I find it interesting how so-called Christian leaders encourage others to follow the example of men and women that live simple lives instead of that of Jesus Christ! Maybe they should go back to their Bibles and read Matthew 6:33. I don't mean to be preachy, but these are religious leaders we are talking about. Can they actually call themselves followers of Christ?
Umm.. sorry to be a dissenting opinion here, but am I the only one who finds this a little offensive? Women need technical directions peppered with comments about purses and accessories? This carries the age old stereo types that women are less technical/mathematically inclined and need things specifiaclly dumbed down for them to understand. As a very girly-girl who also happens to be a software engineer, I can't help but feel the whole concept of this is ridiculous. From my experience with clients of every demographic I can tell you that user friendly tech books are good but not needed for one gender more than any other.
We bankrolled our Christmas spending from our change drawer this year. In past years, when money hasn't been so tight, I've collected coins in a tin bank (the kind that originally came as a candy gift) and donated it at the end of the year. It teaches the kids not to leave change lying around, and it teaches them to give back.
Instead of lying to your friends about why you aren't spending money so that you don't feel left out, I found sometimes you can create a trend. Talk about how much money you are saving, or your goals for your money, or what a great deal you got on something, instead of paying full-price... overtime i've noticed my friends start saying similar things, treating it as a virtue and not something to be ashamed of. overboard consumerism is something to be ashamed of. and when i see friends who are spending a lot of money on this and that i always have to remember that it doesn't mean they are living within their means. they may be in debt, they may not have any savings, or maybe they got a big inheritance, who knows. point is, that's why you can't be trying to keep up with other people, because your situation is likely to be very different. you have to decide what your goals and interests are and make other people admire them.
I really liked Catherine's post. We (I, my friends) busted 10-12 years on post HS education (undergrad, masters, PhD etc.), and right now we all feel pretty happy that we make 6 figures and are in a profession (univ. profs) that is less prone to see layoffs. But Catherine's post made me pause and think more about what exactly 6 figures buys someone ... I agree with some of the posts here that perhaps developing/ continuing with some frugal habits may be very very useful, and that the mindset, that 6 figures means one is way past needing frugal habits, is outdated ... I think the big issue is location. A 6 figure salary in Detroit / Lansing etc seems a lot more than the same salary in Boston, Washington DC etc.... Many of us are rooted to an area (for very good reasons - family, spouse etc.) and hate to move ... I know many univ. profs will often relocate to a rural university just to improve cost of living (e.g. move from a Boston-based university to a Chapel-Hill based university). This seems a good strategy if one can get past moving, which is easy for some, difficult for others...
It took me awhile to simplify my life but my wife works so I can stay home and being with our baby.............and using the computer when the baby sleeps
I sure would like to DIY. Hubby is handy and familiar with electrical, so it would be no big deal. Green Switch can't be the only company doing this, can they?
It's not that I'm a mad thing for dusting and all that kind of stuff. And I really enjoyed being a graphic designer, but I'm grateful to be home with the kids. Money is tight and it's a creative challenge to make it stretch. But that's not all there is. How else could I finagle a treehouse from salvaged materials if I worked outside the home? Or carved a tramp art box for my favorite uncle? Or design crazy cheap birthday parties for the boys? That kind of leisure is a luxury well worth the trade off.
I just hooked up my convertor box. Cannot get one channel of the 4 I used to get with analog. Seems no one in my town can get it and the station just says we all need to put up a roof antenna. Can't afford that, so guess I'll not be watching the ABC station here anymore.
I also ran into the problem of the remote not controlling turning on the TV or adjusting for sound. I still have to use my TV remote for those functions. Also cannot get my DVD player to function with the convertor box remote. So now I have 3 remotes to use. I have written directions posted on the TV as to how to turn it on, change channels, or be able to watch a DVD! This is ridiculous!
This is supposed to be a good change?????
Maybe I'll just quit watching TV altogether. I refuse to pay the horrible cable company here for poor service and high prices for a few channels.
I work at a bookstore, and I got a phone call from Taunton's distributor, who noted that we'd bought copies of this book and were calling to have them sent back.
It's not the first time we've had a book recalled, but usually it's for much more mundane reasons: a chapter misprint, a dispute over who has the publishing rights, a blurb on the back attributed to the wrong person. Also, usually the recall comes via written correspondence, not by anything as dramatic as a phone call.
As for the copies of "Wiring A House" that my store had bought, I had, in fact, already returned them to the publisher the week before they called me, because we'd had them for six months and they hadn't sold.
I get this all the time from people as well. I take vacations when I want to, work from home, with the two kids. But most who comment on our lives forget that we have one car not three that is common where I live. And that we chose to have kids in our mid thirties which afforded us a few more choices we wouldn't have had in our early twenties. It is about choices. We've made some good ones and some not so good ones, but by and large, skimping and being cheap about some things has made it possible for other things: vacations and the kids' tuition to name two important ones.
my wife was an early PC owner, bringing a Kaypro to our marriage a coupla decades ago. but over time she's become ambivalent about such matters. this book, read on the right day could be just what the doctor ordered. and i could read it on the wrong days!
My husband and I also did everything right in buying our home but two months after getting our mortgage, the company my husband worked for went out of business with very little warning. Leaving us struggling. That was 2006, my husband has worked off and on, here and there. But you can't even buy a job now so we live on 309.00 a week unemployment and that's the extension. Not sure what to do after that. Yes, we paid our mortgage every month since, albeit, there have been times when we were behind but we've always managed. Sold jewelry, household items, used our savings, our children's savings and even used our children's gift cards they'd received for holidays and birthdays. Now what? Our mortgage lender did do a 6mo modification and we are grateful, but it resets to it's original monthly payment in February. Struggling has hurt our credit rating immensely that I don't think we'd be approved for anything and especially not a rental. So what do we do?
Millions of dollars would be a lot to launder--it could turn into a full-time job (which wouldn't be so bad, as you'd be earning millions of dollars).
You'd need to find something that you could sell for dollars--maybe a tourist business of some sort, that catered foreigners? Then, you just feed in your illicit dollars along with the ones earned legitimately.
To launder millions, though, you'd probably have to expand--but, since your business would be so "profitable" (on the back of those fake sales), it'd be easy to explain why you're expanding and easy to fund the expansion. The bigger the business gets, the more money you can launder.
I was once very much a geek girl who could do anything computer. Now my skills have expanded, so while I can't keep up with the computer programming crowd, I can fix plumbing or deal with car problems pretty well. However, a girl could always learn more!
I used to be a geek girl (worked in the Uni's computer lab, doodled circuits all over my jeans) but have been out mothering for a while - and missed the revolution! Would love to be a geek again!
I also hear about how lucky I am. It was so lucky that I studied non-stop through college to get into medical school. And darn it, luck struck once again when I got to work over 80 hours a week during medical school and residency. I remind people of all that luck whenever I hear that comment!
yeah but what if you would acquire a few million dollars cash, and your country's currency is not in dollars - how would you provide a service or "work this money in" to your cash business? How would you utilise this money at all?
After my experience trying to first fix my "broken" laptop and shop for a new one this week, I know I need this book in my life.
I find it interesting how so-called Christian leaders encourage others to follow the example of men and women that live simple lives instead of that of Jesus Christ! Maybe they should go back to their Bibles and read Matthew 6:33. I don't mean to be preachy, but these are religious leaders we are talking about. Can they actually call themselves followers of Christ?
i would love to win this book! :-)
Umm.. sorry to be a dissenting opinion here, but am I the only one who finds this a little offensive? Women need technical directions peppered with comments about purses and accessories? This carries the age old stereo types that women are less technical/mathematically inclined and need things specifiaclly dumbed down for them to understand. As a very girly-girl who also happens to be a software engineer, I can't help but feel the whole concept of this is ridiculous. From my experience with clients of every demographic I can tell you that user friendly tech books are good but not needed for one gender more than any other.
We bankrolled our Christmas spending from our change drawer this year. In past years, when money hasn't been so tight, I've collected coins in a tin bank (the kind that originally came as a candy gift) and donated it at the end of the year. It teaches the kids not to leave change lying around, and it teaches them to give back.
I'd love to win. Thanks!
Instead of lying to your friends about why you aren't spending money so that you don't feel left out, I found sometimes you can create a trend. Talk about how much money you are saving, or your goals for your money, or what a great deal you got on something, instead of paying full-price... overtime i've noticed my friends start saying similar things, treating it as a virtue and not something to be ashamed of. overboard consumerism is something to be ashamed of. and when i see friends who are spending a lot of money on this and that i always have to remember that it doesn't mean they are living within their means. they may be in debt, they may not have any savings, or maybe they got a big inheritance, who knows. point is, that's why you can't be trying to keep up with other people, because your situation is likely to be very different. you have to decide what your goals and interests are and make other people admire them.
Looks like a great book. I would love to read it! Thanks for the giveaway!
Another thought provoking post. Thank you, Julie.
I really liked Catherine's post. We (I, my friends) busted 10-12 years on post HS education (undergrad, masters, PhD etc.), and right now we all feel pretty happy that we make 6 figures and are in a profession (univ. profs) that is less prone to see layoffs. But Catherine's post made me pause and think more about what exactly 6 figures buys someone ... I agree with some of the posts here that perhaps developing/ continuing with some frugal habits may be very very useful, and that the mindset, that 6 figures means one is way past needing frugal habits, is outdated ... I think the big issue is location. A 6 figure salary in Detroit / Lansing etc seems a lot more than the same salary in Boston, Washington DC etc.... Many of us are rooted to an area (for very good reasons - family, spouse etc.) and hate to move ... I know many univ. profs will often relocate to a rural university just to improve cost of living (e.g. move from a Boston-based university to a Chapel-Hill based university). This seems a good strategy if one can get past moving, which is easy for some, difficult for others...
Looks like a cool book that would be as useful as it would be interesting to read.
Thanks for the chance to win!
It took me awhile to simplify my life but my wife works so I can stay home and being with our baby.............and using the computer when the baby sleeps
I sure would like to DIY. Hubby is handy and familiar with electrical, so it would be no big deal. Green Switch can't be the only company doing this, can they?
It's not that I'm a mad thing for dusting and all that kind of stuff. And I really enjoyed being a graphic designer, but I'm grateful to be home with the kids. Money is tight and it's a creative challenge to make it stretch. But that's not all there is. How else could I finagle a treehouse from salvaged materials if I worked outside the home? Or carved a tramp art box for my favorite uncle? Or design crazy cheap birthday parties for the boys? That kind of leisure is a luxury well worth the trade off.
Any product that is afraid to advertise there price is overpriced.
This product is no different.
The idea is great, however the company uses high pressure sales.
Our only hope is that a real company make a similar product at a resonable price and sell it at major home stores.
As with most items that push GREEN, its a ripoff
I just hooked up my convertor box. Cannot get one channel of the 4 I used to get with analog. Seems no one in my town can get it and the station just says we all need to put up a roof antenna. Can't afford that, so guess I'll not be watching the ABC station here anymore.
I also ran into the problem of the remote not controlling turning on the TV or adjusting for sound. I still have to use my TV remote for those functions. Also cannot get my DVD player to function with the convertor box remote. So now I have 3 remotes to use. I have written directions posted on the TV as to how to turn it on, change channels, or be able to watch a DVD! This is ridiculous!
This is supposed to be a good change?????
Maybe I'll just quit watching TV altogether. I refuse to pay the horrible cable company here for poor service and high prices for a few channels.
Hi Lindsay,
I work at a bookstore, and I got a phone call from Taunton's distributor, who noted that we'd bought copies of this book and were calling to have them sent back.
It's not the first time we've had a book recalled, but usually it's for much more mundane reasons: a chapter misprint, a dispute over who has the publishing rights, a blurb on the back attributed to the wrong person. Also, usually the recall comes via written correspondence, not by anything as dramatic as a phone call.
As for the copies of "Wiring A House" that my store had bought, I had, in fact, already returned them to the publisher the week before they called me, because we'd had them for six months and they hadn't sold.
I get this all the time from people as well. I take vacations when I want to, work from home, with the two kids. But most who comment on our lives forget that we have one car not three that is common where I live. And that we chose to have kids in our mid thirties which afforded us a few more choices we wouldn't have had in our early twenties. It is about choices. We've made some good ones and some not so good ones, but by and large, skimping and being cheap about some things has made it possible for other things: vacations and the kids' tuition to name two important ones.
Margaret Garcia-Couoh
my wife was an early PC owner, bringing a Kaypro to our marriage a coupla decades ago. but over time she's become ambivalent about such matters. this book, read on the right day could be just what the doctor ordered. and i could read it on the wrong days!
My husband and I also did everything right in buying our home but two months after getting our mortgage, the company my husband worked for went out of business with very little warning. Leaving us struggling. That was 2006, my husband has worked off and on, here and there. But you can't even buy a job now so we live on 309.00 a week unemployment and that's the extension. Not sure what to do after that. Yes, we paid our mortgage every month since, albeit, there have been times when we were behind but we've always managed. Sold jewelry, household items, used our savings, our children's savings and even used our children's gift cards they'd received for holidays and birthdays. Now what? Our mortgage lender did do a 6mo modification and we are grateful, but it resets to it's original monthly payment in February. Struggling has hurt our credit rating immensely that I don't think we'd be approved for anything and especially not a rental. So what do we do?
Millions of dollars would be a lot to launder--it could turn into a full-time job (which wouldn't be so bad, as you'd be earning millions of dollars).
You'd need to find something that you could sell for dollars--maybe a tourist business of some sort, that catered foreigners? Then, you just feed in your illicit dollars along with the ones earned legitimately.
To launder millions, though, you'd probably have to expand--but, since your business would be so "profitable" (on the back of those fake sales), it'd be easy to explain why you're expanding and easy to fund the expansion. The bigger the business gets, the more money you can launder.
I was once very much a geek girl who could do anything computer. Now my skills have expanded, so while I can't keep up with the computer programming crowd, I can fix plumbing or deal with car problems pretty well. However, a girl could always learn more!
I used to be a geek girl (worked in the Uni's computer lab, doodled circuits all over my jeans) but have been out mothering for a while - and missed the revolution! Would love to be a geek again!
I also hear about how lucky I am. It was so lucky that I studied non-stop through college to get into medical school. And darn it, luck struck once again when I got to work over 80 hours a week during medical school and residency. I remind people of all that luck whenever I hear that comment!
yeah but what if you would acquire a few million dollars cash, and your country's currency is not in dollars - how would you provide a service or "work this money in" to your cash business? How would you utilise this money at all?