Monday, January 21, 2008

Stock Markets Worldwide Drop - What To Do?

My husband called me up to let me know that several stock markets worldwide have been dropping today. I guess that's not really a surprise. Our markets were closed for Martin Luther King day.

Is there anything that you can do in times of economic trouble? Especially if things continue to get worse?

1) Become a miser. My husband even suggested that he wanted to do this last week. We're going to spend as little as we can. I even ordered a Pizza Hut gift card with some of my Mypoints, because I like to take dd to Pizza Hut once a month to use her Book-It coupons, and even the $5 I end up spending for me and ds is too much for me with this new spirit of miserliness.

2) Save as much as possible. That may be difficult, but if you can find ways to cut back with newfound miserliness, you might be able to save a little. Every little bit helps. If you're getting a tax refund, save it or pay off bills with it. If President Bush gives you some money, save it or pay off bills. My dh is trying to save up at least $5000 in case he loses his job... which will be a little tough because his temp-to-hire assignment ended abruptly a few minutes ago, so once again, we have no income coming in to save. But once he does get a job, we're saving it.

3) Trust God. No matter how bad things get, God is always there in control. Nothing can happen, good or bad, without him knowing. Even hard times are usually temporary. Even the Great Depression ended... eventually. If you don't know God, now might be a good to get to know him. We all have done bad things, like lying, or stealing (even taking a pencil from work is wrong), or hating someone else (Jesus said that was murder in your heart). That keeps us from God. Jesus has paid the penalty for our wrongdoings by dying on the cross... if you trust him.

4) Make yourself indispensable as an employee. Make it so that you are so important, your job won't want to let you go. Learn new job related things.

Hopefully things will turn around... but if not, be prepared for a bumpy ride ahead.

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