i really love this post!! makes you think deper asto how to make what you( I) do better and well make itw ork for me!..
and honestly i tried the whole "artist way " thing and all it did was let me know i am not the typical follow the crowd artist it actually discouraged me more than iwas already feeling... stinkin' rules... i dont like then one bit.. anyway .. this was a really good post thanks for sharing this!
The Barbara Ehrenreich book you mention, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America is fascinating, although I was never quite comfortable with the way she'd make poor choices that undermined her success--I thought it weakened her point. If she'd tried as hard as she could to make a success of living in mock poverty and almost succeeded, I think it would have made a much more powerful statement than to make unwise choices (never looking for a roommate to split expenses, for example), fail, and then say, "See--it's impossible!"
You should try bleach. Follow the dilution instructions on the bleach bottle for cleaning, I think it's 20 to 1. Just use a spray bottle, spray your glass thoroughly, and let it sit for 10 minutes, then spray it off with water. I've gotten rid of some pretty nasty mildew with bleach, I assume it would work with your glass.
I'm pleased for your sake that your financial postition is good and you have no debt, but please be aware that verbalizing your gloating feelings to people who are in debt will likely be perceived as provocative as it is believed by many people to be unkind and may cause them to feel resentful towards you.
Gasoline may seem cheap when compared with other forms of liquids, but the price increases in gasoline is correlative to the prices of the other liquids. Increasing fuel prices will surely increase the other liquid products' prices. As was pointed out, gasoline is needed for manufacturing/transporting other liquids products.
Why don't you try living the way you've described?
Someone has: read Barbara Ehrenreich's book Nickel and Dimed.
She tried living on a minimum wage job in the Florida Panhandle, as a single person starting from nothing. Of course, she didn't really have it as bad as these people, because she didn't cancel her health insurance (although she didn't use it while doing the "experiment"). And she didn't erase her education or her family support network, although again, she did her best not to use these.
By the time she quit, she was suffering from carpel tunnel and back problems, on her way to doing herself permanent damage. (Which would have been the end of her job.) (And years later, she required treatment for cancer, which almost certainly would have killed her had she been real working poor.)
Yes, it's possible to live on minimum wage: I've done it. But only if you've had a lot of good breaks up to that point, if you've got family support (not necessarily monetary) and good health and good luck. If any one thing goes wrong -- you get sick, you get robbed, you get raped, etc. you're sunk.
You also don't mention the increase in single parent households. For reasons beyond my control (I'm a young widow), I'm raising 2 little kids on my income. The baby's daycare alone costs more than $700/month. Fit that into your budget! I guess that in the 1950's I would have to move in with family (if I had any). Or give my kids up for adoption... or maybe become a prostitute... the options aren't so pretty when you start putting it that way. The bottom line is that welfare is the price we as a society pay to keep families together; to keep children with their parents.
One should never confuse deliberately *reducing* one's expenses to minimum-wage levels (when you're in a position of health and prosperity) with starting from scratch at minimum wage. It's a whole different situation.
"If you wanted a future for your children, maybe spending half a million dollars on a place to live wasn't the best of moves."
Well, at least they will have an awesome place to grow up in, and get to go to the best (public) schools in the area. Also, by the time I die and my kids inherit the house, I am sure it will be a great windfall to them and be worth much more than what I paid.
I don't have a problem paying my mortgage and will be able to pay for childcare. It just irks me that others who were irresponsible will get bailed out and I won't see any benefit from it.
My point is that if the irresponsible and the poor and the lower and middle middle classes get a handout, then so should the upper middle class. Don't forget about us. We aren't rich, we didn't inherit ****. We've worked harder than most and we deserve to derive some benefit from that.
this post has some very good tips.. i have looked into this field before and to only think what a scam this all is.. and from what you have said here makes teh most senes than all the countless hours i have spent sifting through meanlingless lists of scams.. i will take your advice to heart.
Domestically it is completely within the rules to bring an empty bottle through security. My theory is that people are confused because the TSA reps don't suggest you empty your bottle; they just confiscate it or tell you to toss it. Fine. Not their job. And garbage cans full of water would be a nightmare for airports.
I've had no problems at the... 8 or 9 airports I've been through recently. But you need to be nice about it. Understand that TSA is required to check it out. Have the empty bottle out and next to your baggie in the tub. Most TSA agents pick mine up just to verify the emptiness. Also, thus far, I've only tried this with clear disposable bottles. I just don't want to risk a SIGG bottle in case opaque bottles aren't allowed. But if you have a freebie stainless bottle from a promotion its worth a try.
This story made the news here in the UK and I too was astonished by the scene.
It's very sad that someone should lose their life. Horrible things always seem to happen close to Christmas. Goodness knows how this man's family must be feeling.
Another thing that surprised me was that some of the shoppers had young children and babies with them.
Why would you take a child to such a free for all?
You never really know what you can manage until you're forced to. I've become an expert at budget cutting almost, and the first step was eliminating debt.
Now the only things I pay for are my daily expenses like utilities, and food. I'm not burdened by car payments, credit card debt, ect.
It's very rewarding when people start talking about how much debt they have, and you ask them 'What's that?'.
They are now saying in the news that the worker who was trampled had not received any training on safety in crowd situations. Of course Walmart's response is that they are looking into their security camera findings of the incident and are trying to find "the people responsible" for the trampling but realize it will likely be dificult to press any charges.
Above comment about living in a van was intended to be a reply to "poor boomer", who wrote,
"Monthly income: $908
Expenses: Rent $650 (room in a house with nine people)
Medical exp $110
Student loan pmt $135
How can I reduce my expenses?"
Living in a van would be the next step down the ladder. Plus you can sell it when you're done, unlike the room in the house, which is just an ongoing expense.
You could buy a van (ideally, a camper van) and live in it. And/Or, you could find housesitting positions to spell you out, using the van as a "base of operations".
Consider this: Mr. Spangler listened to what other people had to say rather than dismissing them because of status or wealth (either lack of or plenty of).
Thanks for the ideas. Going new places is a great memory maker. We did scavenger hunts when I was a kid and they were a lot of fun, requesting household items from neighbors (a shoe string comes to mind). I had never heard of gamefrog either; it is a computer game cafe for kids.
#22 is right. I think the motives behind people's mentions of "Chinese-made products" are questionable at best. This is a horrible tragedy and the discussion should be free of uneducated and misinformed stereotypical BS.
Although I do share the shock and disgust felt by the author, I also find the tone of the article somewhat condescending and borderline insulting. It's funny how a self-acknowledged "elitist" would be writing for a blog like Wise Bread.
I can't help imagining if I had been there. What if I had to choose between walking past, or even over, this man, and risking getting trampled and killed myself? Would I have had two inches of space to move away from him so I didnt make it worse? I roll my eyes at people who got in line Thursday morning instead of actually, you know, having Thanksgiving with their families, but even so. At certain points in the crowd, it was almost certainly kill or be killed. I don't excuse it, but I do have some compassion for the people with that dilemma.
As an avid DIY-er, I am convinced that it is the most efficient way to save money while taking care of a home. Too many people these days hand off their repairs to professionals who overcharge for their services, and too few take the time to look into whether or not they could actually perform the repair on their own.
For many, car maintenance is the #1 expenditure that people feel they have little to no control over. But there are so many repairs that average DIY-ers can perform with ease. Replacing brake pads is not nearly as difficult as it sounds, and you can save around $400 by skipping the mechanic.
Household fix-ups and appliance repair can be a hobby, like Brewer mentioned. Who needs to spend 10 bucks on a movie when you can have just as pleasurable of a time fixing your brakes with your son or daughter? You can also help out your repair-wary friends and neighbors by charging a fraction of mechanic prices.
Haynes Manuals have nearly every auto manual available, and are unique because their information comes from teardowns they perform themselves - the manuals are not simply regurgitated dealership repair guides. They're having a sale now 10% off all manuals: http://www.haynes.com/
i really love this post!! makes you think deper asto how to make what you( I) do better and well make itw ork for me!..
and honestly i tried the whole "artist way " thing and all it did was let me know i am not the typical follow the crowd artist it actually discouraged me more than iwas already feeling... stinkin' rules... i dont like then one bit.. anyway .. this was a really good post thanks for sharing this!
@ Guest:
I agree with you completely. In fact, I've written on exactly that topic in a post called Voluntary simplicity versus poverty.
The Barbara Ehrenreich book you mention, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America is fascinating, although I was never quite comfortable with the way she'd make poor choices that undermined her success--I thought it weakened her point. If she'd tried as hard as she could to make a success of living in mock poverty and almost succeeded, I think it would have made a much more powerful statement than to make unwise choices (never looking for a roommate to split expenses, for example), fail, and then say, "See--it's impossible!"
That (^^^^) was directed to the comment by pennyseeds.com.
--steve
You should try bleach. Follow the dilution instructions on the bleach bottle for cleaning, I think it's 20 to 1. Just use a spray bottle, spray your glass thoroughly, and let it sit for 10 minutes, then spray it off with water. I've gotten rid of some pretty nasty mildew with bleach, I assume it would work with your glass.
I'm pleased for your sake that your financial postition is good and you have no debt, but please be aware that verbalizing your gloating feelings to people who are in debt will likely be perceived as provocative as it is believed by many people to be unkind and may cause them to feel resentful towards you.
Gasoline may seem cheap when compared with other forms of liquids, but the price increases in gasoline is correlative to the prices of the other liquids. Increasing fuel prices will surely increase the other liquid products' prices. As was pointed out, gasoline is needed for manufacturing/transporting other liquids products.
Why don't you try living the way you've described?
Someone has: read Barbara Ehrenreich's book Nickel and Dimed.
She tried living on a minimum wage job in the Florida Panhandle, as a single person starting from nothing. Of course, she didn't really have it as bad as these people, because she didn't cancel her health insurance (although she didn't use it while doing the "experiment"). And she didn't erase her education or her family support network, although again, she did her best not to use these.
By the time she quit, she was suffering from carpel tunnel and back problems, on her way to doing herself permanent damage. (Which would have been the end of her job.) (And years later, she required treatment for cancer, which almost certainly would have killed her had she been real working poor.)
Yes, it's possible to live on minimum wage: I've done it. But only if you've had a lot of good breaks up to that point, if you've got family support (not necessarily monetary) and good health and good luck. If any one thing goes wrong -- you get sick, you get robbed, you get raped, etc. you're sunk.
You also don't mention the increase in single parent households. For reasons beyond my control (I'm a young widow), I'm raising 2 little kids on my income. The baby's daycare alone costs more than $700/month. Fit that into your budget! I guess that in the 1950's I would have to move in with family (if I had any). Or give my kids up for adoption... or maybe become a prostitute... the options aren't so pretty when you start putting it that way. The bottom line is that welfare is the price we as a society pay to keep families together; to keep children with their parents.
One should never confuse deliberately *reducing* one's expenses to minimum-wage levels (when you're in a position of health and prosperity) with starting from scratch at minimum wage. It's a whole different situation.
FWIW, I laud you.
"If you wanted a future for your children, maybe spending half a million dollars on a place to live wasn't the best of moves."
Well, at least they will have an awesome place to grow up in, and get to go to the best (public) schools in the area. Also, by the time I die and my kids inherit the house, I am sure it will be a great windfall to them and be worth much more than what I paid.
I don't have a problem paying my mortgage and will be able to pay for childcare. It just irks me that others who were irresponsible will get bailed out and I won't see any benefit from it.
My point is that if the irresponsible and the poor and the lower and middle middle classes get a handout, then so should the upper middle class. Don't forget about us. We aren't rich, we didn't inherit ****. We've worked harder than most and we deserve to derive some benefit from that.
this post has some very good tips.. i have looked into this field before and to only think what a scam this all is.. and from what you have said here makes teh most senes than all the countless hours i have spent sifting through meanlingless lists of scams.. i will take your advice to heart.
Adding to what gt0163c said:
Domestically it is completely within the rules to bring an empty bottle through security. My theory is that people are confused because the TSA reps don't suggest you empty your bottle; they just confiscate it or tell you to toss it. Fine. Not their job. And garbage cans full of water would be a nightmare for airports.
I've had no problems at the... 8 or 9 airports I've been through recently. But you need to be nice about it. Understand that TSA is required to check it out. Have the empty bottle out and next to your baggie in the tub. Most TSA agents pick mine up just to verify the emptiness. Also, thus far, I've only tried this with clear disposable bottles. I just don't want to risk a SIGG bottle in case opaque bottles aren't allowed. But if you have a freebie stainless bottle from a promotion its worth a try.
I thought it was from "The Onion". I couldn't believe it was real. What a world.
This story made the news here in the UK and I too was astonished by the scene.
It's very sad that someone should lose their life. Horrible things always seem to happen close to Christmas. Goodness knows how this man's family must be feeling.
Another thing that surprised me was that some of the shoppers had young children and babies with them.
Why would you take a child to such a free for all?
The poor things must have been terrified.
If this was in fact 1960 you could use the same spiel for how good we had it, and how expensive we were living compared to 20's standards.
Managing a budget appropriately is something learned over time .. or for some people.. never.
You never really know what you can manage until you're forced to. I've become an expert at budget cutting almost, and the first step was eliminating debt.
Now the only things I pay for are my daily expenses like utilities, and food. I'm not burdened by car payments, credit card debt, ect.
It's very rewarding when people start talking about how much debt they have, and you ask them 'What's that?'.
Eh, even elitists like to save money.
They are now saying in the news that the worker who was trampled had not received any training on safety in crowd situations. Of course Walmart's response is that they are looking into their security camera findings of the incident and are trying to find "the people responsible" for the trampling but realize it will likely be dificult to press any charges.
Above comment about living in a van was intended to be a reply to "poor boomer", who wrote,
"Monthly income: $908
Expenses: Rent $650 (room in a house with nine people)
Medical exp $110
Student loan pmt $135
How can I reduce my expenses?"
Living in a van would be the next step down the ladder. Plus you can sell it when you're done, unlike the room in the house, which is just an ongoing expense.
Not for most people, but worth considering.
You could buy a van (ideally, a camper van) and live in it. And/Or, you could find housesitting positions to spell you out, using the van as a "base of operations".
Consider this: Mr. Spangler listened to what other people had to say rather than dismissing them because of status or wealth (either lack of or plenty of).
Thanks for all the different ways to think about layaway. I love making art accessible through layaway btw.
Thanks for the ideas. Going new places is a great memory maker. We did scavenger hunts when I was a kid and they were a lot of fun, requesting household items from neighbors (a shoe string comes to mind). I had never heard of gamefrog either; it is a computer game cafe for kids.
#22 is right. I think the motives behind people's mentions of "Chinese-made products" are questionable at best. This is a horrible tragedy and the discussion should be free of uneducated and misinformed stereotypical BS.
Although I do share the shock and disgust felt by the author, I also find the tone of the article somewhat condescending and borderline insulting. It's funny how a self-acknowledged "elitist" would be writing for a blog like Wise Bread.
I can't help imagining if I had been there. What if I had to choose between walking past, or even over, this man, and risking getting trampled and killed myself? Would I have had two inches of space to move away from him so I didnt make it worse? I roll my eyes at people who got in line Thursday morning instead of actually, you know, having Thanksgiving with their families, but even so. At certain points in the crowd, it was almost certainly kill or be killed. I don't excuse it, but I do have some compassion for the people with that dilemma.
As an avid DIY-er, I am convinced that it is the most efficient way to save money while taking care of a home. Too many people these days hand off their repairs to professionals who overcharge for their services, and too few take the time to look into whether or not they could actually perform the repair on their own.
For many, car maintenance is the #1 expenditure that people feel they have little to no control over. But there are so many repairs that average DIY-ers can perform with ease. Replacing brake pads is not nearly as difficult as it sounds, and you can save around $400 by skipping the mechanic.
Household fix-ups and appliance repair can be a hobby, like Brewer mentioned. Who needs to spend 10 bucks on a movie when you can have just as pleasurable of a time fixing your brakes with your son or daughter? You can also help out your repair-wary friends and neighbors by charging a fraction of mechanic prices.
Haynes Manuals have nearly every auto manual available, and are unique because their information comes from teardowns they perform themselves - the manuals are not simply regurgitated dealership repair guides. They're having a sale now 10% off all manuals: http://www.haynes.com/