I needed to sit down and have a little chat with myself. My mind feels like a pinball, bouncing from one nightmare story or event to another. I’m doing nothing but reacting and allowing myself to be overwhelmed by my feelings. I needed a reality check.

I am very, very lucky to be a Childless Cat Lady. I am not a parent. I don’t have to worry about the Department of Education being shuttered or vaccines. I’m not going to get measles. I’m vaccinated. I’m also, thankfully, not on Medicaid, or anywhere close to using Medicare. I’m a white lady, who isn’t going to be racially profiled. I’m not part of the LGTBQ community. The truth is the thing that is going to affect me personally right now at this moment is money.

Biden did his best to give this country a soft landing after COVID. Was it perfect? No, but we had until this point avoided a recession. The tumult that’s been inflicted on our country in the past few weeks has dramatically increased our chances of a recession. So much so that the current administration’s language has shifted such that they are acknowledging the possibility of one.

This will directly affect me and my quality of life, so I decided to see what I could do to proactively prepare for the dreaded R word. I found this series published on Investopedia – Guide to Economic Recession. I found part-two the most helpful.

7 Ways to Recession-Proof Your Life

click here for the full article

Not all the seven ways applied to me, but there were a few good ones.

Have an Emergency Fund

At the moment I do not have an emergency fund. In fact, last year, I did not have it when I needed it, which resulted in my credit card ballooning. I’ve been working very hard over the past months to get my card paid off. I’m happy to report that every two weeks my credit card balance has gone down. Yay!! The next step is to start saving again.

Live Within Your Means

I’ve always worked two or three jobs and have enjoyed the security of having a second source of income. I opted a while back to quit my second job and work OT for my main job. On the one hand this was great, I made more money by the hour with OT, which is fantastic. On the other hand, I ran the risk of what happened last year, which was losing that extra work. I am a contract medical coder. The risk of contract work is that there are ebbs and flows. Last year’s ebb lasted about six months.

In that time, I had to significantly reduce my spending and live within my means. Ooof!! It is hard to do that. I went through phase one last year and cut out a lot of my spending. Then I implemented phase two in January and cut even more. Some weeks I do better than others, but for the most part I am in the zone.

Keep Your Credit Score High

I was very upset to see my credit score go down a smidge last year, but it is slowly moving back up. I’m currently at 805. It had dipped into the 700s, which freaked me out. I have Chase, and they have great tools and graphs that help you see what you’re doing that positively or negatively affects your score. I’m a big picture person and appreciate seeing how everything works together.

Have Additional Income

It is funny to me that their advice is to get a second job. ✔️ We do live in a hustle culture, and it appears the answer to most problems is work more.

All in all, I am in pretty good shape. Of course, one can always do better. It does feel good to focus on something I can control.

Stay strong and stay informed ✌️

This week’s vibe