The past 8 years haven't been bad for me. Not great but not bad.
I've got more guns and some of those guns would have been illegal 8years ago. So that's good. Unfortunately ammo prices have been going up and now I've got reloading equipment.
I've bought a condo which lost 14k of value, but I'm able to easily make the payments because a) I bought it to live in instead of as a get rich quick plan, b) I figured out my budget before buying it, and c) I got a fixed mortgage.
My car is a total POS. OTOH, I don't believe in spending lots of money on cars or financing them because a car steadily grows worthless over time. Plus, my vehicle has decent gas mileage so gas prices didn't smack me very hard. It's those idiots driving around SUVs who can barely make the payments, keep a roof over their heads, and food on the table who get smacked by gas prices.
I finished school and I have no debt. I paid cash all the way through.
I haven't found a better job than what I was doing to get through school so that's a wash. I have found 2nd jobs that supplement my cash though.
I've kept my credit card paid off and I have no long term debt outside of my mortgage. What's really making people suffer in this economy is poor debt coverage ratios. The people complaining the loudest and most bitterly about how Bush screwed up the economy tend to have too much debt, no understanding of monthly budgeting, and no savings.