The Optimist's Guide To The Credit Crunch

Ok, so we're all panicking about the down-turn in housing, the rising price of fuel & food, and there seems to be no end in sight, we have all officially reached a "code red" on the panic station monitor. So what now? In a challenge to this mass hysteria, I have composed a list of the "up-side" of the "credit-crunch".

1.) First-Time Buyers, who have been saving deposits for the last few years and rented, can now afford a house, which is better value for money than a year ago.
2.) People buying Stocks & Shares for the first time, will be able to purchase more at a lower rate.
3.) We will all start to loose weight, as we can't afford the luxury "treats" at the end of the supermarket aisles.
4.) A rise in interest rates has seen savers gain more from their invested monies
5.) Singles seeking a partner through online dating, instead of "going out on the town", have saved a significant amount of money, and this market has actually increased since the "economic downturn"
6.) More people are now starting to grow their own vegetables etc, and becoming more self-sufficient.
7.) People are looking for cheaper ways to spend time, and will become more physically fit e.g. going for a walk/ to a park instead of going out in the town.
8.) The price of alcohol & cigarettes increasing, increase the potential for more people to reduce/ quit their intake of alcohol/nicotine
9.) Rising electricity/Gas prices encourage householders to become more thrifty & energy efficient, switching to energy-saving solutions, and reducing CO2 emissions, as does the reduction in private vechicle travel, and switch to walking/public transport.
10.) In searching for cheaper nights in, friends will begin to arrange nights in, where they talk more, listen more, and support each other more, without alcohol as a distraction, improving mental health.

To be noted that this is as labelled an "Optimist's Guide", and will obviously be of little comfort to the people who are loosing their homes, going through a relationship crisis, and don't have "food on table" as a result of the credit crisis.

But for those of us who are able to survive it, don't just glide by, using luck, a slight financial cushion, and the fortune of a somewhat decent wage; instead start to appreciate the value of money we've been wasting, and taking for granted, stop using the word "skint" in reference to not being able to go out boozing for a night & start to save energy because we CARE that we may a polar ice-cap in 25 years time!

This is Tangent Girl... Signing Off..... & switching my laptop OFF... NOT to Standby! :)