How the crisis is changing you
Frugality and safety are in; bling and plastic are out. The economic meltdown has sparked a major shift in our financial values. And one that’s likely to last.
Millions of Americans are rediscovering the merits of thrift during this deep recession. No surprise: We’re cutting up credit cards, dining in more often, and forgoing trips - routine responses to any downturn.
But this time something bigger is at work too, an intangible that is leading Goldberg and others like her, despite their financial struggles, to feel good about what’s going on.
A new set of American values is emerging from the ashes of 600,000 layoffs a month, a lost decade in stocks, and the worst housing crash ever. These values may ring familiar to anyone who lived through the Great Depression. But for most of us it amounts to a large-scale makeover of the way we think about money and life.
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