What did you do for your mother last weekend? My daughters and I took their mother to Vancouver and we did our best to stimulate the economy. We ate too much, shopped too much and walked too much. Amazing all the best stores and restaurants are just minutes from Skytrain!

Much has been said about a coming "Global Recession" and our job as consumers is to spend to save our economy. I had great discussion today with someone if this "recession" is real or just a headline for newspapers, TV news and Internet sites. Here is my take ...

Everything in the last 4 - 5 years has gotten out of hand. One of The best example of this is real estate. We all watched housing prices going up well beyond reasonable growth rates. Another good example is the car business.The real problem is the industry is producing 30 - 40% more cars than it can sell.

As the economy shrinks, wages come down , workers will be laid off and companies will have to find new ways to attract consumers. In the short term this will be difficult as many are worried about potential job losses.This process will be more painful for most of us than the recession in the 80's. Why? In the 80's few of us had a sizable amount money invested, owned homes or had large amounts of debt. A 20% loss on 100,000 is much more worry some than on 10,000.

Trimming costs is good news for investors. Smaller liabilities and stronger balance sheets make companies more attractive. Who is going to invest in a company that has too many workers, too much debt and too little customers? It is in time likes these that money is made.

As the recession makes its way to the Okanagan ... what can you do about it? Check out the article "4 Tips for Weathering the Kelowna Recession".

Review your cash flow, eliminate your debt and find ways to simplify your financial life!

Mike Hassard Kelowna