I used to work for a computer school. On a regular basis, we'd advertise in a local tech rag that we were having an open house with pizza and pop. We probably got an equal number of people wanting to check out the offerings as wanting to eat the pizza.
We relocated to Hawaii from California seven years ago. Hawaii does not observe Daylight Savings Time. I never realized how disruptive the "fall back and spring forward" routine was until I didn't have to do it any longer.
A relative who loves to shop and sends a big box of gifts every year. I don't know him well enough to know what to get him in return. From his gift choices he obviously doesn't know me very well either.
A friend who suddenly decided that she needs to buy something for me at every possible holiday. This comes on the heels of more than 20 years of gifting only when we saw the perfect item for eachother. It worked so well before and now I just feel guilty if I can't find something perfect for each and every occasion.
Another friend of the family who sends a generous check every Christmas. I never know how to reciprocate. It doesn't seem right to send a $10 calendar to somebody who sent me a $100 check. But it also seems pointless to turn around and spend that $100 on the person who sent it to me.
I'm curious if people have good ideas to get people to stop the gifting cycle. I like to think that I'm a generous person, and I love giving gifts. But I'm burned out on trying to find gifts for people out of obligation.
Sams and Costco always have those nice people handing out samples. Don't have a card? Don't fret. Do a little research--in my state, anyone can buy alcohol with or without a membership card at one of these places. Just point at the booze and go for it. Also successful: "I was parking the car for my (mom, GF, roommate.)" Or you can get a one-day "lookaround" card--they give these to you free at the customer service desk in the hope that you'll swoon over the prices and fork over $35 so you can buy twelve dozen cheapo bottles of spaghetti sauce. You can go in by the exit door looking preoccupied and mutter something about leaving your driver's license at the checkout.
The good pickings are on Saturday, BTW, and the place is an absolute zoo.
I grew up in one of those counties in Indiana that didn't change their clocks, and after living on the East Coast for 25 years I still haven't gotten used to having to adjust to the time change twice a year.
Nor do I think I should have to. Studies have shown that automobile accidents increase on the day after the spring time change, probably because of sleep deprivation. Add that to all the people who miss their planes, show up late to church, etc. When my kids were younger I really hated DST because it was much more difficult to get them to bed when it was still light out. As far as I'm concerned, it stays light in the summer late enough. What I really, really hate is that week in the winter when the clocks change back, and suddenly it's pitch dark when I get out of work.
Life is stressful enough without an added disruption twice a year. Getting rid of Daylight Savings Time would make everyone's lives simpler and smoother.
I ordered a Nikon D200 through Best Price Camera over last weekend and had a similar experience. Earlier this week their customer service person called and asked if I would like to buy a battery to go with the camera. Thinking he meant an additional battery I said that since they were priced at $249 I would just go with the one it came with for now. He explained that my order was for a camera body only which did not include the battery, charger, or even the Nikon information that came in the typical box set. He explained "that's want body only means" attempting to make me feel incapable of informed decision making. He explained that the body was ordered like a part. I can only assume that it was also not the US version. I cancelled the order all together immediately upon understanding it was a scam. I hope now that they just do not abuse the credit card number I previously gave them.
Hi! I have recently received a VM Marbl from a friend. She deleted all her information so it would be clear for me to use. But I'm having problems re-activating it. Everytime I try to start my account, I get up to "phone info" and they ask for the phone's serial number; only when I type it in and retype it to confirm it, they stop me and say they don't have any record of that number. And the number is right inside the phone where it says the serial number should be. So, why are they saying that? What should I do about getting my phone activated? Who do I go to to get my situation straightened out?
We went for free... but this is great new trend for "low-income" parents. Hurray.
Dear Alumni,
This morning, the MIT Corporation approved an increase in student financial aid. MIT has long been a proponent of need-blind admissions and need-based aid and this additional investment in our brilliant student body continues to award aid based solely on need. The press release below summarizes the changes.
I also highly encourage you to read MIT's report to the Senate Committee on Finance on endowment spending policies. It is data-rich and guaranteed to make you proud of MIT's contributions to the nation and the world. You can find President Hockfield's cover letter to the report and the report online. President
Hockfield covered many of these same topics in a letter to the MIT community last week.
You should be particularly proud that most of this financial aid is possible because of generations of alumni contributions. Thank you for your continued support of MIT as ambassadors and as financial supporters of this special place.
Please feel free to send any comments or questions to me at alumvp@alum.mit.edu, and I will forward them or respond as appropriate.
Regards,
Beth Garvin
-----------------
MIT to be tuition-free for families earning less than $75,000 a year
Nearly 30 percent of MIT students to have all tuition charges covered
March 7, 2008
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) today announced its financial aid program for 2008-2009. Increases in financial aid will make it possible for a larger fraction of MIT students to have their tuition and fees completely covered.
Under the new plan, which will take effect in the 2008-2009 academic year:
* Families earning less than $75,000 a year will have all tuition covered. For parents with total annual income below $75,000 and typical assets, MIT will ensure that all tuition charges are covered with an MIT scholarship, federal and state grants, and/or outside scholarship funds. Nearly 30 percent of MIT students fall into this tuition-free category.
* For families earning less than $75,000 a year, MIT will eliminate the student loan expectation. MIT will no longer expect students from families with total annual income below $75,000 and typical assets to take out loans to cover expenses beyond tuition. Under this provision, for example, students in this income group who participate in MIT's paid Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) each semester would be able to graduate debt-free.
* For families earning less than $100,000, MIT will eliminate home equity in determining their need. In determining the ability to pay for college, MIT will no longer consider home equity for families with total annual income below $100,000 and typical assets. On average, this will reduce parental contributions by $1,600. For families who rent, rather than own a home, MIT will provide a comparable reduction in the expected parental contribution.
* MIT will reduce student work-study requirements for all financial aid recipients. During the past decade, MIT has steadily lowered the amount it expects students to provide through term-time work. MIT will take a further step in this direction by reducing the work-study expectation for all financial aid recipients by an additional 10 percent.
The Institute has a long tradition of opening its doors to talented students from a full range of economic backgrounds. For more than four decades, MIT has made its undergraduate financial aid decisions by following a three-part financial aid philosophy. "First, we are need-blind in admissions, meaning that we admit all undergraduates on the basis of academic merit alone, without considering their ability to pay," said Dean for Undergraduate Education Daniel Hastings. "Second, MIT meets the full demonstrated financial need of all students we admit. Third, we award all our aid based on need alone; MIT does not award any academic, athletic or other forms of merit scholarships."
Total financial aid budget is one of the highest per enrolled student in the nation. Building on this commitment, MIT will increase its financial aid budget to $74 million. MIT's total financial aid budget is one of the highest per enrolled student in the nation. Sixty percent of MIT undergraduates receive scholarship aid from the Institute's internal resources. Fully 90 percent of MIT undergraduates receive financial aid of some kind, from a range of sources. While MIT focuses assistance on those with fewer resources, it also provides aid to families with incomes well above $100,000 who demonstrate need--for example, because they have more than one child in college at a time. In fact, approximately 38 percent of our current MIT scholarship recipients come from families earning more than $100,000.
Tuition and fees for the upcoming academic year will increase 4 percent to $36,390; however, this figure represents less than half of what it costs MIT to educate an undergraduate. As Hastings noted, "In a pattern MIT has followed for many years, we are increasing funds available for financial aid this year at a far greater rate than the rise in tuition." During the past decade, the net tuition for undergraduates--what students and families pay after financial aid--has, on average, dropped by more than 15 percent when adjusted for inflation.
"For those receiving an MIT scholarship, which is six out of every 10 MIT undergraduates, net tuition is $8,100--an amount that approximates the in-state cost of many public universities," Hastings added.
Tradition of ensuring access and affordability for those who need it most.
MIT has long taken an aggressive position on aid because its students demonstrate a much higher level of need than students at peer institutions. More than 22 percent of MIT undergraduates come from families with annual incomes less than $60,000 a year; 17 percent come from families with incomes under $45,000.
Two years ago, the Institute took a leadership role in the national debate on financial aid when it became the first private university to match Federal Pell Grants, dollar for dollar, effectively doubling this federal grant for the neediest students. Approximately 14 percent of MIT undergraduates receive a Pell Grant, the largest federal grant program for undergraduate education.
"We will continue our longstanding financial commitment to students and their families in the years ahead," Hastings stated. "That we can welcome to our campus such extraordinary students, regardless of their economic background, is due to our historic dedication to need-based financial aid."
These are great. I think I used almost all of these during college. But for the more adventurous among you, there is another trick I and my fellow "po' college kids" used to get through those hungry days. Dumpster diving and/or begging.
This can come in several forms. My favorite was just going to the back door of restaurants just after close and asking. Get someone sympathetic in the dish room and you can score some pretty awesome meals that were about to become trash. You can also go to bakeries and donut shops a few minutes before they close and ask for what they are going to get rid of. Places that make fresh baked goods each day are just about 100% guaranteed to throw those things away, and sometimes health codes prevent them from giving them to shelters. Their almost-trash can be your dinner. This could also work at the school cafeteria, if you get friendly with a worker there.
The more extreme version would include going through already-trashed food. Lots of places, though, will throw away food still in packages (i.e. loafs of bread from those bakeries) or at the very least, separated from non-food. The Dunkin Donuts near where I went to school would put all the donuts in a bag at nine pm and put them out back. At about 9:05 my friends and I would go grab that bag, and have a free few dozen donuts. Sometimes there would be an onion bagel in there, which would ruin everything, but it's a risk you take.
Lastly, I've had amazing luck panhandling for change. If you are honest and not trying for the pity dollar, you'd be surprised. I used to walk around downtown and ask people for beer money. People were generally so amused with my telling them what I was "really" going to use the money for, I frequently got upwards of $5 at a time, sometimes $50 or more from one person.
Good luck, and don't be afraid to get creative when times are tight! You're talking about keeping food in your belly here. Don't be too proud.
Hi, I have an 80/20 loan, the 20 is a Home Equity Line of Credit and therefore the payment varies as the interest rate varies. My question to everyone here is this: Obviously, overpayment on the traditional 80 portion of the loan is not a bad idea, but what about the 20 portion? I generally overpay but don't seem to get anywhere, and since I'm not well versed in this are I'm not sure if it's a good idea at all. I've had the loan for almost 3 years now and the payoff amount is only slightly under the orginal amount. Thanks.
There's also the option of studying overseas for your degree. Studying abroad is horribly expensive if you do it through your college, but normal tuition costs are frequently much cheaper if you just enroll.
I did an entire one-year graduate program in Malta (a small EU country) for $10,000 including a living space. I also had the option of studying anywhere else in Europe for a semester without paying a study abroad fee.
In Europe, many of the countries subsidize college expenses for students, and it's even a lot more affordable for foreign students.
Wow that's a long comment. I do have a Jewish friend who is way cheaper than me, and he's richer too. We do discuss salary and career and retirement issues. I know what you mean by this "HEALTHY TO BORDERLINE OBSESSIVE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT MONEY OVER TIGHT-KNIT FAMILY GATHERINGS." My husband can't stand it when my parents and I talk about taxes and investments because he thinks it's boring. My parents are accountants so money is sort of their job. There is also the competition thing, which can be quite annoying.
Regarding #3 - how personal this conversation can get
You wrote more than once about how offended people are when you suggest that we see things as "needs" that are really "wants". I agree, so it didn't seem like I needed to address it.
I had a co-worker in a financial bind who was renting furniture. She was complaining about it to me when I suggested she get rid of the furniture. My thinking was that she could use that money to buy some quality used furniture that she could keep. Once the living room was furnished, then she wouldn't have any furniture costs at all as part of her monthly budget.
It got personal REAL QUICK with her accusing me of all kinds of hateful things. I can't tell you how surprised I was. Having lived at that point for five years with no living room furniture (as I mentioned in my previous comment), I thought nothing of going without a couch.
Poverty gets mixed in with race, geography, and other deep identity issues. To complicate matters, it seems as though the way we look at poverty has changed. We aren't looking at income so much as we are standard of living. That being the case, it can feel like an insult to suggest that someone should lower their standard of living, as though they don't deserve what others have, to bring it in line with their income.
Obviously, my philosophy is more in line with yours, but I have tried for some time to puzzle this out so that I could put that one experience of mine in a context that makes sense.
I spent a good portion of my life with $500 as pocket change, but when times changes and I went unemployed for over 5 years, I learned the frugal life and buying *Used*, garage sales, swap meets, etc., was much more practical a life to lead. Agreed it is not for everyone. You have to have common sense and the ability sometimes to repair/clean the items you get, but seldom do I regret a purchase.
In fact, for many years I recycled items through eBay and have a lot of happy customers. I never sold anything I wouldn't keep and use myself.
I especially liked "grocery shopping" at Estate Sales. People die, young and old, and their kitchens are always stocked and being sold for pennies. Kitchen appliances of all kinds, though the hard part is hunting down the boxes and instructions. Most people don't throw them out. And of course there are those unused "gifts" that are stored away, never used. A gold mine.
Garage sales the same. One neighborhood seems to have a high percentage of young people who are dumping their unused wedding gifts, or their ex's stuff. I got a $300+ coffee/tea/hot water maker for $5, almost brand new. I've replaced all the bathroom sinks and faucets with expensive Kohler products for very little money.
I refer to all this as effort equity. With a little effort you saves tons of money.
There's a different dynamic with used video games. The sales of used video games allow for one small segment of the buying community to rapidly buy and sell a very large quantity of games. If the used market were not as liquid, you would see fewer games in total being developed. These are players who will buy a game and keep it for 2 days. Purchase price $50, sell price $40. A good value to their eyes, if not mine.
As a game developer, this is something we've discussed and researched quite a bit at our company. We've even got a few of the game churners on staff. :-)
I used to work for a computer school. On a regular basis, we'd advertise in a local tech rag that we were having an open house with pizza and pop. We probably got an equal number of people wanting to check out the offerings as wanting to eat the pizza.
We relocated to Hawaii from California seven years ago. Hawaii does not observe Daylight Savings Time. I never realized how disruptive the "fall back and spring forward" routine was until I didn't have to do it any longer.
I have this problem with several people.
A relative who loves to shop and sends a big box of gifts every year. I don't know him well enough to know what to get him in return. From his gift choices he obviously doesn't know me very well either.
A friend who suddenly decided that she needs to buy something for me at every possible holiday. This comes on the heels of more than 20 years of gifting only when we saw the perfect item for eachother. It worked so well before and now I just feel guilty if I can't find something perfect for each and every occasion.
Another friend of the family who sends a generous check every Christmas. I never know how to reciprocate. It doesn't seem right to send a $10 calendar to somebody who sent me a $100 check. But it also seems pointless to turn around and spend that $100 on the person who sent it to me.
I'm curious if people have good ideas to get people to stop the gifting cycle. I like to think that I'm a generous person, and I love giving gifts. But I'm burned out on trying to find gifts for people out of obligation.
Sams and Costco always have those nice people handing out samples. Don't have a card? Don't fret. Do a little research--in my state, anyone can buy alcohol with or without a membership card at one of these places. Just point at the booze and go for it. Also successful: "I was parking the car for my (mom, GF, roommate.)" Or you can get a one-day "lookaround" card--they give these to you free at the customer service desk in the hope that you'll swoon over the prices and fork over $35 so you can buy twelve dozen cheapo bottles of spaghetti sauce. You can go in by the exit door looking preoccupied and mutter something about leaving your driver's license at the checkout.
The good pickings are on Saturday, BTW, and the place is an absolute zoo.
You could also go to car dealerships on weekends for free hot dogs and such.
I love the Apple Pan!
I grew up in one of those counties in Indiana that didn't change their clocks, and after living on the East Coast for 25 years I still haven't gotten used to having to adjust to the time change twice a year.
Nor do I think I should have to. Studies have shown that automobile accidents increase on the day after the spring time change, probably because of sleep deprivation. Add that to all the people who miss their planes, show up late to church, etc. When my kids were younger I really hated DST because it was much more difficult to get them to bed when it was still light out. As far as I'm concerned, it stays light in the summer late enough. What I really, really hate is that week in the winter when the clocks change back, and suddenly it's pitch dark when I get out of work.
Life is stressful enough without an added disruption twice a year. Getting rid of Daylight Savings Time would make everyone's lives simpler and smoother.
@17:
Taiwan, Korea, and Japan are all captialist societies and they all follow these 6 habits.
I ordered a Nikon D200 through Best Price Camera over last weekend and had a similar experience. Earlier this week their customer service person called and asked if I would like to buy a battery to go with the camera. Thinking he meant an additional battery I said that since they were priced at $249 I would just go with the one it came with for now. He explained that my order was for a camera body only which did not include the battery, charger, or even the Nikon information that came in the typical box set. He explained "that's want body only means" attempting to make me feel incapable of informed decision making. He explained that the body was ordered like a part. I can only assume that it was also not the US version. I cancelled the order all together immediately upon understanding it was a scam. I hope now that they just do not abuse the credit card number I previously gave them.
Hi! I have recently received a VM Marbl from a friend. She deleted all her information so it would be clear for me to use. But I'm having problems re-activating it. Everytime I try to start my account, I get up to "phone info" and they ask for the phone's serial number; only when I type it in and retype it to confirm it, they stop me and say they don't have any record of that number. And the number is right inside the phone where it says the serial number should be. So, why are they saying that? What should I do about getting my phone activated? Who do I go to to get my situation straightened out?
We went for free... but this is great new trend for "low-income" parents. Hurray.
Dear Alumni,
This morning, the MIT Corporation approved an increase in student financial aid. MIT has long been a proponent of need-blind admissions and need-based aid and this additional investment in our brilliant student body continues to award aid based solely on need. The press release below summarizes the changes.
I also highly encourage you to read MIT's report to the Senate Committee on Finance on endowment spending policies. It is data-rich and guaranteed to make you proud of MIT's contributions to the nation and the world. You can find President Hockfield's cover letter to the report and the report online. President
Hockfield covered many of these same topics in a letter to the MIT community last week.
You should be particularly proud that most of this financial aid is possible because of generations of alumni contributions. Thank you for your continued support of MIT as ambassadors and as financial supporters of this special place.
Please feel free to send any comments or questions to me at alumvp@alum.mit.edu, and I will forward them or respond as appropriate.
Regards,
Beth Garvin
-----------------
MIT to be tuition-free for families earning less than $75,000 a year
Nearly 30 percent of MIT students to have all tuition charges covered
March 7, 2008
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) today announced its financial aid program for 2008-2009. Increases in financial aid will make it possible for a larger fraction of MIT students to have their tuition and fees completely covered.
Under the new plan, which will take effect in the 2008-2009 academic year:
* Families earning less than $75,000 a year will have all tuition covered. For parents with total annual income below $75,000 and typical assets, MIT will ensure that all tuition charges are covered with an MIT scholarship, federal and state grants, and/or outside scholarship funds. Nearly 30 percent of MIT students fall into this tuition-free category.
* For families earning less than $75,000 a year, MIT will eliminate the student loan expectation. MIT will no longer expect students from families with total annual income below $75,000 and typical assets to take out loans to cover expenses beyond tuition. Under this provision, for example, students in this income group who participate in MIT's paid Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) each semester would be able to graduate debt-free.
* For families earning less than $100,000, MIT will eliminate home equity in determining their need. In determining the ability to pay for college, MIT will no longer consider home equity for families with total annual income below $100,000 and typical assets. On average, this will reduce parental contributions by $1,600. For families who rent, rather than own a home, MIT will provide a comparable reduction in the expected parental contribution.
* MIT will reduce student work-study requirements for all financial aid recipients. During the past decade, MIT has steadily lowered the amount it expects students to provide through term-time work. MIT will take a further step in this direction by reducing the work-study expectation for all financial aid recipients by an additional 10 percent.
The Institute has a long tradition of opening its doors to talented students from a full range of economic backgrounds. For more than four decades, MIT has made its undergraduate financial aid decisions by following a three-part financial aid philosophy. "First, we are need-blind in admissions, meaning that we admit all undergraduates on the basis of academic merit alone, without considering their ability to pay," said Dean for Undergraduate Education Daniel Hastings. "Second, MIT meets the full demonstrated financial need of all students we admit. Third, we award all our aid based on need alone; MIT does not award any academic, athletic or other forms of merit scholarships."
Total financial aid budget is one of the highest per enrolled student in the nation. Building on this commitment, MIT will increase its financial aid budget to $74 million. MIT's total financial aid budget is one of the highest per enrolled student in the nation. Sixty percent of MIT undergraduates receive scholarship aid from the Institute's internal resources. Fully 90 percent of MIT undergraduates receive financial aid of some kind, from a range of sources. While MIT focuses assistance on those with fewer resources, it also provides aid to families with incomes well above $100,000 who demonstrate need--for example, because they have more than one child in college at a time. In fact, approximately 38 percent of our current MIT scholarship recipients come from families earning more than $100,000.
Tuition and fees for the upcoming academic year will increase 4 percent to $36,390; however, this figure represents less than half of what it costs MIT to educate an undergraduate. As Hastings noted, "In a pattern MIT has followed for many years, we are increasing funds available for financial aid this year at a far greater rate than the rise in tuition." During the past decade, the net tuition for undergraduates--what students and families pay after financial aid--has, on average, dropped by more than 15 percent when adjusted for inflation.
"For those receiving an MIT scholarship, which is six out of every 10 MIT undergraduates, net tuition is $8,100--an amount that approximates the in-state cost of many public universities," Hastings added.
Tradition of ensuring access and affordability for those who need it most.
MIT has long taken an aggressive position on aid because its students demonstrate a much higher level of need than students at peer institutions. More than 22 percent of MIT undergraduates come from families with annual incomes less than $60,000 a year; 17 percent come from families with incomes under $45,000.
Two years ago, the Institute took a leadership role in the national debate on financial aid when it became the first private university to match Federal Pell Grants, dollar for dollar, effectively doubling this federal grant for the neediest students. Approximately 14 percent of MIT undergraduates receive a Pell Grant, the largest federal grant program for undergraduate education.
"We will continue our longstanding financial commitment to students and their families in the years ahead," Hastings stated. "That we can welcome to our campus such extraordinary students, regardless of their economic background, is due to our historic dedication to need-based financial aid."
My husband did a good deal of dumpster diving on Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade---he swore by it.
Margaret Garcia-Couoh
These are great. I think I used almost all of these during college. But for the more adventurous among you, there is another trick I and my fellow "po' college kids" used to get through those hungry days. Dumpster diving and/or begging.
This can come in several forms. My favorite was just going to the back door of restaurants just after close and asking. Get someone sympathetic in the dish room and you can score some pretty awesome meals that were about to become trash. You can also go to bakeries and donut shops a few minutes before they close and ask for what they are going to get rid of. Places that make fresh baked goods each day are just about 100% guaranteed to throw those things away, and sometimes health codes prevent them from giving them to shelters. Their almost-trash can be your dinner. This could also work at the school cafeteria, if you get friendly with a worker there.
The more extreme version would include going through already-trashed food. Lots of places, though, will throw away food still in packages (i.e. loafs of bread from those bakeries) or at the very least, separated from non-food. The Dunkin Donuts near where I went to school would put all the donuts in a bag at nine pm and put them out back. At about 9:05 my friends and I would go grab that bag, and have a free few dozen donuts. Sometimes there would be an onion bagel in there, which would ruin everything, but it's a risk you take.
Lastly, I've had amazing luck panhandling for change. If you are honest and not trying for the pity dollar, you'd be surprised. I used to walk around downtown and ask people for beer money. People were generally so amused with my telling them what I was "really" going to use the money for, I frequently got upwards of $5 at a time, sometimes $50 or more from one person.
Good luck, and don't be afraid to get creative when times are tight! You're talking about keeping food in your belly here. Don't be too proud.
And it reminded me of my very Mexican-American mother who saves her money and--like her immigrant parents--almost always only pays in cash.
Margaret Garcia-Couoh
My wake-up call is 4:30 a.m. The advantage is that it's already dark when I wake up anyway. The downside is that it'll feel like 3:30, come Monday.
Hi, I have an 80/20 loan, the 20 is a Home Equity Line of Credit and therefore the payment varies as the interest rate varies. My question to everyone here is this: Obviously, overpayment on the traditional 80 portion of the loan is not a bad idea, but what about the 20 portion? I generally overpay but don't seem to get anywhere, and since I'm not well versed in this are I'm not sure if it's a good idea at all. I've had the loan for almost 3 years now and the payoff amount is only slightly under the orginal amount. Thanks.
runescape rocks u probably just ploy world of warcraft
There's also the option of studying overseas for your degree. Studying abroad is horribly expensive if you do it through your college, but normal tuition costs are frequently much cheaper if you just enroll.
I did an entire one-year graduate program in Malta (a small EU country) for $10,000 including a living space. I also had the option of studying anywhere else in Europe for a semester without paying a study abroad fee.
In Europe, many of the countries subsidize college expenses for students, and it's even a lot more affordable for foreign students.
Alien specemongers will someday rule the world! Fear me!
I needed a quick fix and used pineapple juice as I didn't have wine :( . Amazingly enough, it worked!
Wow that's a long comment. I do have a Jewish friend who is way cheaper than me, and he's richer too. We do discuss salary and career and retirement issues. I know what you mean by this "HEALTHY TO BORDERLINE OBSESSIVE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT MONEY OVER TIGHT-KNIT FAMILY GATHERINGS." My husband can't stand it when my parents and I talk about taxes and investments because he thinks it's boring. My parents are accountants so money is sort of their job. There is also the competition thing, which can be quite annoying.
Regarding #3 - how personal this conversation can get
You wrote more than once about how offended people are when you suggest that we see things as "needs" that are really "wants". I agree, so it didn't seem like I needed to address it.
I had a co-worker in a financial bind who was renting furniture. She was complaining about it to me when I suggested she get rid of the furniture. My thinking was that she could use that money to buy some quality used furniture that she could keep. Once the living room was furnished, then she wouldn't have any furniture costs at all as part of her monthly budget.
It got personal REAL QUICK with her accusing me of all kinds of hateful things. I can't tell you how surprised I was. Having lived at that point for five years with no living room furniture (as I mentioned in my previous comment), I thought nothing of going without a couch.
Poverty gets mixed in with race, geography, and other deep identity issues. To complicate matters, it seems as though the way we look at poverty has changed. We aren't looking at income so much as we are standard of living. That being the case, it can feel like an insult to suggest that someone should lower their standard of living, as though they don't deserve what others have, to bring it in line with their income.
Obviously, my philosophy is more in line with yours, but I have tried for some time to puzzle this out so that I could put that one experience of mine in a context that makes sense.
Eat bananas!!!!!
I spent a good portion of my life with $500 as pocket change, but when times changes and I went unemployed for over 5 years, I learned the frugal life and buying *Used*, garage sales, swap meets, etc., was much more practical a life to lead. Agreed it is not for everyone. You have to have common sense and the ability sometimes to repair/clean the items you get, but seldom do I regret a purchase.
In fact, for many years I recycled items through eBay and have a lot of happy customers. I never sold anything I wouldn't keep and use myself.
I especially liked "grocery shopping" at Estate Sales. People die, young and old, and their kitchens are always stocked and being sold for pennies. Kitchen appliances of all kinds, though the hard part is hunting down the boxes and instructions. Most people don't throw them out. And of course there are those unused "gifts" that are stored away, never used. A gold mine.
Garage sales the same. One neighborhood seems to have a high percentage of young people who are dumping their unused wedding gifts, or their ex's stuff. I got a $300+ coffee/tea/hot water maker for $5, almost brand new. I've replaced all the bathroom sinks and faucets with expensive Kohler products for very little money.
I refer to all this as effort equity. With a little effort you saves tons of money.
Long live being frugal!
To Andrew @12:
There's a different dynamic with used video games. The sales of used video games allow for one small segment of the buying community to rapidly buy and sell a very large quantity of games. If the used market were not as liquid, you would see fewer games in total being developed. These are players who will buy a game and keep it for 2 days. Purchase price $50, sell price $40. A good value to their eyes, if not mine.
As a game developer, this is something we've discussed and researched quite a bit at our company. We've even got a few of the game churners on staff. :-)