This site is really about much more than just saving money tips, even though that is a great part of it. Savingmoneytipsblog is also about reaching out and finding ways that people can help each other.

In light of the recent  insult with the passage of continued tax cuts for the rich and further encroachment on our first amendment rights, it is becoming increasingly evident that we the people are going to have to start doing a lot of things for ourselves. Jobs are increasingly hard to find, and the real unemployment rate is inching ever closer to 20 percent, regardless of the mainstream media’s insistence that it is half that.

So how do we start doing these things for ourselves? Let me explain. You see, money is a wonderful tool, and if you’re flush at the moment, good on ya. But when you’re low, that’s when this little space opens up so that innovation can start to happen.

There was a time, a few years ago, when I was in Austin, Texas, and I had an event that changed my life. As it happened, I was unemployed and without money, facing a situation perhaps like one you may be facing (or fearing) now. I had no idea where my next meal would be coming from, much less where the rent money was coming from. What is worse, my van ran out of gas in the middle of a crowded street, and with no money I couldn’t do anything about it. This is one of our greatest fears, right?

But something happens when we are in sticky situations where the mind becomes ever so creative. What did I do? I walked to the first gas station that looked like it had real people working in it. This is important, because networking like this requires real people, not corporations or machines. It was one of those little family owned shops with dirty floors and extra used car parts and trash laying around. Something came over me, and I explained to the guy working on a car there that I just happened to be walking by and noticed that his shop could use a little cleaning up and I’d be happy to clean it up for him if he could spare a couple of gallons of gas.

I was actually a little surprised when he agreed, but it was probably because I was dressed well and didn’t look like a bum, and I offered something rather than asking for something. But this was the beginning a long process of learning how to provide services for others while providing for my needs or for my friends needs.

So let’s fast forward to our present situation. This is how things are going to be folks. With the economy going the way it is, we (the people) are going to just start finding ways to help each other out. There’s going to be a lot more comradeship and team effort going on between real people. In fact, there are already many such movements and organizations being developed to this end. One of them is the Portland Hour Exchange, and you can learn more about them here. I envision entire communities built around this way of innovative thinking. Saving money tips is about finding ways to accomplish things without money, and this is the ultimate result of that.

This is going to be a huge phenomenon just out of necessity. We all have skills, and we all have needs, and when these come together, great things can happen. We are going to have to network with each other and provide for each other just like people did in the great depression of the 1930’s. Our elected officials, at least those in Washington D.C., are mostly millionaires and completely out of touch with the average person. Their mantra seems to be “I’ve got mine and you can just drop dead”. The “poor” business people they are speaking up for are actually multibillion dollar corporations.

I’ve alluded to my techniques of trading services for goods and vice versa in earlier posts, and will continue to do so. There are so many saving money tips and ways of innovation that we can’t even begin to list them all here. I will be creating more blog posts soon to help direct people to more resources on this subject.

Hal Merrill
December 11, 2010