The economy has turned us into private analysts bent on securing our own futures. We may switch stock buys, move to more safer investment solutions, and call out our friends and family who speak on the side of resurgence in the US economy. The troubled financial times bring out a renewed interest in many of our debts and spending habits. A recent San Francisco Chronicle article reported on the state of the US economy.

The first fallacy of spending money in order to save it (you’ve saved XX dollars by shopping Safeway, says my grocery receipt) is that you can’t save money you don’t have. We are not saving by spending. We may be buying something more cheaply, but make no mistake: We’re still spending money. [Source: SFGate.com]

We need to focus on our own saving habits and on our spending habits. While the two habits become intertwined, we should have a separate plan for each in order to stay on top of our financial well-being. Let’s assume we seek out the savings on a flat screen TV, finding a deal more than 10% less than the best price anywhere else. The question then becomes, ‘Should I buy this TV, even though it’s considerably less than the same model elsewhere? Do I need it?’ Just because something is a good deal doesn’t mean its a necessary deal.

We live in a society where marketers and advertisers seek to tap into the buy now pay later mentality. Just because I can walk in and buy a fantastic new queen sized bed with no interest until 2012 doesn’t mean I should do that.

The problems with our economy seems to stem from our credit hungry ways. As individuals we can stop the bleeding by simply waiting until we can afford the items. We need to look not at just the savings, but also at our spending habits in order to heal properly the financial problems.

With Lehman Brothers, Fannie May, Freddie Mac, and other top companies being rescued or going belly-up, many of us may be rightfully concerned with the state of our investments. Does our investment firm have a solid footing? What does our bank look like financially? How can we find answers to these questions?

You’re Covered
If you have your savings socked away in an interest bearing savings or checking account in some bank — large or small — the money should be covered by the FDIC. The FDIC came about from the vast number of bank failures during the Great Depression. The Steagall Act of 1933 created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation so bank goers would return money to their accounts from under their mattresses.

Is this a Market Correction?
If you’re involved with stocks, then you’ve noticed the tanking of many sectors in the recent weeks. The risk is all but apparent in the drops the DOW has taken. You could lose everything if the wrong company files for bankruptcy, right? It pays to diversify. This may be the time to take a long hard look at your portfolio, so you can purge some of the bears and pull in some long term buys.

Can You Balance This Budget?
It may be an even better time to start the budget and stick to it. The economy can fluctuate as much as it wants if we have the security of a nest egg behind us. Imagine having enough money saved to pay for six months of expenses if anything should happen. It may save you a lot of time you would have spent worrying.

Overall our investments should be safe in banks and brokerage accounts. We may want to reassess our investments and move money to safe, long term buys at the moment. This market will turn around eventually. Just make sure your money doesn’t go with the change.