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Nickelless
Administrator
USA
5580 Posts |
 Posted - 01/15/2009 : 03:44:25
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By Jay MacDonald • Bankrate.com
Chicken Little and I differ on the coming recession. He hears the "R" word and immediately thinks "financial ruin."
I hear "recession" and think "disco!"
If you are old enough to have worn a mood ring, Earth shoes or bell-bottoms the first time around, you probably recall the "stagflation" days of the 1970s with a bemused mix of humor, national pride and nostalgia.
The forecast was just as dire back then, and for good reason. In 1975, inflation topped 14 percent, unemployment approached 6 percent (but doubled that in some locales), and fuel and food prices were headed skyward.
Most of us would be well into the Reagan years before our wallets grew appreciably heavier.
The funny thing is, I don't remember the sacrifice. We drove used cars and lived within our means, since car leasing and credit cards were not yet widespread.
We rented and shared apartments, since the average home mortgage rate hovered around 10 percent.
We shouldered none of the financial burden of such modern conveniences as cell phones, high-speed Internet or fitness center memberships.
No one wants a recession, of course. It can cause serious economic pain for millions.
Happy slowdown!
Recessions undoubtedly cause serious economic pain. But there is a silver lining in every downturn. Here are 10 positives to celebrate.
10 blessings of a recession:
However, economists tell us there are some reasons to actually welcome and perhaps even embrace a recession. After all, a recession is the ebb part of the natural ebb and flow of the U.S. economy.
Just as surely as hot markets cool and bulls turn to bears, capitalist economies take a breather every so often to pause and reflect. If they didn't, these corrections would be far crueler.
So, let's smile, lift our half-full cups of regular unleaded and toast these 10 very good things about impending bad times.
Family dinners
Want to start a revolution? Try eating dinner together as a family.
Recessions tend to foster family mealtimes as the pin money that drives fast-food meals and overscheduled lives dries up. Nothing could be better for America, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Research has shown that family meals promote a healthier and more balanced diet, foster better communication and ward off teen suicide, eating disorders and substance abuse.
But no, we can't make your little sister stop kicking you under the table.
Shorter lines at the pump
It seems like only yesterday we witnessed the thrilling rush-hour road rage exchanges at every metropolitan gas station across America as gas hogs great and small furiously jockeyed for the pumps.
Not anymore.
Ever since gas topped the magical $4 tipping point, you can fill up, wash the windows, check the oil, enjoy a leisurely roller-cooked hotdog and a 32-ounce giant gulp, and even grab a power nap before the next customer appears in your rearview mirror.
Can curb service of Red Bull and Slim Jims be far behind?
Less junk mail
Thanks to the presumptive recession, many of us have recently glimpsed the back of our mailboxes for the first time in years.
According to the Chicago-based research firm Mintel Comperemedia, credit card direct mail volume has dropped 19 percent since last October.
Last year, credit card issuers cut their mailings to current customers by nearly one-third (30 percent). That will free up delivery space for the junk mail we enjoy receiving: coupons.
More coupons
When the going gets tough, the tough clip coupons to help maintain their lifestyles.
A February survey by Toronto-based ICOM Information and Communications found that 67 percent of Americans are likely to use coupons during a recession, regardless of their income.
Traffic to online coupon sites is growing rapidly, with page views up 38 percent to 281 million in March compared to the previous year, according to the research firm comScore.
Restaurants in particular typically resort to buy-one, get-one-free offers and other discounts to fill their tables in hard times.
Peter Meyers, marketing vice president at ICOM, says coupons can save the average family 25 percent on their grocery bill, or $2,400 a year based on an $800 monthly outlay. How's that for an economic stimulus?
Free fitness
What's the official vegetable of good times? The couch potato, of course.
But as gas prices skyrocket, alternative modes of transportation are once again gaining traction. When you ride a bike, walk to the bus stop or hoof it to the train station to commute to work, you get a free workout along with saving gas money.
You can extend your free workout in other ways. Throw in a little cardio (by skipping rope, jogging or rowing) and add some upper body (with push-ups, sit-ups and free weights) and you can save the $35 to $40 a month that CostHelper.com estimates we spend on average for a single fitness club membership.
Bargain SUVs
Not all prices go up in a recession. Case in point: gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs. Once gas approached the $3.50 mark, prices of new and used SUVs, pickup trucks and minivans plummeted.
Ford and GM recently announced plant closures and production cuts at their truck and SUV facilities in response to the swift public migration to fuel-efficient compacts and hybrids.
If you've long coveted an SUV, make your move now. Heck, you may drive away with a year or two of free gas in the deal.
Business startup opportunities
What do Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and Disney have in common? They all started during economic downturns, as did more than half of the 30 companies that comprise the Dow Jones industrial average.
In fact, entrepreneurial startups by laid-off and downsized employees, managers and executives often help get the economy growing again.
Recessions are a great time to open your own shop: Wages are down, rents are cheaper, competition is scarce and the cost of goods and services can be found at a discount. There's no better time to become your own boss.
Growth in gardening
A recession is the perfect time to get back to nature. Bid your lawn service adieu and put your mind and body to work tending your grounds yourself.
The benefits are numerous. Regular gardening provides cardio and strength training, improves flexibility and relieves stress. These health benefits help fight heart attack, type 2 diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and osteoporosis.
The fruits and vegetables you grow also encourage a healthier diet. And the money you save by mowing, raking, pruning and mulching yourself will more than pay for your equipment, fuel and next year's plantings.
Musical inspiration
Do economic downturns inspire great music? A case can be made that hard times help produce heartfelt anthems that cut through the anesthetic musical drone of the day. This has been true of everyone from Woody Guthrie to Bruce Springsteen to the Clash and even Kurt Cobain.
Given the current state of popular music and its obsession with an affluence that is quickly disappearing, the climate would seem right for the emergence of new artists who can rekindle passion and urgency in American music.
New perspectives
Perhaps the greatest boon of a recession is the time to reflect and reassess the true meaning and goals of our lives.
For instance, it's doubtful that today's green movement would be where it is today without the small-is-beautiful mental reset of the '70s.
If history is any indication, we humans are inclined to resume our consumption full speed once the economic engine starts rolling again. But our progress toward a more sustainable future comes in increments during those times when we are forced to do without.
We may not be the ideal stewards of the planet yet, but we're making progress. Temporary setbacks like recessions prompt our collective course corrections.
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Visit my new preparedness site: Preparedness.cc/SurvivalPrep.net
--Latest article: Stocking up on spices to keep food preps lively
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misteroman
Administrator
USA
2565 Posts |
Posted - 01/15/2009 : 23:00:30
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| I honestly believe That this"whatever you want to call it" was Gods way of Humbling me as I was living WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY above my means or how I should've been living.It looks like he did it at the right time and didn't let me get too far down before leading me back up,but lets just say it wasn't/hasn't been easy.In the long run it's for the best.Probably about 75% there and hopefully can get the rest to close in |
Buying CU cents!!!! Paying 1.2 unlimited amounts wanted. Can pick up if near Ohio area. |
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redneck
1000+ Penny Miser Member
1273 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2009 : 05:43:20
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quote:
Temporary setbacks like recessions prompt our collective course corrections.
Recessions are one thing.
Depressions however, are another...
Besides, I don't need behavior control from the elite. 
I get that from my wife. 
Well, she tries...
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Edited by - redneck on 01/16/2009 05:50:24 |
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misteroman
Administrator
USA
2565 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2009 : 09:19:51
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| Don't let her see that or you may look like the pink smiley above |
Buying CU cents!!!! Paying 1.2 unlimited amounts wanted. Can pick up if near Ohio area. |
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keys
Penny Collector Member
383 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2009 : 16:37:31
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The only way to love a recession is by not losing your job!
Unemployment makes the recession worse, in spite of the article mentioning businesses starting during a recession.
How many businesses that started during a recession were still in business when the recession ended I wonder. |
I change with the times-
but like silver coins found in your change
I stay the same.
*****************
The United States of America started out as the new Republic of Rome.
Will The United States of America end up as the New Imperial Rome? |
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Bluegill
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1964 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2009 : 17:05:38
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The author makes some good points. But he is comparing a recession of the '70s to the next depression in the coming second decade of the 21st century. Apples and oranges. Even then, most of what was done to adapt then, sadly, is beneath most now.
That was a completely different world back then. It was a different culture, a different society, a different Nation. Different everything.
The Great Depression II is going to be like nothing we have ever experienced before. Including the Great Depression I.
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10 reasons to love a recession
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