Tightening Our Belts

This morning, as with most mornings, I woke before everyone in my house. After going for my early walk I sat enjoying my morning coffee in the quiet ~ a favourite part of my day.

Today my thoughts were consumed with the current economic situation in the US. Not only is this crisis affecting the US but also other world markets causing stress and pressure for families and individuals on all sides. Just yesterday I spoke with a girlfriend in Australia and she shared a story with me about a family (we know) who have recently lost their home due to a $600 default on their payments. Thankfully this couple have the determination and strength to rebuild and are already moving in that direction. The effects of this crisis are hitting far too close to home.

Experts are using words like recession, crisis and depression to explain this situation. Some of you reading this understand the meaning of depression. You felt it as your parents lived and negotiated their way through it during the 30’s and 40’s. From what I can understand through conversations and the reading I’ve done most would say that those who lived through the Great Depression never truly recovered. Fear crept in and held lives hostage even when better times arrived.

If we truly are experiencing crisis, recession or the possibility of a depression then my suggestion is that we must all ‘Tighten our Belts’. The uncertainty in the world has reminded us as a family to be mindful of budgeting and as the old adage goes, ‘It’s what you make, not what you save’. Just as companies are watching their bottom lines we too are watching our spending. For us this means watching our dining out, the incidental buying and those ‘everyday treats’ plus making more efficient use of household luxuries. It all makes a difference and our generation is so used to everything being disposable including our incomes. It’s important at times like this, not become overcome by fear but to operate in wisdom.

This brings me to one of thefamilyroom core values, which is coming back to the dining table. As we all ride out this economic confusion let’s not do it alone. Tightening our belts doesn’t mean cutting us off from community rather I believe these are times when community shows it’s wonder. Ride this out together, have people over, eat together (for great recipe ideas visit our blogspot), bring back the games of our childhood like charades, twister, card games and all those fun things we seem to have let go of. Tightening our belts has a way of bringing things and people together so let’s enjoy this season, see it as a time to sow into relationships, to spend time rather than money and enjoy the simpler things in life.

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Susan xo