There’s a couple of fairly up-scale apartment complexes right near my office; you know the type – one is “modern” and looks like hundreds of various colored cubes stuck together, and the other has stores on the ground level and three floors of apartments above them.
I drive past one of these two every morning on my way in, depending on which way I go. And for the last couple of weeks, without fail, there has been a repossession truck hauling off someone’s car at 6am as I pass the place.
I’ve been driving past these two apartment complexes nearly every day since they were built, and this is the first time I’ve noticed this sort of activity.
I have to guess it’s economic factors making this so prevalent. The same economy that is apparently “perfectly fine” or “on fire” depending on who you talk to. I’m not an economist and tend to get worn out just balancing my own checkbook, so all I can go on is my own observations – and those observations make me think things are pretty screwed up right now.
For example, I like to occasionally stop at the Carl’s Junior on the way into the office and get one of their breakfast burritos and a large drink. Three years ago this ran me about six bucks – this morning it was a few pennies short of ten bucks – and the burrito itself is about three quarters the size it used to be… I thought I was imagining this, but they recently reduced the size of the paper bag they put the food in as well and it became obvious.
And this is pretty much the way it is with everything… My grocery bill has remained steady at about $100 a week for the last few years, but I’m also living on a lot of cheap TV dinners, canned soup, and Raman. Keeping the tank full on the car costs about $40 a week on average and I don’t really go anywhere but the the office. And all of my monthly bills have gone up 10-20 percent for ‘reasons’.
If I wasn’t making 6-figures and splitting my housing costs with a roommate I’m not sure I could make ends meet in this economy. Though I’m certain a good portion of that is living in Denver… I need to get out of this town.
Listening to "Fade" by FM-84