• I’m 24 years old
• I live at home with my (single) mom and my younger sister
• I’m currently employed full time and earn a decent amount of money
• I don’t have much debt. I’m leasing a car and have about $300 on one of my credit cards
• I have “Excellent” credit (as of last week).

When I got my first real job as a web designer in the Detroit area, I was just barely 21 years old. I fought to get that job and thanks to a few good people who believed in me, I got it. After about a year, I got laid-off as did some of my co-workers. Soon after, I started contracting at another company where I’m now a full-fledged employee for almost 2 years. Although my mom’s house (which is not in such a good area of metro Detroit) has plenty of room for the three of us, I always wanted to be on my own. I wanted to start my own life, in my own place, for better or for worse. I wanted to make that goal by the time I turned 25.

I will be 25 years old next month.

It was a mere coincidence that I started to look for my new place, but that’s when I also realized how bad the housing market is in Michigan. It definitely is going my favor, but many are suffering because of it. In the past three months, I’ve been looking intensively (online) for apartment-to-condo conversions in the Metro Detroit area because they just seem so cheap. I was also looking for other types of condos and even looked at a few houses. Now, why buy a condo and not a house?

Like most people, I know that buying a house is a better decision as far resale value, the freedom, the privacy, and many other things go. However, the reason I am not looking for a house is because by buying a condominium, not only is it cheaper, but it’s maintenance free. Well, for the most part. However, that is not my main reason. The real reason is because I could pay it off relatively quickly and give it to my mom. Hopefully, 10 years from now things will be better and we’ll be able to sell her house - whether we earn something on it or not. That way I have her taken care of. She never wanted to live in a house anyway so apartment/condo living would be perfect for her.

So, today I went and looked at my first two choices. They’re both townhouses in the Sterling Heights area; they’re under $50,000 and have two bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms. Where else could you get something like that for under $50K? I don’t know, but if you do, please do let me know

My realtor (who seems really cool and straight-forward) wasn’t very well organized today so I ended up getting inside of either of these places (they gave him the wrong combinations for the lock boxes). The only thing I managed to do is take a few pictures of the exterior and peek through the windows. One of the reasons these two townhouses are this cheap is partially because they’re bank re-pos.

All in all, my first day of “looking” didn’t go the way I wanted it to, but I’m very, very excited, especially now that I saw these two. The red, brick townhouse is the one I liked better and I hope that once I’m able to get it, that I like it. Here are some photos of the “red” house. I won’t be posting photos of the other one this time.

The front of the “red” townhouse

The back of the “red” townhouse. It has a small yard area that’s open to the common lawn. Not bad, I really don’t need more than that. Just enough to fit my BBQ grill

Another shot of the frontal exterior of the house. The living space is about 1100 square feet. It has two bedrooms, 1 and 1/2 bathrooms and my truck still looks bigger than it. Check out the nasty sky… Of all the beautiful sunny days we had over the past week or so, I got to take pictures on this dark, gloomy day…pffff!

How bad is alcohol for your health is something I can cover in a separate article because I know a little bit about that too, but for now, let’s concentrate on how much money we waste on it.

When I go out with friends on Friday or Saturday night I also manage to spend about $100 on average and I’m not really sure how. This doesn’t happen all the time and the happy hours aren’t always 7 hours long, but I’d say that in a given month, I easily spend around $400 on alcohol!

What about you - how much do you spend on alcohol every week / month?

On the other hand, if you’re interested in buying some of these foreclosed homes, check out my previous post about buying a house by a bus in Detroit.

Some of these people are interested in buying multiple houses and renting them out. One guy was talking about getting 10 houses for the price of 1 and renting them for $1000/mo. Now, I’m sure that the realtors involved in this craze told them that it’s possible to rent houses out for that much money. Come on..seriously, why would anyone want to do that? Why rent when you can buy?

The only thing that may go in their favor is if in 5-10 years things turn around dramatically in Detroit and they’re able to turn over these houses for insane amounts of profits. I’m all for that, but for someone who lives in Detroit, I don’t think that way.

What do you think, are these people investing in something that will pay off 5-10 years from now?

For those of us who are not as lucky as Dave, we’ll have to stick to other ways in order to survive the recession in Michigan.

As someone who lived in the war zone, I’m going to tell you that things are not so bad here. Let’s just hope that they do not get any worse. Although, in order to get through this recession, or if you want, depression, we do need to adjust and change the way we live.

There are five most basic needs to survive this - food, clean water, clothing, shelter and of course, the transportation.

Let’s discuss these five most basic needs to survive, in order:

1. Food - You want to eat organic? Well, now is not the time for it. You will not die from eating non-organic foods which are in most cases expensive or just overpriced. Go to a grocery store and buy some cheaper food products. Instead of going out to eat, cook from scratch - that will save you a lot of money!

1. Shelter - For most Americans, and therefore Michiganders, this is most likely the most expensive need. Since 90% of Michigan homes are just not selling even with they cost a fraction of the price, it is very hard to downsize and cut expenditures that way. So if selling is not an option, then what? It may be new and strange to you, but consider renting out a portion of your home to younger people (college students, etc.) or other Michiganders who lost their homes to foreclosures which ruined their credit scores.

2. Food - You want to eat organic? Well, now is not the time for it. You will not die from eating non-organic foods which are in most cases expensive or just overpriced. Go to a grocery store and buy some cheaper food products. Instead of going out to eat, cook from scratch - that will save you a lot of money!

3. Clean Water - This one should really be obvious. You do not need to drink bottled water all the time. Invest in a water filter or one of those Brita water pitchers. They’re inexpensive and could save you loads of money. They cost about $25-$30. How much money would that save you over a period of 6 months? A year? See, it adds up. Besides, how do you know that the bottled water really is as clean as they say? And seriously, here is one that most people don’t think of - take a shower instead of a bath and turn the water off while soaping yourself. It may not seem like it would help much, but it actually does help a lot.

4. Clothes - Before I tell you to go to a thrift store or a garage sale, here’s something else. Take care of your clothes. This way they will last way longer and look new for a long time. Be careful how you wash and dry them and try not to spill stuff over them. Try swapping with friends, and lastly but definitely not leastly, go buy slightly used clothes from a thrift store or a garage sale. Your favorite name brands are there! Oh yeah, and no one will know if you don’t want them too. Big money saver here!

5. Transportation - what to do about transportation in Michigan? This is a difficult one. Metro Detroit is a huge area and most people dread the public transportation. If you drive to work in a general direction as a few other people in your neighborhood, then simply carpool - you will save gas, mileage and wear and tear of your vehicles. If you have to go to a store that is a couple of miles away, then walk or ride your bike. You will save on gas AND you’ll be healthier! Two birds with one stone!

Do not get discouraged! There are certainly more ways to save money than the five that I’ve listed. Remember, where there’s a will - there’s a way!

Michigan has been in its own mini-recession for years as its collapsing industrial base, particularly in the car industry, has cast more and more out of work. Now, one in eight residents of the state is on food stamps, double the level in 2000. “We have seen a dramatic increase in recent years, but we have also seen it climbing more in recent months,” Maureen Sorbet, a spokeswoman for Michigan’s programme, said. “It’s been increasing steadily. Without the programme, some families and kids would be going without.”

For the entire article, please see USA 2008: The Great Depression article on Independent.co.uk

This website is definitely not a place for bashing the U.S. government, but a place where we, the American people, can share our stories of survival in today’s United States of America.

I, the author of Surviving the War, am an actual child of war. My family immigrated to America in mid 90’s from a war-thorn former Yugoslavia. We wanted a better life and we got it. I’m a survivor of an actual war and a first hand witness to many killings, bombings, slaughterings, and other hardships that I had to go through as a child. Today, I am faced with a new war. Although I am not directly involved and am safe from getting slaughtered by a bomb shell, I am suffering economically just like millions of other Americans do.

So, welcome to Surviving the War. I will try to be as frequent with my posts as possible. Please feel free to share your thoughts and experiences.