I have to guess most folks simply were either too young or otherwise not present during the Great Recession that started in 2008 and lasted well into this past decade, because I was there and it was the hardest, deepest and longest financial burden I have ever been a part of in my whole life.
I have learned a few things in life, one of those is that the economy cycles from good to bad and back to good and back and forth over the course of years, so much so that in one lifetime the average human being will most likely endure several recessions in various degrees of severity.
So I knew then, that even after the Great Recession ended one day things would turn bad again.
After the recession was over times would turn good, but eventually that would end...
And as the good times end the bad times start, as bad times end things get better, but it cycles back and forth.
One cycle takes years and there is no predicting it, sure enough...
So during that recession I made many changes, for example today:
I hang my clothes outside to dry.
I quit drinking soda, and now mix my own drinks out of Kool Aid.
I bought a newer model refrigerator, mostly because it's more efficient.
I have a water saver shower faucet, and a Ultra High-efficiency toilet.
I also bought a front loading washing machine.
I added a ton of insulation to both the ceiling and the floor of my house, literally brought it up to Green Industry standards which at the time was R50 ceiling R30 floor.
I replaced the old TV with a flat screen LED (mostly because power consumption).
All the light bulbs in my house now are LED (thou I can tolerate CFL's as well).
I make my own dish washing and clothes washing detergent mostly out of baking soda.
I switched cars, from V8's to V6's...
All this and more I did, all to cut my expenses way down and there are many things I forgot to mention...
And then...
*When* the economy improved I didn't fall back to my old spend-waste ways.
I saw people bought new SUV's *bling* and a boat *bling* and they took cruises and went on vacations and spent their way practically into financial oblivion...
In summary they spent like there is no tomorrow.
But now here we are again, the hard times are back.
What happened, where did all the money go you ask me?
pfffft...
What bothers me the most however, is that it appears many of these people...
Didn't anyone learn anything from that last recession?
Because I'm telling you it hit me hard, so hard I swore I'd never suffer that way again.
Now today, I'm not happy about the state of the economy but I can tell you this...
I'm good financially, my bills are paid this month and next and even 6 months to a year down the road I don't need an income to pay my way. And one more thing, I am *NOT* taking handouts from Uncle Sam, granted if I receive a check in the mail I will put it in the bank but I am NOT applying for loans and begging for extensions or any such thing. To me that's more than just a waste of time, I don't want to imagine the frustration of spending days and weeks sitting around waiting for something that may never materialize.
I much prefer putting ideas into action that I know will yield fruit.
So maybe one of you readers learns something from it all this time around.
One can always hope.
Regards,
