Apparently some families affected by the recession are too poor for others to identify with

In the weekend the Fairfax magazine "Your Weekend" featured a story of a person who was cutting down on her expenses due to the recession. It was called "Just saying no - one woman's answer to the recession".

It was a good article, but she was spending thousands every week on various things and she called it cutting down. She was proud of spending "just" $1200 in discretionary spending each month (that's not including food,power, mortgage and other essential bills) and just $200 a week on food.

When I pointed out to the editor that many families - for example ours - don't have the money to spend $1200 a month on discretionary spending he said that readers would not be able to identify with that experience. Therefore he would not publish an article on how to drop discretionary spending to less than $1200 a month or how to cut down your credit card bill to $2500 a month. Y`know, like living in a recession, but affected by it as well.

Because being affected by recession is "just saying no" because of necessity, not because you can spend your way out of a refusal to say no on occasions. Being affected by recession is not about buying fewer coffees or going on less holidays - it's living on less income. In order to have an answer to the recession you have to have an answer that people affected by a recession - particularly those who have lost their jobs - are able to identify with.

That article was not it.

Living in a recession

So, families with two incomes, two cars, several cellphones and two mortgages - one on an investment property or bach - are going to find it tough this year in a recession if their income drops.

Well, they are not going to find it tough, they just have to live a little more simply. They may have to sell the investment property, they may have to reduce to one car - even share a cellphone. They may not be able to buy clothes when they feel like it. They may not be able to go away on overseas holidays and stay in top motels - they could holiday in New Zealand and say in a cabin. They may not be able to pay the debt on their credit card as fast as they would like with income they no longer have. They may not be able to spend $500 on their kids' birthday parties. They may have to look at the specials in the supermarket. They may have to paint the house themselves rather than getting tradespeople.They may have to get out in the garden and grow veges on Saturday mornings instead of going to cafes for brunch. Especially if they are on one income.

Welcome to the real world, where people live within their means. As many of us have been doing all our lives. However for families that live like money grows on trees - and lose their income because both partners have lost their jobs , they are going to find it really tough adjusting to living within their means on a ReStart package - even before going on the dole.