What’s the world coming to?

No one could have fully anticipated the economic downturn in our country. However, each one of us should have known that such a time as this could happen. A good friend of mine shared a quote with me last week by the great philosopher Socrates that said “Nothing is stable in human affairs, avoid therefore undue elation in prosperity or undue despair in adversity.” In other words, live a balanced life or live within your means!

The one thing to avoid is debt. Solomon wrote, “The borrower is slave to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7). When times get tough, lenders get tough because they need the money owed to them. If you have debt (which many of us do) make it your goal to be debt free. This begins with developing a financial plan and budget that works towards that end. It will most likely involve changing your spending habits and making sacrifices. If you’re having trouble sorting it all out, seek the counsel of a professional financial advisor. I also recommend taking Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University (we’ll be offering this again in a few months).

Let’s also keep everything in perspective. To help you with this consider what was being said around 1957.

• “I’ll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it’s going to be impossible to buy a week’s groceries for $20.”
• “Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging a dime just to mail a letter?”
• “If they raise the minimum wage to $1, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store.”
• “When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 29 cents a gallon? Guess we’d be better off leaving the car in the garage.”
• “Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn’t surprise me if someday they’ll be making more than the President.”
• “I never thought I’d see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now.”
• “The drive-through restaurant is convenient, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on.”
• “If they think I’ll pay 50 cents for a haircut, forget it.”