Actually, this is a news article for this morning and seems to fit here: 

Five Rules for Thriving in a Bad Economy

by Leslie Haggin Geary
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 provided byBankrate

The news is grim. Housing values are dropping, subprime mortgage meltdowns are spreading, the stock market’s uncertain and the overall economy seems to be heading into a recession.

No wonder plenty of us are worried.

Still, you can protect yourself. Here are some experts’ top five must-make strategies to do your best now that the economy is likely in for a choppy ride.

More from Bankrate.com

• Investing: To Risk or Not

• Are Americans Savings-Poor and Debt Rich?

• Eight Safe Investing Tips

5 rules for economic survival

1. Don’t panic
2. Bullet-proof your portfolio
3. Don’t let your home become a trap
4. Dust off your resume
5. Reduce your debt and build savings

Rule No. 1: Don’t panic
The stock market’s gyrations can give even the hardiest investors a case of the jitters.

However, converting all your investments to cash is likely to cause you far more harm than good, says Joe Baker, CFP and president of Alcus Financial Group in Mount Pleasant, S.C.

“People are scared,“ he says. “They’re asking, ‘Is the economy crashing? Should I move my 401(k) to a money market?‘“

Baker answers: “Please do not, unless you need the cash tomorrow. You’d be making a huge mistake.“

Unless you need the money short-term—say, within two years—it’s best to remind yourself that good and bad times pass. Historically, the market’s made up all its losses fairly quickly.

Since 1945, there have been 11 recessions as officially defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The S&P;500—the index of widely held stocks used as a barometer for the overall market—generally has hit bottom six months into the typical 10-month-long recession, according to Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at Standard & Poor’s.

After that point, the market typically starts regaining its footing. If you include the very worst meltdowns, when the S&P;500 lost more than 45 percent of its value, it took 19 months for investors to recoup their losses. But exclude the mega losses, and you find that it’s actually taken just eight months on average for the index to bounce back.

“The reason the market peaks before recessions start on average and troughs before they’re finished is that investors are anticipators,“ says Stovall. They’re willing to become more optimistic once the bad news is out,“ says Stovall.

Want More banking and budgeting tips?
Visit our Credit Report center

Stovall’s advice to today’s worrywarts is direct: “Don’t freak out.“

Rule No. 2: Bullet-proof your portfolio
Sure, we all know the warnings about putting all our eggs in one basket. But when it comes to investing, too few heed this advice.

One study by Hewitt Associates, for example, found that three out of five workers participating in a 401(k) plan never rebalanced their portfolios over a four-year period from 2000 to 2004. Failing to rebalance causes your portfolio to skew over time, leaving you overloaded with one kind of asset while owning too little of something else.
If you’ve neglected your assets, such imbalance could put you at greater risk.

Recent drops have left many investors in a position where they need more equities and less fixed-income. That may come as a shock for safety-hungry investors who are eager to stock up on fixed-income, cash and other “safe” assets.

“If your asset allocation was good for you six months ago, it should be good for you today,“ says Ellen Rinaldi, executive director of investment planning and research at Vanguard. “The fact that the market is volatile should remind you to be appropriately diversified.“

Personal factors like your age and risk tolerance—not the current state of the economy—should drive your investing. For example, workers in their 20s and 30s should generally devote roughly 80 percent to 90 percent of their assets in equities while people in their 60s approaching retirement may devote up to 50 percent of their assets to stocks.

“Use market declines as opportunities to add to holdings,“ says Stovall.

Remember, it’s a misstep to put your faith in gold, commodities or any other particular asset that seems popular now that the stock market is roiling.

“If you liked the market four months ago, it’s at a 15 percent discount,“ says Brett Horowitz, a financial planner at Evensky & Katz. “It’s a great time to buy. When you buy at a point when everything looks ugly, that’s good. You’re buying low. It’s forward thinking.“

Rule No. 3: Don’t let your home become a trap
Experts agree that tough economic times mean homeowners must figure out if they’ve got the best mortgage possible. Many people have adjustable-rate mortgages that are about to reset higher, causing their monthly payment to balloon.

It’s imperative for these homeowners to refinance to a lower, fixed-rate mortgage that will give them more stability in their month-to-month finances.

Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done right now.

The nation’s credit crunch and subprime mortgage debacle mean access to loans is fast disappearing, or becoming prohibitively pricey, for borrowers with less-than-sterling credit.

“Interest rates are being more unevenly applied in the marketplace than they have been in recent years,“ says Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH Associates, which tracks mortgage trends nationwide.

If you count yourself among those with good credit and have a FICO score of at least 680, don’t squander current opportunities to save.

Recently, mortgage rates have moved up and down in yo-yo fashion. Try to take advantage of the best rate you can find.

It may be more prudent

(article continues see URL above):

Robin Bobcat - 21 March 2008 03:14 AM

*looks up from dinner of ramen noodles and Mouse Helper*

*sigh*

Eeek?

Berlynprime - 20 March 2008 10:02 PM

^^^ Well now we know who to mug…

Remember that Smerk at least sometimes wanders around with swords. . . 

Nettie - 21 March 2008 03:52 AM

Once we finally get pregnant I’m sure we’ll come much closer to the poverty line.

So Australia’s not one of those places that has aid for parents?

I can’t understand why, in a thread called “Anybody Else Feeling Particularly Poor This Month?“, one would post “I’m almost scared to post for fear of getting lynched.“

You’re not going to be lynched. None of us are that bitter. Quite.

But, in a commiseratey thread, it’s just a tiny bit tactless.

I sent Jason off to buy Easter stuff.  Heh.  We probably could skip it…but I dunno, it just doesn’t FEEL right.  Besides, the eggs are still fairly cheap & the dye is less than $2.  I loaded him up with dollar off coupons for candy…  We’ll eat the eggs no matter what & now we don’t have to buy any meat…I also had a $15 gift card to WalMart, that I figured would more than cover costs for stuff for Jocelynn’s basket.  It’s not like we’ve got 10 kids to make baskets up for.  Plus, we reuse the same basket every year…

We just checked the irs website & it looks like our refund check will be mailed next Friday.

Acci…just b/c there is “aid” for families with children doesn’t mean you can always take advantage.  It’s actually more of a hassle for me to go down to the WIC office than to just decide to skip getting aid all together.  My car barely works right now…and for the price of gas…to drive 15 miles for a $20 WIC check just seems pointless.  Plus, there are income limits.  When Jocelynn was born we couldn’t take advantage of WIC b/c they looked at the salary I made when I went out on maternity leave.  I was a FULL TIME employee before my leave.  And after I was getting my hours dropped by about 15 hours a week.  Based on my full time schedule we made about $9 too much per YEAR.  Now, we would totally be able to take advantage since I don’t work…but like I said the drive would just outdo me.  And I’d have to go about every month.

I know what you mean.  We have kids aged 17 to 2 here.  Now that we can’t go do egg hunts, *sigh* I will have to go out and augment their baskets a bit.  ( I think we have ten bucks or so in change,,,) *sigh*

My daughter is on Wic and they only have to go every 3 months or so, but it is an appointment that last several hours.  then again, their income was down before their daughter was born, so they get something like 5 vouchers a month.  I think Acci is talking about places like Sweden.  My brother lives there, and they give the Mom & dad something like 5k a year to help raise the kid.  The downside is that the kid then belongs to the state first, and they have a say in all aspects of its rearing.  (Under the onus of “guidelines” of course.)

Now I have to go out and try and find solid choco bunnies a day before Easter.  Fun oh fun!

Renquist - 20 March 2008 07:01 PM

  I’ll be living off of 17p noodles from Aldi until payday.

Thank God for Aldi!!!  I can get a whole box of groceries for 10 bucks.

MadCarlotta - 21 March 2008 06:03 AM

I’ve actually been enjoying expendable income for the first time in almost six years. There are still outstanding expenses, like my car needs work, but nothing urgent and all the bills are either zero’d out or have current balances on them. It’s a very strange feeling.

A bit similar here. Been in the “forced to live on 16p noodles from Aldi untill payday” situation of Renquist many times the past few years, even without all but the necessary expends. But this month is the first in my new job, with a (comparatively) wopping income increase compared to the medical work impairment allowance I lived on for 5 years. So suddenly I feel “rich”. Behaved wisely though, and putting much of the extra money on my savings account for the moment. So now my savings account actually has something on it for the first time in a very long time…

As the famous 16th-17th century Dutch poet Brederoo wrote: “Het kan verckeeren….“*

* roughly: “things can suddenly change”

I’m poor by choice, and happy.  I get to do what I enjoy most.  I live very simply and spend money on what I like.

People who know me would probably be astonished at how little I live on.

Crap…we should have taken a diaper inventory before getting Easter stuff.  We have 10 diapers (plus or minus 3 in the diaper bag) until Friday.  I still have some cloth diapers…but I don’t have anything to secure them with.  I could probably just rubberband them around Anicah.  I’ll save at least 1 diaper for each bedtime…since that is the longest period of time she goes without a change.  I also am trying a little trick with some ..um, pads.  It worked for at least one diaper change (extending the diaper by one diaper change I mean…so it’s like she wears the diaper twice.  Once with the pad, once without).  Although…it might be a better idea to stick pads in the CLOTH diaper…so there is less leakage & less of a need for a really secure closure.  (I can’t even find regular safety pins, let alonge my diaper pins.)  And now that I think about it, Jocelynn has about 5 pairs of training pants that are cloth (and pull up & down like underwear) that also have plastic pants to go around them.  We should be okay. 

I was thinking of using some of my tax check to switch to cloth diapers only.  (Using disposables only when we leave the house.)  But I did the math & found other websites that did the math FOR ME.  I save about 5 cents per diaper (over 2 years) going cloth…but I will still be buying wipes, b/c I like them & can use them for things other than cleaning butts.  They clean hands & faces, surfaces…and I can even use them in a pinch when I need an ink pad.  (Ink is cheaper by the bottle, and I can fold over a wipe a few times, with a few drops of ink & use that as an ink pad.)  So I am not sure it’s really worth it.  I dunno.  Maybe I will just buy a few for emergencies like this.  But then I think a gift card to a local store would work just as easily.  I could put it away for times like this.

Ugh.  I wish I could get a job.  But if I work while Jason is at work, I need childcare.  I have to pay for childcare.  The cheapest way to do this is to hire a babysitter.  But I don’t know anyone who I would leave my kids with that can also just be home for a few hours during the day.  Teens are in school…or homeschooled & still “in school” and unavailable during the morning hours.  I don’t know any adults willing to give up free time during the day.  And I don’t know any other moms that work that I could trade babysitting favors with.  And it is too much a hassle for all if I work while Jason is home.  That really messes us up as a couple (he is bitter to be working FULL TIME and caring for kids…I am bitter b/c he is bitter over a few wimpy hours), it means I miss dinner & bed time (both very mom-centered activities), or it means I am working horrible late hours & having to fuction on very little sleep.  Oh…plus Anicah has decided to refuse bottles & food.  She is boycotting all ways of getting food to her except for through ME.

I feel so pitiful! 

I am wondering if I should put up an auction on eBay, “Pay me to stay home!“ 

Okay…I’m finished whining. 

You can make your own wipes too if you are so inclined