Frugal Tips to Survive a Great Depression or Recession

A lot of people are scared of what is in store for our country. With that said a lot of people think we are going to go into a hard recession or even a depression. Some of this I don't understand, because 1) our country and government are doing so much more for our economy than what was done between 1929 and 1932. The Fed is actively working to keep money liquid and the exact opposite was true back then. Hoover and his Fed Chief didn't do anything, because they felt the free market would work it through and it was a natural cycle. 2) People are scared that unemployment is at 7.2%, but in 1932 it was 25%!!! A quarter of all people were out of work and we're scared now? We could be a lot worse off...think of how people felt in 1932? 3) People are still spending money, eating out, and aren't really changing their spending habits (yet). I equate this downtrend in terms of innings and in August 08 I was saying we were in about the 3rd inning, and now I feel like we are in the 7th inning stretch. I think by July - August 2009 we should be hitting a bottom and slowly make our way out of this recession. Regardless, here are a few frugal tips that will help you get out of this recession / depression.

• Stop eating out
• Pay off your debt - owe no man nothing!
• Increase your emergency fund savings - have closer to 6 months saved
• Bank as many hours of vacation as possible - this will help ease the financial burden of getting laid off and prevent you from having to dig into your emergency fund or touch your retirement accounts
• Cut monthly expenses - look at all your bills, especially phone, insurance, internet, tv, and clothes
• Shop at goodwill, salvation army, or other thrift stores - what a great way to buy used stuff at extreme discounts? Let down your pride if you think you are better than that
• Pay for EVERYTHING in cash - paying with cash makes expenses seem more real
• Share tools with neighbors or barter services - this was common practice in the 1930's due out of necessity. The thing was that neighbors never in the 1930's never expected repayment. They just did it out of the kindness of their heart

Here are a few helpful links that have other great tips for surviving a deep recession: