What are you doing to prepare for the economic collapse?

“Without immediate action by Congress, America could slip into a financial panic, and a distressing scenario would unfold,” President Bush said last night. “Our entire economy is in danger.”

“Is this the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression?” CBS’ Harry Smith asked former President Bill Clinton this morning. “It could be,” Clinton responded.

OK, it’s bad. We know it’s bad when conservatives are racing to empty the U.S. Treasury, expand the role of government, and set us on a path for massive tax increases to pay for this mess.

Is the bailout the way to go? Does it matter in the big scheme of things? In the big scheme of things, we can pretty well figure a lot of us are going to lose our jobs, a chunk of our nest eggs, and any sense of financial security. We know that because economies don’t race to the edge of a cliff and then bounce back to the economic equivalent of the Era of Good Feeling.

The politicians are telling us it’s going to hurt if the bailout doesn’t pass. But common sense tells us it’s going to hurt even if it does. Face it, that’s the fear behind our anger.

But denial, fear, and anger are not a plan for hunkering down and preparing for tough times and — unlike the people of the Greatest Generation — ours is not a civilization that is all that keen on personal sacrifice. But here we are, needing to prepare for whatever is coming.

So how are you preparing… personally speaking? What are you cutting out or preparing to cut out.

Yesterday I cut my cellphone plan to $19.95 a month for 60 minutes of time, and called the newspaper to cancel it (they always offer you a half-price deal when you call to cancel). Still, somehow I don’t think that’s going to be enough.

How about you?