debt, yet we are still struggling to raise and provide for the girls without giving them anything that would be considered extravagant. This is upsetting because I would like to know that all the hard work my husband puts in away from his family (he only sees Audrey on average 25 hours a week and that is a high estimate) to provide for his family we would be able to give the girls cultural experiences or take them to the movies without having to worry about how much I am going to have to cut off the food budget. It seems all the money leaves the house as quickly as it hits our bank account. I feel like my husband is working to make the gas companies richer and the people who already have their pockets lined with money overflow.

I agree with Marcie, there is a DEEP pressure to fit in and have everything that money can buy in order to have any type of "GOOD" status in society, but I feel that it runs deeper than things that we want and feel that we are pressured to have by society. I feel that society is making us pay through the nose to have things that we HAVE to have in order to live, to raise our children in a healthy and happy home. UTILITIES....we pay so much money for electric and gas. My husband is a light Nazi (love you Wes), we don't have a lot of gadgets that run on electricity...we are not a electronic family, yet our bill is absurd. It is bitterly cold here right now and I can not believe how much we have to pay to stay warm. We live in a house that does not have that great of insulation, we have done everything we can to make it more energy efficient but the outside still seems to suck out all of our heat. FOOD prices are high, milk, eggs and cheese have all gone up in price and that makes everything else rise in price in the grocery store. I am very happy that I am able to cook for my family I know that saves us a ton of money but I would actually like to walk into the store and not have to watch every penny that is going into the cart. GAS...I do not know what everyone else is paying for gas...we are paying $3.39 a gallon, we have a fuel efficient Dodge Neon that is costing a OBCENE amount of money to fill up!!! Even the phone, cable (we live in an area where rabbit ears do not work, so if you do not have cable or a dish you do not get any t.v.) and my beloved internet companies are charging as much as they can for these services because they can. It is no longer about taking care of the consumer or giving you a service that is worth the money that you pay for; it is all about making the greenbacks while breaking our backs.

Marcie also talked about the extreme credit card debt that people are in and I could not agree more she hit the nail right on the head. We pay for everything we buy outright, I mean everything. There are many people that we know that think we are obsurd for saving and then buying. I will admit I get ansy sometimes and don't want to wait but Wes puts me back on the straight and narrow and we are better for it. We are teaching the same concept to the girls, I think it is a good reality for them and then when we do buy something or they save up to buy a toy (book...Audrey) they appreciate it a whole lot more.
I love shopping (I mostly window shop) Yankee Candle Company and Ann Taylor Loft, Target you get the idea; What is the first thing out of the sales clerk's mouth? "Do you want to open up a credit account?" This is very annoying, why do you need to ruin my shopping experience. Is it not good enough that I am shopping at your store and giving you our hard earned money. No you want me to go into debt with you so I have to pay you a huge amount of interest. I now say "NO!!!" before they can even get a word in edge wise. I hope my daughters learn that from Mommy.

I guess we are Serfs, we don't work the Lords land but we sure do pay for it!!!!