I somehow doubt that I get many readers with a well to do lifestyle. But for the record, that whole lifestyle of spending way more than you make and charging to the max, it’s over. It’s not coming back any time soon and likely not even in our lifetime. You need to deal with the new reality. It’s like those folks who thought that having a home equity line of credit was like having savings. Then they found out that the banks could revoke that line of credit. Suddenly, they don’t have a penny in case of emergencies. Savings are real (and yes, you can lose savings, as folks found out during the bank failures of the Great Depression).

So, what can you do? You need to learn to do what folks used to do: live within your means. It will mean the end of recreational shopping. You’ll need to learn how to take care of things and make them last. You’ll need to learn how to get good value for your money. You’ll need to learn how to cook and prepare foods from scratch. It doesn’t mean a life of deprivation. It does mean taking a lot more responsibility for yourself and your family.

My friend, Ginger, has taught me a lot about this. Ginger is a prepper. She has been working towards a year’s supply of food. She started out buying the long term storage stuff, like grains and beans. Then she started buying short term stuff. She’s got this organized in a way that lets her rotate her food. I guess you could say she has a well stocked pantry. She went through a difficult time recently when trying to sell her home. To save enough money to pay her mortgage on a reduced income, she was able to use her food storage. Imagine what it would be like, to have a year’s supply of food to depend on. If you were unemployed, you would still have enough food for yourself and your family. You could use that unemployment check to pay the bills and buy gas for your job search. The stress level would be much lower. Even three months worth of food would give you peace of mind.

So here’s some recommendations:

1. Start a garden. It’s time to start doing. Even if you have a postage stamp yard, you can still grow enough for salads. When we lived in the Airstream and travelled, I had a garden in milk crates. I could put it in the trailer when we moved and back out at the new location.
2. Pay yourself first. You need savings. I’ve talked to several people who have gone from good paying jobs to poor paying ones. All of us are astounded at how much money we used to waste. Start from wherever you are and start to put something away first thing, before you pay anyone else. Read The Richest Man in Babylon to learn why this is important. Another good book is The Millionaire Next Door. People that are really rich don’t have the lifestyle you envisioned.
3. Learn how to make do. This goes back to that idea of getting good value for your money. I just found a great book on getting this mentality: Thrift in the Household. You may not want to make your own vinegar. But read that part on weighing what you buy and then weighing the waste. Sometimes we think we are getting a great deal, when we are really overpaying for junk.

I am not in the doom and gloom camp, not yet. I do think that we are going to have a period at least equal to the tech crunch. Given the higher prices on food and fuel, I suspect it will be a longer downturn. You really need to take a look at your spending and start planning for that downturn. After all, if I’m wrong, it won’t hurt you. If I’m right, it might make a big difference. If you’re interested in learning about food storage, Provident Living is a good place to start.