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These past two years have been a difficult economic environment for nearly everyone across the nation and around the world.  The cost of staples keeps rising as wages stagnate or decline for a majority of the employed.  The unemployment rate is the highest it has been in nearly eighty years with large portions of many industries facing massive layoffs.  Housing values have plummeted to the point where many people owe much more on their mortgage than their homes are worth.  Add the lack of credit availability into the equation and you are looking at the worse economic climate that many people have ever experienced.

It is important to not only evaluate what happened to cause this economic distress to prevent it from occurring again in the future, but to also absorb the lessons that can only be learned in this type of economic climate.  There are many lessons that are being learned by the individuals hit by this recession, whether they are unemployed, have seen their working hours cut, or are employed but are still facing the high prices and lack of credit availability that has swept the nation.

Learning To Live Within Your Means

One of the hardest lessons being learned in the current economic climate is learning to live within your means.  For the past decade, credit cards and home equity loans enabled many people to make purchases that they would not have been able to afford otherwise.  The credit crunch and the cutting off of home equity loans created a rude awakening for thousands of individuals that could no longer finance a higher quality of life. 

Today, people are learning that they cannot spend all that they earn plus more and still remain financially afloat.  By scaling back monthly obligations and delaying purchasing until they have the cash to pay for the items, people are finding financial stability that is easier to maintain and more secure than the way that they were living before.  Learning to live within your means is a lesson that should have never been lost, but is returning today with a vengeance.

Learning To Do Without

After the heady days of instant gratification and purchasing everything that caught the eye, many people are now learning how to do without.  People are finding that they do not need a new wardrobe every season or a new cell phone as soon as the upgraded models are released by the manufacturers.  Instead of dinners out, people are relearning how to prepare their own meals.  Jewelry sales have suffered to the point that many jewelers are going out of business.  The mantra for this newfound frugality is “if it is not a necessity, it is not purchased.”

Learning To Reassess Priorities

One of the best lessons being learned in this distressing economic climate is the reassessing of priorities.  Before, the common wisdom was that children would be happy if parents could buy them everything that they wanted, but now parents are realizing that what their children really want is their time, some attention, and shared experiences that expand their world view.  Instead of dedicating all of their time towards working, making more money and spending that money, people are rediscovering the allure of simple things such as fishing in a local creek or taking long walks in the woods together.  Although everyone’s priorities may be different, a much lower percentage of them are focused on chasing after money.