Comments on: Was I two years ahead of the recession? http://www.debtkid.com/was-i-two-years-ahead-of-the-recession Debt Kid - I'm Getting Out of Debt Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:11:13 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Smartgirl http://www.debtkid.com/was-i-two-years-ahead-of-the-recession/comment-page-1#comment-19618 Smartgirl Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:34:00 +0000 http://www.debtkid.com/was-i-two-years-ahead-of-the-recession#comment-19618 You might not be old enough to remember the recession of the early 1990s... but there was a ton of talk regarding frugality, savings, etc.... and people did - until the Internet boom/bubble - which went on to be replaced by the real estate boom/bubble. Prior to that, there was the recession of the 1980s (when unemployment and inflation were both high). My parents grew up during the depression - they were both big on saving and only took out loans for a home mortgage or to buy a business. Living below their income was a high priority. For my mom, the depression was never forgotten - she grew up in a small one-room cabin (built by her father) on an indian reservation - there was no electricity or running water..... they didn't own a car, but had a horse with carriage/wagon. There will be people who take this experience and will learn from their past mistakes... there will be others for which this is a passing fad and once the economy turns, they will once again be chasing fast cars, fancy vacations, and bigger homes.... all "bought" on credit. You might not be old enough to remember the recession of the early 1990s… but there was a ton of talk regarding frugality, savings, etc…. and people did – until the Internet boom/bubble – which went on to be replaced by the real estate boom/bubble. Prior to that, there was the recession of the 1980s (when unemployment and inflation were both high).

My parents grew up during the depression – they were both big on saving and only took out loans for a home mortgage or to buy a business. Living below their income was a high priority. For my mom, the depression was never forgotten – she grew up in a small one-room cabin (built by her father) on an indian reservation – there was no electricity or running water….. they didn’t own a car, but had a horse with carriage/wagon.

There will be people who take this experience and will learn from their past mistakes… there will be others for which this is a passing fad and once the economy turns, they will once again be chasing fast cars, fancy vacations, and bigger homes…. all “bought” on credit.

]]> By: MoneyEnergy http://www.debtkid.com/was-i-two-years-ahead-of-the-recession/comment-page-1#comment-19616 MoneyEnergy Tue, 30 Jun 2009 06:43:36 +0000 http://www.debtkid.com/was-i-two-years-ahead-of-the-recession#comment-19616 I'm a bit of a contrarian too:) I was kind of ahead of the recession in the sense that I was reading about it 3-4 years before it happened. Many people could see it coming who didn't just pay attention to the superficial layers that the media provide. But just a glance through the NYT today and saw some scary phrases. Looks like things are getting worse under the veil of a "stable" stock market. Wonder what oil is going to do this summer. I think the new focus on frugality is definitely a fad for those who only pay attention at the media/social peer group level of things. Everyone else is saving now, so it's the thing to do. They see it in the papers, etc. so it becomes something people can talk about and have in common, I think - which isn't bad in itself. And it's better savings than something else, perhaps. I’m a bit of a contrarian too:) I was kind of ahead of the recession in the sense that I was reading about it 3-4 years before it happened. Many people could see it coming who didn’t just pay attention to the superficial layers that the media provide. But just a glance through the NYT today and saw some scary phrases. Looks like things are getting worse under the veil of a “stable” stock market. Wonder what oil is going to do this summer.

I think the new focus on frugality is definitely a fad for those who only pay attention at the media/social peer group level of things. Everyone else is saving now, so it’s the thing to do. They see it in the papers, etc. so it becomes something people can talk about and have in common, I think – which isn’t bad in itself. And it’s better savings than something else, perhaps.

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