Good Morning Middle America, your King of Simple News is on the air.

U.S. NEWS: It’s about time that we had some good news. “Badlands” George Bush and “Bronco” Ben Bernanke have just assured us that we are not in recession. Thank goodness, for a minute there I thought we may be in trouble.

What they didn’t say is that much of the country is in depression which I guess would qualify and not being in recession. Take a stroll around Detroit and Cleveland if you doubt my reporting. Or, hang out with the building contractors in say Phoenix or Las Vegas and ask them how things are going. Wear your fastest running shoes when you visit these locations and don’t flash any food around.

Oil jumped above $103 before retreating, consumer spending has stalled and the dollar is shrinking against other world currencies, but don’t worry, that’s normal when the FED purposely induces inflation.

Soon, the magic of inflation will allow you to borrow against your home again in order to pay down your credit cards, which will allow further borrowing on the credit cards and about that time the federal rebate check will come rolling in and everything will be just fine and dandy. I should have started this paragraph, “Once upon a time,” because that’s how fairy tales are supposed to begin.

Here it is from the King of Simple. We are in recession and likely to stay that way for all those who continue to practice convention. For those who refuse to accept that fact and are waiting for government to save them…the next level is called depression. The country tried living in depression for some years in the 30s and it didn’t catch on.

Everyone is crying for change, as long as that change allows them to live exactly like they are living today, and there is no action necessary on their part. For all of those who think this may occur in the near future, a good psychiatric exam may be wise.

The old Lone Ranger is dead and there is no silver bullet to cure what ails us. So, we have to change as individuals. I’m talking about good changes that will make your life better.

First things first, why do we go to work? The short answer is to pay bills. Given that information, the lower the bills the less we have to earn to pay them. It’s not income that is the problem for many; it’s out-go. Reducing out-go is the key.

I have a friend whose initials are Larry Turney who realized that once a $50 or $100 bill is broken; it’s not long until it’s gone. But where did it go? Well, Larry decided to keep track of where the money was spent for an entire year. His findings were that the money primarily goes to numerous small and non-essential purchases.

I’m thinkin’ the convenience store conveniently sold you some junk food. Or, perhaps a bargain snuck up on you? We used to go buy groceries…at the grocery. Now we go to Wal-Mart and on the trip for a bunch of bananas, we come home with a tent and sleeping bag because they were on sale in the produce aisle and we might go camping some time; maybe.

Change your habits today and keep that $50 intact. Here’s my tip of the day. I go to a big box bulk store like Costco, Sams, etc. and purchase snack crackers, trail mix, nuts, etc. in bulk boxes; they’re cheap.

I have a plastic container with a sealable lid that I put a variety of the above snacks in and keep it in my vehicle. I also have sealable plastic drinking bottles that I fill with free water or energy drinks that we mix from powder with free water. I leave the house with a go-cup of my own premium coffee and drive on by the Starbucks of this world. The savings and the convenience over several months is nothing short of astounding.

What are some of your ideas? I’d love to hear them.