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I Used To Be Rich
Welcome to iusedtoberich.com
There’s no denying it. This has been one tough year. In fact, tough is not a tough enough word. Brutal is more like it. You might have lost hundreds, thousands or even millions of dollars. Your retirement fund might now be just a fond memory and your nest egg broken and scrambled. Point is, almost no one escaped the pain. And almost no one has what they used to have. But, there is some comfort to be found here. Comfort in the fact that you’re not alone – far from it.
And that’s what iusedtoberich.com is all about. It’s a place where we can all come together, not to celebrate exactly, but to shake off the shock, take a deep breath, maybe even smile a bit. We’re not talking about a kumbaya moment here, but knowing everyone on the site is in the same boat as you is kind of calming.
We invite you to come onto our blog where you can read about people much like you, or tell your story, or just plain vent and get it off your chest.
While you’re here, treat yourself, or someone you know to one of our terrific tee shirts, mugs, golf balls or bobbleheads, all featuring our own recession-rattled, market-melted, wide-eyed little cartoon guy. An everyman who’s feeling the pinch, who some say has strange and wonderful powers to make you forget your $$$ problems, at least for the moment. Stare at him for a bit. You’ll see it’ll be hard for you not to smile.
At any rate, one way or the other things are going to get better. And that you can take to the bank – if it’s still there.
So hang in there, and while you’re hanging, power to the people who had it all (or at least some of it)!
I find myself smiling everytime I see that little man, and hope that his ability to survive in trying times will improve his hairline.
Thank you for understanding. It has been and continues to be a very tough time for those of us who have lost a lot. I thought we were set in our retirement and now there is much to worry about. As prepared, thoughtful and careful as we were, it’s hard to tighten the belt when you are eating so much from all the anxiety. Your little guy reminds me to laugh. I love my travel mug because now I have to make my own coffee every AM.
Amazing… everywhere I wear my iusedtoberich tee shirt, I get smiles, waves and high fives. I don’t know who thought of this, but he is a genius or very lucky – probably the latter.
Power to the (newly impoverished) people!
(posted on behalf of pamget)
Last night I was watching Craig Ferguson. Kevin Bacon was his guest. When Kevin appeared, I said to my husband, “You know, he lost all his money with Madoff,” to which my husband expressed doubt. So, Ferguson’s interviewing Bacon and they are sharing humor and witty repartee. Eventually Ferguson says to Bacon, “I heard you lost all your money with Bernie Madoff. Is that true (dramatic inflection)????” And in one heartbeat moment, Bacon is completely dour and says “Yes.” What a show stopper!!
Congrats to iusedtoberich.com. – a creative, positive response to the recession.
I want to share my website, http://www.moneyworkandlove.com, as well as some excerpts from my book, MONEY AND THE PRUSUIT OF HAPPINESS In Good Times and Bad, which others might find helpful. The book is not yet published (because even publishers are afraid to commit money in hard times) but will be sooner or later. In the meantime I invite you all to add your names to my email list in order to receive occasional excerpts, like the ones below, from the book or other timely observations AND, eventually, notification of publication so you can read the whole thing. I do promise that your email address will be kept private and that I will not inundate you with messages.
EXCERPTS FROM THE INTRODUCTION to
MONEY AND THE PRUSUIT OF HAPPINESS
In Good Times and Bad
“If you could be granted three magic wishes, what would you wish for?” That is a question I often ask my clients and, not surprisingly, one of the wishes they choose most often is for money.
What does surprise me is that they almost never wish for happiness.
Whatever else people say they want, whether it is to find love, to be healthy, to have a bigger house, or to become wealthy, what they are really seeking is that which they believe will make them either less miserable or more happy.
Yet despite one of our most popular aphorisms “money can’t buy happiness,” ours is one of the most materialistic cultures in history. Many of us are trapped in the belief that what we need above all is money and the things money can buy. ……
ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF THE RESCESSION
… because we had begun to build our lives around the expectation that the wealth we thought we had achieved would be safe, had adjusted our lives to fit those expectations and come to depend on the supports that a life of affluence brings with it, we suddenly feel as if our financial legs have been knocked out from under us. We become worried, even panicky or depressed.
For most of us, although we will have to reduce our expectations and make adjustments in our lives we will not be deprived of the basic necessities that are a prerequisite for a happy, meaningful existence. But some of us will experience severe problems such as unemployment, homelessness or inability to afford both food and necessary medical care. And the rest of us may worry that if things get worse, we could be next.
Although a severe recession is a painful thing, it may have a silver lining. We had become a nation of extravagance. After the recession hit, there was a noticeable change in attitudes about what is important, what is healthy, and even what is moral behavior.
IF YOU LIKED THE ABOVE EXCERPTS AND WOULD LIKE TO BE ADDED TO MY EMAIL LIST, please contact me at richardtrachtman@aol.com and write “add me to your email list” in the subject box.
People might like to ponder over an arab quotation I found recently in a novel. It Is; “Riches consist not in the things one possesses, but in the things one can do without.” Speaking as one who has kept his head in the sand for a year or so, I now feel the need to take a look around!
I wonder how much of what we purchase goes to fill a void that we all feel from time to time. Perhaps that car or that house or that watch will fill the void. And it does, but only for a short while. Soon the void raises its ugly head and the need to fill it sends us to the store, once again. Perhaps the recession will force us to look elsewhere to fill the void, or at least begin to accept the fact that the void cannot be filled with “stuff.”
We’ve been misled. Some folks buy for necessity, some for luxury, some somewhere in between. Sure, jobs are gone, mortgages are melting, loans impossible, money frozen. The void isn’t only our wallets, the void is trust.
We’ve been lied to. Those we were told would be honest weren’t. Checks and balances we thought existed no longer do. We can’t fix the problem by hoarding cash, nor cashing what might be left of your IRA. We need to spend, we need to complete the cycle of productivity in order to sustain life. Money is the common trading mechanism for those things we need to live in a community/town/city. We have to spend to live. The farmer can’t live if his produce doesn’t sell. We can’t live if we don’t eat. The trucker can’t live if no one buys food…
Forget the negativity of the press – get out there and do something! I Used To Be Rich is like raising a middle finger to those how violated our trust, ripped us off, raped us,took away our innocence. Least we forget, we are the generation of change – take back what’s yours! For the person who had everything, knowing what’s enough means experiencing more than enough. Enough already!
Getting through hard times takes hard work. That work can be in the form of adjusting, understanding, accepting, fighting back, getting angry, and even laughing to mention just a few. All valid.
Barbara Ehrenreich wrote a column last month that resonated with me:
http://www.truthout.org/051209LA
also this one:
http://www.truthout.org/060809LA
Work and aging and self are intersecting in new ways….
The two columns by Barbara Ehreneich cited above are well worth reading. However, to one of her points, sure, it’s hard listening to someone whining about having to cut down on their personal trainers when there is so much real misery everywhere you care to look. But that does not mean that the still-rich, or the still-somewhat-rich aren’t hurting, as well. Almost all of us, rich and poor, have taken hits from this greed driven recession. Very few have escaped. And it hurts, no matter what tax bracket you’re in, to have the rug pulled out from underneath you. If nothing else this recession proves once again that we have far more in common with one another than not.
Comment by rebews — June 16, 2009 @ 4:20 am
Listen, me don’t want to come off as a sanctimonious ass, whining about how the financial power structure fucked us. They always fuck us. We’re starting to like it. Makes us steam. Gives us something to be pissed about. A self-righteous glow. No, I like “I used to be rich stuff” ’cause it’s stuff that’s cheap and stuff that’s funny and stuff I can buy and wear. Can’t afford Prada or Fendi or Gucci anymore. So I buy a different type of symbol. I used to be rich shit. Instead of its saying I have lots of money, like the Prada jacket you have to inhale deeply to inhabit, used to be rich stuff says i have a sense of humor about having less, i’m putting a positive spin on it, i’m not ashamed, i kind of like this better — although don’t tempt me by offering a free Escalade. I see another guy walking down the street wearing his i used to be rich hat just as i’m sporting mine, and it’s a gas — we tip hats, nod hello, flash a smile — and a deep connection has been made. we’re in this shit together and we’re the only two guys who instead of acting shrill and hysterical, cliched and a bore, waltz by knowing there’s at least one man out there besides oneself who’s going to get through this crisis with style, aplomb, unpanicked, laughing, and a fuck you attitude that says you can’t get me down. Love the slogan and love the “stuff” — it’s just right for a person who doesn’t want to mope through the rest of his days.
some stories aren’t like mine. i feel good about myself. everyday i think about what i went through and how i got out of it reminds me how to appreciate more than what i used to. a psychic told me that my problem was due to evil eye. i told my friend about the psychic and she referred http://torahforever.net/spiritual/evil-eye-info-facts-removal.html since then my life went back to normal. life sucks when things go bad. but to be alive equals the opportunity to change. i want my story to be known to help others just as i was helped.
Some people win Pulitzer’s. Others win the Nobel Peace Prize. Still others win Oscars and Emmys and Tonys. I, on the other hand, or should I say, iusedtoberich.com, just won Bobblehead Of The month. Check it out: http://www.thebobblehead.com/bobbleheadofthemonth|july2009
I bet Sean Penn never won Bobblehead Of The Month. I know for certain Bernie Madoff never won a Bobblehead, but odds are his fellow cell mates might turn him into one.
I want a bobble head.
Also, I can say I’m one of the lucky ones. I had little so I lost little.
Best to everyone.
I barbecued last night. Halibut. Not my favorite but it came out tasty (mainly because of the beers I had with it). But the halibut is not the point, here. It’s the BBQ grill. It’s a Weber Grill. More than 15 years old. A year or so ago I decided to get a new one. Not that the old one wasn’t working well, it was and still is. I wanted a new one just because I wanted a new one. Sure, I rationalized and told myself a new one with lots more bells and whistles would transform me into Bobby Flay. But, the recession grilled lots of discretionary money so I sighed and kept my wallet in my pocket. But then last night when I was cooking the halibut – remember the halibut? – I suddenly felt sentimental about my middle aged Weber Grill. It had some peeling paint, it didn’t fire up quite as fast as it used to, the control knobs were not as responsive as they once were. The old Weber Grill was an anthropomorphic me! Point is, it still it got the job done. If it weren’t ‘t so hot I would have given it a hug – at least a chest bump. I never would have hugged a fancy new one. See, living with less has it’s positives.
What lousy economic news today. Screw it, the 4th is almost here. I think a good way to spend the weekend is by not thinking. Close it all up, let the nerve endings heal – no CNBC, no Jim Cramer, no Erin Burnett (well, maybe a little Erin wont hurt) no Wall St. Journal, no Barron’s.
There’ll plenty of time to get all worked up again when Monday comes around, which it has a nasty habit of doing. But between now and then just have a good time, damn it. You deserve it.