If I've ever approached a nervous breakdown, it's been over money. I grow up fairly poor. We had food stamps. I lived in a trailer for years. I only wore hand-me-down clothes. I didn't get to buy yearbooks or prom dresses or, often, Christmas gifts for my friends. In college, I worked three jobs at once and ate lots of peanut butter and jelly to survive.
This year, I didn't make an income. Between the miscarriage, a short spell of financial downturn at the business, morning sickness, bedrest, and having a baby via c-section, there was just no opportunity to make an income. I'm blessed, I guess, to have kept the business running so that I can make money in 2009. I'm really lucky to have a husband with a solid income. We are paying our bills (including all those extra medical bills), if just barely.
So when I turn on the radio or tv or search the web, the economic news gives me mini anxiety attacks. I don't know why. It's not like I really own stocks. My mortage note is reasonable and does not fluctuate, so I'm not losing my home anytime soon. I don't need any credit right now, and have a great credit score, so getting credit is not an issue for us. As situations go, ours is fairly stable.
But I think back to the days during college when I couldn't afford a beef meximelt at Taco Bell, for 49 cents, and I freak out.
Etcetera.
As an economist and with regard to the economy, I'll tell you this...you don't have to worry. As a state, Louisiana's economy tends to not go down as much as the rest of the nation during an economic downturn (mostly because of oil revenues).
ReplyDeleteAlso, the (generally) un-economically educated press tends to exaggerate any main-street negative economic news. So, depending on your source, you can discount some of what you read.