It sucks when you are fighting and scraping to get out of debt and your company cuts everyone back to 35 hours. It sucks when you have finally gotten back to a balanced budget and your share of the health insurance premium goes up. It sucks when you are trying to make your 401K last and it loses 8% just since the beginning of the year.
The path to financial freedom has not changed direction; we still must spend less than we make, but for a great number of people that path has become much steeper. If you are one of these, it is very discouraging to hear the candy coated lies that many are dispensing as advice.
Skipping your morning Starbucks when your pay has been cut 20% is NOT going to solve the problem. In a better economy, a focused, determined energetic adult found it easy to pick up some side work. Today in many locations, this is simply not the case. Finding a part time job can be very hard and if you can find one, it’s often at minimum wage.
Lately I have seen a rash of honest hard working people who have not received what they were promised. The home that they struggled to afford has become worth half what they paid for it. The job that they’ve given their all to has cut their pay (in actual dollars or in reduced benefits) or their hours. Their college education, often financed, does not get them a high paying job. Their investments fail to provide peace of mind, bouncing wildly on an almost daily basis.
The luckiest of these people will be those that are the quickest to recognize the fundamental shift in their personal economy and react accordingly. It is natural to grieve a job, home or income loss. Acknowledge that grief, find someone to confide in and get to work on accepting your new reality.