*raises both hands* - Lo

meh - Greg GuitarBuster

About even. - Todd Hoff

It went down, and then it came back. - Eric @ CS Techcast

About the same. - John (bird whisperer)

No better, no worse. - Kristin

Financially? Or overall? - Stephen Mack

better. - Mike Nencetti

*raises hand*, but I wouldn't give the federal government much credit aside from the fact that I'm a government contractor within the Department of Energy. - Scoble, Alex Scoble

worse - Peter Dawson

Hmm, better. - Steve C, Team Marina

So-so. - OCoG of FF, Jimminy

Considering that 4 years and 10 days ago I was beginning 4 months of unemployment I'd say I'm better off. Wifey too since she wasn't working either. We often wonder how we avoided getting thrown out in the street due to lack of funds to pay bills and such. - DB, Lil LB's Dad

Much better. - Victor Ganata

Overall, just the same. - AJ Batac

Very close to the same. 4 years ago, my wife & I were both working. Today, my wife is not working, but I'm bringing in about the same amount of money as we were bringing in together, then. We are still living paycheck-to-paycheck, but we (knock on wood) continue to pull enough together to pay the bills each month. - COMPLICATED MR. NOODLE

Definitely better. My undergrad is finished, my masters is already underway, I managed to retain my employment and my salary has continued to increase, my bills are very much under control, I'm not single, I'm no longer running that stupid festival, I'm much healthier with 40lbs down and less than 70lbs to go, and right now it looks like everything will remain stable for me for at least the next two years. And I consider myself very very very lucky. I take nothing for granted. - Hookuh Tinypants

Better. - vicster.

I think I'm a bit better off now than 4 years ago. I give 0% credit to current administration for that though. - Ken Gidley

Better in every regard, but mostly feeling much fitter since shedding 60 lbs. 4 years older, but have much more energy now. - Ken Morley

Certainly better off with Obama than with McCain/Palin. - Back to just Joe

Economically? Worse. Fixed income means my money's the same even tho EVERYthing costs more. - Starmama

It's a toss up, depending on what part of my life we are looking at. - Corinne L

*raises both hands* - Mary Carmen

yep - That one guy. Bren.

Thank you all for verifying that everyone has different experiences due to lots of factors! The notion that every person in the country is worse off than they were 4 years ago, and solely because of who's president, is ludicrous. I was getting tired of hearing it. It also seemed strange coming from the "if you're not doing well, you're not working hard" guys. - Lo

Also, I like that the people who's lives have improved the most seem to be unrelated to the economy. Mary Carmen & I got hitched, fitness ensued... the notion that decreased net worth means unhappiness doesn't seem to be questioned much, but it is not supported by my experience. Four years ago I was making more money, but had less financial security and hated almost everything about my life. These days I have love in my life, and rarely think about money. Where's the convention for that? - Lo

better - some of the better is health related OTOH War Daughter has full, time job after literally years of temping and the combined stress reduction is made of win on several levels - WarLord

I'm finding it hard to compare - I think I am about the same, except for not working much lately - Iphigenie