Personally, I think it's far more important to learn how to make $100 as compared to save $100, but....I think in the upcoming trying times, we can learn to focus on value.
Benjamin Franklin was a smart American, and I believe a rather well respected fellah all around. He invented all sorts of things with Electricity, Waves, firefighting. He got all involved with diplomacy, writing some important country founding documents- but most importantly, he was quite the playa with the ladies. European ladies even. I do wonder sometimes how he found time to do all these things, but then I read that he lived until he was about 84. I'm sure he was somehow hooked up to a bifocally powered Iron Lung or Hyperbaric chamber to get there. Suffice to say, now that I know I have another 50 years, I'm gonna start on catch up.
Maybe the greatest boon from Franklin's brainworks to our society would be....drumroll please.....the lending library. He assembled some rather wealthy printers to create, and thusly lend, books. Books were rather expensive those days. Terms like "two pence threepence full" apparently were todays equivalent of the GDP of Canada.* I can only assume that since people did not have books, that they all carried those adorable hand held chalkboard tablets that the schoolkids had in "Little House on the Prairie." Still not sure how they all learned to read. But I digress.
Considering the explosion of HD and Plasma TV's, I am under the impression that the following image is somewhat foreign to most folk:
** (these asterisks should be next to the picture of the card- I'll fix it if/when I can)
Technically, the library is not "free" since our taxes go to its support, but I think you all catch the drift. I understand the comfortable temptation of having our stories compacted into half hour or hour bites. But honestly, when was the last time that you learned something from TV? Unless you religiously watch HGTV*** or the History/Discovery channel- we're seriously dumbing ourselves down. I'm not saying we need to cut it out, but maybe... in half? Is that so much?
Think of the money you can save just by doing some research and planning through reading. I know that Google and the interwebz covers a great deal of information, but it doesn't cover everything. You can get books, DVD's, even comic books (graphic novels, mindya) through the library. Buying a new book isn't idiotic- but is there a story that is so good that you can't wait a month or two for it to come out for free in the library? Many good ideas for business are sold through a book (with other "products" being upsold after completion of the book.) You can save yourself that initial outlay by just waiting a bit, wading through any information for free once the book/movie is in the library, and then buy the item if you really like it.
I know this sounds cheap/frugal- and I have a hard time arguing. If you are clearing 200-250K a year or more, than this advice is maybe a little too penny pinching. But even saving simply 30 bucks a month, or 360 a year- just by simply waiting a few extra days/weeks to satisfy yourself- can really mean something.
Like, give or take, about 45 gallons of gas for your car
* Ten dollars. Which was a lot back then, since there was no ice hockey or Molson "in the day"
** I used to drink milkshakes from Hershey- a "Cookies & Cream" in a bottle, that had 460 calories per serving- with two servings in the bottle. So if you could polish off 4 bottles- that would ensure that you would be one pound heavier the following day. I assume that they stopped producing these after "regulars" couldn't pinch our fat globby together to grasp dollar bills- nevermind fitting our hands into our pockets anymore
*** I just added HGTV since my wife watches the channel all the time. I know no one else watches it. (I kid I kid!)
**** I have done this blog entry as an homage to Dave Barry. If you haven't already, read "Dave Barry slept Here".
1 comment:
I DO have a library card...uh, just wanted to bring that to the forefront.
Other things to consider, and that our family has done: making dinner as opposed to going out, turning off the damn lights (my personal beef - my electric bulls are outrageous), limiting gratuitous trips to hookers, carpooling, canceling monthly internet memberships and magazine subscriptions that never get viewed or read, bringing lunch to work...
I won't say which, but one of the above ideas also saved me from a vicious disease. And no, it's not the one you're thinking of.
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