Must-read: New York Times economic reporter on his personal credit crisis

If you haven’t already, read this article from the Times’ economic reporter. Isn’t it amazing that even a top-notch economics reporter got in over his head with some funky mortgage refinancing? It takes major guts to public with a story like this, but I’m so glad he did. It goes to show that this foreclosure crisis is affecting everyone and even the most intelligent people got swept up in the too-good-to-be-true finance speak.

Oprah’s take on the recession

My TV tendencies on sick days sure have changed. In junior high, I was all about Ricki Lake’s drag queen makeovers and raver showdowns. But today, as I languished on my futon, Oprah’s show caught my attention because it was about how ordinary people are affected by the recession.

I found that the segments were really well done, once I got past the fact that Oprah was sitting behind a raised desk of sorts (is that the norm now? what happened to the couch Tom Cruise jumped on?). The best segment: Lisa Ling’s special report on the boom of tent cities. She interviewed quite a few people who were middle-aged and formerly middle-class. In an instant, they lost their jobs, and quickly fell behind on bills. Some have been living in the tent cities for almost a year. The really sad thing is that they have relatives who might be able to help them; they’re just too proud or too afraid of being a burden to reach out.

Read more about the show and watch some clips here. I highly recommend it!

Money-saving secret: your library

OK, it’s actually not a secret at all. It’s pretty easy to see why frequenting your local library saves cash: you can borrow books, magazines, and DVDs instead of buying them. Presto, money saved! But lately there’s been a plethora of articles about library usage going way up as the economy plunges. This post from Aaron Crowe at WalletPop and this article from the LA Times sum up the situation.

It amazes me that it takes a recession to get people into libraries. Why wouldn’t you go to the library all the time, not just when the economy is tanking? What’s not to like? I was talking about this last night with my dad. My parents have pretty much stopped going to Blockbuster in favor of my hometown library, which is a two-block walk from their house. We agreed that there’s a downside to the secret being out: The selection is picked over, especially in the DVD department. That’s where it takes a little legwork. Mister Redhead and I are whizzes at reserving things online—the New York Public Library is such a huge system that we’ve yet to be unable to find a title we really want.

Confession time: Seeing as I work in publishing, I feel slightly guilty about the whole “borrow instead of buy” attitude. Here’s how I rationalize it so I can sleep at night:

1. The library is not some new recessionista trend for me. I practically grew up at the library, so it’s not like I’m changing my spending habits here. Since I moved to New York, I’ve dropped in at my local branch almost every Saturday morning.
2. If there’s an author I really like, a classic I want to add to my collection. or a small publishing company I want to support, I will buy those books. And because I live hundreds of miles from my relatives, I feel like I’m standing in line at Barnes & Noble on a monthly basis to purchase giftcards to mail with birthday cards. (Hey, it might not be original, but I think everyone can appreciate a B&N giftcard.)
3. Sometimes the number of holds the library has on an item is insane. We’ve been waiting almost a year for season 2 of Rescue Me, and I miss me some Denis Leary. If I see it at a reasonable price, I am snatching it up, library be damned.

Do you find yourself going to the library more nowadays? Or are you like me: a lifelong fan, no matter what the economy is doing?