I have been thinking a lot about the state of things in the United States, specifically the state of financial things. I read an article in the St. Petersburg Times today about a single-dad who shot himself recently here in the county. He was on disability (5 bad discs in his back and 2 hip replacements), not able to read or write very well, and overwhelmed by the cost of trying to care for his two sons using only honest means. It seems he was despondent.

While I cannot fully put my feet in his shoes and understand how he was at the point where he felt he could not live, it does serve as a vivid illustration to me about how hard it is for a lot of people to make it form month to month. All the little rising costs are adding up and people are being overextended.

The number of people taking out online personal loans is rising. Those would be loans not specifically for a car or a home or even for education. These are loans people take out to pay for any number of things – from a vacation to paying off credit cards or medical bills. Nobody wants to be in debt, but times being what they are – we do what we have to do to make sure our finances can make it from billing cycle to billing cycle.