This week was the launch of the much-anticipated game Modern Warfare 2. This games release brought into the store shed of Activision (game maker) 310 million in sales for the first 24 hours. These numbers are the early estimates for North America and England. (Alone)
Why am I even mentioning this phenomenon? Because in the “down” economy how does one enterprise make that kind of money in one day? Is this gaming thing something that is hurting our country or helping our economy? In some circles it would be considered the former. But as we all feel the effects of this economy we are looking for something else to help our financial lives.
As we know many of our fellow American are losing their jobs. Numbers reported last week put the unemployment rate at 10.2%. Other reports this week on the top (or should I say the failing) ten states, losing an estimated 900,000 jobs at the state level by the first quarter of 2011. With all of this doom and gloom news how do we handle our own finances and continue to keep our heads up?
I hope that with this tool I will be able to help the common person find the silver lining. We will talk about what I think is the basics of personal finance (really I mean personal financial health). What I think is the first step is personal awareness. Avoiding the situation and the numbers does not make it go away. Watching the small things and learning to accept personal responsibility is where most all of low and middle class go wrong. We hear things like living with-in our means and spending only what we have. But the fact is that most American families don’t even know what this means. Budget and budgeting is something that we treat like the swine flu or some worse disease.
As I move on we will look at starting at square one. Square one is figuring out where you and your family stand. Stressful and difficult to do, it’s something that has to be done at some point. Once we have the strength to really investigate what are true finances are, then we can move to a healthy financial life.
Our next installment will be about looking at what we have and what the real problem is. Not budgeting or keeping an accountants ledger to do it, but simple less stressful ways to keep track. Be prepared to look and take responsibility and change things the way they are.