Enough of the doom and gloom, let’s look on the bright side...

After a year and a half of financial meltdown and economic turmoil, you'd be forgiven if your glass seems more half empty than half full.

Left:A punch up and a black eye meant Snoopy regretted spending the savings on his mortgage repayments on a night out

Nobody can deny that the rest of 2009 will be tough, but dig a little deeper beneath the surface or apply a bit of lateral thinking and you'll soon realise that things are maybe not as bad they seem.

Stock markets have seen billions, if not trillions, wiped off their value in the last year or so, but there are signs that things are beginning to take a turn for the better. Opportunities abound for the savvy investor, while the FTSE 100 enjoyed its best month in six years during April, climbing more than 8%.

In fact, having risen more than 20% since recent lows in March, a bull market has officially begun. Past performance is, of course, not a guide to the future, and there could still be some rough patches ahead. However, it looks like the FTSE could be on its way back.

While the headlines recently screamed, "worst fall in the economy since World War Two", it's safe to assume that not all business is contracting; on the contrary, for some firms, now is likely to be their time.

For instance, if a meal at a fancy restaurant might seem a little extravagant at the moment, the local takeaway is more than likely getting your custom instead. 

And while the recession has seen a number of well known chains disappear from the high street in recent months, for you, the humble consumer, it means there could be bargains to be had.

Shops desperate to get you through their door will be cutting prices, while the fact that we're in a period of deflation in layman's terms means that the price of goods and services is falling. Your hard earned cash is going to go further.    

Deflation is good news for savers too. Even though interest rates are at a record low, if the cost of everything is dropping faster, then the real value of your savings will be rising.

Meanwhile borrowers, particularly those with tracker mortgage, are understandably enjoying the low interest rates, leaving most with some extra pounds in their pocket or perhaps even better the opportunity to cut short the length of their mortgage by overpaying.

Meanwhile, most signs increasingly suggest the end of the housing market slump may be in sight. When people start buying and selling houses, spending on everything tends to go up, bringing the road out of recession a huge step closer.     

So it appears all might not be lost. While it seems every cloud does have a silver lining, if you're still decidedly downbeat then there's one more superficial reason I can give you for raising a smile.  

The Met Office has confidently predicted we can look forward to a hot dry summer this year. If that doesn't give you a reason to be cheerful, then I dare say nothing will.  

Tim Leonard is a Senior Reporter at Moneyfacts Group