Economic Crisis

Let me set aside my US Roadtrip posts in lieu of several musings of late.

One definite low light is the downfall of US economy and its stock market, no thanks to sub-prime. It definitely is affecting people who are losing their jobs, or having paycuts, or in my case, slowed down the hiring process. At least hiring has not completely froze. Well, the show must go on, as they say. Today the $ is even weaker than the ￥ (1=92). I am very much tempted to stock up $. But with the instability, nobody can tell whether the green bill's strength will bounce back real soon. I am no economist but this recent turn of events has definitely shaken the global economic balance - whether we like it or not. I am no particular fan of any global powerforce but it seems obvious to me that we are all chained to each other, no matter how much we try to ignore it.

I was never budget-conscious but tough times and perhaps my coming of age has made me think not just twice but countless times about shopping.

*Do I really need to buy a new dining table now?

*Oh, I definitely pulled out from the thought of buying a new Wii.

*Time and again veggies that I buy gets spoiled because I either don't have time to cook or is all of a sudden invited to dine out, so now I try to buy less and resist the urge of impulse buying, and these days, I go by the 'LESS IS GOOD' mantra.

*I stock up on cheap UDON noodles, dried seaweeds, fresh eggs, and chicharo. Udon is more nutritional than ramen, plus it is cheaper and easy to cook. You can also do quite a number of variations (I promise to post this kitchen tip soon!).

Halloween and Thanksgiving are around the corner and in these trying times my mind is debating over how to spend these holidays with T. I've pretty much decided against turkey treat as there's only 2 of us and it doesnt make sense to splurge. Pumpkins...? It's healthy and cheap, and I've got my two hands balancing between paperwork and household chores so I might give it more thought...The economic crisis definitely affects our pocket money but it should not dampen our creative spirits.