A Tank or a Toilet.

$4.04 a gallon it is here.
Right down the street..

(Picture from our local on line paper.)

How much is gas in your area?
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Due to a comment my grandmother made to my mother the other day.... I did spent a little time with Google and found this......

• The middle-class and poor stopped buying things with installment credit for fear of loosing their jobs, and not being able to pay the interest. As a result industrial production fell by more than 9% between the market crashes in October and December 192948. As a result jobs were lost, and soon people starting defaulting on their interest payment. Radios and cars bought with installment credit had to be returned. All of the sudden warehouses were piling up with inventory. The thriving industries that had been connected with the automobile and radio industries started falling apart. Without a car people did not need fuel or tires; without a radio people had less need for electricity. On the international scene, the rich had practically stopped lending money to foreign countries. With such tremendous profits to be made in the stock market nobody wanted to make low interest loans. To protect the nation's businesses the U.S. imposed higher trade barriers (Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930). Foreigners stopped buying American products. More jobs were lost, more stores were closed, more banks went under, and more factories closed. Unemployment grew to five million in 1930, and up to thirteen million in 193249. The country spiraled quickly into catastrophe. The Great Depression had begun.

Read the entire article from this link...Here.

Also this..........

• 3. Reduction in Purchasing Across the BoardWith the stock market crash and the fears of further economic woes, individuals from all classes stopped purchasing items. This then led to a reduction in the number of items produced and thus a reduction in the workforce. As people lost their jobs, they were unable to keep up with paying for items they had bought through installment plans and their items were repossessed. More and more inventory began to accumulate. The unemployment rate rose above 25% which meant, of course, even less spending to help alleviate the economic situation.

With all the money we are pumping into our tanks, we have less money to spend on other items. We are cutting back and buying only the necessities. However because of the cost of gas, the necessities cost more every day. Thus less spending and more cutting, meaning more products stockpiling in warehouses, meaning people getting laid off, meaning less money to spend.

See the downward spiral....not exactly the same as the 20's and 30's but there is a strong similarity.



This is a house blog....and how is this related to the house?


Lets look at the necessities....

• Is it necessary to have crown moulding installed this summer ? We've been living with out crown in this house for 9 months. And actually this house may have never had crown. There is no evidence of crown anywhere. So it can wait........
  
• Is it necessary to buy the sink and toilet for the 1/2 bath. It would be nice, but is it necessary? Well no, there is just the two of us and we've never lived in a house with 2 toilets. Since there has be a "we"-that is.

I am sure most people in the middle of home improvements are looking at ways to save money and limit the spending on the house.

If 50% of the people who were planning on buying a new toilet decide not to, that means there are 50% more toilets stockpiling in warehouses. Meaning production is decreased, meaning people are being laid off. Jobs are being lost in retail and manufacturing.

I guess the real question is what costs more, a toilet or a tank of gas?