What to do with your money

My usual day includes reading 10 to 12 articles about the economy and business news.  Today I read the best advice from Liz Pulliam Weston on MSN.com.  

Liz gave 10 pieces of advice about what we need to know about the financial crisis we are dealing with after the government failed to pass the bail out package.  Her advice was pretty good, but it was actually number 11 that grabbed my attention.

After giving all the advice about banks, investments, etc., she said the best advice she could give was "to take out your wallet and give to the Red Cross".  We have many victims of hurricanes and other tragic losses in America and around the world that will have much greater losses that any of us will have with the mortgage/wall street crisis.  

Wall street hasn't caused any of us to die, deal with disease, lose our pictures and valued possessions, or anything worse than "some" asset reduction.  Maybe you have to lose the house you are in because of being over mortgaged or because of job loss.  It could be worse.  We could live in Nicaragua and never have had a house.  Or, we could have lived in China and been devastated by the earthquakes.

We are melting down at Wall Street and we may have a difficult time obtaining credit.  We may have to be careful shopping for food, budget a little tighter, not drive as much, not purchase as many luxury items, and maybe not go to the movies and buy extra butter on our popcorn.  This is probably good for all of us.  

As for me and my family, we are going to write a check so someone else can eat, have shelter, avoid disease, and extend life.