How Has the Economy Affected You?
In a year when most stock portfolios are down at least 30% some much more than that you find that most people are adjusting their spending and work habits accordingly. Reports are coming in of shoppers preparing to spend less this year on holiday shopping. Travelers are planning to travel closer to home. And investors are looking to savings accounts and CDs before the Fed lowers rates so low banks practically can give money away for free.
Even with all that, has the economy affected your day to day patterns?
For me, I can say that my wallet hasn’t been affected yet. My wife and I don’t pull income from our stock portfolio which is good, it’s down almost 50% on the year, and we’re still able to get student loans for her and my paycheck is still getting signed. However, psychologically we’re both looking for ways, just like those people I mentioned above, to save money “just in case.”
Save money on gas, which, although it’s coming down in price, still has us trying to plan our routes better to conserve gas. We’re eating in rather than going out. We’re putting more money away in savings every month for a rainy day. And lastly, I’m starting to blog again.
That’s right, I’ve been away for so long I almost didn’t remember how to float images, or transfer blogs between servers, or… But the major difference between last year and this year is that I’ve decided to spend a little more time building content on my many blogs to see if I can increase traffic and get a little extra cash every month for those just in case moments.
It’s not that I have much more time to do so. My 9 - 5 is still a 24/7 job, meaning I’m always thinking about, answering phone calls, or emails (from my phone too), for work. But now I’m trying to make time to blog a little more and get back into the internet thang.
This means blogging early in the morning when I wake up, or blogging late at night before I go to bed. At these times I may read a regulatory document here and there for work just for fun, or gasp… even try to spend some quality time away from work. But, now I can fill that time with creating content that will build my blog network and hopefully increase traffic and earnings as I’ve done in the past.
I think this change will ultimately be good for America. Rather than people expecting to get things now or feel entitled to high salaries, bonuses, and stock options, credit that can buy them whatever they want NOW!, they’ll see that working hard, saving and then getting your reward is how you get ahead and feel success.
So, How has the Economy Affected You?