Saturday, June 28, 2014
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
SUMMER - PROSPERITY - A TIME FOR GIVING THINGS AWAY!
This morning we heard the news that Americans are not saving enough money.
USA TODAY - AMERICANS WITHOUT EMERGENCY SAVINGS
First, no we have not given up on buying as much as possible that's manufactured and sold right here in the United States but we are like most of you in that we have to be careful about what we buy.
One of the reasons we want American products is that they are usually well made to last. We wish we could have back all the money we spent on cheap stuff - especially things made in China - that we have now put in our trash dumps for eternity.
One of the ways that we can SAVE MONEY is to make important purchases in a studied manner, to read up on products and manufacturers, and to buy things that last. We did a lot of that for you when we first started blogging, and now we just hope to inspire you to do the same.
Another way we can SAVE MONEY is by using things we buy. We don't want to buy things we don't really need or don't really use.
Another way to save money is to GIVE THINGS AWAY!
Most people do this when they've had a garage sale and what ever is left over they donate! And they sometimes want a tax deduction. We say, forget the tax deduction and get your credits elsewhere!
We'd like to suggest that this summer, while you have the windows open and are cleaning the house that you start to make piles of things to give away because there is some sort of GOOD KARMA about it.
We're not trying to be hokey here!
Let's give you an example from our own recent experience:
After we got the new refrigerator we were inspired to do a good job of cleaning the kitchen.
We found we had a couple bags of food products still good to eat that we had bought and just had not used or that we didn't think we would by the time they were expired.
We dropped off two bags of the miscellaneous food stuffs to a homeless shelter.
Then we went through our closets. We think that if you haven't lost weight or gained it and so you haven't worn something for a couple years it's time to give it away unless it's something very expensive or very classic like a good coat and then we'd give it a few more years. So we did the same as we did with the food, we gave the clothes away, this time to a local hospital that happens to have a "thrift shop" inside it with a ongoing sale of used items to benefit the hospital.
NOW WE WERE REALLY MOVING THE ENERGY.
We put some items that were just cluttering our place up for sale on Craig's List but this proved to be a horrible experience. We seemed to attract no-shows, goof balls, and worse, a person who was verbally abusive and possibly criminal. WE KNEW WE ARE BETTER THAN THAT, and we didn't need it. (We don't think we'll do Craig's List again!)
Did we really need to make that extra money? We did! We also had in mind some things we would really like to buy. But we decided that this was not much different than when we gave away the food or the clothes we had bought but were not going to use. We decided to put some items out on the curb with a sign "Free Stuff" and to put this stuff out a good 6 days before the garbage pick up and out of the way of the lawn sprinklers.
We are not joking when we tell you that WITHIN AN HOUR OF PUTTING ALL THIS STUFF OUT IT WAS GONE. Now we figured, maybe one person with a car or truck took it ALL rather than share and maybe they are going to sell it on Craig's List, a garage sale, or maybe e-Bay. Maybe not.
Well, we are not joking when we tell you that some of our neighbors began to do the same thing!
Two of then are moving to another state for employment and left what they could not pack into U-Hauls or Containers. Other people put out boxes of books and misc. It was neighborly and it was sharing, even if we don't all know each other.
And guess what! Two of the items that we had on our wish list to buy were out there on the curb for us to take.
OK, is that INSTANT ECONOMIC KARMA or what?!
We are saying that if we had bought these items new we would be out about $400.
And that is $400 we are SAVING!
TRY IT!
USA TODAY - AMERICANS WITHOUT EMERGENCY SAVINGS
First, no we have not given up on buying as much as possible that's manufactured and sold right here in the United States but we are like most of you in that we have to be careful about what we buy.
One of the reasons we want American products is that they are usually well made to last. We wish we could have back all the money we spent on cheap stuff - especially things made in China - that we have now put in our trash dumps for eternity.
One of the ways that we can SAVE MONEY is to make important purchases in a studied manner, to read up on products and manufacturers, and to buy things that last. We did a lot of that for you when we first started blogging, and now we just hope to inspire you to do the same.
Another way we can SAVE MONEY is by using things we buy. We don't want to buy things we don't really need or don't really use.
Another way to save money is to GIVE THINGS AWAY!
Most people do this when they've had a garage sale and what ever is left over they donate! And they sometimes want a tax deduction. We say, forget the tax deduction and get your credits elsewhere!
We'd like to suggest that this summer, while you have the windows open and are cleaning the house that you start to make piles of things to give away because there is some sort of GOOD KARMA about it.
We're not trying to be hokey here!
Let's give you an example from our own recent experience:
After we got the new refrigerator we were inspired to do a good job of cleaning the kitchen.
We found we had a couple bags of food products still good to eat that we had bought and just had not used or that we didn't think we would by the time they were expired.
We dropped off two bags of the miscellaneous food stuffs to a homeless shelter.
Then we went through our closets. We think that if you haven't lost weight or gained it and so you haven't worn something for a couple years it's time to give it away unless it's something very expensive or very classic like a good coat and then we'd give it a few more years. So we did the same as we did with the food, we gave the clothes away, this time to a local hospital that happens to have a "thrift shop" inside it with a ongoing sale of used items to benefit the hospital.
NOW WE WERE REALLY MOVING THE ENERGY.
We put some items that were just cluttering our place up for sale on Craig's List but this proved to be a horrible experience. We seemed to attract no-shows, goof balls, and worse, a person who was verbally abusive and possibly criminal. WE KNEW WE ARE BETTER THAN THAT, and we didn't need it. (We don't think we'll do Craig's List again!)
Did we really need to make that extra money? We did! We also had in mind some things we would really like to buy. But we decided that this was not much different than when we gave away the food or the clothes we had bought but were not going to use. We decided to put some items out on the curb with a sign "Free Stuff" and to put this stuff out a good 6 days before the garbage pick up and out of the way of the lawn sprinklers.
We are not joking when we tell you that WITHIN AN HOUR OF PUTTING ALL THIS STUFF OUT IT WAS GONE. Now we figured, maybe one person with a car or truck took it ALL rather than share and maybe they are going to sell it on Craig's List, a garage sale, or maybe e-Bay. Maybe not.
Well, we are not joking when we tell you that some of our neighbors began to do the same thing!
Two of then are moving to another state for employment and left what they could not pack into U-Hauls or Containers. Other people put out boxes of books and misc. It was neighborly and it was sharing, even if we don't all know each other.
And guess what! Two of the items that we had on our wish list to buy were out there on the curb for us to take.
OK, is that INSTANT ECONOMIC KARMA or what?!
We are saying that if we had bought these items new we would be out about $400.
And that is $400 we are SAVING!
TRY IT!
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