We All Live Downstream

I recently found myself at a local nature center and noticed a poster on the wall describing the effects of water pollution. The poster featured a fish mowing his lawn underwater warning of pesticides that end up in the water supply. The title was "We All Live Downstream" and it got me thinking about the different types of financial "runoff" we're exposed to and how we effect each other's financial well-being.


In the U.S., no one exists in a bubble. With 24-hour news on your radio, tv and PDA there's no getting away from the financial decisions we see others make. This exposure creates a domino effect on how we manage our own money. If enough dominos fall we get a boom or a bust. The most recent domino effect was the spending of emergency funds. First individuals did it, then banks did it, now the Federal Reserve is doing it. Consumers stopped saving for several years, then banks lent out everything they had to pocket the fees and now the billion-dollar bailouts will keep the country from saving anything for several years to come.


What can you do about it? Once you recognize where the financial influences are coming from in your life you can affect them. The dominos headed your way may be friends, family, your work environment or your own bad habits. Are you happy to stay and watch Netflix when your friends want to go out to dinner and a movie? Do you enjoy simpler vacations than the rest of your family? Are you feeling dragged out to shopping you don't really enjoy? Many people spend any extra money they have because they don't know what else to do with it. Offer some suggestions - maybe a simple dinner at your house. Get takeout. Maybe a pizza. Whatever it is, start your own domino effect. Your friends may all be better for it.