Imagine raising five young children, watching the economy collapse into itself, and not changing your spending habits. I don’t have to, because it happened to me during the Great Recession of 2008.
I have to say, I don’t recommend it. My naivete led to my financial downfall, a divorce, losing touch with my family, and even becoming homeless for a time.
As many of us are now on the edge of our seats wondering what’s next for our current economy, I’m planning to be a bit more cautious this time around. I’ve learned a lot of hard lessons since the last recession, and I won’t be making the same mistakes again.
Life seemed good
I felt economically stable in the late-2000s. I had a good salary as a technical writer at Citigroup. My wife and I owned a four-bedroom house, two cars, and had some discretionary money. Our life was comfortable.
I wasn’t anxious about the…
