•2:25 PM
I found this great site today while perusing the Internet for more frugal advice. It has fantastic articles on personal finance and frugal living. I have been reading everything I can get my hands on, on the site. Please check it out.
WiseBread
A great article today by Julie listed the 10 things she wouldn't give up to save money and some other lists, that I just loved reading about. It made me want to list mine, and I would love to hear yours too. Now I don't think any one's lists are completely set in stone. If times got horrible, I'm sure we would all make concessions to things we wouldn't right now.
10 things I won’t give up to save money:
1.) Air conditioning. Yes, it is getting much cooler now, so we don't need it on most of the time and hopefully not anymore until next summer. But I hate heat in general and I hate the hot weather of summer with a passion. Of course we turn up the temp to make it warmer in the daytime, but at night I like it really cool when I sleep. And since I only get about 5 hours of sleep a night, I need every minute of it to be comfortable. In my opinion, air conditioning is the greatest invention man has ever made.
2.) Sugar. I exercise 6 days a week. I watch what I eat 99% of the time. I don't smoke, I barely drink. I follow all laws, both federal, state and local. But I have to have sugar, and I mean real sugar. No sugar substitutes. I can taste them a mile away. Sugar is my one big vice. I usually have a small bowl of ice cream every night and I do my best to get it as cheap as I can. But I'm going to buy it anyway if I am out of it. Take sugar from me and you will get the equivalent of someone trying to quit smoking.
3.) TV. Now it doesn't have to be a big fancy TV, unlike my husband has to have. I don't need all the wacky channels. But I do want at least standard cable. NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, E, Food Network, Home and Garden Channel.
4.) Anything My Pets Need. I have seven pets, in case you forgot. I take the adoption of animals seriously. They are my responsibility for the rest of their lives. They need their food, their medications and their vet trips. I don't skimp or scrape on that.
5.) Certain Foods. I get get lots of cheap food with coupons, but some of it is just not too healthy. And since I have to be a pretty healthy eater or my pants won't fit. Somethings I have to buy for my meals to keep me in trim shape. Veggie burgers, egg whites, fruits, skim milk and yogurt are staples in my diet. I do try my best to find them on sale or use coupons. But either way I have to get them to keep me on track.
6.) My Landscaper. I know this is a horrible one for me to have and someplace I could really save money. But hear me out. I am a redhead with freckles. I burn in the sun at the drop of a hat. I have to wear the equivalent of liquid steel to go outside in the summer for longer than 5 minutes. I also get eaten alive by bugs when going outside for anything in the warm weather (see another reason for me to hate warm weather). On top of all that, I really just hate being outside and have suffered many a cut and bruise from mowing my lawn, edging the grass and trimming bushes. I'm not lazy, not one bit. I would happily clean the inside of my house from head to toe with a toothbrush if I had to. But I despise yard work horribly. So much I sold my lawnmower and tools a year ago at a yard sale. My lawn guy is reliable, cheap and takes forever to cash my checks too. Its a happy relationship.
7.) My laptop. Another strange one. Although it was an expensive initial investment, it has saved me a ton of money. It has showed me to tons of frugal websites with great information on saving money. But its biggest benefit has been something to keep me entertained during my lunches at work. I used to go out on my lunch break and go shopping, or peruse the book stores and buy a cookbook or two, and also this burned up gas as my work area can get bad traffic. Now I go around the corner from work to a lake, a 10 second drive, park my car, turn it off, roll down the windows and pop a DVD I already had, into the laptop and just watch TV shows. Its so relaxing and entertaining and cheap.
8.) My Ipod. I use this every time I exercise and just go outside and run. And considering how much gym memberships costs, I have more than made up for the price of the Ipod by not joining a gym.
9.) My dishwasher. But actually if you look it up, washing dishes by hand wastes more water than a good energy efficient dishwasher. So really its a good thing to keep.
10.) My 401K. Even though I hate them and it feels like gambling your retirement savings. Everyone and their mother tells me to never stop putting money into it. I have lowered or raised the amount on occasion but not stopped it. I will be a good girl and always stay in it, and hopefully one day this thing will actually look like it is going somewhere substantial.
WiseBread
A great article today by Julie listed the 10 things she wouldn't give up to save money and some other lists, that I just loved reading about. It made me want to list mine, and I would love to hear yours too. Now I don't think any one's lists are completely set in stone. If times got horrible, I'm sure we would all make concessions to things we wouldn't right now.
10 things I won’t give up to save money:
1.) Air conditioning. Yes, it is getting much cooler now, so we don't need it on most of the time and hopefully not anymore until next summer. But I hate heat in general and I hate the hot weather of summer with a passion. Of course we turn up the temp to make it warmer in the daytime, but at night I like it really cool when I sleep. And since I only get about 5 hours of sleep a night, I need every minute of it to be comfortable. In my opinion, air conditioning is the greatest invention man has ever made.
2.) Sugar. I exercise 6 days a week. I watch what I eat 99% of the time. I don't smoke, I barely drink. I follow all laws, both federal, state and local. But I have to have sugar, and I mean real sugar. No sugar substitutes. I can taste them a mile away. Sugar is my one big vice. I usually have a small bowl of ice cream every night and I do my best to get it as cheap as I can. But I'm going to buy it anyway if I am out of it. Take sugar from me and you will get the equivalent of someone trying to quit smoking.
3.) TV. Now it doesn't have to be a big fancy TV, unlike my husband has to have. I don't need all the wacky channels. But I do want at least standard cable. NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, E, Food Network, Home and Garden Channel.
4.) Anything My Pets Need. I have seven pets, in case you forgot. I take the adoption of animals seriously. They are my responsibility for the rest of their lives. They need their food, their medications and their vet trips. I don't skimp or scrape on that.
5.) Certain Foods. I get get lots of cheap food with coupons, but some of it is just not too healthy. And since I have to be a pretty healthy eater or my pants won't fit. Somethings I have to buy for my meals to keep me in trim shape. Veggie burgers, egg whites, fruits, skim milk and yogurt are staples in my diet. I do try my best to find them on sale or use coupons. But either way I have to get them to keep me on track.
6.) My Landscaper. I know this is a horrible one for me to have and someplace I could really save money. But hear me out. I am a redhead with freckles. I burn in the sun at the drop of a hat. I have to wear the equivalent of liquid steel to go outside in the summer for longer than 5 minutes. I also get eaten alive by bugs when going outside for anything in the warm weather (see another reason for me to hate warm weather). On top of all that, I really just hate being outside and have suffered many a cut and bruise from mowing my lawn, edging the grass and trimming bushes. I'm not lazy, not one bit. I would happily clean the inside of my house from head to toe with a toothbrush if I had to. But I despise yard work horribly. So much I sold my lawnmower and tools a year ago at a yard sale. My lawn guy is reliable, cheap and takes forever to cash my checks too. Its a happy relationship.
7.) My laptop. Another strange one. Although it was an expensive initial investment, it has saved me a ton of money. It has showed me to tons of frugal websites with great information on saving money. But its biggest benefit has been something to keep me entertained during my lunches at work. I used to go out on my lunch break and go shopping, or peruse the book stores and buy a cookbook or two, and also this burned up gas as my work area can get bad traffic. Now I go around the corner from work to a lake, a 10 second drive, park my car, turn it off, roll down the windows and pop a DVD I already had, into the laptop and just watch TV shows. Its so relaxing and entertaining and cheap.
8.) My Ipod. I use this every time I exercise and just go outside and run. And considering how much gym memberships costs, I have more than made up for the price of the Ipod by not joining a gym.
9.) My dishwasher. But actually if you look it up, washing dishes by hand wastes more water than a good energy efficient dishwasher. So really its a good thing to keep.
10.) My 401K. Even though I hate them and it feels like gambling your retirement savings. Everyone and their mother tells me to never stop putting money into it. I have lowered or raised the amount on occasion but not stopped it. I will be a good girl and always stay in it, and hopefully one day this thing will actually look like it is going somewhere substantial.
I can't believe I never finished posting the pictures and details from my trip to Chicago back in late July. The rest of my life got in the way and it completely slipped my mind.
