Local residents adjust spending habits

By Susan Gibbs, Record Reporter
Published: July 17, 2008

Ruckersville’s Edward Wojdylak doesn’t take rides in the country anymore.
“My wife and I used to get in the car and drive; pick an old road and follow it to Madison or Orange and see where it came out,” he says.
Now, with the economy the way it is: “My wife goes to the grocery store, comes home and says, ‘See what I got for $100 or $150,’ and it’s about three plastic bagfuls, with not a lot of it food.”
Now in his early 60’s, Wojdylak is two years into his retirement, on a limited, fixed income, and concerned for his future.
“They say you don’t realize how restricted you are until you’re about five years into retirement,” he remarks. “I’m concerned about the cost of fuel, of electricity, of doctors. When my wife retires, I’ll be picking up a $1,000 a month bill for insurance.”
Even so, all things considered, Wojdylak considers himself one of the lucky ones.
“I don’t know how couples who have nothing but Social Security do it,” he says.
But people on Social Security aren’t the only ones hurting these days.
Julie Martel, eligibility supervisor at Greene County Social Services, says that while that agency’s caseload is about what it was a year ago, “people are calling for information about income limits.”
Middle-income people, concerned about losing their lifestyles, are still making too much to qualify for public assistance.
And there are a lot of people in the middle.
Bill Shobe is the director of business and economic research at the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. He says “no one knows whether we’re in a recession or not (because) the data we need takes quite a while to publish.” But he adds, it’s clear that “there are substantial negative things going on in people’s lives.”
He continues: “There’s a decline in the value of homes and cars. Members of the solid middle class who … had their wealth bound up in their homes and cars, might be seeing their assets falling.” Shobe explains that people who are spending against assets, or who over-extended themselves to buy a home might find themselves in a tough position whether we are in a recession or not - especially if a job is lost or an illness occurs.
“There’s no way they’re going to get a home equity loan to back them up now … some might even be driven to Social Service agencies,” he adds
Already, officials say they are seeing people with high mortgages, who have been living on credit. The problem is, when applying for assistance, gross income is what counts. But when figuring expenses against income, car payments, co-insurance payments, and medical bills for people under 60 usually don’t count.
Those with retirement accounts are expected to dip into those before claiming a share of the public till.
There are, however, some agencies that can help by way of counseling.
One of those is Skyline Community Action Program, Inc., better known as Skyline CAP, serving people in Greene, Madison and Orange counties. Executive Director Kim Frye Smith says Skyline CAP is currently seeing families with incomes way above those her agency typically sees. They are mid- to low-income families who “have paid all their bills, month to month.”
With the economy the way it is, those families have been driven to seek help for any number of reasons.
“It could be lay offs, it could just be the cost of living,” says Smith. “The cost of groceries is up, and with gas prices the way they are, getting back and forth to work can be difficult. Benefits are being cut. Some companies are cutting hours, going from 40 hours to just under 40 hours, and hourly workers feel that crunch.”
Skyline CAP’s services to such people are limited, but the organization does make referrals. And, it assists with the prevention of mortgage delinquencies or defaults - or helps with the process.
Another agency that offers assistance is GRACE - the Greene Alliance of Church and Community Efforts. GRACE is an all-volunteer connection between people in need and local churches.
Spokesperson Rhonda Oliver says requests for assistance are on the rise. But even GRACE has criteria for emergencies, and is not always able to help.
“We have some people that have moved back in with family members. Some have even gone to homeless shelters,” Oliver says.
GRACE does offer classes in budgeting, and Shobe offers hope.
“Most people are not over-extended,” he says. “There has been no large scale reduction in wages; no big shock to facing higher prices and slower appreciation of major retirement assets.”
The state of the economy, says Shobe, “will cause people to pull back, to slow investments in capital goods, and it will certainly push them to spend less on building large homes and adding on to those homes. In the face of $4.00-per gallon gas prices, and a $100 fill up, they will take less vacations.”