Coping with The Economic Downturn, Part 3

Another instalment from Audrey's timely survey

What You Shouldn’t Scrimp On

When I was in fourth-year university and had no money, I spent my emergency cash on perfume. My parents were shocked but I insisted that I was in an emergency situation - without perfume, I was feeling like a boy! All of us have things that we spend money on that seem like extravagances, but which are important to us. Don’t deny yourself these little luxuries. Sometimes the smart choice is to make that purchase, even in an economic downturn, because of the sheer pleasure that that purchase can bring to us.

We undeniably live in a society where our image is very important. Like it or not, we are judged on our appearance. Even in a downturn we should be careful to update our work wardrobe and to get regular haircuts. Go to clothing swaps. Ask friends where to buy bargains. One of my friends suggested that I buy tops at RW & Co. (in the Rideau Centre) and I was so happy with the selection that I bought three of them for work.

Give more modest gifts but don’t stop giving gifts. This year for Christmas, my boyfriend and I baked quiches and shortbread cookies for family members. It was fun to get the phone calls long after Christmas to hear that a salmon quiche had been the main dish at a luncheon or dinner.

We always must remember those less fortunate than ourselves. One friend told me that, at restaurants and bars, we can try to “tip a little more generously because the servers probably need the money” during these difficult times.

Everyone needs a vacation. We all need time to recharge. Don’t deny yourself a vacation but do search the web for good deals. I like the “flight deals” for passage out of Montreal on Air Transat's website.

We workers in Ottawa are very fortunate compared with those in other Canadian communities. Public Service jobs and the high-tech sector bring great stability to the local economy. However, even those of us who manage to keep our jobs and income intact should be vigilant about our finances. One recommendation for all workers is that they review their bank accounts, insurance policies and pension plans. There are many steps that can be taken today to improve one’s income in the future, including taking advantage of opportunities to buy back past Public Service time and consolidating debts.

Do readers have any tips for reducing expenditures that they wish to share?

Image: Audrey and her boyfriend's home baking creation, a humungously delicious apple pie

Part IV: Audrey’s 20 Tips for Reducing Expenditures

Unfit to print...?

We coyotes like news papers. Probably due to puppyhood training, about which the less said in polite company, the better. So when the vivacious Jo S. began a thread on the health of the media, many, including your faithful/unreliable reporter/narrator, had things to say. I had a lot. You may safely surmise that I have not finished sucking my paws and, ummm, pawndering. And I'm not the only one. Just the only coyote...

Current world economic woes are not themselves killing newspapers and legacy electronic media. They've exposed pre-existing rot. Newspapers were a disruptive technology for their time, an artifact of (mostly) the 19th century, freshened for the 20th by the advent of giant, costly, high-speed presses. These allowed papers to meet radio, then TV, pretty much head-on, even as pundits forecast the end of hard copy.

But papers' attempts to compete with later media on their (newer) terms have lost subtle ground with each new disruption, and the Net changes the game totally. In developed societies, it's faster, more accessible and scalable than its ancestors, and cheaper for content makers. The computers we pay for download many of their distribution costs - legacy media need printing presses, delivery trucks, transmitters - right onto our desks.

And the Net's tuned to the ADD nanosecond. Why write, edit, publish and distribute articles about Paris' latest deep thinkage or Britney's wardrobe malfunctions when they can be fully, ummm, exposed in 140-character Tweets? The Craigslists and Kijijis efficiently nabbed the papers' classified lifeblood from under publishers' noses. Topping it all, media outlets began more than a decade ago to throw up content on the Net - often badly, always for free - hoping to somehow gain beachheads there until they somehow figured out how to make a buck from it. They never really did.

Newspaper presses used to pretty much print money for their owners. The Thomsons, Blacks and Aspers of Canada, and the Hearsts and Knights and Murdochs of the world, got into the business because profits were so amazingly fat. But rather than improving the product when faced with competition or adversity, they too often acted to protect profit margins with chiselling economies that made newspapers less enjoyable and more irrelevant. And unhealthy.

Oh, the Petfinder's former editor in chief tried to regain hip cred by hanging major news stories on movie and comic book leads - complete with movie publicity stills instead of, like, actual news photos. Maybe he could have thought the other way around, instead of trivializing his content. Now the paper's latest owner, Canwest-Global, tries to economize by half-gutting local newsrooms to centralize its newspaper chain's content, inappropriately like the network feed for its TV stations.

These band aids and others do not play to the strength of a good paper, which is to reflect and record local thoughts and events and people. Placing them well within in their larger regional, national and global contexts, yes, but with the aim of really good local coverage. People trying to understand themselves, and their place in the world, are constant. I think.

I'm not saying that that newspapers need to be all serious. There's plenty of room for playful print. But there should be room for context and analysis too. And maybe they could back off a little from brain-dead takes on LiLo and Amy W. That's what the Net is for.

Coping with The Economic Downturn, Part 2

More from Audrey's groundbreaking survey...

Opinions of Those Who Have Not Changed Their Spending

Not all of my friends have changed their spending as a result of the economic downturn. Several wrote to tell me that the downturn has, thus far, had little or no effect on their purchases.

One friend said, “Actually, I’ve changed little my spending habits since the downturn was evident (for supporting documentation, please see my financial statements...which seen in order look remarkably like the drop of a rollercoaster at Wonderland). Most days I bring food for breakfast and/or lunch, which has been a staple for me for years. I regularly walk to/from work, and to destinations within a few miles of home. And my entertainment dollars are being spent as frugally as ever. I admittedly splurge on food and drink (splurge being a relative term - I don't cheat myself on items I know my friends will enjoy). The only real change I see is a result of reading media stories about how to find savings in daily purchases. If I see something that I'd like to try, then I'll adjust my approach that way. Otherwise, I try not to run up unnecessary or frivolous debt. Basically, I've had no real reason to have to change my spending habits.”

Another friend told me that he has kept his expenses pared to the bone for many years. He gave some useful insight into ways to live within one’s means, writing: “Personal economic change can be a surprisingly long process. For the first two or three years, every time you think you've cut expenses so far that you can't possibly take out any more - wait a couple of months to allow your perceptions to adapt, then recheck your budget for fat. Each time, strangely, you'll always find more to cut, while still leaving "enough". It's like peeling an onion - most of us have many, many layers of "luxury-we've-habitually-come-to-regard-as-necessity" that we can safely - and sometimes advantageously - remove before we reach the essential core of things.”

Image: Squawkfox.com Where frugal living is sexy, delicious and fun

Part III will look at what you shouldn't scrimp on.

Coping with the Economic Downturn

Audrey’s Survey Says…

When I was a little girl, my family predicted that I’d be a banker when I grew up, since I loved money. Monopoly was my favourite board game! I couldn’t wait to grow up, so that I’d have more control over my future.

Now that I’m an adult, while I’m not a banker, I continue to be interested in financial issues, especially issues related to personal financial planning. I’m risk-averse and a worrier, resulting in much careful planning over the years in order to spend my income wisely. (Yes, people laughed at me when I lived in a small apartment, but my low rent allowed me to purchase my first home when I was in my early 30s.)

However, as is the case for many of you, the economic downturn has affected my personal finances. I thought it might be useful to survey my friends for their strategies for coping with the economic downturn and to present the results to readers of this blog. I am pleased to be able to provide you with the results of my survey – and useful tips for weathering the recession – in five instalments.

Part I looks at the changes made by those who, like me, have altered their consumption patterns as a result of the economic downturn.

Strategies of Those Who Have Changed Their Spending Habits

Most of my friends have changed their spending as a result of the economic downturn, and not because they are saving for a special purpose, such as a vacation, a car, or a house. We are all in the position where a job loss would be catastrophic – often in circumstances where a return to school or a move to another city would be difficult due to family commitments. In addition, many are homeowners and most of us have mortgages and other financial obligations.

Many of those friends who have altered their spending have reduced expenditures on lunches out. We all work in downtown Ottawa, so the lunchtime meal choices are many and varied. In the past (in 2008!), we would have eaten lunch in one of the food courts (L’Esplanade Laurier, 240 Sparks, the Sun Life Financial Centre, the World Exchange Building), bought a sausage or fries from one of the merchants at the corner of Bank and Laurier, lined up for an inexpensive ham and cheese sandwich at the German Town deli on Slater Street, or treated ourselves to the occasional lunch buffet at Moni Mahal.

In the new economic climate we have all decided to spend a few minutes each morning or evening packaging leftovers or preparing a sandwich to take to work. The savings can be important. For example, I now spend $2 per day (I’m still buying tea twice per day but that is a little luxury) whereas I used to spend $7 per day. Even taking into account the added expenditure on sandwich ingredients, my savings are about $100 per month.

One of my friends told me that he has cut down on meals at restaurants, especially on weekends, in favour of more home cooking. He said that he is avoiding pubs unless there is a special occasion. Like him, I find that my boyfriend and I are sharing cooking duties more often, and we rarely eat dinner at a restaurant. We still meet friends for dinner at pubs, but typically choose the salad or the burger rather than the dinner special. The Standard on Elgin Street has a great deal on Sundays – $13 for a burger and a pint of beer.

The survey revealed that my friends’ coffee and alcoholic beverage habits have changed, too. One friend told me that he is drinking the cheap coffee at work but drinking the more expensive beer when out to the pub. “I am drinking the expensive imported beer when I do treat myself. I am savouring it like a good glass of wine, and not overindulging. That's my little protest against the recession.”

We have all reduced our discretionary purchases of clothing and shoes. One friend said that, before making a purchase, she asks “Do I need it?” instead of thinking “It’s on sale and I want it.” Another friend told me, “I'm not buying as many new clothes as I might have, otherwise. Even though I feel a little less stylish than my coworkers, I can't justify it now.”

My friends and I are all news junkies, yet many of us have changed our purchasing habits with respect to newspapers and magazines. In my case, while I still purchase newspapers, on Saturdays I sometimes buy only The Ottawa Citizen, or only The Globe and Mail, instead of both newspapers. One friend said that she looks for free newspapers, and finds Metro has useful information.

With rapidly rising house values, many of us indulged ourselves in the past few years by making our nests more comfortable. One friend writes: “I used to think about doing minor renovation and decoration to my house. I'd look at design options in magazines, and think that my kitchen would look good with a nice dark hardwood floor, and that my bathroom could really use a change of lighting. Now, I don't consider those things at all. I know that I won't be making these cosmetic changes because I feel my money is better kept in my bank account, just in case I end up without a job. So there's no point in browsing through options.”

Some smaller changes that some of us identified are related to lotteries, transportation and movie-going. One friend said that he participates in the office lottery pool “not just to be social but with actual fantasies of winning.” Some of us have been avoiding using our cars and are using public transit (yes, difficult to do during the bus strike) or walking more. Of course walking is good for our health, so that is an added bonus. In addition, some of us are going to the movies only on Tuesday nights, when some cinemas have reduced prices. For example, the Cineplex Gloucester SilverCity has reduced prices on Tuesdays.

Image: Ponte Vecchio, Firenze

Part II will examine the opinions of those who have not made changes to their spending in this new economic climate.

Summer Memories

What is your favourite kind of pie? Mine is any kind made by Harmony.