I generally avoid reading articles or postings about frugality. This is not because I lack interest in saving money, but because they don't offer much advice that His Majesty didn't teach me twenty years ago. I saw an article today headlined "Save $150 a week on groceries." If I were to find a way to do that, I'd be walking out of Wal-mart with a large gift card every week. Learning that it's cheaper not to buy frozen entrees isn't very helpful when you reflexively regard canned beans as a luxury item.
Keeping house is a little like trying to pack too much stuff in a suitcase. Poke the shoes in one side, and the shirts comes bulging out the other side. You finally stuff it all in, sit on the top, and fasten it, and then you realize you forgot to include the present for Aunt Margaret and must start over.
Every household has a finite amount of time, money, and space. Some of us have limits a lot tighter than others do, but they all are less than we could use. But you can't save on all of them at once. Find a way to cut costs, and it's likely to cost you more in time and energy. Find a gadget that saves time and money, and it takes up too much space. If on top of this you add a few other concerns, like health or education, the challenge gets that much harder.
I do know an easy way we could save money. I could stop doing things like dropping my cell phone in the parking lot on a dark night and running over it. But after 27 years of diligent effort by all in the vicinity, I think that may be a hopeless endeavor.
3 comments:
Rather like the old conundrum of good, cheap, and fast, only two of which can be secured at once. Ouch! I hate conceding the point and spending perfectly good money because I don't have the luxury of investing the time to get the right bargain.
Great post. I read those articles on saving lots of $$ on groceries and realize that if I were to save that much money each week/month, we would have to stop eating, since I buy so little convenience food already.
I've read some of those articles about saving money on groceries. They appear to be aimed at people who consider buying the store brand to be beneath them. Puzzling.
--DJ
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