Outspoken singer Lily Allen is fighting the hard economic times by investing in art. The 23-year-old "Smile" hitmaker hatched the backup plan after briefly dating 45-year-old art dealer Jay Jopling, and hopes her new passion for paintings will increase her chances of making money during the global recession.

She tells America's Interview magazine, "I've been getting into art recently. I bought a Christian Marclay piece off Jay Jopling. That's a good thing to buy, art. Isn't it? In this day and age? In a recession?"

But the singer is not stopping with art - musing about how she could use the economic downturn to her advantage, she jokes, "I don't know how they've managed to brand the recession. I think I might start to make my own cereal called 'Credit Crunch'. It would just be a cereal laced with speed so you don't need to buy food for the rest of the day."

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(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)