It's easy to let all the talk of financial doom and gloom go over your head isn't it?

What with dinner to cook, kids to put to bed, and the other chores that we working parents have...

But last night, after watching our 10 p.m. newscast, I snuck down to my office, went online and tried to read as much as I possibly could about our current financial crisis.

Folks, gotta tell you --- I'm concerned.

My worry is that the current financial crisis could come up and bite all of us in the butt when we least expect it.

One analyst explained it like this: 

Financial crisis means. shrinking credit for consumers.  Say you have a $5,000 credit limit.  And only  a $3,000 balance.  The credit card company may need to grab back that extra two grand.  So Sally Shopper goes to the store to credit something, and her card is declined.  Because the system has run out of credit.

An oversimplification?  Maybe.  But this could actually happen.

And consider the things that are already happening.

People are losing their jobs. (It took my own husband 6 months to find one after his company closed last year!)

People can't sell their homes. (My neighbor's has been up for sale for six months.  And if they drop that price again, I'll cry!)

Gas prices are still out of control.  (I don't care what they say.  I don't want to pay more than $3/gallon.  Period.)

My own IRA's dropped thousands of dollars in a matter of days.

Bottom line:  We should all be concerned.

Because this financial meltdown is a story that isn't going away. 

And none of us should put our head in the sand, and convince ourselves that we're unaffected.