Personal Benefits of a Recession

**mommy4ever** · 12-12-2008, 10:10 AM

In Canada, the economy is just now starting to take a downturn. Dh company is reliant on the US. So we've been watching carefully, and it has made dh more 'on-board' with paying things down, he's more willing to cut back on things, not as much as I'd like but better that he was.

As a result things are being paid off faster than they have been. I have less fight on my hands when I say maybe next month. This has been really good. Now with the job they've said they have an operating budget for the next year. Which is good, it means his job is stable for one more year. Out debts are paid off in this year. So even if he does lose his job and has to take a lower paying one, our combined income with no debt repayment would more than enough.

Dh has conceded that we don't need to set the furnace about 17ºC. We sleep well at night, there's no risk of pipes freezing, that way. We do run the fire place so the house is usually warmer than that. BUt at least we're not running the furnace more than necessary.

Gas is down where we're no spending much at all. For myself, I use less than $40/mo. Dh uses about $20/week. This is a good thing.

While there are sales on now, I have nothing I need to buy. LOL. How ironic. My appliances are all newer, the only one I don't care for is the dishwasher, if it dies, we'll do by hand until the economy is more stable. no big deal.

I'm happy that there is this downturn. That dh is opening his eyes, that he'll learn, I'll continue to learn and the kids (big one here) will begin to learn to make use of what we have now, and not worry about all of what they don't have. I think this is a lesson that 2 generations have failed to learn! My parents had hard times, I saw it, I know it happens, but they still some how managed to find a way to get us what we wanted. Not the best lesson. So I want my kids to know that there are times in life, be it due to job loss, low income, tight times, illness, recession, that people have to always have to live within their means, because if they don't, they get into deeper waters and eventually, there's no way out but the hard way and that can be a huge uphill battle.

**frugalbabe** · 12-12-2008, 10:15 AM

I also think it's kind of nice to not be the only one turning down trips or purchases or whatever. Suddenly I have friends that are starting to cut back and joining me on some of my frugal ventures. Not that I need to have that validation but it is kind of nice not to be the constant "oddball" in trying to conserve and save.

**rachelj** · 12-12-2008, 11:16 AM

We have been blessed in that the downturn has not directly impacted us.

So while others who were not frugal to begin with are now scrimping to get by, we keep going as usual (still frugal) and do not "feel" it. KWIM?

I love how people used to think that I was weird for how I shopped etc (waiting for good deals, couponing, freebies etc.) and now people want to go shopping with me.

Dh and I will be married for 10 years this June. We talked about taking a nice vacation. However, b/c of the recession vacation places/airfares have all dropped their prices so now we can afford something much nicer than we ever dreamed. Of course, we are also staying in someone's 2 bedroom timeshare with them and we were given a "gift" to go towards our anniversary vacation. So we are still doing it frugally. If we weren't frugal to begin with this vacation would be just a pipedream!

(all of our other vacations have been "working vacations")

**staceyy** · 12-12-2008, 11:54 AM

Its teaching many of us better money management.

**AspiringToBeFrugal** · 12-13-2008, 10:35 AM

The recession hasn't hit us either, however I'm taking a cue from a lot of other families/people who are experiencing a direct impact--I am tracking frugal activities, we're keeping the thermostat low, we've cut back on what we are buying for Christmas, we are really analyzing purchases, I'm attempting to reduce as much of our stuff as possible (I think recessions bring about a minimalist attitude in a lot of people that will hopefully last forever, not just during the lean times), I am also trying to do as much as I can to reuse or recycle as much of our stuff as I can. Why buy new when you can make do with what you have?

**rosey7415** · 12-13-2008, 11:11 AM

i agree with all the above posters. by the time i read all the posts the "great thing " i had wanted to say has already been posted.....lol...... great minds think alike, you think? we are already way ahead of the curve on this site!!

i am happy to see dh finally catching up to me and my frugal ways. he was always on and off frugally..... depending on the money flow.

since i am one of the older members here, i like seeing things change. people seeing the real value of money....or lack of it. i always hated this throw away society. never mind worrying about landfills, just the waste of it all. it would be great to see repair shops come back.....they have all but dissapeared. you buy a little appliance and ask to have it repaired and people look at you as if you had 2 heads...."just buy a new one". it would be great if when we purchased something it was made to last like in the old days.

hopefully with staying home more do to the economics, families would be closer, neighbor's would actually say hi to one another, heck maybe you could feel like you were living in a community again. we have so gotten away from all of that.

my generation has seen it from both sides. my parents went through the depression so we lived with them being so frugal. we boomers wanted to get away from that.......but the pendulum has swung too wide. sorry, i guess i am just rambling now.........

**jillywalnuts** · 12-13-2008, 01:52 PM

My hubby now thinks about every thing he buys and decides if he can afford it. We've learned how little we can live on since he has been unemployed. I've taken chances with my career that I wouldn't have if he hadn't been laid off.

We realized how smart we were to pay our cc off last year, or we would have been in trouble when he did get laid off. This has spurred us to make more and more changes to be more frugal and put money away.

The end result - no cc's, more $ in the bank than in our previous 16 years and a plan to pay down the house and truck ahead of time.