We began buckling down early, paid off credit cards and didn’t take expensive vacations so we’d have an emergency fund if /when the time came, halted a huge expansion of our house, eating in a lot more and the list goes on.

The recession has helped me in these ways:

1. I drive an 11-year-old car and am proud of it! It gets me where I need to go and that’s all a car is supposed to do.

2. We visit family more. They’re a great bunch of people we love very much, and now our 9-year-old son knows exactly how his parents became nuts! )

3. I rekindled my love affair with nature by growing a vegetable garden … this kills two birds with one stone!

4. Our family plays board games at home instead of going out to dinner so much. I used to believe going out gave you the chance to get to know each other without the work of cooking at home. I now believe it’s more of a distraction. We can still order a pizza pretty inexpensively and enjoy each other’s company and ideas without all the distraction.

5. I thought I was frugal before, but I give a lot more thought to my purchases now. “Do I need it? What purpose will it serve? Will I enjoy and use it forever?” Most of the time, the answer is, “No.”

6. I’ve gotten to know my neighbors much better. Who knew that a party is just a bunch of people who each bring something to an agreed upon meeting place, usually one of their houses and just enjoy each other?

7. Our one big expense this past year was to get our son Dylan a dog. He’s a mutt we rescued on the Internet. He cost $475 to bring home. His first vet bill was $500 (notice my use of the word ‘first’) to get rid of his fleas, tics and Giardia parasite.

When he arrived, he was so skinny, we fed him nothing but ground beef and rice for the first three months. Now it costs 60-bucks per month to feed him organic dog food and that doesn’t include treats and dental chews.

Just like our son, he needs toys to keep him active. I’m not so sure he needs them, but he definitely loves them. Besides, his toys don’t cost nearly as much as our son’s!

All in all, in the four months we’ve owned him, I think we’ve spent about $2,500 on Comet and that does include a pair of Juicy Couture and Anne Klein shoes I found on sale and he destroyed.

It’s been worth every penny too! Our Dylan has never been happier or had a better friend, and he really has made our family whole. It warms my soul when he walks (runs) past me to hug his dog and tell him how much he missed him that day. The dog has solved issues no fish or snake or lizard or frog ever could. He’s given a 9-year-old boy an appreciation for another life – A reason to never be bored or lonely. Dylan now belongs to something that needs him every day and worships him no matter what.

So, in some strange way, this recession has brought more than fear, stress, and more fear. It’s brought a family who thought they were doing pretty well before even closer to each other.

I’ve been really focusing on cutting back spending for a few years now. As a young adult, it used to be a bummer to decline invites to the bar or a concert since it just wasn’t in the budget. I find that the worse the economy gets, the less everyone else is spending. It really reaffirms what we started doing before most of the people we know, and removes the awkwardness of having to say no to spending related activities. Now we seem to spend alot more time with friends and family at someone’s house and don’t have to spend any money.

Like the blog, keep up the good work.