The recession strategy you may not have thought of
February 20, 2009 By: almostgotit Category: Uncategorized, budget, budget plan, budgeting, family budget, financial planning, recession, recession strategy, spending
Creative Commons Image: Wally G
No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine
own were; any man’s death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.- John Donne
Many of us are now learning, the hard way, that we need to save more and spend less.
Many businesses are closing because we no longer bring them enough patronage.
This is the enormous dilemma at the heart of the current recession: the more careful consumers become, the deeper the recession grows.
If I stop buying books or groceries from my favorite shops, my favorite shops may go out of business, which diminishes me too. If I stop going to restaurants, they may not be able to offer entry-level jobs to my children.
If I stop supporting my local charities, they may not be there when someone I love – or even I myself – may need them, too.
No man is an island. When working out your own recession budget, don’t forget those businesses, services, and even charities that you hold most dear.
Many thanks to Emily Anderson for the suggestion.
February 20th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Ha ha, just what I need: an excuse to go shopping!
Srsly, this is good food for thought. I may not have as much to spend, but I need to be more intentional about how I spend it.
February 20th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Me, too, Amber! [she says, hastily shutting her "Overstock.com" window]
February 20th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
It’s all about balance and moderation. You can’t go to the extreme either way. And I like the idea of intention.
February 21st, 2009 at 12:18 am
Well, I made an impulse buy today. A five buck bar of soap. Peony. Pink. Smells lovely.
Will this help?
However, I think the point is that only the people who can afford to spend should be spending. If you can’t you shouldn’t feeling guilty about not supporting businesses. Probably goes without saying but I’m sayin’ it anyway….
February 21st, 2009 at 11:55 am
We blew our recession budget on repiping …
Oh, and, greetings fellow Overstock.com shopper!
February 21st, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Someone here thinks each of us has about £300 of stuff we never use and could sell on Ebay. Maybe if we did that and put the money aside to spend in places that are special to us it would help.
And it might be a perpetual funding thing as we buy £300 of stuff we don’t need, flog it on ebay, spend it in beloved places etc etc.
February 21st, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Good point, Working Girl — going into personal bankrupcy to support local business isn’t going to help anyone or anything!
@Dennis: good for you, supporting the plumbing industry and improving your own infrastructure at the same time!
@Fr. Dave: I love this suggestion! Liquidating unused assets and putting the money back into the economy (or paying off a credit card?) is a great idea. And clears out the closets at the same time — *bonus!!**
February 23rd, 2009 at 11:26 am
You raise a very insightful and important point here. Perhaps if we modify the way in which we spend (ie, shop thrift stores/ebay/garage sales before retail, invest more $ in our purchases to make them last longer), we can still support the economy while respecting our own financial resources.
February 25th, 2009 at 8:39 am
Ah, John Donne, the passionate priest. “For God’s sake hold your tongue, and let me shop!” or something like that.
My mum gave us enough money to cover our long-distance move, and the following week my partner spent the same amount — with my mother’s blessing! — on a new lever harp. Wait’ll she finds out that her heroic action has saved eastern Ontario’s economy!
March 6th, 2009 at 10:27 am
[...] more fun to buy new rugs for all the rooms you’re rearranging. Even if you’re *not* shopping local. Even if you spend *all* of your recent freelancing income on them and then some. But look at this [...]