I have seen a number of blogs, newspaper articles and heard on the news that consumers are “scared” or “terrified” due to the current economic environment.
Some of us older consumers who experienced long lines to get gasoline back in the 70’s during the oil embargo or who saw our home values drop by 30% to 50% in the late 80’s and early 90’s have survived before. Bank lending dried up in the early 90’s too. Business owners found alternative short term financing that is still available today if needed.
We don’t need to be terrified we just need to be patient and do the things that will help us get through these difficult times. Decrease your living expenses by leaving off the extra goodies at the grocery store, stop eating out, manage your driving expenses. There are newspaper’s and blogs of all kinds with recommended actions to help get through these difficult times.
Those who are gainfully employed need to take advantage of the lower stock market values and invest more not take your losses and run. Most investors lost half of their stock values between 1972 and 1974 and between 2000 and 2004 stocks dropped approximatley 40%. In both cases the market recovered and those of us who had the courage to invest during the bad times were nicely rewarded at a later date. Be patient, do the right things and you will survive this economic downturn just like we have survived in the past.