Image by National Library NZ on The Commons via Flickr

Over the past 50 years, things changed.  Inflation is part of the problem, but there’s more to it than that.  Instead of single-income families being the norm, dual-income families became the norm.  At first, people believed that with two earning money, it would be easier to save for the future, but young married couples needed two cars, more clothes, ate out often, took expensive trips and generally spent more than they planned. 

After the first baby came along, household expenses increased.  And the more kids there were and the older they got the more it cost.  Day care started early so mom could continue working, which allowed the family to continue to live well as the cost of running the household swelled.  The growth of credit cards helped delay paying for some of the purchases until later.

The actual money needed to be considered a middle class family increased, yet those making less wanted to live a step or two above their means.  After all, this was the American dream and it was their right.  Unfortunately, no one put the breaks on out-of-control spending.  The government was throwing money at all kinds of things.  People were willing to extend credit for all kinds of purchases from electronic gear, to cars, to time-shares, to houses.  Nothing down.  Low monthly payments.  Get what you want now rather than waiting and saving.

Finally, reality set in.  America hit the wall.  The nation’s financial institutions suddenly were in trouble.  Businesses followed.  Layoffs started.  Housing tanked.  The car market required a government takeover (or at least that’s what they claim).  Few people or businesses can get credit.  And, while there is a recovery underway, it is a jobless recovery in a highly-competitive worldwide economy.

So those who aspired to be middle class may slide further down on the scale than they had been, even if they are fortunate to have kept their jobs.  Those without jobs are forced to be on the government dole.  Without retraining, many of them will not earn what they once did and remain in need of some kind of welfare support.

Many of those who are middle class live from paycheck to paycheck, in total fear of losing their jobs or of a catastrophe wiping out what little savings they may have.  So these folks are not spending except for necessities, much like their parents did 50 years earlier.  Back then, however, the economy was on the rise.  Today the outlook is not as encouraging.  So, maybe, pre-boomers have to step forward and remind folks about the responsible way to run a family budget; otherwise, there will no longer be a great American middle class. 

Image by via Flickr

Those of us born between 1930 and 1945 are part of a generation that learned how to control our family budgets over the years, and many of us were responsible for business budgets as well.  It never occurred to us to borrow money to run our household or a company knowing we could never pay it back.  Back then, credit cards were just getting started.  American Express was introduced in the ‘60s and those qualifying for the card had to pay the balance at the end of each monthly billing period.  It wasn’t until the ‘70s, when Visa and MasterCard came on the scene and allowed consumers to build a balance and pay finance charges for the unpaid amounts on their accounts.

Making it easy to spend money is never considered an excuse for spending more than a person can afford to pay back.  Yet, we have been educated – maybe propagandized is a more appropriate word – to believe this is the way government works.  That’s why the national debt is $13 trillion.  Image if your personal budget had to pay a third or more of every dollar taken in for interest on the things you bought in the past but had yet to pay for them.  Well, this is how our government handles the monies we entrust to them. 

The proposed budget freeze only slows down the out-of-control spending in selectively, because most of the budget is committed and not discretionary.  It does not address the problem of throwing good money after bad, because once the feds get their hands on our tax dollars they feel compelled to find something to spend it on, or worse yet create new programs requiring more funding.  Government is addicted to spending our money.

If the New Seniors don’t want to pass this debt on to our children and grandchildren, then we must be sure our voices of protest are heard.  We did this in opposition to the government takeover of health care.  Our generation showed concern early on and kept the momentum going throughout the year.  Now we should be looking for candidates in the upcoming elections who understand our needs and are willing to listen to us.   Why, then, can’t we insist on having our elected representatives be fiscally responsible?

Sitting back is not an option.  This country has been good to us.  We believe in what it stands for and want those generations following us to have the opportunities we had.   If that’s not reason enough to get involved, consider the possibility of tax increases, inflation or both.  Those retirement investments we worked so hard for are worth less than before, yet the gains may be taxed at a higher rate.  At the same time, increases in Social Security benefits are on hold and Medicare is slated to be slashed.  If these situations aren’t enough to get you moving, then nothing will.  Come on, join in the fight for what’s right.

In my home town of Philadelphia, there were lots of restaurants to choose from.  There were many ethnicities.  So if you wanted Italian food, for instance, you traveled to that part of the city.  Fine dining was not in our family budget, but there were plenty of coffee shops, diners and mom and pop operations that offered good old American fare as well as an abundance of moderately-priced seafood restaurants.

My favorite chain was the Horn & Hardart automat.  This was a kid’s delight.  The sandwiches and deserts were behind little windows that flipped open when you deposited the proper amount of change.

The empty space was quickly filled by someone on the other side of the display and ready for the next hungry customer.  The coffee was in a big ornate urn that resembled a fountain and the hot beverage flowed from several sides.  Hot dishes were less exciting because they were served in a typical cafeteria line.  If you didn’t like H&H there were many other cafeteria in town, but no other automates.

The service restaurants often had juke boxes.  While waiting for the food to arrive, kids liked to flip through the selections even if we didn’t have a nickel to play a tune.  All adults seemed to drink coffee, and it was delivered to the table with a tiny wide-mouth milk bottle of cream on the saucer.  We’d grab the bottle and down it, so our parents had to ask for more.  In those days, iced tea was served, but only in the warmest months of the year; and if someone wanted decaf, they’d get a cup of hot water and a packet of Sanka.  Sugar was in a shaker, a small bowl or sometimes cubes — usually unwrapped.

At the seafood places, where much of the food was breaded and fried, each table had a bowl of O.T.C. crackers (Trenton Oyster Crackers) and fresh horseradish in a little jar with a self-contained spoon.  The idea was to put the sauce on these crackers that looked like big marbles or jaw-breakers.  To prove your toughness, you’d eat these without taking a drink of water until your eyes would tear up or your nose ran.  It was great fun.

The restaurants, except for those serving fish and fried foods, had a homey kind of smell.  The meats cooking, gravies heating and the aroma of baked goods filled the air.  In the winter, the places heated up so the windows were steamed all the time.  If we were lucky enough to get a table next to them, we loved to try to write our names backwards so those outside could read them.  Times were simple then for this pre-boomer, and I’ll always remember eating out as an experience.  Unfortunately, today it’s just a necessity.