Gasoline Down?

Well gasoline prices have fallen a lot in the last few weeks. At its peak I was paying $4.19 for a gallon of regular, as of today the price has fallen to $1.95 and is still going down. I've always said don't put any faith in the oil companies when it comes to gasoline because they can control the price of gas at will. They can cut and raise production any time they want to. They can build reserves and delete reserves. I fully expect for the price of gas to go well over $5.00 here in America within the next few months, so now more than ever you should look into getting some kind of gas saver car if you haven't done so already.

Greedy Doctors

I'm not a big fan of Doctors, sure they are great when you need them and everyone needs them at one time or another, but what I'm talking about here is the ones that take advantage of a persons ignorance.
Lets take cardiologists for instance. I started going to one a few years back for blood pressure, after the second visit I was told I was fine and given a clean bill of health by the Doctor I was also given a prescription for pills and another appointment for a few months later. Upon returning, the Doctor wanted to run a series of tests on me, those tests included running dye through my veins,a cardiogram,a cat scan, and a few other tests. I said you just gave me a clean bill of health, why do you want to run all these tests? oh just to make sure you are alright. I refused the tests and got a different prescription for more pills which by the way made me feel 5 times worse. I was willing to take the pills but not the tests which can by very expensive even with insurance and besides I had a clean bill of health right?
So I kept returning and getting more pills and needless to say the doctor was not very friendly with me. I talked to a friend of mine who also went to the same doctor and he told me that they changed his prescription every time he went even though his blood pressure was fine and after each change they ran the same series of tests over and over, and this guy didn't have any insurance at all. I told him, you're being scammed, all that doctor wants is to line his pockets with your money. Soon after I weened myself off of the pills and quit going.
As you get older your body ages and changes and its not going to be like it was when you were a younger person. You don't know all the goings on, but some doctors will look until they find something they can treat you for just to keep you coming back whether you really need it or not. Nope, I don't trust doctors, I'll go for an anti-biotic or if I feel somethings badly wrong with me I'll let them treat me, but as soon as I know that I'm OK, I won't let them fleece my insurance and my wallet anymore.

Loans and More Loans

The thing that has hurt our economy more than anything else is loans. Anybody even people with bad debt can go out and get a credit card which are given out almost like candy these days. People who are not qualified to get regular loans can pick up a sub prime loan with lower payments and longer pay-off times but with higher interest rates. What happens when those same people reach a point where they can't meet those loans (largely due to flexible rates)? They can turn to specialized companies who consolidate loans and will bundle all their bills into one lower monthly payment with even higher interest rates and much longer pay-off times. Time goes on and the flexible rates go up and those same people are starting to feel squeezed yet once again so what do they do? If they own a house or property that they have been making payments on then they have built up some equity and can refinance the property with a mortgage loan or equity mortgage. If and after they reach this point and default on those loans, then they lose everything. They lose their homes, their cars, anything that they have borrowed against, and who gets stuck holding the bag? Thats right, the people who loaned money to the people with bad debt.
So many people have done this that the housing market has gone downhill like a roller coaster and flooded the whole country with foreclosed homes so much so that in some areas its at a ratio of 1/45. Nobody can sell their homes, nobody can get a loan to buy a home so the economy becomes stagnant.

What We Take For Granted

With the price of everything going up, most of us are having to cut back on the things we like to have to the things we have to have. Where you used to go to the mall and buy that latest pair of designer pants, instead you go to the department stores and try to find something that looks just as good and hopefully you'll find it on sale. Are you one of those people who enjoy eating out several times a week? You will find yourself saving money by cooking at home, or if you eat at home all the time you'll find yourself eating something made from ground beef instead of that nice rib eye steak. If you are one of those people who have a swimming pool, you'll find that draining it and not using it will save you a pile of money from running the pump 24 hrs a day. Even pets are suffering as more and more people are putting them out or up for adoption as they would rather spend the money on food for themselves than having that extra mouth to feed.

The High Price Of Gasoline

The high price of gasoline is hurting everyone. At four dollars and more a gallon, people are starting to feel the pinch even from just going to the store. But what most folks don't even realize is that gasoline actually runs this economy. How do you think the goods get to the store? They are transported there by truck and trucks use lots and lots of gasoline. Granted most of the big trucks use diesel but that costs even more than gasoline, its all fuel and it all comes from petroleum distillates. The raw materials supplier has to use gasoline to obtain his materials, and then ship the materials to the manufacturer which costs more gasoline. The manufacturer has to run his machinery to make and package the product then ship that to the distribution center which in turn ships it to the various stores. When the price of gasoline goes up, each one of these businesses has to pay more to ship their products resulting in a higher price tag on nearly everything.
This is also the reason the price of food is going up. The Farmer must pay more for gas to run his tractors and fuel the trucks he uses to transport his produce to market. So the next time you go shopping for groceries and that long list has a higher price tag down at the bottom of it, don't blame the grocer, its not his fault.