Ed. note: Welcome to the fifth and final installment of the five part series, Living With the Recession by author and executive consultant Granville Toogood, who also happens to be my uncle as well. For more information on Granville, visit his website [here].

The good news just keeps rolling in with the bad times.

A friend fired from his job at a financial services company has finally found time to turn his attention to his first love, wooden boats. The last two weeks he’s been at the library and online catching up on all the juicy wooden boat news and developments he’s missed for the past career-crazy fifteen years.

Incredibly, he’s already in touch with someone interested in developing a 50/50 business plan for a new company to specialize in hand-crafted 19^th-century reproductions.  He’s even got a design of his own that’s he’s putting together in his garage.

“Never been happier,” he told me. “Should have done this years ago.”

Another friend in St. Helena, California, has partnered with two other digital whizzes  derailed by the recession to buy an artisan vineyard that was itself about to go out of business because the owner passed away. Six months into their new adventure, they’ve already hired six new employees and can’t keep up with the demand from high-end restaurants.

Another Silicon Valley casualty has partnered with his wife, an engineer, to design and manufacture roof tiles that double as solar panels.  Not even a year into their new adventure—and before a single tile has even been produced — they have already been approached to sell their technology to a big U.S. energy company. An Israeli company is also showing interest.

These are just three of tens of thousands of inspiring stories popping up every day and unfolding right under our noses. Everywhere you look, in the timeless natural cycle of destruction and creation, the recession is giving birth to new enterprises and new jobs.

Turn on the TV and you would think we were all on our knees, facing a catastrophe. Yes, almost 10 percent of us are out of work. But the other 90 percent are still plugging along. Interestingly, it is not the 90 percent that will pull us up and out of the mess, but the more intrepid and creative numbers of that foot loose 10 percent (probably not the ones, however, who are frozen in fear, feeling sorry for themselves and standing in line for the dole).

The Depression produced The Greatest Generation. The recession of 1987-1992 produced the digital revolution. This bump in the road will probably help launch the greatest growth engine in generations – The Green Revolution, which is already under way and growing stronger every day, recession or no recession.

Thank God for recessions. They wake us up and turn us on, reminding us of who we are and what we can do.  Whatever would we do without them?

Ed. note: Welcome to the fourth installment of the five part series, Living With the Recession by author and executive consultant Granville Toogood, who also happens to be my uncle as well. For more information on Granville, visit his website [here].

Bargains everywhere

Everybody seems to agree the recession won’t end until consumers – people like you and me – fire up our confidence and start spending again.

Happily, retailers are trying hard to make that happen with specials offers so good that even the most tight-fisted among us find it hard to refuse.

For example, airlines are practically giving away seats.

A couple of weeks ago, we flew Jet Blue to Bermuda for $99 one way. Not bad for an international flight. It’s such a good deal, we’re going back for the same price in June.

Want to visit a friend in Florida? Jet Blue has a $79 sale on seats from Westchester (White Plains).

American, Delta, Southwest and and Spirit, among others, are piling on the bandwagon with competing one way fares of $59 and $79 all over the country.

If that won’t get you to open your wallet, the newspapers are screaming with clothing, furniture and appliance sales of up to 70% off (whether that 70% is actually 70% is an entirely different question). Even better, small stores, I am told, are open to some negotiation and bargaining, especially for existing customers.

The web is bursting with all kinds of vendors offering an infinite variety of stuff (that you might want or need) for prices that would have been unheard of just last year.

You may be able to do even better if you don’t mind the hassle of bargaining on eBay or Priceline.

So if you are out of a job, or bunkering down for the duration, or just biting your nails and wondering what to do next, dump your worries for a few days. Psychologists say a change of scene can work wonders to remedy depression, and who can deny the recuperative value (and sheer wicked bliss) of scoring a once-in-a-lifetime megabargain?

How about that shiny antique 1953 MG  you’ve been dreaming about for the past 20 years? Have you checked eBay lately?

Been thinking about a cruise but never had the time? Now you’ve got the time – and if you go on Google you’ll find that even the tonier cruise lines are throwing out deals that might make your eyes pop.

So if you have to agonize, why not agonize on a nice beach with a good book, or angling for that little treasure you’ve always dreamed about? Even if it rains, or if the treasure somehow slips through your fingers, you will still have taken that important first step that we’ve all got to take individually to get not only ourselves, but the entire country back on the road to recovery.

Ed. note: Welcome to the third installment of the five part series, Living With the Recession by author and executive consultant Granville Toogood, who also happens to be my uncle as well. For more information on Granville, visit his website [here].

The Silver Lining

Last summer,Bob and Vicky were on the verge of divorce. But now they’re actually talking about saving for a second honeymoon.

For the first time ever, John now has time to read to his kids at night before they go to bed.

Linda has patched things up with her mother after years of bad feeling. Now they’re even planning a trip together.

In a complete turnabout,Ted’s high school kids are suddenly getting serious about their futures and hitting the books.

Alex and Jennifer’s three kids spend more quality time with mom and dad.  Now the whole family sits downevery night for dinner.

These are just a few examples of how the current cloud of economic recession has begun to reveal its silver lining. If you listen closely to the buzz, you will be hearing more stories like these every day.

And a lot of people think it’s a good thing. They’ll tell it’s time we put the brakes on runaway credit and debit card spending, instant gratification, grabby excess, keeping up with the Joneses, and all the other frenzied behaviors that have become embedded in our culture for the last three decades.

We want to believe we had a good time — but now we can see it was sometimes at a price of sinking ethics, rising anxieties, cavalier wastefulness, and misplaced values.

Curiously, the current gloom and doom has had the effect of smoothing relationships, bringing friends and families closer together, simplifying and clarifying daily life, and jerking our priorities back where they belong.

And even though consumer spending is down, environmental awareness is up. The “green” economy seems to be riding the warm winds of the recession, with people looking to waste less, and make energy-saving choices.

Still, not everyone is benefitting from the setback. In many parts of the country, violence, alcohol and drug are all up, and police report more apparent suicide, and attempted suicide.

But in spite of all the downbeat news, a strange sense of relief and optimism persists in some quarters– and it’s not about money or wealth.

“It’s a good thing,” a friend told me. “Business is bad and a lot of people I know are out of work. But their lives are actually better. People are closer now, and they are beginning to take pleasure in a lot of things they had almost forgotten.”

Such as?

“Such as family, friends, more free time, and just enjoying small things, like smelling the flowers for the first time since they were ten years old, and just feeling grateful about being alive.”

Maybe when the rebound finally comes, this time we won’t forget that the small things are really the big things.

Ed. note: Welcome to the second installment of the five part series, Living With the Recession by author and executive consultant Granville Toogood, who also happens to be my uncle as well. For more information on Granville, visit his website [here].

Cheap Chow That’s Good for You

Before the soufflé hit the fan last fall, it would never have occurred to me to whip a great meal for two for less than $15.

But the soufflé did hit the fan — and it wasn’t long before I discovered that you don’t have to eat fast food to save money.

According to nutrition experts, we all should be eating not three big meals, but five small meals that include less meat and more fruit and veggies every day.  Let’s assume, however, that for a lot of reasons we can’t all subscribe to the five-meal plan. So let’s take a look at what we can do with just three:

Breakfast for One

One or two eggs every other day — about 40 cents.

Half cup of blueberries (frozen are cheaper, but just as nutritious) – about  80 cents.

Half cup of raspberries – about  $1

Glass of OJ – about 30 cents.

1 pc. whole grain toast – 15 cents

Half cup of oatmeal – 20 cents

Banana – 35 cents

Total: three to four bucks

Lunch for One

For lunch, swing by any green market and grab a container of fresh stir-fry veggies and a container of raw carrots and celery for snacks.

Veggies stirred-fried in a pan with Hoisin or stir- fry sauce and sesame seeds – about $3.75

Two pieces sliced smoked salmon – about 90 cents

Cup of green tea –- about 20 cents

One ounce of dark chocolate – about 60 cents

Total: a little more than five bucks

Dinner for Two

Half a pound of fish (prices vary store to store and day to day). Let’s say $10.

Mesclun salad – about $3

Avacado – about  $1.25

Lemon water (fresh squeezed) – about 30 cents

Raspberries (frozen) – about $2

Total: less than $17. That’s about $8 each.

Not everyone is going to want to follow a plan like this. But for those who do, you’ll probably wind up losing a couple of inches off the waist, and at the same time save enough cash for the occasional ribeye steak blowout at your favorite local restaurant.