Dec 08
26
Merry Christmas!
Seeing as it is the day after Christmas and most of us are still in holiday mode, I just wanted to do a slightly less serious post to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Yes, despite the impending collapse of our economic system, Christmas still came this year and we all have many things to be thankful for.
First off, all of my family can be thankful for the random drugstore goodies they got from me this Christmas. The byproduct of my hobby of pillaging CVS and Walgreens for free stuff produced a large stockpile of items this year, and President-elect Obama inspired me to spread the wealth around. So everyone in the family should have clean teeth (toothbrush and 2 tubes of toothpaste), be free of seasonal allergy symptoms (1 box of Wal-itin), and have a good ol’ Robo-trippin’ Christmas (2 bottles of Robitussin for everyone!).
On a more serious note, I do feel like I have a lot to be thankful for this year. Yes, my 401k is in the crapper (who’s isn’t?), but overall things are good. I now have a great job with a good company after being laid off from my last job this summer. I’m making more money, have less stress, and better benefits than I did in my old job. And as much as I still harbor ill feelings towards my last employer for laying me off, I am thankful they did it when they did before things degraded rapidly this fall. The company I went to work for came out and issued a hiring freeze about a month after I started, which tells me that my involuntary vacation would have likely been much longer if I got laid off at the beginning of the fall rather than the beginning of the summer.
I am thankful that the good financial habits my wife and I have allowed us to endure my period of joblessness without great hardship. She was able to keep working, which kept some money coming in, but it was the lack of debt (other than a reasonable mortgage) that kept this from being a disaster. We were able to keep the lights on (except when Ike came to town), no one went hungry, and the babies stayed clothed and diapered. We didn’t run up the credit cards to make ends meet. Other than being a little more careful with our spending, we got through this without any major changes to our lifestyle.
We made it through a major hurricane without any significant damage to our home or possessions. The hurricane actually saved me several thousand dollars in losses to my retirement accounts when it created a delay in the rollover of my old 401k, although hurricane cleanup and repairs have eaten away most of that.
My kids are both healthy and growing. Both are learning and exploring with their newfound walking and running skills. They both seem happy and love their momma and daddy.
So although we may get depressed thinking about the losses we’ve seen in our portfolios and retirement savings, the layoffs and rumors or layoffs that seem more numerous with every passing day, and the fear of what may be coming with the next presidential administration, there is still plenty to be thankful for this year.
Best wishes to you and your family this holiday season and in the year to come!
BillyOceansEleven