Photo by Martin LaBar
I’m not sure if I’m the right person to be writing this article, really. The reason why is that last week, my son came home with a cabbage plant that he had grown in class. I set it on the counter and forgot about it until I heard a colleague waxing poetic about how he and his son planted their cabbage plant in their garden and what a blissful experience it was. I got jealous and headed for the store, where I purchased an expensive green planter (they were out of the cheap ones and I felt too lazy to go to another store) and some expensive dirt since the only dirt I really have in my apartment is on the dog, and she doesn’t want me messing with it. So at this point, it is the $25 cabbage plant.
Since I have these tendencies to sporadically waste money, I have some strategies in place to save in other, non-cabbage related areas. Here ya go:
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1. Buy Horizon Organic Milk. I don’t have any idea why this is, but this milk will last a lot longer than the regular kind. I have never had to throw it out because it spoiled. The same goes for soy milk. I like Silk. Utilizing this strategy will save you a whole dollar or so a week, and you get to feel all righteous about eating healthily.
2. Do not buy a bunch of crap for your kids. Since my kid doesn’t watch TV, I am spared a lot of the begging and pleading for products that many parents have to suffer through. If he wants a junky toy, he has to pay for it out of his allowance. I try not to buy any toy that cannot be used over and over again, which means that he has a lot of Legos. Since there is not a whole ton of other junk, it makes cleaning his room a lot easier on him, too.
At this point, I have to share what I learned shortly after my older son was born. I had spent $35 on a pull-toy from Germany that had 35 layers of lacquer and was a work of art, in my opinion. A friend of mine who already had kids scoffed and told me that my kid would end up playing with the orange juice container. He was wrong. My kid preferred the paper towel roll.
3. Find a country vet, or at least a cool one. When my dog needs the inevitable steroid shot to stop her itching from the occasional flea bite, I stop at the vets, pick up the syringe and DIY. It costs me about seven bucks that way, as opposed to the whole office visit thing. DIY can be a good way to save money lots of times, unless you are male. Then you might pay $65 for a special screwdriver to fix the broken hinge on the cabinet or something like that.
4. Realize that TV destroys your brain. You can then cancel the cable (I know, you’ve heard this a million times–so why haven’t you done it yet?!?). Seriously, there was a study done that showed a correlation between autism and television viewing in preschoolers. I wrote this guy and thanked him. His study is right on the money. Saving brain cells will also save you about $80 a month.
5. Get rid of the gym membership and do real work. I hate the gym. The main reason I dislike it is because I feel like I am expending energy on nothing. It doesn’t feel right. On the other hand, I am more than happy to mow a lawn, move stuff, vacuum the house, etc. There are projects like Habitat for Humanity that will really burn some calories while teaching serious skillz and helping someone else with your energy. You should save about $40 a month.
These strategies enable me to live within my means and splurge on cabbage. What’s your financial goal?
1. I’ve been buying Full-Circle Organic Milk for about the last 6-months. It lasts so long I almost don’t believe it. Until they tell me prolonged use will make your head explode, I’m buying nothing else. Great stuff!
2. I have no kids (that I know of)
3. Great idea. I SERIOUSLY need to look into this.
4. I don’t watch too much TV, but I don’t think I can get rid of it because…you know…Cartoon Channel.
5. Never owned a gym membership, so…done.
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Michelle this post actually hit home with me. I buy the organic milk and it does last longer. I’m not much of a milk drinker and I would be throwing a lot of mostly full cartons of milk away. But with the organic stuff I usually finish the carton. Maybe it tastes better and I use more plus it lasts longer. Who knows?
Canceling the cable and the gym are 2 issues I’ve been struggling with for a long time. The cable takes up a lot of time and money. And the gym just takes up money since I don’t hardly ever go.
Thanks for the great post. Emma
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1. I gave up milk a long time ago, when I worked all over the place and coffee without milk and sugar was the easiest option to get something to drink. Now I buy those very small containers of long life milk for the occasional visitor.
2. Yeah, I fail in that department. Deprived myself of good face cream. The toys still look good but I don’t.
3. Pet gets fresh meat so no tooth decay or nasties there.
4. Television is long gone, more than 8 years. Having no t.v saves a lot more than just money.
5. I too hate gym, but I do also hate tight clothes. So I am like you. I redecorate the house lots of time and that takes care of the weightlifting and doing shopping once in a while means carrying heavy bags.
Hmm, why ain’t I rich yet as I seem to do alright….
Michelle, for my sake now I still feel virtuous, you better leave it at these. Wilma
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A lot of toys nowadays are so specific. The way they are played are shown in commercials. No imagination needed. Sure, that toy might came with seven pre-recorded lines, but you can go through them in a minute and that toy is done with. Or maybe you can find other uses for it, but in that case, you might as well go with one that doesn’t say any pre-recorded lines.
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And wow, I just sat and read through that TV and Autism paper!
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4. Aside from not killing your brains, most of us could start small-businesses with the amount of time we spend (on average) watching TV. So there may be actual income to compliment the savings you recommend. Now’s a great time to do it, too, seeing as the shows are hit and miss.
Of course, “now” is always a great time to change a habit that could improve your life remarkably. The existentialist credo: life is but a series of nows.
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Thanks for giving us credit for the photo.
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I think your comment about getting rid of tv is oversimplified.
In general it comes down to what you watch.
Lots of wonderful learning can be found on tv, ever watch CSPAN?, Science Channel?, 60 Minutes?, Blackadder? (Ok, I go off the wagon sometimes).
Plus my kid is mildly A his language and social skills have greatly improved from watching how for example friends Tigger and Pooh interact on their Disney show.
TV is Great!
I’m all about the country vet. When we got our cats, the guy in town wanted over $100 for the “fix” - the country vet charged $100 for all three, which I got back with a Humane Society reimbursement program.
If I wasn’t watching TV, I’d be online or reading. No real productivity lost in our house.
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Conspicuous consumption is what drives the economy and keeps us employed. We do need to focus more on our own economy and not Japan’s.
Gordon,
I couldn’t agree more! It’s time we looked at our own “waste” and stopped our focus on anybody’s ecoonomy but our own!
Thanks for writing,
Rita