How to thrive in the financial crisis

Christian Jacques Bennett Blog

Thanks Carol, for submitting your question via a comment.

Below, I will try and help point to a few things that may help.

Remember, I am not a financial advisor and so please do your own due diligence, this is not official or legal advice. Just advice from a virtual mentor. Plus, remember two heads are better than one! Hopefully some of what I say will be helpful. Also, note, the following link takes you to another post I wrote called: How to cope with rising prices.
Carol, USA

12 June 2022 at 14:39

I am finding life really tough at the moment. Prices are going up so much it is terrifying. I cannot afford to use my car anymore to go to work. How can I stay ahead of the curve and survive price hikes which do not seem to be stopping any time soon?


Okay, first of all I just want to say that I will focus my reply only on those hardest hit in society. Let's begin.

Sorry to hear, Carol, that you are finding life tough. You are certainly not alone and I hope you can find some comfort in that. The more people who face this, the more likely it will eventually find a resolution. This is because the more governments feel their voters won't vote for them, the more they are likely to make some changes that will get those votes back.

I am going to be harsh to begin with and say. Up until now, for many decades, humans have lived a fairly charmed life in comparison to humans living in the pre 1900s.

We have all become accustomed to luxuries which were always just that, luxuries. Even getting an Amazon order delivered the next day is a luxury and should not be taken for granted.

Why am I saying this? How is this going to help you?

I think it is very important to reframe your mindset to the current situation and remind yourself that for many generations what we are experiencing now is actually pretty good.

My dad is 93 and he remembers during and after World War 2 having literally nothing. People didn't own property. People didn't have a television. People didn't have the luxury of being vegan and asking for a cafe frappuccino. What is most interesting is that he looks back on those times now with fond memories. He says people were more grounded, happier and loving. I want to choose to believe that the times we are experiencing now will produce the same benefits as we get used to the hardships. Yes, seriously, in time all this hardship could be a good thing.

Try and start to see life through new eyes.

Don't think negatively when faced with not being able to afford a car. My challenge to you and others who cannot afford items is to start to rethink what opportunities not having those things creates.

For example, believe it or not, but not having a car presents itself with some good opportunities:

1. You could sell it and use the money for a rainy day when things are really tough. With part of it you could by a bicycle (perhaps one with an electric motor to make hills easier).

2. By not having a car you will likely be doing more exercise. By doing more exercise you are likely to stay healthy and trim. This will likely lead to living longer and you feeling happier about yourself.

3. By not having a car you will save yourself a huge amount on not paying for fuel, insurance and tax.

4. By not having a car you are helping keep the planet cleaner.


In fact, I would go so far as to say, even when the financial crises gets better, you are likely not to want to have a car ever again.

Now I do appreciate that everyone's circumstances are slightly different. Some of you may need that car to commute to work or take children to school, you may be a carer and need that car to get paid. For those of you in this situation there is no sugar coating it. Things will be tough. Things will have to change. Change is an opportunity to turn your life down a different path.

First of all it is worth talking with your employer and seeing if they can perhaps provide a car and fuel expenses for you, explain the situation. If you don't ask you don't get.

If the latter does not prove fruitful then you may have to change profession. Use this as a time to rethink what life direction you want to go in.

Make sure you talk with your partner about these challenges too. It is likely they will surprise you and be excited to move jobs and or live elsewhere. Moving elsewhere is an important option. In tough times it has proved fortunate to move to places where the money is flowing. Ask yourself where are there better opportunities to earn more and climb the career ladder to do what you do? Or to change to do something else. For example, there are going to be more basic job opportunities in a city than in a small village in the country. But you must weigh things up, sometimes it is just as fortunate to move to the country where fewer people have your skills. Ultimately you must make the decision. The point here is to look on this as an exciting opportunity. With a positive mindset you open your vision up to seeing new opportunities you otherwise might ignore.

Carol, your comment mentioned "Staying ahead of the curb". If you believe this financial crisis is going to keep raising the prices, then logic would spell out that you should buy as many things now, whilst they are cheaper, and stockpile before they go up in price. Food is a great example. Canned food can last for years. If you stock up now, when you hit really tough times, you will at least be able to feed yourself and your family. Besides food, stamps and anything else that you can think of which you can stockpile is worth buying now.

But I get it, and some of you reading this may be saying, "BUT I HAVE NO MONEY TO STOCKPILE!!!". I hear you. I am not going to lie. If that is truly the case then things will be tough. You are likely going to have to go to foodbanks in the short term to get some support. This is why at the beginning I wanted to get you into the right mindset. Do not think negatively about going to foodbanks. Use them as a springboard to getting to a better place financially. And if you want, when you make your millions, you can pay those foodbanks back, in fact you can pay them back right now too by volunteering your time.

I am not going to mention about investing money to grow your money here because as I said at the beginning, I am focusing this reply on those hit the hardest.

Another thing I would mention, in terms of stockpiling, is to be ready for a cold winter. Energy bills are going to be horrific. Therefore if you can buy some good winter clothes cheaply in summer (when nobody wants them and prices are lower) you will be so grateful you did. Be ready to not have the heating on and instead have body warmers and blankets. Use hotwater bottles too. Again, if you buy these items now it is likely going to be cheaper than buying them in winter when everyone realises they are freezing! Plus you never know if there is going to be a war which will affect supply chains even more and so you may not even be able to buy these items this winter.

I suppose what I am saying in three words is: Preparation! Preparation! Preparation!

The final thing I will add is to learn to ask for help. It may sound simple but many people do not want to ask for help because of their pride. But these days you can connect with so many online organisations who will offer some great advice and support. You may find you are entitled to some benefit you hadn't realised existed. You will not find this out unless you ask.

I hope some of this helps you get through. Also know that humans have survived many centuries of hardship and so will you. Try and see the upside where others see the downside.

I wish you well. Take care today.

Author: Christian Jacques Bennett*

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