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Staying afloat during economic meltdowns

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@gentleshaid
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I first heard of an economic meltdown around the year 2007 during the period of the great recession when the entire world was under financial austerity. Perhaps I was too young to understand or feel the effects back then.

I came across the phrase again when the economic situation of Venezuela as a country entered recession. Perhaps I would not have understood the full extent of its implication if not for Hive. There are many Hive users from Venezuela who were able to give first-hand information about the happenings in the country.

Nigeria as a country has been in a financial mess for a while with decreasing value of the Nigerian Naira against other currencies, poor public infrastructures, high unemployment rate, and massive corruption of government officials. However, I am not entirely certain that our situation can be described as being in an economic recession going by what was obtainable in Venezuela.

Nevertheless, I have always feared the worst. What if our country's economic situation degenerates to the level experienced by Venezuelans? Nigerians are known to be resilient but how far can we go with our resilience under economic recession? Even though we are yet to get to that level unless the current trajectory is somehow changed, we might be heading in the same direction as Venezuela, or even worse.

This is why I have always had some practicable tips handy to cope with the economic meltdown. In actual fact, many Nigerians already experienced economic meltdown at some point in their lives or are already living through it as I write. Below are a few of the tips:

image source: pixabay

  1. Cut your coat according to your cloth Yea, you read that right. You do not cut your cloth according to your size but according to your cloth. I mean, if you have got a limited quantity of cloth to sew a coat, you will have to adapt the style in order to accommodate the quantity. In other words, one would need to cut off all unnecessary expenses from their life and stick to the most important ones. The most important expenses, as far as I am concerned, are basic human needs such as food, clothing, health, and shelter.

  2. Edge your funds This is particularly important for those who earn in local currency. The Venezuelan situation deteriorated to the extent that medical doctor's salaries equivalence in USD was about $2 according to some of the Venezuelan acquaintances on Hive. After fulfilling your basic needs and some money remains for savings, the best one can do would be to save up in foreign currency. As a crypto enthusiast, I will personally recommend finding a good coin to put your funds in, and if you are skeptical about volatility, a stable coin such as USD, USDT, BUSD, etc., would do. By doing this, you are totally sure that the value of your funds will remain irrespective of what your local currency becomes.

  3. Avoid interest-based loans as much as possible Savings is meaningless when you have got loans to pay, especially if the loan is interest-based. If it is not interest-based and in local currency, borrowing to finance a project in the short term might be sensible, provided there are people willing to lend you money. The more your local currency loses value, the easier it becomes for you to pay back the loan provided that you are earning in foreign currency or crypto.

  4. Avoid banks as much as possible When there is an economic meltdown, central banks are likely to come with funny policies in order to extort the masses and fund the lives of politicians/capitalists. This is why it makes sense to avoid banks as much as possible. Only use them when necessary and make sure that you do not keep a lot of funds in your account. By doing so, any policy aimed at extorting bank account holders will meet little or no funds in your account.

  5. Avoid wastage Every little thing counts. What you are wasting or do not find useful could be a fortune to another. It is better things to not be enough than to be in excess and lead to wastage.

These are just a few personal tips that could help one navigate through economic recessions. Feel free to add yours in the comment section.

Thank you all for reading.