Riding the Economic Rollercoaster

Economics is fairly straight forward--buy low and sell high, supply vs demand--that sort of stuff. With the economic ride running rougher than eight seconds on a bull with a bad attitude, there are a number of ways to work with, rather than against the current economic situation. Here's some things that I am doing:

• Gas prices are down so I am rotating my gasoline stores.
• Food prices are up so I am buying lots of loss leaders.
• Housing prices are down which means I am not going to sell my house any time soon but I am seriously looking at buying another rental property.
• Precious metal prices are up so the spouse probably won't get anything gold for this Christmas.
• Clothing prices are low--we just picked up a bundle of summer T shirts for $2 each at Walmart--so we are stocking up in this area a bit.
• Credit card interest is high so I am telling everyone who will listen to pay them off ASAP.
• Car prices are low so if I needed a car, now would be the time to buy. Of course I would pay CASH for it.
• Stock prices are low right now. I don't even pretend to time the market but I will continue to invest in the stock of quality companies with good balance sheets that produce necessary products.
• Restaurants are feeling the pinch of fewer diners so many are offering some good deals to draw customers in. Although we mostly cook at home, the great lunch and dinner specials occasionally draw us out for a special meal.

Anyway, you get the idea. Usually the worst thing to do is sell when everyone is panic selling and buy when everyone is buying. It always makes sense to do your own research and make your own decisions.