Is It Just Me...

Is it just me, or is traffic a little lighter in the morning these days? It's nothing drastic, but noticeably less congested.

It used to take me at least an hour to get to work, most days, an hour and fifteen. Lately, I have noticed that what is usually bumper to bumper stop and go traffic is moving more smoothly between exits. There are still slow downs, but it has been a much easier ride in general.

My thought is that this is a direct effect of Wall Street. I live in Fairfield County, where many Wall Street financiers and employees live. Given the state of the stock market, and many people losing jobs...my guess is a lot of my neighbors are still at home in the mornings when I am off to work.

It's sad and it's strange that our country is experiencing this right now. It's sad that many hard-working people just trying to get by are being laid off because of the mistakes of the wealthy and the government. It's strange that we are experiencing this first hand, and everyone knows someone who has been laid off, or has nothing left in their 401K, or are moving or finding some way to cut back on spending that for so many years, we've been taking for granted. A trip to Florida in April with the kids seemed like a natural way to spend vacation to the average family around here. I'm betting families stay home this year, or do a long weekend on the Cape or down the Jersey shore.

It'll be a different way of living for a while, that's for sure. Sean and I are ok, our jobs are as secure as they can be, and we do well enough to not need to make any dire changes in our lifestyle. We don't live that's lavishly anyways.

What are some things you are cutting back on or stopping all together to make things easier? Here's my list:

-Trips home only for Thanksgiving and Christmas. (at least $60 just in gas for a roundtrip)
-Picking names out of a hat for Christmas presents instead of everyone buying something for everyone. Splurge on the kiddos (they deserve it)!
-I haven't been to a movie in about 2 months. It helps that there hasn't been anything really worthwhile to see, plus Netflix and primetime tv keep us on our toes and entertained).
-Not going out on nights and weekends. Finding things to entertain myself at home.
-Bring lunch to work. I used to easily blow $50 going out to grab a sandwich (usually with chips and a soda), stopping for coffee on the way back, grabbing a few groceries and a snack for the afternoon.
-Probably not doing the Disney trip we'd hoped for in the spring. We'll see how things are after the new year. I'm hoping we can do some hiking once the weather gets warm again.

Times like these bring out the best and the worst in people. May your worst days be no worse than the best!