How to Thrive Financially During a Recession

In tough economic times, it is still possible to thrive. It requires a major paradigm shift: to see that an abundant life does not consist in having a bunch of stuff and spending a lot of money. In fact, it’s just the opposite: having less stuff, and saving a lot of money. We need to redefine what it means to be “well-off.”

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    Visit thrift or second-hand stores, both to buy and to sell.
   Visit thrift or second-hand stores, both to buy and to sell. One of the industries thriving in this recession are thrift stores. Shopping at Goodwill has become cache instead of passé. While charities like Goodwill or Salvation Army will take your used clothes as a donation, other stores will buy gently used clothes or give you store credit. And you can often find new or nearly new designer clothes at thrift stores for a fraction of the price of new.
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   Learn to delay gratification. So often, we think self-indulgence—buying something the moment we see it, just because we want it—will make us happy. But it usually only leads to buyer’s remorse—and often, to debt. When we can learn to put off purchases, to save instead of frittering away our money, we can begin to thrive—and to save for the things that really matter to us.
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   Pay yourself first. Each time you earn money, put some away into savings. Many employers can automatically deduct money to put into your 401K, so you won’t even notice that it’s “missing.” If you’re self-employed, set goals for saving—it helps to have something concrete to save for: a trip, a house, education. Remember that saving money means not spending it. Buying something on sale to “save” money does not save you as much as if you simply forgo the purchase and put the money in the bank!
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   Pay your bills on time. When you pay bills late, you are wasting money on late fees and other charges.
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   Recycle and reuse as much as you can. This goes beyond just putting out your recycling bin at the curb. Many people wash and reuse plastic containers or glass jars, hand down clothes or repurpose scraps of metal or wood into useable things. The added benefit of this habit is that it is also environmentally conscious.
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   Remember that the best things in life are not things.