Recession: How to Get By

So with all the talk on recession proofing yourself, and whether or not the United States is actually in recession, yadda yadda yadda…

I hate to break it to ya, but come on, look at the stock market, DOWN. The dollar, DOWN. Int’l Markets – Fluctuating. Housing Market – DOWN. The only good thing going down, are the rates on loans. THANKS FED!

Now, knowing we’re pretty much on a downhill to recession, here are some tips on how to avoid higher rates, bad credit, and keeping enough money on hand to not worry about the downfalls of recession.

• Cash on Hand- Make the minimum payments on all your credit cards and start paying them off. The less money you’re giving to the banks themselves, the more control you have over what you spend and how you spend it. Keep the Debit card, not the credit card. With Cash on hand, you can see how much you’re spending and how much you have left, its a psychological game.
• High Yield CD - Banks are still FDIC insured, so even if the US does take a turn to south town, you’re money is still insured up to $100,000. So keep the money in there, that way when you take it out, you have made money, and have the ability to use it. Keep the return in a Checking account!
• Small Change – Quick Return – All that spare change you have in the pocket when you get home, keep a jar with it. Also, don’t be discouraged by small savings of $50-$100 a month, those little bits help no matter what, keep them in mind.
• Quit the non-necessities - This might be hard, skip the booze, skip the dining out, skip the subscriptions. All the little things that you keep spending your money on, on a monthly basis, look at what are needs and what are wants. Recognizing the difference would mean a big savings from $20 – hundreds of dollars depending what you have.

Keep these points in mind, but don’t overlook the big things. Remember your house, car, kids… Don’t let things get by, if you keep focus on your goal of keeping money in the bank, you’re on a quick route to saving and keeping yourself afloat in recession.

What I Spend my Money On

A While back I did this for Chris Brogan, Hope you can use it to understand your own spendings!Taking a challenge from Chris Brogan’s 100 Blogs Topics I Hope YOU Write…
34. What I Spend Money On

Every one seems to have their own Economic issues with spending, whether its too much or not at all. So what I did is i took my bank statements and broke them down by what I spent.
I looked down from my Checking account, and my Credit Card. I broke each one down into 4 categories. ATM, Food, Wants and Needs.

Breaking down the percentages, Using my Checking account its pretty well balanced. I am a college student so naturally needs and food will go almost hand in hand. I need computer paper, supplies, and other simple necessities. Food, being out all the time, so far this month I’ve spent 138 dollars going out and eating. Using my Credit card, I’ve spent 320 dollars because I needed a new phone( Mine broke) and helping out my brother repair his car. The 40 dollars of want was from going to Tanger Outlets in Blowing Rock. If you know the area GO! they have Great stores!
Food again, random spendings for food… and buying my brother $76 dollars worth of Groceries.

Many people have trouble balancing their spendings. People get insecure about their spendings and seek expensive financial help. I found a simple help tool, online. It is run by peers. You submit your bank statements using Microsoft tools or other forms of computer software. Then, peers review your statements, and they.
Sign Up for We Sabe!
We Sabe, a spoof on We Know in Spanish. Take it for a spin and see how your spending changes!