Tough Times are Here, What Lies Ahead?

Weekly Question #5

Let’s try to be a little practical and wise and philosophical this week and answer this question:

What lies ahead for me (and my family) during these tough times? Do we know where we are heading?

I have just written a post about Tough Times Ahead as well as answered a meme about Money Saving Tips For My Family.

Yes, we are facing tough times, very tough times. I won’t elaborate anymore because you all probably know what these problems are. How one thing affects everything else and that everything else takes a downward spiral.

If the developed and so-called first world nations are protesting about the latest and almost weekly oil price hike, how can we, especially to those of us living here in the Philippines, not feel and have to live through these difficult times?

So what lies ahead for me and my family? To this I can honestly answer, I AM NOT SURE. For now we are surviving by:

• cutting down on expenses,
• going nowhere on Sundays except to go to church though it doesn’t mean we have less fun,
• trying to do more in terms of cooking home-cooked food to bring to work and to school (for my eldest daughter)
• trying to get a lid on spending on unimportant things, not that we buy these often
• working doubly hard

As I have written the other day, we try to tighten the belt, until when? Until there is no more room to breathe? Would we take the road that leads us out of this country in search for greener pastures or would we still choose to stay here and be ready to face the challenges.

There are days when I ask myself, would we be able to survive financially once my eldest daughter goes to college?

How would we be able to save for that part of the future if we don’t have extra on our hands? Money these days is much like holding water, exactly, because we can’t hold water itself.

Sad to say, the question I asked remained unanswered by me: Tough times are here and what lies ahead is not in sight yet. But I am hopeful. We are hopeful.

WQ Round-up:

• Liza
• Zriz
• Arlene
• Sasha
• Rachel
• Maiylah
• Tina
• Lovelyn