Econ-O-My

At the risk of sounding like a downer, today's report from the U.S. Deptartment of Commerce, reflects what we've been living for quite some time now--we aren't spending US dollars like we used to.

Historically, when the economy is shakey the average blue collar American does not respond with bold spending. Long gone is the dot-com bubble of the 90s where 20 and 30-somethings in the tech industry were generating six figure salaries right out of college, and credit card spending flowed like champagne.

According the U.S. Dept. of Labor report, unemployment is rising steadily and economic experts can't get a handle on which way the economy is going from one day to the next.

From the looks of things, it is not likely that Americans will go into thousands of dollars in credit card debt this holiday season, but that remains to be seen.

Just what will Black Friday yield this year? Will spending reflect the outcome of the presidential elections? Credit card bureaus, economy experts and political pundits are standing by.

One sure fire way to not get entangled in that web of intrigue is to not charge it. If you're not working, or living hand-to-mouth, don't spend what you don't have.

But if this post is raining on your parade, here is some pre-election/Halloween humor to pick up your spirits.