The "RE" Word.

There is no recession. There is no recession. There is no recession.

That's what we've been hearing for the past year from the establishment hacks.

Then, all of a sudden, it's: "GIVE US $700 BILLION OR THERE WILL BE A DEPRESSION!"

Funny, huh? No one would even admit to the "RE" word (recession), but now we need to prevent a depression.

At the beginning of 2008, a friend sent me an astrological forecast for the year that mentioned some other "RE" words, ones that I took to heart and decided to embrace in 2008 and beyond.

Since I knew then that, contrary to public opinion, we were already in a recession, I made a list of "RE" words that were important to me and that I would use to guide my actions:

• reuse
• recycle
• repurpose
• redo
• rethink
• replay
• reconnect
• reinvent
• restore
• revamp
• rescript

Maybe recessions aren't such a bad thing. Maybe tough economic times bring out the best in us. Maybe we learn what is really important.

I hope so. I encourage everyone to try living by some "RE" words. In bad economic times (or good), it certainly can't hurt.

Have a good Friday, Paycheckers.

I Finally Did It!

I've been wanting to start a blog for the longest time, and here it is! I will be writing about what life is like for those of us surviving in the "paycheck" economy, where although many of us make a decent amount of money, there is little left at the end of the pay period. In some ways this is a blessing--there is not much to lose if and when (probably when) the macro economy goes south, but for the most part, we struggle, taking one step forward and two steps backward each year, never seeming to get ahead. At any rate, life in this portion of the economy is always challenging and rarely boring. Let's examine how we all got here and how we can improve our financial situations.