Tuesday, December 28, 2010

The One That Isn't Titled Because I'm Not Sure What I'm Even Trying To Say

The economy is in the toilet.
Paychecks - assuming they exist - are tight with no raise in sight.

The recession is supposedly turning back around, but much like our taste in music and clothing, the Midwest is always a season or 7 behind and we’re still feeling the pinch. People are looking to stash a few pennies here and there and every news source (credible and otherwise) is whipping up a shiny new list of ways to save in 2011.

But. Well. These lists are common sense.

Considering he’s a banker and I’m a full-fledged Type A, you can bet our credit is clean enough to eat off of. Hell, it’s cleaner than the bathtub. And yet, I click on these articles and read through to see if there’s anything above the average “DUH” idea to cut out the extraneous expenses.

Stop eating out. Only order water if you do go out. Check out books, magazines and cds from the library. Avoid late payment fees. Pay more than just interest on a credit card. (How about – try not to carry a balance at all?) Don’t pay for gym memberships you don’t use. Limit gift-giving. Take your lunch to work. Don’t buy a $5 coffee every morning. Buy generic.

I read one of these articles this morning and their fresh, new suggestion? Drink water in place of pop (or soda for my outside-the-Midwest readers) to save $1,100 over the course of a year.

And while these suggestions are fine and dandy – and even good to those that don’t add up the shocking amount spent at Starbucks each month – I’m waiting for new ideas. We’re, luckily, not in the position of desperately needing to go quarter-diving through couch cushions but most everyone could (and perhaps should) stand to save a little more and spend a little less.

But what if you’ve already trimmed the fat from your budget?

You can only stop drinking pop once.

Surely there are additional ways to save some scratch... so why doesn’t anyone write about those and call it something honest like “What to do when you legitimately can’t save any more money and still don’t have enough for food, clothes and/or heat.”

What creative ideas do you know of?

2 comments:

Mike said...

Ask yourself, "Do I really need BOTH of these kidneys?"

Crafterella said...

Ummmm, I think it's illegal to sell you a kidney, but you can sell eggs and sperm (ewww). You can also sell your plasma, I haven't done it since college, but you could do it up to 3 times a week and they give you cash, varying amounts depending on how many times you do it. It takes a while and you have to make sure to stay super hydrated, but that one you never see on those lists.
Things are tight for us, but it's always that way. I stopped buying things that get thrown out after 1 use (except for toilet paper :D I just can't go green with that!) We don't use paper plates, paper towels, disposable cups or Kleenexes. We also make things from scratch instead of buying mixes/pre-made stuff.
I also barter/trade, luckily I know how to make a lot of different stuff.
And that's all of my wordy and unusual suggestions.