Thrifty approach serves family well
They're not the type to put Christmas on credit cards
The Post and Courier
From left, Jason and Amy Carter, along with their children, 8-year-old Brandon and 15-year-old Taylor, are coping with the economic meltdown by keeping a tight rein on spending.
So far the Carters are OK. Like a lot of Lowcountry families, they're holding on, carefully, amid the economic meltdown.
Amy, who works for a medical billing company, and Jason, who runs Got Bugs, his own pest control company, haven't had to cut back on too many things. They live in Indigo Fields, a North Charleston subdivision of custom-built homes on the Ashley River. They have two children, Taylor, 15, and Brandon, 8.
"We're really not feeling the effects," Amy Carter said. "Right now."
The Carters have a secret. They have always been conservative with spending. When it comes to shopping, they always have spent what they budget. No more.
"That's us," Amy Carter said with a cheerful laugh. "It's not really any different anxiety now."
And they've had a wry bit of luck. Jason's business has actually picked up some. He thinks people are shopping around more with household expenses like termite control, and that's a boon for small companies like his.
The couple does worry. They know what's out there. Amy Carter hears from billing patients about the hardships they are facing; more patients are going on payment plans. More of Jason's customers are too. So, the couple leaves a few more of the usual purchases on the store shelf.
"I watch it a little closer," Jason said.
"I do tell my kids, you've got to cut back. You've got to think when you go to Wal-Mart," Amy said. But "we've never been the kind of people who would go into credit card debt for Christmas. So that's really what people should have been doing all along."
Reach Bo Petersen at 745-5852 or bpetersen@postandcourier.com.
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Comments
yird (anonymous) says...
Chimney or Mohawk?
Nice to see some folks still have functional brains.
Their freedom from worry stems from the fact that they are conservative.
It's a shame so many others just can't figure that out.
January 4, 2009 at 4:30 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
joncmac (anonymous) says...
Good for them. Sounds like shopping and living smartly. There are really just so may ways for people to save on shopping. Many national retailers partner with shopping/research sites to give you cash back for shopping at retailers (like 5% Walmart, 7% Borders, 5% Gap and many others). It is a great, and easy, way to save through a rebate. I found this site to be a good resource to learn more about them.
http://www.needhelppayingbills.com/ht...
January 4, 2009 at 6:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
majorjohnson (anonymous) says...
I live very conservatively as well and I'll also float through this tough spot, unless the government totally decimates the economy with it's multi-trillion dollar bailouts of the people who weren't spending wisely. The real shame is that people who were careful about how they spent are the ones who government (the worst wasters of money in history) will take money from to pay for the bailout for those who spent like idiots.
Where are jimislander and republicanssuck to denigrate this couple for not being dependent on government largess?
January 4, 2009 at 8:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gencon1 (anonymous) says...
The federal government cannot afford to bankroll another health care program. Federal government revenues in 2006 totaled $2.4 trillion. The present value of long-term liabilities for the Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security programs currently stands at $39 trillion, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The liability has increased 147 percent in the past six years alone. Clearly, the federal government cannot afford to increase its health care liabilities even more.
State governments are in no better position to fund a single-payer program for their residents. Last year, Medicaid eclipsed education as the largest expenditure for state governments. States spent $336 billion, accounting for 22 percent of their budgets.
Even if the federal government or states could afford to cover everyone"s health care needs, such a government-run program would fail. Proponents of government-run health care often point to Canada and Britain as models that work. But the two countries offer better examples of how government-run programs fail to improve access to care. At any given time, 800,000 Canadians and more than one million Britons are waiting for health care. In 2005, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that "delays in the public health care system are widespread, and that, in some serious cases, patients die as a result of waiting lists for public health care.
The average Canadian family pays 47 percent of its income in taxes, and most of that goes to pay for the single-payer system.
Single-payer programs chase away health care providers. Canada ranks 24th of 28 countries in the number of doctors per thousand people, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In the U.S. a growing number of doctors are dropping their current Medicaid patients or refusing to accept new Medicaid patients into their practices, because the program reimburses them less than it costs to care for those patients and payments are often delayed by weeks or even months. If you want more taxes, less doctors and worse care, vote for universal health insurance.
January 4, 2009 at 8:58 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
devster (anonymous) says...
I applaud these people and wish all of us could be so thrifty and smart with our money. We need to see the big picture.
January 4, 2009 at 9:07 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
IronWoman (anonymous) says...
I too applaud their thriftiness and frugal spending, but some of us who's jobs have been cut, and/or completely done away with, are in a different circumstance. There is NO money coming in, ... cutting back just won't 'cut it'. I hope things continue for them as they are, and their jobs remain secure. Frugal spending is much easier than having no job, and not being able to pay the mortgage.
January 4, 2009 at 9:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
majorjohnson (anonymous) says...
Frugal spending allows you to save and create a buffer for the hard times ironwoman. Most people in a bad situation financially right now made the conscious decision for years to spend money on unneeded toys and pretties rather than save for a rainy day. I have friends who are hurting right now, and they have multiple cell phones, televisions, have bought a new vehicle and thus new debt every few years, have credit cards they bought their nice toys and furniture with, bought more house than they need, and haven't enough savings to pay for monthly necessities, much less keep up with the mountain of debt they built up over the years. I was foolish when I was younger and after a job loss went through a bankruptcy, and I've taken great pains never to put myself in that situation again. Maybe that's what it will take for a lot of Americans to learn to live within their means and save for a rainy day.
January 4, 2009 at 10:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oldglory (anonymous) says...
majorj - whenever you opine, I know we must be of a similar age. It's obvious our parents' and grandparents' financial philosphy was well-taught and well-learned. I'm not sure I'll float through this economy, but I'll certainly manage to hang in there unless . . . my 'necessities' have never included eating out every day, pedicures, manicures, cellphones (with forever contracts and rules - all based on company profits), hairdressers, no credit card debt, etc.
Your second post blew me away!
I think you and I judge against the type of parentage we had. I made plenty of immature, bad decisions in my life and paid the price (when I didn't heed what I was taught). I listen to many who have lost all or almost all, and my thought is that they were never taught by their parents, never. To my way of thinking that's truly sad. majorj - your message, particularly in your second post, is that we suck it up and make it through. In truth, that is the only answer for all of us in today's economy. And if we fail we're at the bottom, and the next move is a step up.
January 4, 2009 at 10:43 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
firemike (anonymous) says...
Living below your means is what this country was built on. Being on a budget is not being cheap, its just being responsible to yourself and your family.
January 4, 2009 at 11:58 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
shoelaces (anonymous) says...
I don't want to sound arrogant or like a braggart but we really haven't felt the crunch. We have lost money in our investments but we haven't changed our way of living.
I have changed to some store brands and maybe thought twice about purchasing a "want" but I wouldn't say our family has made any drastic changes.
**As a teacher of history, I think it is a real shame people don't have that same spirit I read about during WWI and WWII....sacrifice for the greater good. If my country asked me to cut back in order to support our troops and their families THEN I would probably feel the crunch more.
God Bless the USA and our troops!!
January 4, 2009 at 7:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Chas_Girlygirl (anonymous) says...
I certainly understand this thrifty idea.
For many years,
I didn't use credit cards except in emergencies,
I didn't have a cell phone,
or cable TV,
I didn't shop for recreation,
and I lived within my means.
Thank goodness I finally found a husband
with some money to save me from that sort of dreadful existence.
January 4, 2009 at 10:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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