Economy Talk
As twentysomethings, I’m sure a lot of you have felt the effects of this whole credit crisis/recession/worst economy ever thing. It seems to me like many of the “solutions” contradict each other. On one hand, Obama is putting a few extra dollars in our paychecks in order for us to go and “stimulate” the economy. But now the new governor of Illinois wants to increase income taxes (possibly up to 50 percent)… wouldn’t that cancel out our stimulus bonus?
And another thing… we’re constantly advised to save, save, save in case the economy gets worse and/or we find ourselves unemployed. But at the same time, we are asked to spend normally and put money back into the economy. We should travel now because prices are cheap. We should buy new cars because they are selling for an all-time low. There has “never” been a better time to buy a house…
So honestly, how do we really know what to do? How can we get through this and come out on the other side… especially when there isn’t really and end in sight?
How are you guys dealing with the economic crisis? What ideas do you have to share with fellow twentysomethings that are just trying to figure it all out?
And for those of you who are still clueless about what is even going on and how it happened… take a look at this video that explains it:
March 18th, 2009 at 11:51 am
you totally read my mind!! I’ve just posted my best recession busting plan ever!! You may be interested (shameless plug - sorry, but it’s good) I cannot believe the government left it to me to come up with the plan!
I know exactly where you’re coming from though, everyone says something different! I’m still buying the same things but spending slightly less I.e shopping somewhere different so I just save a few pennies, but not really changing much! X
March 18th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Thanks for that, I’m going to check it out. I don’t understand this crisis as well as I should.
March 19th, 2009 at 12:36 am
Well I’m in Australia so the economy isn’t quite as bad over here yet. It’s still a recession though.
That being said, I know I’m not really in danger of losing my job anytime soon as government-funded non-profit’s are at less of a risk than the corporate sector.
However, I am very used to being broke and learning how to be frugal with money. One thing I know is that just because “this is the best time” to buy a house or a car or whatever else is on the market, doesn’t mean you should.
If you’d ALREADY PLANNED to do these things, and had already started saving, then jumping in a little early and making the best of your money is a good idea. If you didn’t plan on purchasing big ticket items, and you haven’t got any savings lying around then DON’T jump in just because it’s “THE BEST TIME”. Despite all the home-owners grants etc. you’re still going to be stuck with a house with no down-deposit, a huge, 30+year mortgage and payments you can’t make….
I think the “spend, spend spend” mentality to boost the economy is going to make a lot of 20-somethings with little/no financial experience or knowledge end up having problems due to spending too much and not focusing on saving. Sure we’re not in financial ruin because we haven’t lost entire retirement accounts etc. but it’s doesn’t mean we shoudl squander away our paychecks on new shoes and cars without saving a penny.
Pay bills first, then save, then treat yourself and boost the economy AFTER you’ve taken care of the first two.