To choose a hardship for ourselves is our only defense against that hardship

How to Survive a Recession?

• Avoid taking on any unnecessary debts. The debts you have tried to reduce and consolidate into a lower interest rates bearing account.

• If you fear unemployment, start thinking what you might do as an alternative. Is it viable to consider working on a second income, such as online business?

• Do you have unemployment insurance to cover mortgage payments? If not, it would be worth taking insurance out now. ( Indians need to wait for generations)

• Don't panic. Firstly, the unemployment may not occur; there is nothing to be gained by worrying over what we cannot control.

• If you are made unemployed, the best solution is to be flexible in looking for work. Consider new avenues and skills that you could learn. Also recessions will be short lived; a period of temporary unemployment does not have to become permanent. During a pause, ways of improving skills and knowledge should be seriously planned out.

• Create a worst-case scenario Create a worst-case cash flow forecast. Predict how bad it could be if you lost your job or if your business dropped in sales substantially. Learn to live on less than your income. You may see pay cuts in your job during an economic recession, so look now for ways to trim your budget as much as possible. Compromise on your lifestyle. When everything doesn’t seem to work out for you, try reducing your lifestyle dramatically. Sell luxury car, move to a small house and cut down expensive dining and avoidable shopping.

In a very interesting article titled as “ Breezing through recession without Air conditioning" published in the leading US News Paper, it is stated that those people who were considering Air Conditioning as boon, are nowadays advocating a natural way of living in this way…….. The Allies won World War II without it (A.C.), and the great pyramids of Egypt were built outside in open-air (al fresco). Rather spend summer sitting in the lawn with kids and other family members. It is very therapeutic and at the same time, brings each other more closely. This is really the way it should be. An American lady is quoted to have said “You live with your windows and doors open, you use fans, drink lots of cold liquids and take it easy,” she said. “You come to realize that winter and summer is going to be kind of a bear but you dress for it, and you enjoy fall and spring very much. What’s interesting is you acclimate to it.”

The other thing is quality of life; if you have a place where you can go and have a picnic with your family, it doesn’t matter if it’s a recession or not, you can include that in your quality of life.- Jim Fowler

• Always strive to be the best, no matter which field of profession you belong to. Keep up your efforts without any frustration or else, you will be the first to be led to the exit door during a recession.
• Look for ways to minimize costs without compromising the business. There are always ways to cut costs and increase inefficiency. Some economists even go so far as to say that recessions are a good thing because they force the economy to become more efficient.
• If your business is particularly affected by the downturn, look to see whether you can diversify to reflect the changing economic environment. For example, if you specialize in selling luxury goods with a high margin try including some new product lines which appeal to people's desire for frugality. A fall in profits is likely to be cyclical. Therefore try to plan a financial plan to borrow at a low cost for the difficult years.

Preparation for a recession will enable you to react to changing times and take advantage of select opportunities. “Without a measureless and perpetual uncertainty, the drama of human life would be destroyed” Winston Churchill.