Consumers Aren't The Only Ones Feeling The Pinch

Last week I had some time to kill and went to the local mall. The last time I was there was at the holiday season. I was very surprised to see a lot of vacant store fronts, some of them national chains. I could have sworn the mall had more stores at Christmas time. I do know this particular mall has been slowly losing upscale retailers, the anchor stores are Macy's, JC Penney's, and Sears, but the shops in the mall are becoming more discount (and not even good discount).

NPR is running a week long series on Debt in America. Today's feature focused on retail stores. Stores such as Wilson Leather, Bombay and Co., CompUSA, Talbots, etc are all closing stores. You can click here to read the story, but I also suggest you click on the link for the pod cast and listen as well. Consumers are not the only ones feeling the credit crunch, even retail chains are having difficulties. Check it out.

Drowning In Debt

National Public Radio is running a 5 part series on Americans and Debt, called Drowning in Debt. Part two was this morning, the story of a woman, her husband, 11 credit cards, rising interest rates, and then the loss of job income. These folks were lucky, they got into credit counseling and were able to make some lifestyle changes.

I will post the link to tomorow's story tomorrow!

Less Than One Half of One Percent...

of ones yearly salary is what the average America saves nowadays. In the late 1970's, early 1980's, the average American saved 11% of it's yearly salary. Less than one of half of one percent-that is a very scary statistic.

National Public Radio is running a week long series on money,debt, and finances. Click here for the link to the first installment of the series. There is also a link on that page to the podcast.

Tomorrow, NPR will be interviewing and speaking with a woman is who struggling to get out of credit card debt. I am a fan of NPR and it's reporting, and I am curious to hear their series on Americans, debt, finance and the what not. Should be interesting!