Tell Me Something I Don't Already Do
May 27th 2008 09:57
I read lots of articles and blog posts online about saving money, or ways to "find" money in your budget, etc. Most of them say the same thing. I keep reading them, thinking maybe there will be something in there that I haven't already taken way farther than what most people do (and sometimes I didn't really do it on purpose, it just happened), but there isn't anything that is relevant to me.
For example: "Shave $10 off your grocery bill." Umm, what? I don't think I could eat well enough to stay alive if I could only spend $40 a month on groceries. That's $10 a week. If one of you out there can do that, you are truly amazing. Let me know how you did it. I already eat a lot of sandwiches. Would that be all I eat?
or there is "move to a cheaper apartment." Well, I pay $200 a month for the apartment I'm in. I have a roommate (rent is actually $400 for this place), so that takes care of that argument as well. There isn't anything cheaper than $200 a month.
or how about "use less water/electric, unplug things you're not using to avoid the phantom usage." Check. My tv and vcr are plugged into one of those power strips, and that's turned off pretty much all the time, unless I'm watching tv. Laptop is always off and unplugged as soon as I'm done on it. I think we have two or three lamps and a microwave that are plugged in all the time. That's it.
or even "walk to work/ride your bike, carpool, etc." Done. Work is two blocks from my house. It takes longer to drive there than it does to walk because of the traffic lights.
There are many other things that are somewhat related to those as well. I don't drink pop - mostly just drink water. I only buy things on sale; I'd use coupons if our crappy newspaper had any relevant ones; I buy the generic meds; just started using freecycle; I use the library instead of buying books; I don't buy anything that's fun - only really spend money on food and bills at this point; I do the survey thing to make extra money to send to my tuition cards, etc, etc, etc.
Is there anything else out there to do? I know there's "get a second job" and I'm working on that as well. Someone, please, tell me something I don't know.
For example: "Shave $10 off your grocery bill." Umm, what? I don't think I could eat well enough to stay alive if I could only spend $40 a month on groceries. That's $10 a week. If one of you out there can do that, you are truly amazing. Let me know how you did it. I already eat a lot of sandwiches. Would that be all I eat?
or there is "move to a cheaper apartment." Well, I pay $200 a month for the apartment I'm in. I have a roommate (rent is actually $400 for this place), so that takes care of that argument as well. There isn't anything cheaper than $200 a month.
or how about "use less water/electric, unplug things you're not using to avoid the phantom usage." Check. My tv and vcr are plugged into one of those power strips, and that's turned off pretty much all the time, unless I'm watching tv. Laptop is always off and unplugged as soon as I'm done on it. I think we have two or three lamps and a microwave that are plugged in all the time. That's it.
or even "walk to work/ride your bike, carpool, etc." Done. Work is two blocks from my house. It takes longer to drive there than it does to walk because of the traffic lights.
There are many other things that are somewhat related to those as well. I don't drink pop - mostly just drink water. I only buy things on sale; I'd use coupons if our crappy newspaper had any relevant ones; I buy the generic meds; just started using freecycle; I use the library instead of buying books; I don't buy anything that's fun - only really spend money on food and bills at this point; I do the survey thing to make extra money to send to my tuition cards, etc, etc, etc.
Is there anything else out there to do? I know there's "get a second job" and I'm working on that as well. Someone, please, tell me something I don't know.
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