This reader was a software developer who was weathering the recession well so far. Original post here. Our reader writes:
Everything is better than previously reported actually. My career moved up, my income followed. I was able to make extraordinary investments in wine as people were selling off cheap to raise cash. And while I didn't pay off my mortgage as I hoped, that happened because I diverted the extra cash I was making on my payments towards investments. So I'm still on track.
But the real reason I'm checking back in is because there was one thing this past year that did change for me. And it may or may not have happened regardless, but I think the recession did bring it into focus for me. And that is my discovery of urban gardening (or I should say suburban gardening). What a rush and how fulfilling. Who knew?!
I've been reading blogs about people doing the same for some time now and there are some incredible success stories out there. (You really ought to do a View From Your Urban Garden series.) People who were really hit hard by the recession taking it within their own hands to dig out, literally! It's inspiring and very, very, very humbling.
We've been growing all sorts of things in the house with some success and we're still learning. Cucumbers, tomatoes (turns out it is possible to kill tomatoes), onions and mushrooms (not shrooms, although they've been discussed). It's not enough to live off of, but we would starve very very slowly if it came to it, provided we can keep electricity and water. We've been able to give food away as well. Helping my friends get up and running and showing them how easy it is has been rewarding. It was also something my fiance and I discovered that we both loved to do and really enjoy. What till march rolls around, we're planning on tripling the size of our garden and hopefully figure out how to can and store the extra.
So as the recession seems to be waning I find myself with a really good job and really good health. But I've been there before and so were alot of people before the recession. So I plan on continuing to live well below my means and save and store as much as I reasonably can while still being happy. Being happy is the one thing I know I can control each day as I get out of bed.
The Dish 