Transcripts

"Riding Out the Storm," -Doing It Yourself

SUSIE GHARIB: And finally tonight, we've gotten fantastic feedback from you on how you're "Riding Out the Storm." So tonight, we're sharing comments from another viewer. Marissa from Virginia is surviving the financial slowdown by avoiding unnecessary purchases and sticking to the basics. Marisa says she always pays in cash. She also bakes her own bread and rides her bicycle daily. She prefers it over public transportation. She doesn't eat in restaurants or go out to the movies. Instead she waits for them to come on TV. She doesn't buy books. She uses the library and she doesn't splurge on expensive clothing. She chooses to shop at thrift stores. Marisa says the best things in life come without labels, price tags or brand names. We asked Jason Zweig, personal finance columnist at the "Wall Street Journal" for his thoughts about this plan.

JASON ZWEIG, PERSONAL FINANCE COLUMNIST, WALL STREET JOURNAL: With luck what we might see coming out of the financial crisis is a return to thrift and savings. Those of us who are old enough to remember the 1970s can remember that then when oil prices doubled or tripled, people stopped driving. When interest rates rose, people stopped borrowing and Americans saved much more 30 years ago than they do today. Nowadays people save almost nothing and one result of the financial crisis may well be that people steer away from risk and decide one of the safest things they can do with their money is to save it and that would be a good thing for society and for individuals as well.

GHARIB: To share your thoughts and ideas, please visit the "Riding Out the Storm" section of our website.