It seems like a lot of people are concerned about how to save money in a depression, or how to protect what they have in the near term. I’m getting queries like “moving to the country to survive a depression” and “How to earn money in a depression”.

You have to remember, when we think of what we might face in terms of a depression, that we know very little of true depressions (hardly anything in personal experience terms). In the 1930′s, the depression hurt a lot of people because there was no social security safety net, no unemployment benefits, no welfare and food stamps. It was because of that lack that these safety net programs where instituted.

In addition, it’s well known that Herbert Hoover let the depression sink in because he refused to spend any more. Guess where we’d be if some conservatives had their way? Why would they want to repeat the mistakes of Hoover? True, we are building up a huge financial deficit. But there could be – could be – growth to get us out of it, if all goes according to Obama’s plan.

Nevertheless – if a family faces job loss or downsizing, foreclosure, if big banks fail and consumers hunker down and stop spending, we could be in for some tough economic times. Yet I tend to see this as a step on a path to a new way of thinking about how we live – just like social programs resulted from the Great Depression of the 1930′s.

Here’s where things could go, IMHO. We could start learning to live with less money. OK, after we default on our homes and credit cards, we learn that we don’t need all the latest doo dads to keep us happy. We plant gardens. We keep the cars we have running. We barter and trade with our neighbors – lawn cutting for piano lessons or something. We turn to our communities for swap meets and recipe trades and getting back to basics. We start to be creative again, not just consumers of someone else’s creativity, that is, we bake and cook instead of going out; we play games and go for walks instead of spending hundreds a month on cable; we go to the movie at the town hall with our blanket and picnic instead of paying $50 or more at the theater. We take a composting class or a bike repair course and learn a new language with friends.

We find that we don’t need the things we have been conditioned to buy. We find that yes, if we save instead of spend, we put some people out of work, but we reach out to those people and help them become useful in other capacities. We learn that this too is just a phase, on our way to a more sustainable, friendlier, less consumption driven lifestyle, where there wasn’t much substance behind all that garbage.

My feeling is you’d do better in a community, not the country, where people can share and educate and lend and play and work together to make things work. You are not well served by harboring fear or complacency, but rather we can do so much better by harnessing the same “we can do it” strength that we felt after 9/11. We are facing difficulty as a country, not alone, but together, and only with constructive effort and creativity – not fear-mongering and ignorance and infighting – will be succeed and build something better out of our challenges.

And believe me – there are going to be amazing investment opportunities. I’ll be posting some of those to keep a watch on in the coming weeks and months.

Seeing your sky high electric bill these days is almost enough to cause a heart attack. You may have tried everything you can think of to save on electricity back but still can’t get the numbers low enough. There may be additional electricty saving steps you can take to reduce your use that you haven’t come across. Finding new ways to conserve energy can be easy, but it will take the effort of your entire family. here are a few ideas:

1. Reduce your heating or cooling needs. In summer, raise your thermostat setting above 80 degrees, and use fans, both the ceiling and floor fans. They help stir the air and add to comfort. Be sure the ceiling fan is circulating air down, not up. In winter, up is fine when you want to move warm air from the ceiling down to the floor level. Using a fan can save more than $600 per year.

2. When you’re not home, turn off the air conditioning. The constant running means it’s working harder. You can raise the temp so it doesn’t run all day, and turn it back on when you get home.

3. Be sure to keep your air conditioner’s filter clean by cleaning it at least once a month. A dirty filter will make your AC work less efficiently and that requires more power. Be sure to also Clean registers in all rooms as well as the intake register. Close the registers in all rooms not in regular use. And speaking of clean, you can take a cool shower just before bed to help you feel cooler.

4. Cover your outside condenser with shade, and you can save up to 10% on electric. Just make sure shrubs or grass don’t block the unit’s air flow.

5. Examine your ducts for leaks. Older ductwork can leak more. In the attic, check how hot it is there. Use insulation to save up to 40% of colling power. You might also consider installing an attic fan, since by reducing your attic temperature by just 10 degrees, you can save as much as 10% on your electric bill.

5. Put compact fluorescent light bulbs everywhere you can. An old-fashioned incandescent light is just a mini heater that emits light. Fluorescent bulbs are cooler, and more popular than ever as money savers, so prices are coming down. They give off only 10% heat for 90% light compared to incandescent.

6. Paint your home a light color on the exterior, to reflect heat. Dark paint absorbs up to 20% more heat thereby increasing cooling needs.

7. Watch your appliance use. Use full loads in the dishwasher and laundry, or air dry clothing on a clothesline in good weather. You can also air-dry dishes the old fashioned way, and skip the high-power heated drying cycle. Also, replace old appliances with Energy Star, which use much less electricity.

8. Consider a tankless water heater. Traditional water heaters keep water heated all day long regardless of use, but a tankless heater heats water only as you need it. This can save as much as 25% to 50% of your utility bills!

9. An obvious one is to turn off electric appliances, electronics and other power hogs when not in use. Even when plugged in, “ghost load” power that keeps LED clocks and fast-on switch powered costs as much as 10-15% extra.

By saving just a few watts of electricity here and there it can really add up, plus you can see your success immediately right in your monthly bill! Make it a goal to cut your bills by 20%, and see if you can’t do that with simple changes. Saving energy helps you save money, and that’s something you can really bank on.