Friday Blog Question: Tasteful in Basic Black Monday

For the past few months, I’ve been trying to keep people from freaking out over what has been happening with the housing and banking sectors of the economy. In very Pollyanna-esque fashion, I’ve been telling people, “it’s not that bad!” “That bad,” meaning people aren’t jumping out of windows or selling apples on the corner or standing in lines for soup. After all, the people hurting these days are still (for the time being) in homes and driving SUVs. They continue to get iPhones, and buy coffee each morning from Romancing the Bean - the highly over-priced coffee shop in the lobby of our building. As someone who didn’t make the mistakes others have made – enormous credit card debt, 5 year ARM loans on a house I can’t afford, breeding, and generally living beyond my means – I haven’t felt terribly worried about this latest economic hiccup. Now, of course, things are certainly starting to look “that bad,” and even those of us who weren’t foolish may have reason to feel terribly worried. The Los Angeles Times is reporting extensively on the $700 billion of taxpayer money that will need to be risked to save the economy. This works out to roughly $2300 per US citizen, which we may or may not get back, on a bailout that may or may not work. So how worried are you? Or are you? Will we bounce back quickly? Is this the End of Days? And why?

I'm buying euros, and if the dollar tanks, I'm outta here. I'm not going to pay for the mistakes of others, especially when that includes people like the President, Wall Street bank execs, people who took on mortgages without understanding the terms, a general citizenry too ignorant to realize it has voted against its own interests for eight years, etc. Incompetence shouldn't be rewarded. That's what got us into this mess in the first place. Joseph Jaramillo

I’m not worried about things getting “that bad”. This country has been through times of depression before, and we always come out fine. Businesses have failed, banks have closed, jobs have disappeared, and Americans have survived through it all. It’s part of what makes us who we are as a country – we’re resilient and resourceful. Sure, people may have to drive smaller cars and drink less half-caf low fat mocha hold the whipped cream coffees, but I seriously doubt that it’ll get to the point where we’ll see whole cities lining up at the local soup kitchen. Americans have become very accustomed to a very high standard of living – just look at what’s happening with all television going digital next year. I’d go so far as to say we’re downright spoiled! We’re just going to have to become accustomed to “tightening our belts” and living within our means. Shocking, I know! Vanessa Geary

I have not really changed the way I live in this economy, but I think the only reason is because I am a pretty frugal person, and I have always lived within my means. Now married, the dual income helps as well. My dad was a banker most of his career, so needless to say I think that I was born with genes that have made me very conscious of my spending and saving habits. Don't get me wrong, I blow money on clothes, coach purses and loads of crap from Target I probably don't need - but I spend within my means and find it ok to reward yourself with something nice from time to time. I went to the Economic Outlook Chamber of Commerce event yesterday and they said that it will eventually get better, but it is going to take several years. So I will probably live in my house for another 4 years before I can sell it for any small profit and I will probably drive the same car for many years to come, but you only live one, so I am not going to spend it worrying for years upon end on how the economy is going to turn out, just going to live one day at a time. I am not thrilled however that it will take $700 billion of taxpayers money to bail out the financial institutions that made bad loaning choices. Debby Hrach

I really don’t understand the economic downturn, and I don’t really want to. Why add more drama to my life? Especially on matters that I know too little of, and have zip to no power to do anything about? Therefore, I too am trying to not let this affect me. Why?

I have a job. (Income)

I have a home. (Shelter)

I have my family/loved ones. (Personal Nourishment)

I have a dog, too. (Little pleasures in life)

As long as my basic needs are met and I can still enjoy my life by focusing on what I have, then there is no need to be frantic about the cyclical changes in our economy. No matter what, I don’t think our economy could ever get as bad as it did during the Depression because I would figure we would have learned something. I’ll leave that forecasting stuff to the politicians and economists. As for me, I am saving money because I know I can’t rely on any of them to secure my future financial status, much less give me Social Security benefits. Also, it might be a good idea to live within my financial means. That means to iPhone or big SUV for me just yet. Darn! Rosa Millan

I think we are going to revert to an all-cash economy. Gone are the days of credit card offers and 0% down home purchases… If you weren’t a saver before, the economy is going to force you to be one. As an avid and dedicated consumer to mostly items I know I don't need but are just so darn cute, it took me a while to come to the realization that cutting back might be a good idea. When talk of the poor economy began I felt like it was another topic for conversations (e.g. "So, how 'bout them Dodgers?") than a real crisis. Now with Lehman Brothers filing bankruptcy and banks cutting out student loan programs, it's getting scary. I do believe, however that we will recover and perhaps even come out more economically savvy than before. Hopefully in 10 years we will look back and view this as an economic cleansing and will no longer take for granted resources we came so close to losing or cut back on in these hard times. Amanda W.

About the Author: Eric Reid

I am the Social Media Services Manager for Off Madison Ave. I've been with the company since 2006, when I was hired to do SEO, and link building in particular. When social networking sites started cropping up, at first I started using them to create backlinks - but they weren't the best for that, given all of the "nofollow" attributes. However, I did see the potential for all of the direct referral traffic they represent. Since then I've been actively pursuing both tactics for clients: Links that can help them for search, and social postings that get them involved in the conversation. It's about the coolest job you could ever get. ;)