Are we headed for a recession?

Frizzy the frizzle

I think that the question - Are we headed for a recession? - is pretty relevant at the moment. When I was going to the Baby Health Clinic Mothers Group (about 3 months ago), a couple of the new mums who went along, their husbands had lost their jobs. That was pretty scary, considering they had 6 week or so old babies.

I found out last week that my neighbour lost his job about 6 weeks ago (he was in mining & would have been quite high up). My ex-partner, Roger, at his work the factory workers overtime has been cut and everyone in the office (including him - senior mgt) is down to a 4 day week & 1 day annual leave. This is a manufacturing company.

Making sausage rolls for a snack

Another girl from mothers group, her husband has gone to 4 days per week to try and keep his job. I think Gregs work is ok at the moment and I'm in government so not sure how it will impact them.

So this is happening all around me but I also notice that the takeaway shops around here are still doing really good trade and the shops seem to be going ok from what I saw on Saturday when we were there (Hornsby Westfield). I went to Crows Nest today and my sister, Alex and I had lunch at a cafe. The cafe was really busy and it wasn't a cheap one.

Soap I made

I think that things may get pretty bad. I don't want to be doom and gloom but I think we lag behind USA a bit and it is coming. I hope it won't be as bad for us as it is for them and I don't think it will - but you never know do you?

Lucky for me (my family) I am already pretty good with the $$. We could be A LOT better but we (or I hehe) am careful. WHY? - because you never know what is around the corner eg the $$ with Cody is a classic example of why I am careful. If we didn't have the money then Cody would have to have been put down and that wouldn't have been a nice decision to make at all.

Little things often make it easy to save money. Some examples are:

• taking your lunch to work


• putting you washing on the line and not in the dryer


• turning off lights when not in the room


• turning off your computer when you're not using it


• cooking your meals from scratch & menu plan


• not shopping for "stuff" (stay away from the shops)


• trying not to buy the latest and greatest of everything


• not buying a coffee every day (eg wait till you get home to have one or make your own)

All these little things add up to big savings, they really do and they are not too hard to do.

If you have a mortgage, pay off extra so you get in advance. This benefits two ways - if things get bad you will have a bit of a buffer and it will reduce the interest you pay too. If you pay rent, maybe pay a bit extra so if an unexpected bill comes in or if something bad happens you have a buffer of not have to pay your rent for that week or how ever much you are in advance.

These are just a couple of things that can be done in the short term to offer you a bit of a buffer in your finances.

Something to think about.................................

Oh, Cody and Lacy are doing well.........thank goodness :-)