Gas is four dollars a gallon and food prices are going up everywhere you look. Wages are going down and it is making it even harder for people to keep up. When it comes to coping with rising prices and falling paychecks, you need to know that this is only temporary regardless of what the doomsayers want to tell you. Here is how you cope with the cost of living today.
The first thing you do is to scale back and make adjustments. Maybe you can’t drive an SUV anymore because it only gets 18 miles to the gallon. Driving a Hyundai isn’t a bad thing and when you get 40 miles per gallon it will be worth it. The money you save on gas can be used for other things. You might just be able to afford that extra half gallon of milk after all.
Don’t gripe about it or try to think of the way that it used to be. Yes, a dollar for a gallon of gas was great, but it won’t ever happen again. It isn’t worth blaming Obama, or cursing the capitalistic system for driving prices upward. It might be painful, but it happens to every generation. Prices go up for each generation.
Remember that the economy can’t stay bad forever. The Great Depression lasted a little over a decade, and it seems reasonable that they didn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. However, it ended and people enjoyed prosperity and a better standard of life. You might have to lay low for a bit and cut back on your spending, but it won’t last forever.
Those who work hard will succeed in the long run. It might seem easier to simply stay on unemployment and say that everyone else is doing it. However, you don’t get hired again unless you look for a job. Even nine dollars an hour is better than nothing, and you never know when you might come up with an idea that launches your own company, or gets you a job with another company. If you give up, you will simply stay on the sidelines when this is all over.
Keep your head up, realize that we might never see cheap gas and never stop working through this tough time. It isn’t the first one and it won’t be the last one. Coping with it is as simple as not making excuses and doing the best you can to live as well as you possibly can.