What's Your Recession Story?

Twenty-seven days into the Obama administration and the US now has a new $787 billion dollar economic stimulus plan passed last Friday.

While many small nonprofit organizations, like the African American United Fund, have been operating with less resources but demand for services have increased, this stimulus plan is manna from heaven for the working poor. Unlike the Wall Street investment firms and banks that squirreled away the $700 billion stimulus, geared toward rescuing Wall Street by greasing the gears of lending institutions, those of us on Main Street will definitely spend the money allocated in this stimulus package. We don’t have a choice…our homes need repairs, our heating bills need to be paid, our car notes are past due, our phones are disconnected, our children need clothes and shoes, our prescriptions need to be filled, our cupboards are bare.

The stress of having to pay more for basic necessities, inaccessibility to healthcare and working longer hours for less pay is literally killing us.

I’d like to hear from those of you in the bloggosphere about what you’ve been doing to cope.

I’ve been eating out less, giving home baked goods for gifts and selling banana bread to afford ingredients for home baked goods. My banana bread has been a mild hit with my family, co-workers and neighbors. I probably won’t quit my day job but just knowing I have another marketable skill is comforting in an environment filled with so much uncertainty.

Aissia