Sorry the past few posts have been all about this blog! But today I installed a new feature called Snap Preview Anywhere. You’ll notice that if you mouseover external links, you’ll get a little snapshot of the link. Fun stuff. :-)

By the way, is anyone else annoyed at how much Blogger seems to be down these days? I feel like half the time I try to visit Blogger blogs, or write in my own blogger blogs, there are weird errors and I can’t get to it. Somewhat frustrating! (Get WordPress)

A few tidbits from elsewhere:

Joanna posted a response to Time’s article about the “saving” trend currently in the United States – or rather, lack of saving, seeing as how it’s -1%. I agree whole-heartedly with her post, and about living beneath your means. I was reading an article on CNN the other day of a guy who drove a nice car, lived in a nice condo, but in reality was deep in debt. He wondered at what point should he tell potential girlfriends that he might not be as well off as he appeared. The response gave some good advice and then ended with:

On another front: How about devoting some of that handsome salary to funding your IRA and repaying your parents? The good life you say you can afford shouldn’t be coming at their expense.

Now I’m certainly no Scrooge, and I definitely struggled with American materialism, but even I can see the dangerous area this trend is headed. I wrote about living simply a while back at Onward & Upward, and Beth has been participating in “A Year of Abundance“. We both hope to not fall into the habit of devoting -1% of our income to our savings account, but rather learn to save for the future. So much easier said than done, though!

This report basically sums up a greater mentality of the American people, and that is the “me” mentality – or just plain selfishness. It’s showing up in another area, too: for the first time in the U.S., marriage is in the minority. Singleness is even regarded as the better way to live life, according to one article I read. The main reasoning behind the article is: you can do what you want to do without being accountable to anyone.

Susan wrote more about this on her blog, as well as Nichole.

These things trouble me and depress me, but I know that I can’t change all of society. I am only responsible for my own actions and choices. It gives me something to think about, and something to strive toward. Oh, and about the saving article: I’m not trying to make those who live paycheck-to-paycheck with just basic necessities feel like they should be devoting more to their savings account. I am more referring to those who have good jobs, and yet spend all their money on cruises and new cars and fancy houses.