Like a fool, I clicked on this story and read it this morning. From Ordering Steak and Lobster, to serving it It's a wall street journal story so I knew it would ruffle my feathers a little, but still I clicked on it. Here's a fellow that was making 200k a year on wall street, complaining about having to take a job beneath him to feed his family. 25k a year is still 480 a week. That's double the $224 a week average paycheck around here! This fellow is upset because he used to eat in the same restaurant and spend $200 on a bottle of wine. Now he serves it.
Why is it that living frugal seems like such a bad or dirty thing? I eat steak all the time! Of course, I prepare it for myself instead of paying someone else to do it for me. It comes from the cow I fed out right here on the farm with food I grew, no chemicals or antibiotics and it doesn't hang in a meat locker for 6 months. Even if I took it to a butcher, it would still cost me less than $2 a pound for the whole cow. I live frugal but that doesn't mean my home is messy or run down. The things I use on my farm every day are well kept and maintained. The grass is mowed and my mailbox looks just like theirs.
Consumerism is a mindset just like frugality is. Just because you have money to spend, that doesn't mean you need to spend it on things you simply don't need! I splurge a little, I spend money each pay on a couple packs of chocolate and I buy the good toilet paper. LOL nothing worse than wiping with sand paper! hehehehe some things you just have to have.
Let's face it folks, the Obama Stimulus package isn't helping us little people. At least 3 million jobs (read that figure in a news article a week or so ago) have already been lost and there's nothing being created to replace those jobs. The DOW can go up all it wants, it's not making any jobs either. The more frugal we think, the better we will make it thru this poor economic trend. Even in a small city backyard, enough food can be grown to cut your grocery bill substantially. Why pay $2.50 for a cantalope you can grow? A $1 a can for name brand diced tomatoes or green beans. These vegeatables grow easily even in a 5 gallon bucket! Instead of buying the latest ipod or cell phone, buy a bag of fertilizer and some potting soil and grow yourself some money. It is growing money, everything you produce yourself is money in your pocket you didn't have to spend!
PS- it's raining here, again!!!!!!!
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LOL @ the toilet paper. I do stock the cheaper stuff but in a tough situation I think I could deal with it. Great post MM. Since the recession "officially" started we've lost well over 5 million jobs. Probably up to 7 million by now. Real unemployment rates are at 15+%. Things are going to get bad. If more people lived like you did MM we'd be better off.
ReplyDeletematthiasj
Kentucky Preppers Network
It's probably harder on guys like that who end up in that position. Had he the skills to fall back on he could have bailed 2 years ago and spent his savings on a little place and been ok, instead of pouring that savings into trying to tread water and hope he got it together again.
ReplyDeleteI do have a great deal of empathy for people who excelled in following what had always been the rules. The game was changed and now they are between a rock and a hard place. It's gotta crush the ego and be depressing as hell.
Should be a lesson for others.
I grew enough extra tomatoes from seeds (first year for growing from seed!) that I sold the excess and it MORE than paid for what I had spent to get started. Now, I can reuse the seeds and next year, I'll be making a profit - just from the plants. That doesn't even cover what I might make if I sell the produce. It's a good feeling to be able to sleep at night :D
ReplyDeleteI'd take a $25K a year job over what I'm making now :) Actually... nah... I like my life the way it is.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping in you guys. We're doing it right and all we can do is hope we can be a good role model for others. I love my life the way it is and I wouldn't trade for a 100 office jobs paying a million dollars.
ReplyDeleteI never thought of "frugal" being a dirty word, and in today's economy I am SO grateful for the lessons learned from my parents when I was young. I'll never hold anyone's lifestyle or income against them, but when they end up shopping on the sale table or the thrift store or recycling cans, I just smile and silent say "Welcome...". Love your blog! I'm amazed that you even grow your own coffee. :)
ReplyDelete