Recessionary Measures: Use Your Noodle

Though the economy continues to hold consumers in a headlock, not every aspect of a recession is negative.
So before you act on that urge to punch the economy in the face, consider what the precarious environment has given you: an arsenal of creative retrenchment tactics.
We can probably all agree that the word retrenchment should only be used in Jane Austin novels, but the term for financial curtailment has seldom been more resonant.
And not every method of curbing expenses has to deprive us things we want.
For example, after a delicious birthday dinner at Vesuvio Bistro in Little Rock, I found myself craving a nice Italian meal a week or so later. Not wanting to choose between flavor or finances, I ventured to make my own pasta.
This is a must-have skill. It's delicious and surprisingly easy. Granted I spent about $35 on a pasta roller. But after that initial investment, you can make fine Italian pasta for four to five people for about $1.
Click here to watch a video that shows how to make your own noodles.
As a writer for Arkansas Business and ArkansasBusiness.com, I've heard in multiple conversations with business execs that companies that survive recessions are smarter, better businesses afterward.
The most recent comment ended up in this story about how Arkansas hotels have parried the blows by the economy.
"I think there's a silver lining in these down times," said Gregg Herning, general manager of the Peabody Little Rock. "It does force you to become real creative, to look closer at what you have and what you have to offer. And you actually do emerge as better operators with better ideas."
And when you think about it, families and business are not all that different.
They both have financial responsibilities, income, expenses and even a little romance.
If a company can learn and profit from a recession, why can't we?