While surfing the Internet I found so many frugal blogs, sites, links, etc that really: is there any need for another one ? Or even another blog ???
How I got out of debt was a unique set of circumstances that I wouldn't recommend to anyone. It was all in self defense. Once you get bounced from your job after 26 years you go into survival mode.
And for someone who loves a good rut [not rutting, but... well yeah that too] finding yourself in freefall, no job, worst job market in decades, is a total mind hump.
It's simply not an original story and it's been played out millions of times by people with far greater to lose than I did. Just another tale in the naked city.
So a change in scope is necessary. Some would say I took a massive short cut in paying off all debt. But there was always the goal. The firing just allowed it to take place about 15 years sooner.
Knowing that finding another job that paid as well as the one I lost and with a mortgage to pay as well as all the other bills in a high cost state like CA, all I could see to be done was to liquidate, move to another state, buy a place to live outright and find a job that would sustain me no matter what it paid. Starting over from scratch would be a lot easier with no overhead. So yeah, call it cheating if you want, I call it self defense.
This was probably the worst thing that could happen to someone who just wanted things to stay the same. After moving as a child from CA to Texas, Texas to Utah, Utah to Alabama, Alabama back to Utah, Utah to Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania to Iowa, just staying in one place was always a dream. I always envied the people I met along the way who had friends and a consistent place to call "home" their entire lives.
Being the "new kid" never got any easier, so when I landed in CA in my adulthood, I stayed there. A job I liked: stayed there.
So this being laid off, downsized, made redundant,dumped, punted, kicked to the curb thing was only the beginning of a total life shake up.
Of course, it's a tale told by millions, who needs to hear it from me ? And it may just have been "time". I had done LA and LA had done me. All I really miss are the friends I made there, especially my 3rd brother Bill.
Who needs another blog ? Maybe there's something in the whole experience of being ripped out of the ground that might prove useful to someone. And just telling it could be beneficial for me on a lot of levels. I'll keep the whining to a minimum.
My direction has changed since the first entry. My thoughts are scattered this morning, but just wanted to check in. Hopefully, more clarity will come.
Been up since 4:30 to stay in training for this call center job coming up. It starts early. But then at the old job my shift was 3am-noon. Kind of freaky going to bed at 5PM on New Year's Eve, but at the time, staying employed was the overarcing objective. More later.
Signing off
Dave
From an undisclosed location in AZ.......
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
A Follow Up
I am just alive with cheapness today...... Have done more laundry with the homemade stuff. Nothing damaged. Nothing burned or with holes. Looks as clean as with anything else I have used. Pretty pleased. Now if I just don't develop an itch....
Very satisfying given the shoot up in price of laundry detergent. Even the cheap stuff is downsized and "ultra" priced....
So in the mean time after doing the laundry, rearranging the shed, cooking hamburger gumbo soup so that it's cooked ahead for the work week [and it's gooood]...made bread yesterday. Now there's a bed to make, clothes to fold and a routine to get back into.
Have been getting up at 5 just to be prepared since the job starts at 6:15 am. And I don't know how things will shake out. At least the commute is only 1.1 mile. Depending on the shift I will maybe walk it once in awhile or ride the old bike. 1 speed. May have to walk the old bike as the old hips aren't listening..... That's a real maybe.
Good grief: 1.1 miles to work. Beats 13-17 [depending on the route I took] in L.A.
So much to tell you all, if anyone is interested. Never was good at maintaining a diary. May not last long at this, especially after sitting on the computer all day fielding customer service calls...... but while I'm here....
And I'm really looking forward to being a cubicle rat. That's another topic altogether.
Live Cheap Or Go Home
Very satisfying given the shoot up in price of laundry detergent. Even the cheap stuff is downsized and "ultra" priced....
So in the mean time after doing the laundry, rearranging the shed, cooking hamburger gumbo soup so that it's cooked ahead for the work week [and it's gooood]...made bread yesterday. Now there's a bed to make, clothes to fold and a routine to get back into.
Have been getting up at 5 just to be prepared since the job starts at 6:15 am. And I don't know how things will shake out. At least the commute is only 1.1 mile. Depending on the shift I will maybe walk it once in awhile or ride the old bike. 1 speed. May have to walk the old bike as the old hips aren't listening..... That's a real maybe.
Good grief: 1.1 miles to work. Beats 13-17 [depending on the route I took] in L.A.
So much to tell you all, if anyone is interested. Never was good at maintaining a diary. May not last long at this, especially after sitting on the computer all day fielding customer service calls...... but while I'm here....
And I'm really looking forward to being a cubicle rat. That's another topic altogether.
Live Cheap Or Go Home
H'yar It Be
My "Holiday Newsletter" style email. Suffer baby suffer:
"Cheap Thrills"
Hey all:
Wound up on a tightwad site and found there were recipes for making your own laundry detergent. I got so stoked I said "forget the haircut"!I've got to go out and get the ingredients now !!!
The recipe calls for 2 cups grated soap, 1 cup Borax and 1 cup washing soda. For the bar soap you can use Ivory, Pure & Natural, Fels Naptha, Kirk's Castile, etc.
I chose something called Zote as it was cheap at Family Dollar as well as specifically made for laundry. Two 14 oz. bars $1.00 each. And it smells nice and citrus-ey... [is that a word ?] and is a hot pink color. The Zote web site [ www.zoat.com www.zoat.mx for Spanish, I think, as it's a Mexican made product] says it's citronella scent keeps mosquitoes away. Who knew ?
A grated bar of Zote gives you 4&1/2 cups, so I added 1&1/2 cups each of the Borax and the same amount of Washing Soda [Arm & Hammer, BTW] to the 4& 1/2 cuts of grated Zote. I think the ratio should be 4 to 2, correct ? Never was good at math...... just doubles the recipe, I guess. Would prefer more soap but there you are.... I wound up adding another 1/2 cup of each to the Zote.
Borax: $4.98 at Fry's for 4 lbs. 12 oz., $2.98 for the A&H Washing Soda 3lbs 7oz.
Supposed to use 2 tablespoons per load. Will have to get the calculator out to figure how much each load costs.
There's even a recipe for automatic dishwashers. Have to investigate that later. Dish washing soap is soooo expensive.
The value and the cheapness and the money savings is causing a thrill to run up my leg.. Sick I know. Urban Homesteading... I'll be getting one of those pot holder weaving kits soon if I get too crazy......
I have a test load in the washer right now: handkerchiefs, two non rubber backed throw rugs and a pair of my undesirables. We'll see what happens.
You watch though: with my luck I'll develop a rash that will burn the skin off my naughty bits.... no prob. A little Bag Balm and I'll be fine. Not using them for anything but plumbing these days anyway.
If I heal quickly maybe my skin will adapt and I can continue to save money !! Ohhh the psychic monetary value.
Best to all,
DGreg
Si yo puede, bitches
"Cheap Thrills"
Hey all:
Wound up on a tightwad site and found there were recipes for making your own laundry detergent. I got so stoked I said "forget the haircut"!I've got to go out and get the ingredients now !!!
The recipe calls for 2 cups grated soap, 1 cup Borax and 1 cup washing soda. For the bar soap you can use Ivory, Pure & Natural, Fels Naptha, Kirk's Castile, etc.
I chose something called Zote as it was cheap at Family Dollar as well as specifically made for laundry. Two 14 oz. bars $1.00 each. And it smells nice and citrus-ey... [is that a word ?] and is a hot pink color. The Zote web site [ www.zoat.com www.zoat.mx for Spanish, I think, as it's a Mexican made product] says it's citronella scent keeps mosquitoes away. Who knew ?
A grated bar of Zote gives you 4&1/2 cups, so I added 1&1/2 cups each of the Borax and the same amount of Washing Soda [Arm & Hammer, BTW] to the 4& 1/2 cuts of grated Zote. I think the ratio should be 4 to 2, correct ? Never was good at math...... just doubles the recipe, I guess. Would prefer more soap but there you are.... I wound up adding another 1/2 cup of each to the Zote.
Borax: $4.98 at Fry's for 4 lbs. 12 oz., $2.98 for the A&H Washing Soda 3lbs 7oz.
Supposed to use 2 tablespoons per load. Will have to get the calculator out to figure how much each load costs.
There's even a recipe for automatic dishwashers. Have to investigate that later. Dish washing soap is soooo expensive.
The value and the cheapness and the money savings is causing a thrill to run up my leg.. Sick I know. Urban Homesteading... I'll be getting one of those pot holder weaving kits soon if I get too crazy......
I have a test load in the washer right now: handkerchiefs, two non rubber backed throw rugs and a pair of my undesirables. We'll see what happens.
You watch though: with my luck I'll develop a rash that will burn the skin off my naughty bits.... no prob. A little Bag Balm and I'll be fine. Not using them for anything but plumbing these days anyway.
If I heal quickly maybe my skin will adapt and I can continue to save money !! Ohhh the psychic monetary value.
Best to all,
DGreg
Si yo puede, bitches
It's Been A LONG Time.....
Jeez: almost 4 years. Sorry about that. Don't know how you get people to come to your blog.....I guess you have to do some promotion.
Well a ton o stuff has happened: lost my job, sold the house in L.A. bought another one in an undisclosed location in AZ. and start a new job Tuesday.
Lots of turmoil and insanity. Mr Toad's Wild Ride...
The reason I even came back was that I wrote a sort of "Holiday Newsletter" to my friends about discovering recipes for making your own laundry detergent. [Of course it's a holiday for those on my list when I'm not sending out a "holiday" missive...]. But my friend Sheila asked me why I didn't put it up on a blog..... So I came back to The Cheap Motel and checked in again.Didn't realize it had been so long.
Anyway: I was all amped because I had gone to Mobile Home Woman's website and went to another link called Living On A Dime, then another called Tip Nut, yet another called the Simple Dollar and discovered recipes for homemade laundry detergent.
This really caught my eye since I had noticed even the cheap stuff wasn't cheap any longer. And since I have been unemployed for 9 months already it is imperative that every dime be saved.
Anyway: I was so excited I sent everyone an email. Sick I know. Contents of email will follow. and then an explantion about how I went from there to here and don't even know if I am happy about it or still freaking out at being dumped after 26 years at my old job.
Well a ton o stuff has happened: lost my job, sold the house in L.A. bought another one in an undisclosed location in AZ. and start a new job Tuesday.
Lots of turmoil and insanity. Mr Toad's Wild Ride...
The reason I even came back was that I wrote a sort of "Holiday Newsletter" to my friends about discovering recipes for making your own laundry detergent. [Of course it's a holiday for those on my list when I'm not sending out a "holiday" missive...]. But my friend Sheila asked me why I didn't put it up on a blog..... So I came back to The Cheap Motel and checked in again.Didn't realize it had been so long.
Anyway: I was all amped because I had gone to Mobile Home Woman's website and went to another link called Living On A Dime, then another called Tip Nut, yet another called the Simple Dollar and discovered recipes for homemade laundry detergent.
This really caught my eye since I had noticed even the cheap stuff wasn't cheap any longer. And since I have been unemployed for 9 months already it is imperative that every dime be saved.
Anyway: I was so excited I sent everyone an email. Sick I know. Contents of email will follow. and then an explantion about how I went from there to here and don't even know if I am happy about it or still freaking out at being dumped after 26 years at my old job.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Why "The Cheap Motel" ?
Since none of us get out of this world alive,and even though we may own our own homes, we're really only passing through, just "checking in " for an extended stay. I just wanted to chronicle my own adventures in penny pinching while on this earthly plane.This is hopefully a stop along the internet superhighway to reconsider spending habits.
There has been a movement out there of people rejecting spending for spending's sake, voluntary simplicity and down home thrift, parsimony and tight waddery as valid objectives in life. To find something else to do besides shop, get, consume.
Interviews with people on TV about their pledge to not buy anything "new" for a year and an MSN article on stopping your own financial suicide by cutting off the waste and mindless shopping stuck in my mind. I had been a regular subscriber to The Tightwad Gazette and am an admirer of the newletter's [and subsequent books] author Amy Dacyczyn [like "decision"]. That was a good foundation and a proper primer in thrift. She is correct: thrift is a viable alternative lifestyle. I have always been thrifty and thoughtful with a dollar, but imagine my shock at getting bank statements every month and discovering I was spending 3-500 more than I was taking in. Easy trap when I had bonuses, a car accident pay off, a surprise gift from Mom & Dad and an occasional dip into my savings to cover up my imprudent spending.
Well look at it: I have all the conveniences of the rich:Pay check automatically deposited, bills automatically paid, other bills paid on line,
it's just like money is always there.It just appears. The bank statements say something else, something very scary. This ship is on a collison course.
So I read the editorial on MSN re:spending on just what was necessary and the reader's responses to it. Why it resonated more than any other thing I had read on saving money is a mystery. Perhaps the ease with which it can be done: just shut off the flow !!!!
It's been two weeks, but consider:
I already bake my own bread [ in a machine, that still counts] my own soap, hang the laundry on the line, drive an economical car, don't eat out, drink or smoke [any longer]. Thrift stores are already my friends. I should buy stock in the 99c Store or the Dollar Tree, so where and how to save is already a part of what, I guess you could call a "lifestyle".
Certainly booze and cigs cost, eating out not worth the cost and effort, $11.75 movie tickets are just ridiculous. Driving a gas hog is a waste of money [and finding parking for a big rig as well as threading it through Hell Ay traffic is just impossible], Macy's and Sears and the rest all make me crazy trying to shop in them, malls are suffocating and thrift stores have a calming effect. The 99c Store is like the old Woolworth's and Newberry's used to be, the old 5 & 10c stores of old.My kind of shopping. That's instinctual. I want to be professional grade cheap.
Get it straight: not everyone wants to live the way I do and I am not suggesting that one should. These are my thoughts on thrift and remember the whole experiment may fall apart as quickly as it came together.
The objective then:
Staunch the flow of money coming out of my wallet.
Recognize the difference between want and need
Use up what I already have before buying more
Figure out something else to do besides shop for stuff.
Not buying is a new concept, since I am obsessive compulsive about having enough in stock: If I have 3 cans of tuna, I need to "pick up" 2 more, just to be safe. Laundry soap ? I have enough to do 500 loads before having to buy another box or jug.Toilet paper & paper towels, the same.Canned goods, shampoo, name it, I have to have several bottles or cans. This borders on old fashioned hoarding and that's not healthy. And it takes up room. My house is only 947 square feet, just using up what I have got laying around for "just in case" will open up more square footage!!
The past two weeks have been like kicking cigarettes: No stops at 7-11 for coffee and other "things", no trips to the donut shop during the day, buying water from the cooler up front at work. That was easy.
It's ignoring the sneaky impulses and the automatic responses that's hard:
Hearing a song on the radio and wanting to down load it [for 99c and it won't stop till I have an entire cd of 15 or so cuts], reading the sales flyers for Big Lots and such and making a note that I should get this, that, or a few of those. So much input to buy, fetch and gather it's almost an automatic reaction, like reaching for a cigarette. Spooky. The Orchard Hardware commercial where "We pay the tax this weekend" got an immediate response: I've got to go there and pick something up. Not that I needed anything, just there was no tax on it and I might see something. Then I remembered I was not buying anything but necessities, period.
Those people who pledged to not buy anything discovered books they had not read, movies they hadn't seen, time they might have spent "shopping" and different things to do with that time. They got richer in more ways than one !!!
Same with picking up bird seed at Target : Do not look at anything else. 99c Store: avoid the cleaning supplies and detergent aisle except to get the dishwashing machine soap. It's like a mine field out there but I did it !!!! I even stopped buying ice, for example.
It has taken a conscious effort to simply stop filling the cart or basket, it has become so engrained in the psyche [or the psycho, ME].
This all started on March 13th. Instead of getting up at 5 a.m. and getting over to Albertson's and the few items I needed, I slept in. We'll make do, use what we have. The freezer is full of frozen vegetable, hamburger and fish, why buy more ?
Rather than spending 50-70 I spent perhaps 10 for milk, bagels, and other foodstuffs. Made tuna salad for sandwiches for lunch this week, rather than buying a 5.00 package of ham and another 2.00 of cheese [I've done it before but got lazy].And if it comes down to it, peanut butter and jelly may be on the menu.
Just downsized 3 of my bottles of laundry detergent into one : bottles of Rinso & Awesome into a big "Sun" brand jug.Shelf space !!!!!
What's A Necessity ?
Savings
Mortgage
Food
Medical
Car Payment
Insurance
Household bills: gas, water, sewage, trash pick up, phone
Pay off of accumulated debt.
These are the primary obligations I have.
The wisdom of simply standing still, simply not doing something is harder to accomplish than it seems. "Just cut off the flow" is easier said than done, so, for reinforcement, I have decided to do a weblog and try to make penny pinching the automatic reaction to stimuli rather than spending.
A penny saved is a penny earned and 100 of them still make a dollar, last time I checked.
It would be nice if people read this and offered their own advice.
You might enjoy your vivit to The Cheap Motel [yes, the towels are chained to the wall and so are the pictures......]
There has been a movement out there of people rejecting spending for spending's sake, voluntary simplicity and down home thrift, parsimony and tight waddery as valid objectives in life. To find something else to do besides shop, get, consume.
Interviews with people on TV about their pledge to not buy anything "new" for a year and an MSN article on stopping your own financial suicide by cutting off the waste and mindless shopping stuck in my mind. I had been a regular subscriber to The Tightwad Gazette and am an admirer of the newletter's [and subsequent books] author Amy Dacyczyn [like "decision"]. That was a good foundation and a proper primer in thrift. She is correct: thrift is a viable alternative lifestyle. I have always been thrifty and thoughtful with a dollar, but imagine my shock at getting bank statements every month and discovering I was spending 3-500 more than I was taking in. Easy trap when I had bonuses, a car accident pay off, a surprise gift from Mom & Dad and an occasional dip into my savings to cover up my imprudent spending.
Well look at it: I have all the conveniences of the rich:Pay check automatically deposited, bills automatically paid, other bills paid on line,
it's just like money is always there.It just appears. The bank statements say something else, something very scary. This ship is on a collison course.
So I read the editorial on MSN re:spending on just what was necessary and the reader's responses to it. Why it resonated more than any other thing I had read on saving money is a mystery. Perhaps the ease with which it can be done: just shut off the flow !!!!
It's been two weeks, but consider:
I already bake my own bread [ in a machine, that still counts] my own soap, hang the laundry on the line, drive an economical car, don't eat out, drink or smoke [any longer]. Thrift stores are already my friends. I should buy stock in the 99c Store or the Dollar Tree, so where and how to save is already a part of what, I guess you could call a "lifestyle".
Certainly booze and cigs cost, eating out not worth the cost and effort, $11.75 movie tickets are just ridiculous. Driving a gas hog is a waste of money [and finding parking for a big rig as well as threading it through Hell Ay traffic is just impossible], Macy's and Sears and the rest all make me crazy trying to shop in them, malls are suffocating and thrift stores have a calming effect. The 99c Store is like the old Woolworth's and Newberry's used to be, the old 5 & 10c stores of old.My kind of shopping. That's instinctual. I want to be professional grade cheap.
Get it straight: not everyone wants to live the way I do and I am not suggesting that one should. These are my thoughts on thrift and remember the whole experiment may fall apart as quickly as it came together.
The objective then:
Staunch the flow of money coming out of my wallet.
Recognize the difference between want and need
Use up what I already have before buying more
Figure out something else to do besides shop for stuff.
Not buying is a new concept, since I am obsessive compulsive about having enough in stock: If I have 3 cans of tuna, I need to "pick up" 2 more, just to be safe. Laundry soap ? I have enough to do 500 loads before having to buy another box or jug.Toilet paper & paper towels, the same.Canned goods, shampoo, name it, I have to have several bottles or cans. This borders on old fashioned hoarding and that's not healthy. And it takes up room. My house is only 947 square feet, just using up what I have got laying around for "just in case" will open up more square footage!!
The past two weeks have been like kicking cigarettes: No stops at 7-11 for coffee and other "things", no trips to the donut shop during the day, buying water from the cooler up front at work. That was easy.
It's ignoring the sneaky impulses and the automatic responses that's hard:
Hearing a song on the radio and wanting to down load it [for 99c and it won't stop till I have an entire cd of 15 or so cuts], reading the sales flyers for Big Lots and such and making a note that I should get this, that, or a few of those. So much input to buy, fetch and gather it's almost an automatic reaction, like reaching for a cigarette. Spooky. The Orchard Hardware commercial where "We pay the tax this weekend" got an immediate response: I've got to go there and pick something up. Not that I needed anything, just there was no tax on it and I might see something. Then I remembered I was not buying anything but necessities, period.
Those people who pledged to not buy anything discovered books they had not read, movies they hadn't seen, time they might have spent "shopping" and different things to do with that time. They got richer in more ways than one !!!
Same with picking up bird seed at Target : Do not look at anything else. 99c Store: avoid the cleaning supplies and detergent aisle except to get the dishwashing machine soap. It's like a mine field out there but I did it !!!! I even stopped buying ice, for example.
It has taken a conscious effort to simply stop filling the cart or basket, it has become so engrained in the psyche [or the psycho, ME].
This all started on March 13th. Instead of getting up at 5 a.m. and getting over to Albertson's and the few items I needed, I slept in. We'll make do, use what we have. The freezer is full of frozen vegetable, hamburger and fish, why buy more ?
Rather than spending 50-70 I spent perhaps 10 for milk, bagels, and other foodstuffs. Made tuna salad for sandwiches for lunch this week, rather than buying a 5.00 package of ham and another 2.00 of cheese [I've done it before but got lazy].And if it comes down to it, peanut butter and jelly may be on the menu.
Just downsized 3 of my bottles of laundry detergent into one : bottles of Rinso & Awesome into a big "Sun" brand jug.Shelf space !!!!!
What's A Necessity ?
Savings
Mortgage
Food
Medical
Car Payment
Insurance
Household bills: gas, water, sewage, trash pick up, phone
Pay off of accumulated debt.
These are the primary obligations I have.
The wisdom of simply standing still, simply not doing something is harder to accomplish than it seems. "Just cut off the flow" is easier said than done, so, for reinforcement, I have decided to do a weblog and try to make penny pinching the automatic reaction to stimuli rather than spending.
A penny saved is a penny earned and 100 of them still make a dollar, last time I checked.
It would be nice if people read this and offered their own advice.
You might enjoy your vivit to The Cheap Motel [yes, the towels are chained to the wall and so are the pictures......]
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