Author of How to Prep When You’re Broke and Bloom Where You’re Planted online course
Economic changes are nearly always painful. While I sincerely believe America is on track for great prosperity with regard to jobs, consumer confidence, and more reasonable prices, there’s a gap that must be bridged to get there. I wrote about this previously in the article Things Are Going to Get Worse Before They Get Better.
Let’s look at manufacturing as an example. Factories and plants won’t magically return from overseas at the snap of a finger. Facilities will need to be built or modified, workers hired and trained, and raw materials acquired. During that time, we will probably be paying more for our goods, but it’s sort of like personal finance. Paying off all your debt is strenuous, but the end result is worth it.
Consumers are stressed.
Currently, we’re seeing a shaky job market, as even more retailers and restaurants go bankrupt and other companies undergo mass layoffs to try and stay afloat. The prices of rents and homes are skyrocketing, and instead of the recommended comfortable 1/4th of one’s budget, the cost to reside is closer to half or even more of a family’s income.
The price of food is outrageous for many reasons, and the cost of a grocery store visit is higher than ever. Even sales are no longer as good as they once were. Today’s “great sales” were yesterday’s “no way in heck am I gonna spend that much money on a box of cereal” prices, and folks are scrambling to cut their costs in every way possible.
Consumers are spending less and less on things like entertainment, home decor, vacations, and meals out.
There are two ways to get through this.
Americans have survived worse than this, and we’ve always bounced back. I firmly believe we will get through it again. This can happen one of two ways.
We can grimly push through, eschewing all forms of fun while keeping our noses to the grindstone. We can bitterly complain about our circumstances and moan that we don’t deserve to struggle like this, and the whole thing can be an unpleasant blip on our lifes’ radars.
Or.
We can look for ways to save money without making ourselves miserable. We can turn our focus to entertainment that costs little to nothing. We can spend time with the people we love. We can add as much joy as possible to our lives.
This is happening, whether we like it or not, so we might as well like it.
Thrift begins at home.
Of the kabillion and one ways to cut costs, many of them are positively lamentable. But what if we focused on the ones that added quality and positive interactions to our lives?
This all begins in the home.
- Creatively doing things to improve our homes such as DIYs, upcycling, and mending
- Making the time we spend together positive, pleasant, and educational
- Remembering to feel gratitude for all we have, not grief for all we lack
Sometimes, I look back very fondly at the times when we were flat broke when my daughters were younger. We visited the library, went for hikes and walks, played outside, did crafts, and went to thrift stores and yard sales. I often believe that the struggles we went through are part of the reason we are all so close today. We spend a lot of hands-on time together, getting through it and being creative and that is a bond like no other.
How do you make this shift?
Getting your kids and spouse on board may not be as easy as we wish it was, but creativity and a good attitude can really help. I put together a 163-page anthology of suggestions covering the following topics:
- Keep your cash with a culture of creativity.
- Multitaskers maximize meager money.
- Homekeeping hacks are hugely helpful.
- Utilize utilities usefully.
- Frugal fun fuels families.
- Maintaining and mending manages money.
I admit it – I went kind of crazy on the alliteration, but this book is all about enjoying the lives we have, and if tongue-twisters help, then so be it.
In the spirit of everyone’s budget being different, you can grab your digital copy of Home Cheap Home for as little as $2 until the weekend. Your purchase helps keep The OP afloat and is part of our spring fundraiser.
Our finances are going to be what they will be during this transition. The question is, how do you choose to get through it?
What are your thoughts?
Do you think things will get more difficult before they get better? Are you working to cut your expenses now? Do you have other tips on keeping yourself positive and grateful during times of economic strife?
Let’s discuss it in the comments section.
About Daisy
Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books, 12 self-published books, and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses at SelfRelianceand Survival.com. You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, and X.
13 Responses
I have to ask, do y’all still think letting “president musk” send teenagers to reform all the departments he doesn’t like but force? Do you think a trade war with Canada is really a good idea? Do you think it is a good idea to alienate NATO and make friends with Putin? I understand the point of tariffs and would love to have America turn back to a manufacturing economy but that is something that should be done incrementally. We can’t just magically snap our fingers and have manufacturing plants and trained workers. These things take time. This could easily take a decade to turn around, are you willing to suffer that long? Do you think average Americans are willing? Do you see that America’s political system is now for sale? That Trump has basically extorted social media, traditional media, and now law firms. This is exactly what the constitution is against. This isn’t draining the swamp, this is selling out. If you are not a billionaire, you don’t matter. Or do you still think Trump is awesome? I really want to know. In my eyes our government has gone to HE double hockey sticks, what do you see?
The people MR. Musk hired aren’t your runofthemill kids. They’re brilliant and capable. The reforms are cutting the garbage from the system, grant it there’s an awful lot of it on all sides, so there are going to be grumbles all around. The truly necessary programs are going to stay in place. Maybe they’ll even work better if the money going to who knows what is actually going where it’s needed. We’ve always had tariffs with Canada. Nothing new there. They have tariffs on us too. Do you really think NATO can do anything for us if we were ever attacked here at home? How exactly? We’ve paid for their defense far too long. Friends with Putin? No way! We don’t have to be best buds with another country to have a business relationship with it. China is a good example. Do you like how China treats it’s people? Do you trust China to not take advantage of a weakness in another country? Do you know what kind of control they have over the world with everything they sell – from medications to weapons parts to so many things in your home right now? All they have to do is stop shipping those and where are we? Trump isn’t extorting anything. If you mean suing, they asked for it. Did the democrats control the media? Big YES! Our government was well on the way to it’s place on the new world order stage with Soros and the dark behind the scenes evildoers we don’t even know about. Give things time to start to function again without the waste and back in the peoples hands. We can make things better.
very well said all of it. many things cant be accomplished overnight, and some things will definitely cause some pain. but we all have to suffer a bit to accomplish a better life. look how much we’ve suffered the past 4 yrs…now its time to take the lead and make changes we think will help restore this country! grumble, lie, protest, be an asshole all ya want, but we are ALL in this together as we’ve been the past 4yrs. so we should make up our minds to band together, treat each other fairly, for the betterment and security of our country. we are still on the edge of destruction and wouldnt take much to fall into abyss. trump and his team are trying their best to help as much as they can; those “kids” under elon, arent kids as we think of them….they are some of the most BRILLIANT MINDS around, and elon is an acute businessman and entreprenor, he knows what he’s about. so stop bellyaching, get on board, and your life will get better, just growing pains right now. do what you can for your life, your family to cut costs, etc, and you’ll find it goes much faster and easier. good luck
Excellent response! I completely agree with you.
well written. I agree. The team has a long ball plan. Let’s give it time. We know what was going on was not going to save us.
First, Musk is not president. That is just a lie being spread around. Nor is Musk or his employees “reforming” anything. They are performing audits to see where money is going or how it is being spent. Then the department heads or President Trump himself make actual reforms.
It is well known that other countries have various tariffs against US exports. Trump is merely leveling the playing field and will no longer let other countries advantage of the US.
NATO has been taking advantage of the US since NATOs inception. The US pays for three quarters of their budget. It is about time those EU NATO countries pony up their own defense funds, military and namely troops. They want to get into another forever war, let them and their troops die for it. Not ours. And we are not making friends with Putin. We are normalizing relations after Biden nearly brought the US to the brink of World War Three.
Companies are coming back. Apple is investing $500 billion over the next five years. And estimated 20,000 are coming.
Clarios, a WI based company is expanding US manufacturing by $6 billion.
Johnson and Johnson is investing $55 billion over the next four years to manufacturing facilities in the US.
Nvidia is investing some $500 billion over the next four years to make US made computer chips and electronics.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company will invest another $100 billion in new chip manufacturing facilities to the ones that are already here.
Hyundai is investing $20 billion to include a $5 billion steel plant in LA.
As you can see, these are all things happening over time. Not at the snap of a finger. Never mind all the construction jobs that will be provided.
The US political system has always been for sale. Just now, with Trump, Musk et al. it is not for sale the way the swamp likes it. With DOGE cuttings the source of many of the swamps grifts are getting cut. That is what we voted for. And our government went to H@ll a long time ago. Trump, Musk, et al are bringing back accountability and transparency.
Thank You 1stMarineJarHead for your excellent reply to Krispiemae an obvious victim of the msm brainwashing machine.
As the daughter of a lady who was a Marine Sgt in WWII….Dad was Army officer- combat engineer and partner -Marine – I’m retired LEO….you have it just right. They are unraveling in short order what took decades to create.
Krispiemae you clearly get your news from the msm brainwashing machine namely cnn, msnbc, cbs, abc, nbc, new york times, the guardian etc.
The msm brainwashing machine is not your friend. Their sole purpose is to promote the interests of the globalist corporations and to attack any threats to their power. The biggest threats to them right now are Donald Trump and Elon Musk who are patriots trying to do what is best for this country not the globalist puppet masters.
Joe Bidin is a globalist puppet. Everything Biden did to this country while he was in power was designed to destroy this country. Do you think we were better off under Joe Biden than we were under Trump who preceded him? All of his policies were anti-American – millions of unvetted illegals invited across the border, DEI a racist divisive policy, men competing in women’s sports and even allowed in women’s prisons if they “self identified as women” What could go wrong with that idea? I could go on and on.
If you want some honest news coverage without the anti-America bias then see
Dr. Steve Turley
https://www.youtube.com/@DrSteveTurleyTV
I am so glad that I have the ability to keep my own chickens! I do subscribe to the idea that goods hold their value more than cash, so I have stocked up on things like canning jars and REUSABLE canning lids from Lehman’s. I also am a great “scrounger” and have at least 6 canners at the moment. The idea was to host a canning frolic with friends at a church. My church only has one stove, so I also have those small portable burners to increase stove space. I will increase my garden this year, and am starting seeds now. (maybe a little late, but still worth doing to get a head start!) I also have a greenhouse that I have almost fully assembled (March winds are NOT helping!) Then to contact the tree trimmers to grab the wood chips for free! Grabbing cardboard for weed suppression too. 1st layer: Old trampoline, 2nd layer: Cardboard, 3rd layer: Woodchips. You put enough cardboard and woodchip down, it will even smother things like thistle, which sends runners underground.
I know some people use a pay for streaming service or cable. We have a big DVD collection, CD collection and the radio is almost always on.
My father had a old laptop that the Windows OS quit working on. He gave it to me. I loaded up a Linux Debian load and had it working in less than an hour. I now use it as a music server.
Spending time with friends and playing cards, board games, trivia is a good, fun and cheap source of entertainment. We usually will have a big dinner too using some simple, one pot dish.
I do think there is going to be a recession. Warren Buffet thinks the stock market is over valued and we are due for a correction. As bad as this may sound, a housing market may not be a bad thing. Housing and rent are unaffordable as it is. A crash would bring those prices down. Several companies have announced big investments to open manufacturing plants here in the US. It will take time to bring them online, but they are spending the money. They are talking about billions of dollars. If it is going to take a little pain on the front end, even moderate pain to get the US back into a better place with more Americans working good paying jobs, not the gig economy, I am willing to put up with that pain.
My car needs repairs and I decided to park it til I can save enough money to pay for the repairs in cash. I researched the cost of a car rental 90.00 a day plus additional insurance. So,I bought a commuter bicycle to have as a ‘back up” transportation. My workplace is 5 miles away and plotted a safe route using bicycle trails, residential areas.
I ‘m continuing doing the same things that works-buy when on sale, simple meals, DIY around the house, getting rest/sleep,etc
You are awesome Liz.
I worked away from my wife and boys for a long time.I slept on the ground in a tent and lived off potted meat and beans to provide.
Comments like yours, uplifting stories of real life individuals overcoming hardship is what I love reading in the comments section.
You are a winner and I do hope you post more.