Comments on: Helping Each Other During a Recession

By: Rachelle Williams

Rachelle Williams — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 04:08:00 +0000

Wow! These are great ideas. I have never really considered amazon associates to be small/family businesses. I buy a fair bit on there between textbooks and Christmas shopping….something to think about.

By: Angelgirly314

Angelgirly314 — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 00:59:00 +0000

I really love the honesty about your blog. Just stumbled upon it from twitter :) Great tips! Garage sale-ing is the funnest thing to do and you find some amazing things while reusing and supporting people that may need the money.
-Angie
PS if you have time check out my recent Holiday green tips on my blog. Thanks
http://www.theenvironmentalblog.org/2011/11/ideas-for-a-green-christmas/

By: Tiffany

Tiffany — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 01:08:00 +0000

All went back to normal after a few months and his position is in fine shape now. Thx!

By: Deb

Deb — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 15:54:00 +0000

You mentioned that this was an older post, so how did it turn out for your hubby’s job? These are great tips – thank you! Never heard of “Etsy” – will check it out.

By: Condoblues

Condoblues — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 13:37:00 +0000

Don’t forget the free and low cost summer fun! Parks, libraries, and playgrounds are free. I’m fortunate where I live that there is usually some sort of free street festival going on almost every weekend. If you eat before you go and bring a water bottle you can cut down on costs and enjoy the fun. I shopped a few of the booths at a craft fair and bought several holiday gifts for December early.

By: rosana

rosana — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 19:49:53 +0000

love this post…i am a journalist and looking to do a story about bringing parent consumerism “back to basics” during these difficult economic times. great ideas here…would love to e-mail you sometime!

oh…and check out my blog…http://chroniclesofmomnia.blogspot.com for some giggles! :-)

By: Nicole Feilciano

Nicole Feilciano — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 01:50:36 +0000

Great post. I think you covered the bases. I’m all about shopping small boutiques when I can and also spreading the love on the blogosphere.

I also love sharing coupon codes. I’ve got one now for Lands’ End (free shipping).

By: v

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:13:04 +0000

Thanks for pointing out Etsy. I’ve read about it on other sites, but I finally visited it. I’m definitely thinking about what I can order for holiday gifts.

By: Breastfeeding baby bottle

Breastfeeding baby bottle — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:33:29 +0000

This post is amazing. It is dead on and I appreciate the writer posting this blog. We should all work together to help each other during these hard times. People that do not understand this blog, I don’t know what to say. Buying stuff on Ebay and Craigslist does help people out and it does save you, the buyer, some money. Thank you for posting this blog. I hope people who read it will think about the issues.

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:00:42 +0000

This post is dead on. When times are tough we really need to remember the human side and help support other individuals. There are so many talented moms working at home or with a family run small business (myself included) that can offer something more than a cheap item made in a sweatshop and usually still for a good price & with a personal touch and looking local for good & services helps you get to know people right outside your door that you may have overlooked. The added bonus is it feels good knowing you’re supporting someone else like you just by taking a moment to seek them out instead of running to the local “Buying Everything Here”.

By: Juanita

Juanita — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:33:53 +0000

Absolutely! We need to help each other out more than ever. You know, my in-laws are African. I’ve learned about, dreamed of and mourned the lack of having a “functional” extended family, meaning having a strong network of support to both physically and emotionally support moms in birth, child rearing and work. That supports the family in achieving lower stress, i.e., health by easily presenting options for a spouse to work extra or to band together to sell something or to share resources. I know many people in the US have such an opportunity but many of us don’t. Your ideas, Tiffany, speak to this and I am excited to see dialogue about it. I’ve taken the approach of “thinking outside the box” as challenging as it is for me despite my tendency to do this anyway. For example, I work from home, have no family in the area and my job doesn’t pay enough to cover average daycare costs. And, then there is the issue of not wanting my kids in the average day care for so many reasons, so what do I do? I redefined daycare to fit our needs. Much to my delight and surprise it worked. A variety of people care for my children in our home and theirs from other moms with whom I swap care to a very flexible/reasonable at home daycare to a grandmotherly woman who is disabled and gives my girls some grandma time they don’t get normally. So, essentially, I tried to create an “extended family”. But, it also puts some money in our pockets. We did the same thing when my husband was laid off from two different jobs within a year and a half. We found that our initial impulses didn’t work for us but with some quick but careful brainstorming we rediscovered talents that we had brushed under the rug as inconsequential but bridged financial gaps and led to his current job which has been quite a blessing in a number of ways. I am excited to forge ahead and continue to find so many cool things that get lost in this monotony of life that we can fall into while saving precious resources of so many kinds. Tiffany, you are fueling my fire, thank you. I also think it is incredibly important to reach out and find ways to assist my friends and neighbors in unique ways that make a difference to everyday life as Rebecca mentions with her eggs and carpooling. I don’t do it enough, but will change that. Cheers to a good life despite hard times!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:51:42 +0000

All great ideas. But, I want to remind everyone to be careful when purchasing used personal injury protection products. Sorry, Tiffany, but used motorcycle helmets should not be purchased. And, especially not used child safety seats. Although you want to trust the seller that they would not sell you something that has been in an accident, you can never tell.
All other ideas I am all for!!! Great post.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 07:59:15 +0000

This is a great post for our times Tiffany! Thank you for reminding me of the many ways we can keep out the middle man and help small and indie businesses. I can’t add anything new here. Sorry to hear about your current challenges. We’re in the same boat. My husband is working with a consultant offered by his firm and I’ve been telling him to chuck the whole thing as it is not worth the stress and look into different work (he worked in the financial sector).

By: Kathy

Kathy — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 07:00:19 +0000

These are all great suggestions. I’d like to add that in tougher economic times, people often sign-up with direct sales companies as a way to make a little extra money. If we were to all purchase our consumable items from other direct sellers, we could really support one another. Another tip is to turn to direct sales reps in your community with the offer to “host” a party – many direct sales companies offer party plan selling. Hosting a party can be a fantastic way to get your holiday shopping done for FREE! Most party plan businesses offer hostesses free products based on the total party sales. You can purchase skincare, cosmetics, babycare items, nutritional products, tupperware, children’s books, toys, photo or memory albums, jewelry…..almost anything through direct sales. Host several different parties over the next few months and get all your holiday shopping done for FREE!
Kathy Lee
http://www.aromatherapist.mionegroup.com

By: Brooke

Brooke — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 03:48:31 +0000

All of these tips are great. I would really recommend to anyone who has any thing to spare; clothing, food, time, really anything to give it where they can. Food banks and homeless shelters have been being hit hard for YEARS now as the economy has been in decline and now things are really hitting rock bottom for them. Also I have noticed that many banks and stores are starting to run advertising for things like getting a loan to buy Christmas gifts . Don’t do this! I know people want to keep the lifestyle they have however more debt will not solve this problem. I just keep remembering it is more important to save money for the future then to have stuff now.

By: rebecca

rebecca — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 03:05:45 +0000

Thanks for the post!

I buy books from Friends of the Library, among other used book sources. It doesn’t really help another PERSON, but it does benefit community resources.

We are entertaining friends in our home instead of out-to-eat. For less than the restaurant, we feed ourselves and our friends.

We give our backyard eggs to our neighbors, which has fostered even better relationships and unexpected gift exchanges.

My carpooling efforts are ratcheted up eleventy seven percent. I love sitting around while someone else drives my kids around. I appreciate the corollary of returning the favor when I’m already out and about.

I know most of my habits are nothing new, but I’m very excited by the idea that we can support PEOPLE! I think supporting bloggers through their links is ingenious.

(My husband actually floated the idea of getting back into the military for job security. No, no, and double no. The last 14 month deployment to Iraq gave me my fill of being the only available parent – and that’s ignoring MY emotional needs.)

By: Molomatic

Molomatic — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:54:30 +0000

I feel for you! My family is in a very similar situation and it is certainly stressful.

I’d like to add a tip. Many communities have a used bookstore run by the library. I have found tons of books for my family at ours (Portland, OR). The prices are very low and all of the money goes to the library – another fabulous free resource!

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:11:25 +0000

What an awesome post! I have to say craigslist is something I have been looking into more and more. Especially for a bigger dining room table. Also looking at the local newspaper is a good idea too, they usually have a bargain basement – or a section for items under $100. I have actually sold items through places like this.

I understand about your hubby, and I am so sorry about all the stress you both are under. Praying for him to find another way to support your family. You both shouldn’t have to sacrifice that amount of family time, that’s just tough! I’m so sorry.

By: Mrsgarageflower

Mrsgarageflower — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:25:09 +0000

You are so on target! Unfortunately our freecycle isn’t really a freecycle as it was intended… it’s become another craigslist. But still a good resource.

Like you, all the books I buy are used from Amazon. I wish I had some tips, but other than consignment shoppes being a great place to take your gently used items for some moolah and finding some really great deals in the process… I can’t add to your dynamic list.

By: Carrie Lauth

Carrie Lauth — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:08:30 +0000

Fantastic post Tiffany. Another thing about donating to goodwill and other thrift stores is that the process to actually take the tax write off is a pain in the butt. You have to list everything out in detail and try to figure out what its value is, which is time consuming and I don’t know about you but I try hard not to upset the IRS. LOL I prefer just giving the money to charities, at least keeping your records is easier.