What Do You Choose? Frugality or US Economy?

The Fed government is trying hard to boost retail sales. There are discount tags on all the items, and loans are easily available (except mortgage) to make purchases. However, thanks to the recent economic crisis, people have started realizing the importance of money. Many lost their jobs, many were downgraded, which helped people to learn to survive in less income. This is the time when we are trying to have more disciplined finances. But the government is pushing hard to make us spend more.

Tough times are gone. Unemployment rate have started diminishing, and people have started spending again. But there has been a cut in their spendings. This has put me in a great confusion. If people start spending considerably again, it would help in nothing but repeating the same cycle. Conversely, if people don’t spend more, the economy with certainly take a hit this year, and in the coming years.

In both the scenarios, it’s the consumer who would suffer. However, the latter one at least leaves us with some money.

Sometimes, I even wonder what’s the whole point of starting a new personal finance blog (except for personal income) if government, on the other hand, urges people to spend more. We, bloggers, are asking people to become frugal, but the government is defusing our efforts. It’s important for them to understand that having a low GDP in coming years would be better than having another economic crisis.

This doesn’t, however, stop me from writing useful personal finance tips. There may be several readers who would close this window immediately, grab their cards, and go out shopping. But even if one person understands what I am talking about, and cut down expenses, without bothering about the economy, I believe I have written a useful post. We have suffered only because we never took pains to save for the rainy day. Lessons are not useful if we don’t learn anything from them.