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Babble recently asked the question When the Times Call for Frugality, What Goes? What Stays? and people are talking about giving up their lattes and cleaning ladies. That's real nice and all, and I realize we haven't suffered much in this climate though we are still cutting back alot, I can't help but think of my pals that have lost jobs and are wondering how to buy gas to get to the next interview. It has me thinking about what I'll give up and in what order. I've already given up the daily paper, new clothes, 8 degrees on the thermostat as well as weekly trips to the city, and cable may be next, but the internet is staying. If I have to sell pencils on e-bay to pay for my internet then so be it. What won't you give up?
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I'm addicted to The Pickup Artists. It's a show on VH-1 where this fella Mystery (yes, that's really his name) teaches totally nice guys how to be meatheads. Ok, ok, he really is helping these fellas find some self confidence and become more socially adept, so they can pick up chicks but the discussion of women as "targets" and the science of it all is both offensive and riveting. I am really interested in marketing and the sociology of how to sell things. Subliminal marketing, the use of color, smell, design and product placement to evoke feelings of want and worth is fascinating. So to hear Mystery talk about how to stand and what to say when trying to make a first impression so that you are selling your worth to a person in the first three seconds is marketing gold. It takes a good hard look at women as the consumer and breaks down to a science how to market men to women. Deceptive? maybe, but alot of times if you don't like someone in the first five seconds you aren't gonna spend any more time getting to know them. Does anyone else watch this or am I the only one trying to justify my crap television addiction?
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The view from my desk today.
9 comments:
I live pretty simply already - ride my bike everywhere during the week, cook all my own food at home, go to cheap movies on campus, borrow books from the library, shop at thrift stores whenever I can. But. But. Does it make me a spoiled person if I tell you that the one thing I won't give up is good beer? Because it's true. And does the fact that I early voted for Obama make up for this? I hope so.
Na, I think you just prioritize particularly well.
Oh yeah, Super Yay for Obama voting!
i have wanted to get rid of the cable for years. we didn't have cable until i married chris. and it's the one thing i threaten to get rid of all the time.
i've thought about going strictly cell phone, but with small kids, that's no good.
i'm sure there are a ton of things we could get rid of, and like you, we haven't had great impact.
although, when i look at my checkbook, there is a substancial amount of money not there that was there before.
i'm just waiting to get our taxes done, pay off some things and start clean.
christmas is going to be very simple this year. and i've been selling things on etsy to save money to pay our personal property taxes at the end of the year. that's new.
We were going to get rid of cable because we rarely watch television. Well, when I say rarely we watch X Factor which is the English equivalent of American Idol and the news and so on.
I even went as far as calling the cable company to cancel and then our television started to have problems. We ended up buying a new TV! So you can't cancel cable when you have bought a new tv. (Go with me on the logic here).
It was kind of weird because we went from saying that TV really didn't matter to buying a new one in the space of about four days. Justified it by saying the country is in recession and the shops need our business!
We have cut down on sodas and major food shopping. We used to stock up on soda every week or two because it was cheaper than buying them at a store on the way to work. Now I spend 63 cents a day to get a 44 oz refill at the gas station (no ice) and that will last all day.
Also our meal times have gotten extremely simple. We only buy what we are going to eat. There are 2 things I will not give up though. 1 is roller derby and the other is my internet.
As for Halloween, I will totally see what i can do to assist you. ^_^
For Halloween, how about going as derby girl Sarah Impalin' Her? Or Sarah Palin as a zombie? You could shuffle around muttering, "Need brainssssss..." Just don't look in a mirror while in costume, or you might be tempted to beat YOURSELF with a bat.
What I wouldn't give up are my regular new book purchases from amazon and the internet.
Sara Impalin' Her is hilarious.
Pretty picture! And SNL makes my life worth living by doing Palin.
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