The "recession" actually helped me

I am not mad at you ;). The only way the recession has helped my family I would say is yes gas prices have gone down and that definetly helps out alot. My boyfriend has to drive 45mins each way to work everyday so this makes it a bit easier. Also since times have gotten harder I have found a few great ways on saving money. If I would have done this before the recession I would have had more to fall back on. Definetly will be a great thing once the recession is over however.

The decrease in gas prices you are right is of great help to us. I'm hoping it stays under $3 or goes under $2 again. I guess if anything it helps people keep on assistance from WIC to foodstamps as others have said there are not jobs & people are thankful to have a job of any kind right now.

I'd have to say the low gas prices are really the only upside in this recession. At least those who still have a job or are in school can afford to get there. But as my husband says, now we can afford to drive to places but once there we can't do much because everything is so darn expensive;) For us it also helped to keep student loans low. My husband just started paying back a little over a year ago and the interest rates were pretty much around 8%. Now they are around 5%. I hope rates stay low until July when they set the rates for next year. Another year of reprieve and only accumulating 5% instead of anything higher is nice on that high amount he has to pay back. Would be nice if he'd have a job that would be reflecting his great education. Of course there is nothing out there right now. I hate to put a damper on your enthusiasm, but what you safe in gas might very well be made up by higher tuition, if not this year then next year. You might want to find somebody to commute with;)

We live in Spain, but our pensions are paid in sterling so we have been quite badly affected. However, the recession has helped us to budget more effectively, as we think carefully before spending. This is because we don't want to get to the stage where we really can't afford things. As a result of this voluntary cutting down, we have managed to pay off more of our credit card debts, which is good news, so yes, the recession has helped us in some ways.

The gas price going down is only a by-product of the recession. It was up to 4.00 a gallon previously because people are using it for investment purposes and trigger it to rocket high. What it is now is simply reflecting the reality that gas price shouldn't be that high. If there is something that worked for me, it is the drop of housing price that makes it more affordable for me. The drop of interest rate also helps me to make the decision of purchasing my first flat.