Historians are already dubbing this economic era "The Great Recession". Once again drawing on the memory of the depression era of the 1920’s.
These historians are always going to have a difficult time convincing me that we are anywhere near that kind of pain and poverty. My push-back to them is simple. We define abject poverty these days as living in a home with two television and suffering the doldrums of basic cable.
Lessons from the "Great Recession"
The first lesson from the "Great Recession" is that being cheap can be cool. Learning to exercise restraint in your spending habits is a discipline; one that keeps us aware of the fact that the shiny stuff on the shelves should never become the most important pursuit in our lives. Much like in the 20’s and 30’s Americans are turning away from that which Madison Avenue would convince us we can’t live without…and turning back to the things in life that were important from the beginning…you know…life…liberty…the pursuit of happiness for starters.
The next lesson is a big one, and it my sincerest hope that you never let go of it.
Budgeting is not an option. Your personal financial journey won’t get you any where without a map, and the first piece of that map is a monthly budget. Whether you make twenty thousand dollars or twenty million dollars per year, the first measure of any successful man or woman is the ability to document your goals. That starts with a budget. There is no way around it.
Didn’t we get to the point where all of us took this key slice of the American dream completely for granted? Furthermore, didn’t we all get to the point where so-called financial experts convinced us that the equity in our home was a piggy bank? Equity is precious. It’s a trophy. It means that you own that much of something. Hold onto it for dear life.
Finally, the "Great Recession" reminds us that taking our eyes off of long term goals in order to pursue short term gain…
Well, go ask anyone who worked for Wachovia, AIG, Citigroup or Bank of America what they think about that.
