by Telhare'sha Dawkins

Created on: June 08, 2008

There are varying types of low income households, distinguished by terms such as lower middle class, working class and working poor. Across the nation, these families are feeling the pinch of escalating food and gasoline prices, rising unemployment, an expanding crisis in housing markets and little to no economic relief from government. Single folks and married couples alike are abandoning pets, moving in with relatives, maxing credit cards and pooling all of their resources to make ends meet.

The effects of these - depression, isolation, fear, desperation and hopelessness - build on each other to overwhelm you and make you feel like coping with your financial circumstances is impossible. Don't panic. No matter the category you fall into, it is possible to live with contentment, manage the effects of crushing economic times and even enjoy some degree of wealth with a low income.

CHANGE YOUR MIND

Managing with a wage or salary that minimizes your standard of living first comes by changing the way you think about the state of your affairs. You make the choice to be happy and live well or to categorize yourself and have a poverty mentality. Happiness and wellness are gained by making logical choices about your money, being narrowly influenced by pop culture and having an attitude of survival. Many others, who have low incomes, have overcome its ill effects, have gained wisdom from their financial experiences and lived on to tell their stories. You can, too.

An optimistic mindset is the first step in conquering your income, rather than allowing it to dictate to you. Once you've determined that you're going to be your most beneficial advisor and that you'll see your circumstance through to a positive resolution, at the very least, you can then focus on living your best life.

TAKE A CENSUS

In light of your new found confidence and determined optimism, know that you, as an individual, are an economy. Your household is a micro-economy with its own market forecasts and fluctuations; and your first task, as repository of food, leisure, education and political markets (to name a few), is to take a census of your appetites. Name them. Are they necessary? Are they reasonable?

Emotional or trend-based saving and spending is inefficient and quickly lowers already low income. As chairman of your household-level "federal reserve," you have to be transparent and accountable to yourself and your family in a manner that explains and justifies the motives and rationales for how you are

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