How are you adjusting your lifestyle for the financial crisis?

 For the first time since our marriage three years ago, my husband Giovanni and I entered the supermarket this week with a shopping list.

 The Sunday before, we had cut out splurges like feta cheese.  My husband gave up his prosciutto,  a big deal for an Italian for whom cured ham is as basic  as calalloo is  to a Trinidadian during  a Sunday meal. Together, with just those two decisions  we shaved off $55.00 from our trip to the supermarket.  Later,we scoured our bill to see where we could save more. Sourdough bread. Out. Haggen Dazz ice-cream. Out. Pre-seasoned chicken cutlets. Out.  And so we painstakingly went, until our grocery bill was just about halved.

My peers tell me they too are  concerned. The contagion effect from the global financial crisis seems to be catching on like a very bad cold. And people are adjusting to suit. My friend in Barbados is extending the space in her home  to meet her growing staff needs. She prefers that to renting a pricey Bridgetown digs. Another couple I know have given up their landscaping services, my friend tells me that the family will be doing   more into gardening, that it will be a great way for them to spend time together on a Saturday. Family bonding is always an excellent idea but there is a more practical side to their  decision. The Charles’ will save $1,500.00 every month.

This is a time when every dollar should matter. Before you dismiss this as some middle class angst consider what Republic Bank Chairman Ronald Harford told the Trinidad and Tobago chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators as he discussed the impact of the the crisis just two weeks ago.

“There is need to be conservative,” he advised, “you need to get accustomed to operating leanly so that when the crisis hits shore, you’re already  comfortable operating in this manner. ” He attributed “greed, avarice and arrogance” as “very happy partners in the last couple of years.” 

Sounds just about right, Mr Harford. 

There has been a lot of blame being passed around  about whose to get the boot  for the mess in which we find ourselves. The banks have gotten their fair share of licks. So too have  hedge fund managers. And governments who  thought  that markets could take care of themselves have been toasted.  But in the middle of the middle there is another center that has to be held accountable.  And it's You. Me. People like us who financed our fantasies with credit cards. The ordinary folks who  bought  bigger houses, fancier clothes, larger flat screens and faster cars, not because we could but because we had access to plastic. The problem lies with us too. 

The question now  is: what are we going to do about it?