Wake up and Smell the Rebate

I've ranted before about the sane things we can do with our lovely "economic stimulus" rebate checks (save it, pay down debt, invest or stock up on necessary non-perishables--on sale, of course).

But the Simple Living Network has taken it a bit farther, and I love them for it.



They assert that our economy is broken and pouring more money into a broken system is the definition of insanity. Whaddya know? I completely agree. The disparity between the rich and the poor is alarming. Under our current growth-at-any-cost economic model, we have managed to make the rich richer, the poor poorer (yes, after elevating the livelihood of most, but it isn't working anymore, folks) and create slave labor economies across the globe to satisfy our insatiable appetite for useless crap.

So, check out the Simple Living Network's non-violent Don't Buy It action alert. It provides a template letter to send to your Representative and gives great tips on what you can do with your rebate check to help "change this stupid economy."

The Herd

At a party recently, a friend commented on how generous I am with gifts. She mentioned she not only appreciated it but wished she could do the same. She feels that she and her husband can't afford to be as generous.

On the surface, it doesn't make sense. Their combined income is much higher than mine. But if you wander through our apartments, you'll see a few things they have that are missing from my abode:

A massive, flat screen television;
iPods (yes, plural);
Some gaming system (Xbox, Playstation, who knows?) with several expensive attachments;
Cable television and TiVo; and
many other gadgets.

So, in reality, if she genuinely wanted to be more generous with her gifts (or travel more, or give more to charity, etc.) she could. She simply chooses to spend her money on all the nifty, neato gadgets available these days. And she's not alone. Almost everyone I know complains of not having enough money to do X, Y, or Z, yet they all own an arsenal of electronic devices.

If I were to say to any of my friends, "You're just not spending according to your values," I'd likely get slapped in the face. Most everyone thinks these modern toys are necessities. They're not.

I only recently caved and purchased a cell phone (with the cheapest possible plan, of course). But prior to owning one, I was pressured on a daily basis (seriously!) by friends, coworkers and practical strangers to get one. Over and over I was told that I needed one. For convenience, because all of our convenience products have given us countless hours of leisure, right? For safety, because if someone's going to hurt you, they're going to give you time to call the police. (If you bring this fact up, they'll refer to some random anomaly in which a cell phone saved someone. I try to remind them that swiftly kicking an attacker in the groin has probably saved more people.)

So, if you find yourself feeling like you "can't" afford something, take a look at what you have. Does it reflect your values? Or are you simply following the herd, convinced you need 3,000 songs available on your iPod at any moment in any location? Are you forking out an extra $10 a month so you can have "Unlimited Texting!" because waiting to call or email someone just isn't convenient enough?

I'm not suggesting that these herd toys aren't fabulous. Of course they are. They simply aren't necessities for most folks, and they nickel and dime us to death over the course of a year. If you feel you can't afford what you truly want in life, perhaps it's time to start tracking spending and getting honest so that you can use those dollars in way that reflects what you truly value?

(Of course, none of this applies to the tech nerds who would rather curl up with their iPhones than an actual human being.)

Reader Tips

I recently received a splendid note from Skip, who lives in the uber expensive Big Apple, with this fabulous tip:

My advice to anyone who has a closet and drawers full of clothes who thinks more is needed--take out everything you own, inspect it, fix it (I darned holes in a favorite pair of tights last night!) get rid of it or fold it. You will first of all reacquaint yourself with all the possible looks you could be working, and second, you will realize that you have a lot of clothes.

Notice that she didn't suggest that we simply open our closets and drawers but to actually go through them all. Put your hands on them. Let your eyes and hands know just how much clothing you already have.

Thanks to Skip's fabulous tip, I managed to save myself $150. I had convinced myself that I needed a new dress. After going through my closets and drawers, I realized that I needed a new dress about as badly as I needed a lobotomy. Wait, with all the clothes in my closet that are never worn, maybe I do need that lobotomy after all. But, I digress.

Thanks for the great tip, Skip!

More Support from Cyberland!

Lookee, lookee what I found! Check out this fabulous site (the blog owner, Michael Nolan, was kind enough to give a shout out to us in plastic-water-bottle-loathing solidarity): Frugal Living Today (frugalliving.today.com), where you can get a hefty tip each day about how to save. Sweet!

Michael also has a great piece on the what and why of frugal living that y'all should read. Seriously. You may find yourself hollering, Preach it, my brother! Or, at the very least, overhear me playing choir.

I also found this fabulous resource, while reading Money Magazine: Low Impact Living (lowimpactliving.com), where you can find pretty much any and everything eco-friendly for your home in addition to useful tips on how to walk lightly on Mama Earth. Just keep in mind that even if it's labeled eco-friendly, there's nothing Mama Earth or bank account friendly about buying crap you don't need. But when you must shop, buy from good folks who give a hoot. Low Impact Living provides lots o' great resources to do just that.