Money, Money, Money

Money can be a real pain.

Correction.

Managing money can be a real pain!

It's almost easier when you don't have much
to budget as you go.  When you have money,
there is a general laziness about it. 

Like, I bought a collar for Sadie and it doesn't
fit.  It sure would be easy to say adios to the
$8 it cost me.  But if I was struggling right now,
that same $8 might mean affording hamburger
to put in the spaghetti sauce! 

I've lived the extreme poor mode, struggling to buy only the items on sale and create some kind of meal out of those items.  Living paycheck to paycheck makes a person very aware of every dime.  I don't want to actually live that way again, but .... there are good things to be said for living that way as well.

First, you don't end up collecting a lot of "stuff" that you might like, but don't really need.  What you do buy are things that can be multi-purposed in your home.  A large bowl can be used for mixing up a pasta dish, it can also be used to hold soap and water as you're scrubbing something, or it can hold a few apples, ready to be munched on if you get hungry (because they're better for you than chips or cookies!)

Second, you get some real insight into what's important to you:

• A plant that looks nice, but you may or may not have the green thumb to keep it alive.  
• You think twice about grabbing that pricey coffee when the stuff at work in the lounge is free.  
• If it's still usable, you don't toss it out!  
• And even though it's a redneck joke cliche, "You might be a redneck if you have a full set of salad bowls that all say Cool Whip on the side of them."  
• 
  

That being said, for the time being I'm standing at the crossroads of having just enough
and learning -- or re-learning -- how to live on less again,
because retirement is looming in the not to distant future.

"Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants."