We are also witnessing the money we do have go a shorter and shorter distance. I wonder how many people are going through this but are too ashamed to say so. It seems to me that people often take their financial condition as a personal failure or success, but I think right now it isn't personal so much as the times. If no one admits they are hurting how can we know this?

Just a small example: We eat almost no meat now (which is good) because in just the past few months it has become unaffordable. Last summer I bought bratwurst regularly. It was $2.99 for a package of five. Now the same package is $5.99. That's nearly double in a year. Figure the same with about half the foods in the market and you've got an alarming trend.

We also eat a lot more starch now. It's what we can afford.