Navigating the Recession

I once saw this SNL skit and in it was a line that always cracks me up. Two thieves wanted to rob a Bank and the justifying line one of them had was "These are hard and trying economic times we live in and as the saying goes when the going gets tough, the tough rob Banks"......lol.
Ever since, whenever I hear that quote, my mind runs straight to that skit. But then, I don't believe we all need to rob Banks or even to rob it at all. Cause if we all do, there'll be no money left for the next guy and the whole society would plunge into chaos and we don't want that to happen, do we?
So today, I'll be sharing with you (as promised) some tips to help through these times of recession and if perchance you're not experiencing it, I truly am happy for you so just sit back relax and enjoy the ride.

• Cutting down Cost/Excesses:
the three basic things essential for human survival are food, shelter and clothing. Every other thing is just superficial. If perchance war was to breakout or for some just or unjust reason you had to leave your home, permanently, you would soon realize that you can do without 90% of the things you had spent year or decades collecting. One of the beautiful features of living organisms is adaptability.

Scenerio 1

When the income is stable and the cost of living has risen you need to cut down on excesses and focus on the essentials so as not to accumulate debt. If you do accumulate debt, you would soon find yourself struggling to pay back when infact you should be investing and before you know it, you are back at the start where you'd previously left off or even worse.

Scenerio 2

When the income increases, the first thing to do (wether cost of living increases or not) instead of indulging in excesses is to find investment opportunities in your line of work or other fields.

• Learning Skills:
I have met lots of people who ignore learning skills just because the are provided for or have enough at the time when the acquisition of those skills at that time were easily available to them, free even. That is not a wise thing to do. You need to acquire as many skills as you can because the job or person you are counting on today might not be tomorrow. Take fuels for examples. If there is a huge breakthrough in solar energy retention at a very cheap rate that an highschool student can easily afford to power a house for a year without spending much, the deman for fuel will drop almost entirely especially with the global warming crisis ongoing. So the need to acquire skills especially one that picks your fancy can't be overemphasized. In the world we live in, change is constant, nothing is fixed.

• Marketing:
this is an important branch of both commerce and economics. Even before honing your skills to perfection, you can start marketing them to your neighbors, friends and family. You should never be shy of doing something that puts food on the table especially when it is legal. I have also come to realize one strategy in marketing that the way you perceive your goods is the way you will advertise or negotiate and that is exactly how the customer will perceive it. And that is why I said you can market first with those around you to gain confidence in yourself before heading out (but don't take forever doing that....lol)

• Buying in Bulk:
when first I stopped staying with my Dad some years back, it wasn't easy adjusting because I was working a salary job. So I bought everything I wrote and needed in bulk (that is for the whole month). Then I noticed I was cutting cost by tens, hundreds and sometimes a thousand per item. Ever since, I made it a point to always go for bulk purchase.
There are somethings however that you need not buy in bulk like perishable items or food . You basically just need to do the costing (like I did) of the goods per unit against let's say a carton of pack and see which is more favorable.

• Rationing:
in extreme cases, strict rationing should be employed all in the bid to avoid debt. The main reason for this is to be able to seize every opportunity available so when the tide blows over, they'll be means to chase available opportunities.

• Extra Income:
if you have spare besides your daily job, you can also check for easy to do ones that are available and convenient with your schedule. Don't work yourself out if it isn't, because your health is just as important.
Also in a house filled with grown ups, it isn't wise for all two or three to be entangled in one job, it narrows the income flow and opportunity creating tunnel vision. I've seen this many times when a household of about 6 man a small shop. If the sales for that day runs low, they'll all suffer. But let's say they take shifts in twos or ones while the others run other jobs per time. That way, the productivity would be huge and they would have more market and ideas to push the business forward.

• Savings:
the reason why most people have the worst response to savings is because they have not the inkling as to what it is. For example, if you save someone from falling down a cliff, does it mean your whole life is tied to that event or that you spend the whole of that day at that spot? No.
The time used is spared and once the task is done and the person okay, you move on. The same goes with our finances. You are not to save half of your money, that way you'll be slowly creating ripples that will eat the whole thing up. Your savings should not exceed 5 - 10% of your income. That way you'll be able to go about your regular activities without noticing musch. And most importantly, you should be saving towards something else, you'll squander it at every lookalike troublesome situation.
So we've established that;

1. Savings should not exceed 5 - 10% of your income
2. You should save towards a goal.

• Check out Investment Opportunities:
on this last stop before I bid your farewell for the time being, I'd like to talk about investment opportunities and this can be on and offline. Atimes opportunity might present itself through your surroundings just don't be too stiff as not to notice.
For example; the football/soccer team in your neighborhood are in need of steady supply of T-shirts. You can bridge that gap by making inquiries from professionals before drafting a proposal. It is not necessary all the jobs or contracts you get are from your line of speciality. Take me for instance, the first time I wrote a professional essay, I had no idea whatsoever how it should go but I read up on it and even paid where necessary and over the past four years, I've written about a dozen.

After reading this again myself I'm beginning to think the recession is not so bad after all....lol
So friends, feel free to try these out at your convenience. To lighten the mood a little more, here's the SNL skit I talked about earlier...