If you pick up any newspaper, or turn the TV on these days, you can't escape hearing that about the credit crunch. You'll also start to hear the phrase "consumer crunch" more and more often.

When you hear this do you feel a shiver of fear run through you? Most people do, as the phrases herald a time of coming financial uncertainty.

I've got some good news for you though. There are easy steps that you can take to ensure you get through this crunch time in best possible shape.

One of the biggest steps you can take is to ensure you have the right attitude. If you hold a positive attitude in these difficult times you'll come out better than those who are negative about the financial environment.

Here is why you should be positive, and also how you can be positive.

What is a credit crunch?

Credit Crunch

The credit crunch we are going through at the moment, is a sudden reduction in the amount of credit that is available for people. This has come about as a result of the banks not being able to borrow money like they used to.

The symptoms are not pleasant. They include:

Mortgage deals being withdrawn making harder to get mortgages. Banks are putting interest rates up, despite the Bank of England base rate being cut. Property prices are dropping and a house price slump is feared.

All this is putting a strain on people's wallets, a strain being increased by other factors, including: Tax going up. Inflation going up. The price of petrol going up. Supermarket prices increasing. Double digit increases in energy tariffs. The UK pound weakening against the Euro. The prices of services and goods going up.

What is the Consumer Crunch?

That is the credit crunch, so what is the consumer crunch?

The credit crunch we are going through at the moment, is a sudden reduction in the amount of money people are spending in the shops. This has come about as a result of people having less money to spend because of the factors I listed earlier.

Some of the symptoms of the consumer crunch can already be seen, including:

Some retailers reporting a 10-20% drop in sales during March 2008. Domestic growth forecast slashed. Some companies are issuing profit warnings. 2nd home purchasing drying up.

Suddenly the economy is looking gloomy and there is talk of recession, We are entering a time of economic uncertainty, a time of economic fear.

So how can you stay positive in this time?

In the second half of this article I will show you how you can survive the financial crunches that we are going through, and survive them well, through:

• remembering troubled financial times are nothing new,

• you can think positively, using a few simple questions, and

• have a long term plan.

Thanks for reading, and look out for the second part of my article.