I was the ant

In Aesop's fable, the Ant and the Grasshopper, I have played the role of the ant. Winter arrived, and it's been long and brutal.

Although the ant is a bit of a son-of-a-bitch, in that he won't help out the misguided grasshopper, I wouldn't expect help in this environment, had I not prepared. Wise choice, as we now know who would receive the bailouts, and who would not.

Unfortunately, we don't live in a "sharing and caring" society. It's every man for himself. If you like to believe otherwise, you need not walk far from your house to see reality first hand. The only people you can count on are your family and very close friends. Lots of times you can't even rely on them.

In addition to being prepared, I've been lucky.

I didn't receive a raise last year. My take home pay went down, as of 2010, because my insurance costs went up. Many of my everyday expenses went up.

MUNI increased the cost of a bus ride from $1.50 to $2. The FastPass went up from $45 to $55. And now to $70 for those of us who like to use it for both MUNI and BART. They're talking about raising the fares again. I started driving, and parking on the street last April.

Our half price lunch after 2pm program ended. Too many of us were waiting until 2 to eat. I started brown bagging it a couple weeks ago.

The City marked a bunch of squares on my sidewalk that it's my responsibilty to repair within 30 days. The cost: $3,750 + permit fees. I got an extension to have it fixed by March 25, because it's been raining practically everyday since I received it a week or so ago.

It's that time of year to pay property taxes. Of course mine went up the standard 2%, as they have every year since I bought my house in 2000. I paid my first installment last month. I'll pay the 2nd installment in March.

They're increasing the toll to cross the bridges on July 1. I don't drive across the bridge, but it's just another attack on those who kept their jobs. Even those who took advantage of the free pass, by car pooling, will have to pony up $2.50. All of these things chip away at us.

I've continued to be my frugal self, and so despite these and many other setbacks, I've continued to save substantially more than I needed.

I was lucky to have a job that didn't hand out pink slips, and that I don't absolutely hate working for. One of the lessons I learned last year is that in times like these, changing jobs is taking a risk more likely to work against you. If you can, it's probably better to keep the job you have. Suck it up and swallow your pride, if you need to. Things are likely to improve, giving you better opportunities to move on. Easier said than done, I know, but don't punish yourself now because someone else is making you miserable.

Another aspect of keeping your job is to "keep it as long as you can". Because the longer you are able to keep it, the closer we will be to a recovery. The people who lose their jobs right now are in much better shape than those who lost theirs a year or more ago, and are still looking.

With so much bad news, I'm much better financially positioned now, compared to a couple years ago when all this mess was just getting started.

This is going to end, and once it does, we can all take a deep breath, and move on with our lives!