Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Brownie points for the bad economy

Excerpts from an article by Ginny Graves in Family Circle 1/10

Find the good points in a bad economy. Why not? There's not much you can personally do to cure it. It turns out there are good points to take advantage of.
  • You take better care of yourself - Tightening the wallets means eating out less, eating out less usually means eating better (avoiding the brick of fried onions at Outback, etc.). When you do the cooking, you have better control of the fat,sugar,sodium and calorie content of your food. Laura Kaiser, R.D., of Montefiore Community Program in NYC says that adding exercise to 'waist watching' may prove to be stress busting and help overall mental health.
  • You save more - According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, we're saving more. I don't know if our credit-happy ways are cured, but saving more is definitely positive.
  • You hang out more with your family - With less money, people are spending more time at home with their families, bonding more. Experts says the more time together strengthens the relationship.
  • Kids learn responsibility - Children are expected and actually help out more when the family hits financial straits.
  • Good for the environment - Some of the ways to save money has helped the environment like: drinking straight from the tap is one less water bottle hitting the dump, checking out books from the library instead of buying the latest thriller, popping some corn and watching a movie at home means consuming less fuel.
  • Rediscovering fresh foods - The National Gardening Association estimates the number of families growing their own fruits, vegetables, herbs and / or berries will jump by 19% this year. Burpee the seed company says that investing $50 in a garden can bring a harvest to your table worth $1,250.
  • Volunteering is up - It's a great way to get out in the community and feel that you belong.

Less is more, and a bad economy is proving it.

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