With the news being dominated by doom-and-gloom about our economy and the words “recession” and even “depression” being bandied about, I’ve put down some thoughts on things we can do to calm our nerves and make it through. These apply more to those in my end of the earning spectrum, which is decidedly in the middle class and young area, but as always take what you need and apply it as appropriate to your situation.
Don’t panic. Doing a search on “surviving the economic crisis” will pull up any number of sites with this listed as the first tip. Maybe this will all blow over and you’ll hardly notice a change to the economy aside from a million news stories. Stressing over it will merely shorten your life. However, if things do get worse you’ll need to be acting rationally to follow the rest of the advice listed.
Budget. You’ll probably see this in any number of articles by me or anyone else. Find out what you’re spending and trim the fat if necessary. I’ll have a future post about trimming said fat. Now, if you think you’ll be doing fine in the current economic climate and have some extra cash…
Invest. What? Invest? Isn’t the market crashing? If you’re a younger investor looking to buy and hold assets for awhile, there is a lot of value to be had right now. While I’m no financial advisor, I’d be willing to bet that the vast majority of companies out there will weather this crisis and continue to increase in value over the next few decades. However, if you don’t think you’ll have enough to go around…
Be proactive. Specifically, if you expect to fall behind on bills, contact the creditor and make arrangements ahead of time. They will likely be happy to accommodate you, since the other option is possibly not being paid for awhile (or at all). You should probably start with your landlord or whoever holds your mortgage and then go down the list of essentials as far as who you need to contact first. Keeping them in the loop can protect your credit, and if you make arrangements ahead of time you can probably avoid catastrophes like being homeless or having your power shut off depending on how bad things get.
Brush up those job skills. You should always keep your resume up-to-date and learn continuously so that you are always employable. Consider courses at your local community college to shore up specific skills or even finishing your degree. At the very least, catalog your work achievements (and other relevant ones) in your resume so that you know your strengths and can demonstrate them to an employer for a promotion or new job.
These tips apply in an economic slowdown, recession, or whatever you want to call it, but you should consider all of the advice even if you don’t think those terms apply to the current economic climate.
Alternatively, if you think the words “apocalypse” and “collapse of the system as we know it” apply, consider stocking up on guns, ammo, and canned goods and learning sewing in your wilderness cabin/commune. I doubt I’ll have a follow-up post for that situation.