Thread: Sears in Riverside, CA

Same thing happened to me in Pompano Beach, FL. Don't buy from Sears anymore, besides, Craftsman tools are the worst.

This is kind of off topic, but I heard on the business news that the stock market is loosing and one reason is that people aren't buying/spending and that included everything from big mac's to expensive jewelery. I'm happy to hear that because I am boycotting so many products and businesses; not spending very much unless it's for food, needed for my business or gas for my truck. I'm saving money and the crooks are crying.

I guess my point is keep your money/spend it carefully. Wall Street hates it.

I've added Sears to my boycott list. Thank you.

Here's why I'm not spending anymore, not nearly like I used to back in the day: (about 10 years ago).

1. My daughter's college education expenses. She is a smart girl, and decided to attend a private school out of state. She is white and we are a middle class family, so she receives very little educational asisstance, unlike many of her minority friends who all manage to receive free rides. She is going into debt and so are we, taking out enormous loans and using up all our retirement savings. She works during the summers and works at school, but could never afford to work her way through like I did.

2. OUr renting costs are outrageous and we also cannot sell our home now due to the housing market mess. We rent it out and lose $1,000 on it every month. It is a run down, 20 year-old smaller-sized 4 bedroom colonial. Nothing fancy. We have very little hope that we will ever sell it and make any sort of equity on it. We are in a crisis with it, actually. It's like an albatross around our necks. We are military and moved into this horribly high market two years ago, bought a house, only to see the market just come to a halt leaving us this house we can't sell.

3. I am being taxed to death. I earned some $10K last year starting my profession in October, yet took home only $8K. Of course, the $8K got sucked up by bills and having to get my daughter's first tuition payment done. If I'd had the $2K back to spend, it woulda got spent, believe me. But, really, $2K in taxes for four months of work???????

So, there is NO money for us EVER left over at the end of the month. Whatever I spend is just for basics, which I can't even seem to afford at this point. I walk around in old clothes, NEVER buy any home appliances or decor, NEVER can afford a vacation or any extras at all. Our "treats" in life are to eat out and go to movies. That's about all we can afford. We make a bit over the 6-figure mark per year.

This is why SEARS is a shopping treat for me, but now I have to share my SEARS with all the illegals in town.

I mean, I truly believe we are the typical middle class American family w/ one and a half incomes, and we make decent money, but It's ALL spent already on housing, education, taxes, and of course, outrageous bills at every turn. My heating bill this past month was $236!!!! We do live in an expensive East Coast town, many areas of which are eclared "sanctuary" cities for illegals.

We receive absolutely NO aid or assistance of any kind, never would, unless I was down and out sick and hopeless. We have worked for everything we've got. When I go to my son's school and pay for HIS lunches, I pay $65 per month. The FREE LUNCH program kids pay $12 per month.

Our youngest son is autistic, also, and so we pay out of pocket a lot for medical issues for him.

I feel, as a family, we are bearing the brunt of every social ill in society w/ the taxes we pay. Once our daughter gets out of school, it will improve, but then we'll all have her loans to pay off. We do have free health insurance w/ the military, and for that I am grateful, but I've never known a doctor on a personal basis, for anything.

I'd say it's the housing market that is doing the worst to us. We chose our daughter's educational situation and of course, we choose where to live. But with three kids, I'd kind of like a home with at least 4 bedrooms and a yard, so townhomes just don't cut it for us.

All that fancy stuff in the malls, the jewelry, the furniture, the new clothes, ...I just pass up anytime I go. I look longingly, but just walk on by and convince myself I can "make do" with what I've already got, or that maybe "someday" I can afford that stuff.

So, that's why I don't spend anymore ... there's nothing to spend WITH.

Hope our great retailers take notice, and realize exactly what Americans are up against nowadays, if we are attempting to raise a family and live a decent life and provide for them as best we can. We are all working two jobs, and still can't make enough to cover anything BUT the basics. We need our sleep, too, so taking in a third job just isn't realistic.

Sorry for the long rant, but this is a burden that bears down on me daily. I get so SICK of hearing about the economy, these elections, how we're in a recession. Somebody is getting SO rich, but it's not us. I am really going to need a new washer and dryer soon, but absolutely cannot afford to buy one. My husband and I own this sick house and NEVER want to live in it, but we can't sell it.

I drive by HUGE oversized homes everyday, enormous disgustingly huge mansions in our area as well ... I wonder how many children these people have, or if they're just buying these homes for entertainment purposes. Huge homes are also being built down our street, but no one is buying them. They're just sitting empty.

I dream of that retirement dream home, but just not sure how we'll ever have it. It will take us ten years beyond our daughter getting out of college for us to afford it, and by that time, we'll have grandchildren or will be retiring ourselves.

And I know we have it much better than many other Americans ..but I'm here to tell you, it's not all that good for us either. If we are the backbone of society, then the backbone is close to breaking, or is bearing its full weight and can't move.

So, Mr/Mrs/ President .. how about making housing and education affordable for Americans? How about reducing our taxes a bit? Those three would go a long way toward enabling your middle class to support those retailers!!

Oh, and I forgot ...FOOD costs. I had to pay $5 for a bag of GRAPES the other day -- $5 GRAPES!!!!!!!!! I've got 2 growing boys left at home who suck food down like vacuum cleaners ...$5 cereals boxes that go in a day .. .$3-4 for gallon of milk that lasts 2 days. ...I could go on, but I won't . . . .

Again, so sorry for the rant ...maybe I ought to send this to some of these economists who are complaining.

I believe that the reason why the economy isn't doing as well for the middle class as the establishment claims is becuase although the jobless rate is down, the jobs that people have don't pay a decent wage. As the prices for energy and food continue to climb, wages are staggeing and the good paying jobs are being shipped overseas. The one thing you'll rarely hear the MSM say is that the wages are staggering. All they talk about is how the jobless rate is low. Those low paying jobs and staggering wages is why America IS in a recession.

jjmm wrote

I've got 2 growing boys left at home who suck food down like vacuum cleaners ...

Ha! So do I. Senior and Junior in high school. These guys are into weight-lifting and there's no stopping them. It's a constant battle to keep food in the house. Can't blame though, I remember how my appitite was when I was growing up.

Picture this we work and dream about retiring. Everyone has a different dream, whether it is playing golf, buying a motorhome traveling, doing hobbies or just being able to go to the mall without mass people.

My husband and I had that dream. The day my husband started working he started saving for retiring. We were able to take early retirement at 52. It didn't pay to keep working, cost of taxes and gas we ended up making more money retiring.

Our dream was to move to the coast of Oregon and build our dream house. But instead we are stuck in CA taking care of my 93 yr. old mother-inlaw. Oregon doesn't want Californians, nobody does. We have a new motorhome that sets in the yard because of the gas prices. I don't shop in the malls because I can't stand all the foreign languages and anchor babies running rampant.

I guess we all have our woes, it's more than money, it's more about not having a country that we feel comfortable and welcome in.

We have a new motorhome that sets in the yard because of the gas prices

At least you have yours, ours got repossessed because we just couldn't afford the payments on it any longer. Then we still owed them 16k to pay the damn thing off. We're finally clear. I shop at Salvation Army for a treat. What I say is true, but you know what? I have everything I need with my husband and four dogs living on 1200 a month. The house and cars are payed for.
I am shocked that Sears has gone that direction. I have always thought of them as true blue Americana. This is sad news.

Same thing in San Bernardino,Ca.

It is sad to see our economy tank.

What happened to all of the cheap groceries we are supposed to have because of allowing illegals to work in the USA?? I don't see our global economy doing middleclass America any good.

I don't need a bunch of cheap plastic junk, clothes, and nic nacs from China.

I used to be able to buy my basics for $20.00 a week. I can't go into Kroger without spending $45.00 on milk, bread, eggs, no name cereal, cheese, and a few meat and produce items.

I used to be able to live on $1000, and now it costs $2000 to stay caught up. I just don't have money to live on and continue to pay health insurance, etc.

Who can even think about retirement. I will work till I am dead.

When I read your stories, it really brings home to me how the American middle-class way of life is dying.

While it's true that motorhomes and vacations are NOT necessitites in life, it's also true that a couple who works hard all their life, and socks money away for their retirement, SHOULD be able to look forward to things like going RVing or playing golf, or whatever they want to do.

But I'm afraid that basic American dream...to retire comfortably and be financially secure, is going to be more of a pipe dream than anything else...just a fantasy of a time lost to all but the elite among us.

I'll tell you what is really anoying. All around the 32nd Street Naval Base in San Diego, most of the billboards are in Spanish.

R/ Skip