Today on the ABC radio news was a report that the Australian economy was at its slowest since the Global Financial Crisis. This raised the spectre of whether the economy was heading for recession while acknowledging some sectors like retail to already be in recession. In fact, headlines are ‘Economy on the brink’. Concern was expressed in the report of a large part of the population not knowing how to manage if there was a recession. Today in so many ways it’s a different world from the hard days of the 1930’s recession and WWII. Expectations have changed making it hard for people to relate to the measures taken back then to survive. Another article that stood out that makes you wonder was a piece proposing that people would be able to meet home loan repayments if they cut back on posh wine and expensive wagyu beef. The message was that we have our priorities in the wrong order. The mindset adopted is we have only one life so live it now and to the full. A new mentality, the new cool way, is to buy now and pay later. Witness the growing trend in the belief to experience travel while young. Doesn’t matter if you have not saved up or have spare funds for travel; we use credit cards. The worry is the growing number of people falling behind in loan repayments and paying off credit cards. What will happen and how will they cope if things get seriously tough? Getting rid of as much debt as possible now is the best way to avoid a personal crisis. Prioritise what is really important and essential. Paying down debt is the only way to stay above water and get a good night’s sleep.
Living well on a shoestring 