I literally choked reading your editorial on March 26 ("People who can, should buy things.")

The Acorn is now our local economic commentator. You must be out of your minds.

The message "buy local" became that everyone should do their civic and patriotic duty and buy, buy, buy - - with a disclaimer "if one can." Buy more do-dads, TVs, cars, homes, new carpeting, more meals out. I'm appalled.

The Acorn isn't qualified to give such advice.

It's all this buying frenzy that got the country into this mess. We took all the free money the Fed gave us, and then borrowed and spent ourselves into oblivion.

Sorry, I won't be participating in the "buy everything" campaign. I have a house payment to make. More TVs? Hey, I did keep it local. I bought a used television from Craigslist for $40- - no Best Buy for me.

If I lose my house, well, guess what else goes bye bye- not buy buy- my $6,600 annual property taxes. Goodbye to money to our schools. Goodbye to my gardener. He'll be unemployed soon. Goodbye Waste Management. Adios to the newspaper.

Look at the money the postal service will save by not delivering my mail.

In the last five years, my Blue Cross monthly premium has gone from $266 to $964.

In two years, it will be more than my house payment.

I'm one of the stupid idiots who didn't take the free money and have a party. I have no TVs, car or fancy trips to show for it.

I put down 20 percent and bought my house and thought I'd be living here for the next 50 years. I think I'll be proven wrong. It'll be gone probably in 50 days.

How dumb could I have been? The government is going to bail out all the irresponsible people because that's their idea of the patriotic thing to do.

Me? A single mom of two? We'll be homeless shortly because we did the right thing.

The message is clear. "Wrong" is the new right.

And we won't be going to Disney World. Cindy J. Lewis Thousand Oaks