Ready or not, it’s almost the season when we always write down the wrong year. I don’t know about you, but I’m almost certain that I will be writing 2009, slapping my hand and changing it to 2010.
If anything, 2009 was different. The recession, the massive layoffs, the scare of unrecoverable stock market declines, the change in savings rate, and the move towards frugality are just a few of the seismic shifts we experienced as citizens of Earth this year.
With all the interesting headlines, how have 2009 changed you? But before you answer though, it’s only fair that I share with you how 2009 changed me. Here they are.
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The holiday season is undoubtedly the happiest time of the year for many people. At the same time, it’s also one of the most costly.
One of the great benefits of having my credit card where I bank is that the credit card balance is right there staring me in the face every time I log in to check my account balance (a task I embarrassingly admit that I do a bit too often).
I noticed something a little surprising a few days ago – my balance is 3 times monthly average. As I look into the details and think back, every transactions was authorized by me. No fraud, and no one else to blame. No doubt the holiday mood helped ease my spending decisions, but wait, this card is for business expenses?.?.?
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Every year around the holidays, we are bombarded with requests for donations and messages conveying the urgent needs that nonprofits and the people they serve are experiencing.
I know that a lot of us are in need during this time of the year too, perhaps coupled with holiday stress. But if you are in a position to make financial contributions, I urge you to put more thought into your gifts this year than you ever have before.
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If you are a chronic dieter, you know that long term, diets don’t work. You do really well for a while, pushing to lose the weight, but once you reach your goal, you gleefully go back to the habits that got you in trouble in the first place. I know. I’ve been there. In order for a diet to work, it has to be more than a, well, diet. It has to be a healthy lifestyle change. And that sometimes means that you make more gradual changes that you can live with, developing long term habits that stick with you long after you have reached your goals.
The recent recession has prompted many to save more and spend less. However, the worry is that this is more of a “recession diet”, rather than a long term lifestyle change. Which means that as the economy comes back online, people will slip back into their old ways. If you don’t want this to be you, the key is to look at things you have been doing to create a better financial foundation during this recession and hold on to them. Here are two of the major concerns associated with the end to a recession diet, and how you can combat them:
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Can you save more?
I often wondered about whether there’s more excess that could be cut out of my life, but I eventually realize that it was the wrong question to ask.
Here’s why.
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Golf, for the most part, is an expensive game. Between clubs, balls, green fees, and lessons, the total adds up quickly. Over the years, I’ve found many ways to save on this ridiculously frustrating, yet addicting game.
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