The big news of the first quarter of 2008 was that the GDP is still positive, so what does that mean for you? Well, if you are struggling with house payments it could mean that you should keep up the struggle, the end of this low period may yet be coming.
Of course, if you are an investor, it may mean that you should start looking for that bargain now! Some scattered realty markets are already showing an increase and the global widening of the recession means that some living costs will level slightly.
If the economy continues to stay positive, the housing market will follow. The tough question for many home-owners is how to hang in there? What more can you economize on? First it was gas prices up and now it is food prices up and we just have to put out more cash. But what if we could really change the way we live? What economies could be practiced if we 'think outside the box'?
In the Second World War, residents of the UK were given extra ration coupons if they dug up their lawn and planted vegetables. Hang on! Don't sink that garden fork into the lawn just yet! These so called 'Victory Gardens' proved to be so popular that the government made available small rectangles of land which were allotted to non-home owners. These 'allotments' were tracts of un-sellable land (i.e. land next to a railway line) and due to their popularity, they are still in use for a nominal rent.
Their popularity probably stemmed from the fact that a packet of spinach seeds can cost and give you of greens! It is also very convenient to have an onion or a lettuce just outside your back door and it saves on gas for going to the store!
Of course, digging up the lawn would be a disastrous realty blunder, but what about creating a vegetable patch (or two) and growing some of your family's favorites? It is still possible to sow lettuce, green onion, radish, spinach, beets, snow peas, runner beans and peas for this year. You can also sow vegetable seeds for the winter: leeks, parsnips, carrots, beetroot, potatoes and turnips.
A packet of each of those vegetables will total up to around and will yield you hundreds of vegetables! You will need to dig and rake that patch quickly though. To speed up the process, you can plant the seeds in flat boxes to start them while you dig the garden.
If you really have no spare patches in your garden, you can grow winter vegetables along the back of your flower beds. The leaves of parsnips and carrots, for instance, are very fernlike and pretty. Beetroot leaves are dark red and green and also would make a pretty backdrop in your flower beds. Runner beans grow up your fence and the red or white flowers are very decorative. Think outside the box! Put vegetables in your flower beds - no-one will notice!
Creating a vegetable patch needs a very low financial outlay, it will give you and the family a joint hobby, it will make you fit, it will feed you and you will feel good knowing that you are helping your situation. What more can you ask?
If you eventually decide that you really must sell your house, the vegetable patch may even be an asset as more people are thinking of economizing these days than ever before!
