LD, I completely agree with you. We lived within our means. We paid off our credit cards (run up during college and shortly after) well over 10 years ago. The only debt we have is our mortgage and one car, originally bought used. We bought our house before the real estate boom and paid half of what our neighbor across the street did 6 months later. It has nothing to do with living within our means. My husband was laid off and the only job he could get paid $20,000 a year less. MY secondary income has almost dried up. We used to be able to count on $500 a month from my hair styling customers. People have eliminated costly highlights and perms. I'm now bringing half of what I used to. We always lived within our means, but our means have been taken away from us.