Everywhere I go, people are talking about the economy.  I know a banker who is glad to just have a job.  Another friend, a commercial contractor, was losing $25,000 a month and terminated about 75% of his employees.  My son originates credit lines and is overrun with business – I mean, who doesn’t need money right now? My sweet-talking Alabama attorney friend said, “My business is still good.  People are still mad with each other and suing one another.”  (Probably more than ever, I would guess.)  A professor buddy and I have appetizers at a local café every week, and when the steamy plates of fresh seafood arrived at our table last night, I immediately noticed the standard portion of shrimp had shrunk. “The Gulf Oil Crisis is affecting us all,” the waiter lamented.  Well, at least the few on my plate didn’t taste oily.  

In view of the current crunch, many of us are now facing a need to change our lifestyle.  As the national unemployment rates are continuing to climb into the double-digits, some of us find we have no choice.
Nationally, even globally, the world is in a mess, a financial crisis of unseen proportions. As Americans, we watch as television daily spews the day’s ration of bad news, chief among it being the financial chaos. We stand appalled that the government could have allowed us to get into such a mess. 

But let’s take a look at our personal finances.  After all, aren’t we taking on water in a similar boat on the same ocean with the government’s ship?  It’s easy to berate those faceless government bad-boys, but what about our own mess that we got into all by ourselves?  Whether we arrived at this place by taking out low, teaser-rate mortgages, adding up huge credit-card debt, or by using a line of credit and depleting the equity in our home, many of us have bankrolled a lifestyle out-of-line with what we could afford based on our income.
So we’re dealing with a ship that’s taking on water, to say the least, and we must begin to make painful adjustments to live a more modest lifestyle. In other words, most of us now have to live within our means. Imagine. As Americans, those means are much different than those to which we have become accustomed. I’ve found it’s actually much harder to mentally and emotionally handle the possibility of such huge change than the reality of living with that change.

Here are a few practical suggestions from my last experience of downsizing, and I don’t mean weight. These are just a few tips on how to learn to deal with living more modestly:

• Change your focus. If it’s important to impress others with your success, whether that means clothes, home, car, or lifestyle, you’re going to be really unhappy if you don’t make a mental change.  Take some time, an entire morning – heck, take a whole day, and meditate and journal what’s really important to you. Look deep inside and get real with yourself.
• Rethink “Success.” I remember wanting desperately to own a double-handful of restaurants and for everyone to think I was all that. I worked seventy-plus hours for many years.  Then a hurricane came along and wiped out my tiny empire.  A few years later and I began to build it again, eventually having a couple of partners and a lot of properties. About that time, the real estate market took a giant swan dive and landed head-first in an empty pool. Today, sitting in my home office, I’m grateful for enough sleep, time to go to the gym and pet my dog. What a difference time makes!  To sum things up, my current definition of being rich is having enough money to meet my basic needs, a few wants, and to be able to give to others.
• Stay home and play.  In these days of $1.00 rental movies and microwave popcorn, it’s easy to have fun at home. Besides, you don’t even have to put on makeup!  Invite some friends to come over, bring a dish and play cards. Play games with the kids or neighbors. This plan has a big bonus – you spend quality family/friend time. Or, read a great novel, like one of the classics, which is a delicious thing and overlooked.
• Hope for the best but prepare for the worst.  A friend used to say, “Blessed are the flexible, for they will not be bent out of shape.” The only constant is change, and we must always be prepared for it.  If you are financially and emotionally prepared, and circumstances take a turn for the worse, you can better handle it.  However, if you live above your means, then when the slightest change occurs, you can’t be flexible enough to deal with it.
• Learn to bargain shop. A lot of things can be fun if you view them as a challenge. When there just isn’t enough money to go around, make it a game to see how much you can save by going to a few grocery stores and shopping their sale items.  Stock up on staples and non-perishables, just in case things actually get worse before they get better.
• Pray about it.  There is an answer and better days are coming. Prepare your heart for a better day while dealing with the reality of a rainy one. When your heart is filled with hope, you can learn to dance in the rain. Hope is like a tree of life, it grows quickly and crowds out disappointment, despondency, and despair. Ask for wisdom to know what to do in your situation, but also ask for hope. It’s the best umbrella I’ve found!

Sylvia Jackson, Financial Advisor
http://www.kingdom1stfinancial.com
sylvia@kingdom1stfinancial.com
863-268-8034
Sylvia Jackson is an entrepreneur and financial advisor in Central Florida.  She owns Kingdom 1st Financial Services, where she specializes in safety and growth investments.

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