Think You're the Only Poor Slob in the "Richest Nation on Earth?"

Broke is Beautiful: Living and Loving the Cash Strapped Life, due out in Spring, is now listed on Amazon.com for pre-order. It has no cover yet, but you can put in your order anyway!

As we get closer to its release date I will start posting stories related to its theme: Enjoying your life as a broke person and being the best darned broke person you can be.

The Huffington Post put up a clip today from Bill Maher's show on HBO. (Who can afford premium channels?) I am passing it along because the panelists discuss one of the themes in the book. You're not worse off than everyone around you! Studies have shown that television viewers tend to mistake the characters they see on the box for their actual peers on some level, yet the folks on TV live lives of material abundance well beyond what you can get with your meager salary. How? The magic of fiction. Unfortunately those of us in the reality-based economy find it a bit hard to keep up, which gives us the impression that we're the only ones treading water. Relax. There's a lot of company in your pool.