Upsides to the Down Economy/ Rainy Days

Most of us have never suffered through the harsh economic climate we are now faced to deal with. Double-digit unemployment, real estate market in the toilet, banks who've been bailed out who now won't lend to anyone. It's depressing. When our parents or grandparents talked about the Depression, it was hard to relate to the devastation and impact that period of time had on them. My grandmother Julia, born in 1918, was a child of the Depression. She hated bouquets of flowers for her birthday because they were wasteful, rarely ate out, re-used whatever she could and saved everything. I know this because when she died, I inherited her house and had to go through everything. Receipts for items long gone, photographs given to her by others (she didn't own a camera), newspaper clippings, holy cards, homemade gifts from her grandchildren and, of course, every greeting card that had ever been given to her for any occasion. This was probably the most fun item to go through. She and my Aunt Josie passed back and forth a birthday card for probably 10 years, just signing their name and the date, so they wouldn't have to waste money on a new card. While she was frugal to a degree, she also had a lovely house filled with quality items, took nice vacations, gave generous gifts and always had a little money stashed away. So that's one good thing about this recession- Americans are now saving more than they ever have in the past. Because now we know what a rainy day looks like.