triviageek

CNBC talking heads just CANNOT seem to accept the reality of a long term economic downturn or that the stock market is NOT going to be always going upward. Sheesh!!! Among the worst offenders seem to be thirtysomething year olds who have NEVER in their entire life accepted that the stock market is not the be all end all of finances. They've either never heard of the Great Depression or view it as something that happened dimly in the far distant past of their great-great-granfathers era and which, of course, could NEVER, EVER happen again -- especially in their lifetimes.

*Sigh*

Well I'm slightly older than a thirtysomething AND happened to be the youngest child born to older parents. So to me, the Great Depression was something that my parents endured as a young married couple. I regularly heard stories about the hardships of those times. And unsurprisingly my parents were thrifty, frugal (not to say cheap) individuals as has often been reported of those that lived thru that period of time.

During my young adulthood my parents probably viewed me as being the exact opposite of themselves moneywise, however, outsiders would have probably classified me as more like my parents than either they or myself would have admitted. Later, this limited frugality within myself was enhanced during a period of serious medical problems that lasted nearly a decade and which left me avoiding bankruptcy only by the skin of my teeth.

All of which is to say that I may be more qualified than most middle class adults living in a prosperous suburban area to offer tips for getting by during the present (and imo even worse pending economic problems).

(Well my vanity says I am anyway.)

So here goes.

Economic Tip#

1. Join Freecycle.

If you don't know what Freecycle is, you should. It's ostensibly a way to recycle posessions that you no longer want -- without actually increasing the amount of garbage heading for the dump.

What is ACTUALLY is, is a great way to obtain items that you might find useful for FREE. Absolutely FREE!!!! It is against the rules for a freecycler (that's what they call themselves) to ask for money for anything that they've offered thru freecycle.

It free to join. (It's a mailing list of people who live in your community.) When someone offers something you want, you email them and request it. Depending on what it is (and how many other people may want it too), you may get an email telling you to pick it up at such and such a location.

And don't knock the idea, so far I've gotten empty CD cases (I never seem to have enough of those), a toaster, several books, etc. And I've given away such items as Jigsaw puzzles (which I had already solved once), leftover Christmas cards, an audiobook (after I had listened to it once) etc.