Actions you can take that help your personal economy and make you feel good

(Reading time: 3 – 4 minutes)

For a while, I was posting regularly on financial and economic matters. The need for that passed as the news became common knowledge. That is, the problems became real for ordinary people, not just for nutjobs screaming from the fringe.

But it’s not over yet. Even if the recession is officially over, the recovery will be anemic for years, until all the bad debt is either inflated away, or those liabilities are sold for market value to customers paying (essentially) cash money.

There are many things we can do individually. Most of these things are actions that the government and large corporations are panicking about. Unfortunately, large corporations and the government are working at cross-purposes to us, the taxpayers, who have to take care of ourselves no matter what the economic conditions or the tax rates.

Here’s a few things to consider:

1. Vote against every congress person that voted for the bailout bill. The bailout just “kicked the can” into years hence. When the bills come due, they will be bigger. That’s just math.
2. When possible, vote for congress people over the next few years that will reinstate all the financial controls we dismantled allowing this to happen.
3. Move your money to locally owned banks with no exposure to any of these “toxic instruments.” I do not know which these will be.
4. Stop spending and start saving. We have a deep recession coming in any case. There is nothing we can do about it. Everyone stopping spending and starting to save could result in a real depression, but the powers that be haven’t really left us any choice in the matter. The national economy isn’t as important to me as my personal economy.
5. Save for retirement, but don’t plan on retirement. That option is closing for people of middle age. I spoke with a woman at work last year, and she has lost over 50% of her life savings. She won’t ever retire. She can’t.
6. Get out and stay out of debt. Not only have so many people lost so much in their retirements, they are also in debt that they will never, ever be able to work their way out of.
7. Make sure you are prepared for disaster, which could be financial or from earthquake or whatever. Keep a couple of weeks water on hand, and month’s worth of cash. ATM only work when there is electricity and cash inside. Financially, I believe that danger has passed, but if you are in California (or Pacific Rim), you are still earthquake prone. Be prudent. Hedge for “worst case.” It won’t hurt, and it will make you feel better.
8. Bust your ass at whatever job you have, and get a second job if you can. My father was able to find work all through the Great Depression. He would work for whatever they paid him, he had to support his mother.
9. Be glad if you aren’t chained to a house you cannot afford. I was infuriated I was priced out of the market for so many years. Now I am delighted I am not sinking under that weight. If you are chained, I personally won’t fault you for walking away. It’s what the bank would do, so you should consider it too.

I suspect very strongly the world is going to look very different two years from now. This may not be a bad thing. It certainly provides those of us that were never able to stake a claim in the current system the opportunity to carve out a niche in whatever is coming.

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