Things unemployment has taught me
Lisa Van Every
So, after nearly three weeks of not having a job (the longest stretch of
time off, including vacations, since 1988), I've had time and leisure to
learn all kinds of interesting things. Things like:
--Not working is good for my skin. The problems I was having with dry,
flaky skin have vanished. Not sure if it's due to the lack of stress,
to not wearing makeup very often (why bother if I'm not leaving the
house?), or to having time and leisure to follow a proper skin-care
regimen. Probably a combination of all of those. I do, however, seem
to be allergic to AHAs; nasty, itchy, horrid red rash appears each time
I try to use it. I know that there's initially an irritant effect when
one starts using an AHA product, and maybe this is due to me not being
consistent in use; but when it causes this problem every time I use it
for two days in a row, I feel disinclined to keep trying.
--I do not need 37 lipsticks, half of which I *never* wear (and a
quarter of which I have never worn at all). Nor do I need 45 nailies,
especially when five of them are virtually identical silver/holographic
glitters. Consequently, some lucky souls here will get a chance for
some new makeup. I *do* apparently need 25 shades of eyeshadow, since I
could only manage to part with a couple of those.
--Preferences in scent evolve. When I was little (up to about age 13 or
so), I loved deep, sharp flower scents (my favorite perfume was a bottle
of Violetta di Parma that I nursed for *years*). In my teens, I liked
rich floral-woodsy scents (I wore Je Reviens and Oscar de la Renta and
bought Chaps for my boyfriend). By my mid-20s, I'd come to only care
for single-note florals (rose and gardenia, mostly). And now, I have a
*vast* preference for spicy, food and single-note fruit scents (there's
a lot of sandalwood, raspberry and melon in my cabinet, while my
bathroom smells like slightly spiced vanilla, and the kitchen and living
room alternate scents of cinnamon, carrot cake, cucumber and sugar
cookies). Single florals are okay, but not on my body, and preferably
only when they come from fresh flowers, while the richer scents I wore
in adolescence make me vaguely ill now. If this keeps up, eventually
I'll find myself *wearing* roasted garlic (which is already one of my
favorite smells).
--If I had taken even *half* the money I have spent on clothes in the
last 10 years and put it in the stock market, I'd be a frickin'
millionaire. My gods and goddessess, what an epic and really sad
clotheswhore I am. I've been photographing stuff to put on eBay; I've
been working on this for more than a week, and I've barely put a dent in
the piles of clothes to sell. I am actually getting rid of more
clothing than I'm keeping. This is a good thing, overall; but *seeing*,
so concretely, how much money I've spent is very sobering.
--Along that same line, not having a source of income does *wonders* for
my spendthriftness. Two months ago, I thought nothing of whipping out a
catalog and spending $300. Now, I agonize over whether I should pay
$1.99 for a treat of blueberries, and whether I should have bought a
bottle of nail polish last week. I've been looking through all the
catalogs I get and even marking things I'd like to buy; then I give a
second look, and toss the catalogs out. And I don't feel deprived.
Sure, it would be nice to buy that little silk georgette dress that's on
sale; but I really don't *need* to have it, and feel fine without it.
Clearly, my heavy spending over the last couple of years (and consequent
debt) had a lot to do with how busy and overworked I was and how that
made me feel like my life had no quality--I was trying to make up for
the exhaustion and hollowness by buying things.
--Interior decorating is fun! It's a *massive* task, because we're
larded down with so much mess and pointless junk, but every time I get a
chance to do up a little corner of the apartment, I feel an enormous
sense of satisfaction. I have one cabinet in my bedroom that's all
black and cream and silver now, *exactly* the way I want it, and I feel
good every time I walk in there and look at it, even though the rest of
the room is cluttered with boxes of junk and things I need to put away.
I've also learned that I am genuinely and truly a night person--even
though I've been getting up at 6-6:30 a.m. for work for *years*, by
choice, once I stopped working my body reverted to an 11 a.m.-2 a.m.
schedule within a few days--and that no matter how whiny and needy he
*acts*, my cat really does *not* want me around 24 hours a day. :)
In fact, I've found this whole experience so useful and enlightening,
that I'm thinking about extending it for another month. Financially
scary, but doable, and *immensely* appealing.
Ice Princess
=======================================================================
Ice Princess icp...@blarg.net http://www.blarg.net/~icprncs/
"Go-to" gal for Atomic Hyrax Games http://www.atomichyrax.com/
"It can grow 4 inches a day, and it smells like rotting flesh."
Narcissa
icp...@blarg.net wrote:
<snip things unemployment has taught her>
> --Along that same line, not having a source of income does *wonders*
> for my spendthriftness. Two months ago, I thought nothing of
> whipping out a catalog and spending $300. Now, I agonize over
> whether I should pay $1.99 for a treat of blueberries, and whether I
> should have bought a bottle of nail polish last week. I've been
> looking through all the catalogs I get and even marking things I'd
> like to buy; then I give a second look, and toss the catalogs out.
> And I don't feel deprived. Sure, it would be nice to buy that little
> silk georgette dress that's on sale; but I really don't *need* to
> have it, and feel fine without it.
Sounds a lot like me, but I would file it under "Things moving to New
York has taught me." I used to have a bank account and six credit
cards. I *am* employed, but my money usually goes right back to
consumer credit counseling. I don't even *look* at my catalogues
anymore. Not having credit really has shown me how much "money" I used
to throw around; and I was cheap back then, too.
At least all the clothes-buying I used to do has left me with a nice
stock of clothes I can pull from for the rest of my life. My SO of 10
months *still* hasn't seen me repeat a club outfit...I find that rather
satisfying since I haven't bought a stitch of clothes in over a year!
--
O{+>
~ Narcissa ~ alexia...@deutschinc.com ~
I may be dead but I'm still pretty--Buffy Summers
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.
DrgnflyDsn
<snip>
>--Along that same line, not having a source of income does >*wonders* for
>my spendthriftness. Two months ago, I thought nothing of >whipping out a
>catalog and spending $300. Now, I agonize over whether I >should pay
>$1.99 for a treat of blueberries, and whether I should have >bought a
>bottle of nail polish last week.
It is always sobering to me when we go from a steady income to very little
during the summer. My hubby teaches so he has the summer off but, that also
means no regular income just what I make through the business.
It does help me take a good look at what is vital and what is just fluff. If I
can do without something during summer chances are good I probably don't need
it anyway. : 0 )
Ronda
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dragonfly Design
http://members.aol.com/DrgnflyDsn
Masks, Historical Clothing Patterns, Garb
Remove "98" at end of e mail address to respond
Sande
> Ice Princess posted:
> <snip>
> >--Along that same line, not having a source of income does >*wonders*
for
> >my spendthriftness. Two months ago, I thought nothing of >whipping
out a
> >catalog and spending $300. Now, I agonize over whether I >should pay
> >$1.99 for a treat of blueberries, and whether I should have >bought a
> >bottle of nail polish last week.
I've always done well in this dept, also learned from not
having a lot of $ in gen, or perhaps what my mother taught
me. Shopping isn't strictly buying. It's seeing what is
the best buy you can get for what you pay.
My roommates never believed me when I would say I picked
up this skirt for $4 or I bought this for $1 but really,
in every city, there are places to go to that have just
outstanding bargains. They thought perhaps that I had
a natural talent, but this is not a hard thing to learn. :)
These are Sande's General Shopping Tips:
A caveat first, the only thing is that if you're like
me, this could turn into a packrat problem, or you
end up with things you don't need right away...
1. Be Informed - Look over the advertisements each week.
After a while, you'll know what is the cheapest you can
buy something at. For instance, this week, a 12-pack
of Charmin is on sale for $2 each. That's the lowest
it ever gets, so whenever I see, 24-pack for $5, I know
to wait bec. I can get it cheaper. Of course, when it
is at that low price, I stock up. Keep track of gasoline
prices so you know where to get the lowest price.
2. Be Aware of Store Policies -
For instance, this store is triple coupon up to 50 cents
and the other store is triple coupons up to 35 cents.
does the supermarket do bag refunds, as in if you bring
a bag for your groceries, you get 3 cents back? (It
helps the environment anyway!) What's the return policy?
I try not to buy when there's no return policy bec. if
there isn't, I'm stuck with it. If there's no stated time
of return, just keep the receipt, then if you see the
same dress you bought and it's now 75% off, then buy
it again and return it at the higher price. Now you
got it at 75% off. Or is there a senior citizen or
student discount?
3. Belong to Clubs if it helps - I've got membership at
the water place, so I get a gallon of water for abt 10
cents. Or the Ulta3 club, all I have to do is show
the card when I make purchases, and I rack up points
to get free stvf.
4. Look at the Clearance Bin/Racks - You never know, there
might be something there you are looking for. Or
if it's a dress, could you alter it easily if it's
not fitting right? A lot of times, the clearance area
is all messy and yucky, but it can really be worth it.
That's how I got these BLACK lace bras for 99 cents ea.
5. Food Back-Up Plan - If you buy lots of food that's
cheap, make sure you've got some method of saving it
before it spoils. For instance, when bananas were 19
cents/lb, (food spoils awfully fast in our humidity),
the whole load of banana got placed in our dehydrator
for later use as trail mix.
6. Grow Your Own Stvf - There's a Chinese medicinal plant
that's pretty expensive at the market, I swear every
Chinese family that I've visited here has it growing
it in pots in the back yard. If you use garlic a lot,
next time you buy garlic, plant a bulb in the ground.
We haven't bought a sponge in years bec. the year we
grew squashes, they grew all over - now they're drying
out and becoming loofahs, the natural sponges.
7. Clip coupons - When something's on sale, and then
maybe the store has a triple coupon policy, you end
up paying pennies. But if you don't get into a habit
of clipping and organizing them every week, the coupon
stack just piles up and then there's some coupons that
are expired and some aren't. If you don't like
organizing, then just clip out the ones you think you
will use. See, I like cutting paper, I find it
relaxing. I used to get my mother angry because I
would cut up all her magazines - so clipping coupons
puts that to constructive use.
8. Explore and Find New Stores - Be aware of new stores
opening or stores you haven't visited. You might
find a new place to shop! I always thought about
stopping by the WonderBread Bakery Outlet and I
finally did 2 days ago. Now I know there's a place
to get fresh sandwich bread for 39 cents.
9. Outlet Malls - Sometimes there's good buys and some-
times the prices are about the same. You just need
to figure out which stores are your favorites and
then every time you go, you hit those places. I usu.
go to Pepperidge Farm (watch out, even tho' they say
past the expiration date is OK, it can end up tasting
stale) and Jockey.
10. Free Admission Days - Most museums have free admission
days. For something to do, my friends and I would go
to MOMA on Thursdays. Or there's usu. a discount movie
theatre around. Or there's parks. This is not really
a shopping thing, but a thing-to-do thrify tip.
11. Rebates - In general, the All-in-One rebates that
Walgreens or Sam's Club does, I find those better cuz
it's just one stamp. Whenever you send out a rebate,
make sure there's a number on there that you can call
up and complain if you don't get your rebate. You do
have to keep track of your rebates. They don't always
come back. You can also anticipate offers by saving
labels.
12. Keep Warranty info - In case it breaks, you'll know
what to do to get it replaced or fixed.
13. Low Price Guarantee - Some stores like Circuit City
have a low price guarantee, which means if you see
it advertised lower than what you bought, you can
get the difference refunded to you. I think American
Express also does this for you.
14. Street Markets - You can get some really good buys in
street markets. The only thing is, you can also get
massively cheated in street markets. For food or
flowers, going early allows you to choose nicer-looking
stvf, but if you go near the end of it, prices usu.
head downwards.
15. 2nd-hand stores - I'm sure everyone knows about these...
16. Get Stvf from Friend and Relatives - We often take
things that people say they don't want anymore (but
only take it if you need it, or the garage will end
up being a junk storage house) We get fruits and
veggies from people who have an overbundance from
gardens. Of course, on the flip side, if you've
got extra anything, you need to offer those to
ppl who gave you stvf.
17. Think Before You Throw Away - A lot of things can
be used over. The tubes from the fax paper are
perfect for Artemisia's Sealo wrappers (yay gundytreats!)
I've got an eye cream that's almost finished and I
think I can use the container to hold loose buttons
or sequins.
18. Gifts w/ Good Thoughts are Not Shabby - Well, this is
just my opinion, but I think, even if you don't have
a lot of money to spend on gifts, you can bring something
little and if you have a genuine feeling, the gift will
be appreciated. I usu. bring gifts when I'm travelling
(actually, I guess they are not necessary, but I do it
anyway, I guess it's just appreciation that they took
the time to come see me :) And the last time I
went to Boston, the day before, I cut some Chinese
veggies from the garden for my ex-rmmate bec. I knew
it would be hard for her to find those there. That's
just an example. I've also done mix tapes.
19. Ask For What You Want, You Might Get it - I must have
blown so much $ buying CD's at Newbury Comics. But one
day there was the window poster for RIDE and I really
wanted it!!!! So I asked for it (but an employee had
already claimed it) so the manager said, the next time
there was a big window poster I wanted, I could have it.
So, I have this Rlatans poster (Rlatans bec. the Newbury
Comics window couldn't fit Charlatans and they had to
cut it.) I also got a lot of promo CD's from a girl
who used to post on a.g.f. (She works at Newbury
Comics.) Record stores will often have a basket of
posters that they don't want anymore. So do video
stores.
20. Use a credit card - First off, always pay your entire
credit card bill. Do not get into credit card debt.
You only need one credit card basically. Try to get
one with no annual fee or one that gives mileage and
then charge everything on it, even if it's $1.06 (1
more mile! :) My trip to Sweden last year was on
frequent flyer miles, entirely from credit card usage
(however, AmEx gave double miles for signing up so
it was a lot faster accumulating)
21. Buy in Bulk - You know what is Bulk if you've been in
Sam's Club or the Price Club. Sometimes it is not
cheaper than if you bought it separately on sale at
the grocery, but in general, buying in bulk gives you
savings.
22. Have a Price Cap - Have a limit on the highest you
will spend on a certain item. For instance, on
new CD's, I won't spend more than $12. If it's
higher than that (and not a double album or anything),
I'll just have to do w/o it. My belief is that I
prolly can find it at a good price. Or jeans, my
price limit is around $12.
23. Impulse Buying - There are times when you don't
buy something, it's just a missed opportunity -
and plus, if you buy it now, you can't return it.
Think really hard. I've had good experiences
(blue gundy, yay!) and bad experiences (mesquite
seasoning that turned out to be mostly salt)
24. Going-Out-Of-Business Sales - If the store is
truly going out of business, then each week,
the discounted percentage will increase. And
it is usually non-returnable. So, you just have
to decide, is this an item that I can wait on or
is this an item I really will regret not having
if I come in the next week and it's gone...? I've
been to four store closings and one can pick up
a lot of things this way (don't buy too much :)
Sande
Tracey
> These are Sande's General Shopping Tips:
I'm going to have to print these out. Now I thought *I*
was thrifty:) You've given me new inspiration to make my
dollar go as far as possible. I'm even thinking about
trying out a little experiment in thrift which I'm going to
brainstorm about when I go out for tea tonight (one pot of
tea $2.50 If you pay in change like I do, they tell you
you can have more hot water when the pot is done:) I know
it's much more expensive than a tea bag, but much more
affordable than a night a coffee place. Plus the tea
cozies are just so cozy)
> 4. Look at the Clearance Bin/Racks -
> A lot of times, the clearance area
> is all messy and yucky, but it can really be worth it.
So true. If you can hold onto your endurance and not get
bummed out by some of the trashy cheapy things you find,
you can really find some gems.
>
> 5. Food Back-Up Plan - If you buy lots of food that's
> cheap, make sure you've got some method of saving it
> before it spoils.
I'm a huge killer of fruits and vegetables. I'm going to
have to get better at this one.>
> 6. Grow Your Own Stvf -
> the year we
> grew squashes, they grew all over - now they're drying
> out and becoming loofahs, the natural sponges.
Do you need a specific type of squash to make a loofah (I'm
loofah illiterate). How do you dry them? This sounds
interesting and economical.
> 10. Free Admission Days - Most museums have free admission
> days. For something to do, my friends and I would go
> to MOMA on Thursdays. Or there's usu. a discount movie
> theatre around. Or there's parks. This is not really
> a shopping thing, but a thing-to-do thrify tip.
I'm a firm follower in this one. Art Gallery and Galleries
are free on our Seattle Art Walk day. They also have a
deal if you buy an admission to the main art gallery, you
have a week to use your ticket stub to visit the Asian Art
Gallery and vice versa. I'm also a big believer in
matinees. Parks are a great free thing as you said and in
this area sometimes you get a deal and there is a theater
group putting on a play. Talk about affordable
entertainment. And I've found many opera and theater
performances that have special two for one nights. It may
not be close to the opening night, but the show is just as
good.
> 20. Use a credit card - First off, always pay your entire
> credit card bill.
I have to brag again because of the wonderful feeling that
it gave me. I just paid off my credit card!!! This
moonlighting teaching really paid off (no matter how
frazzled I was trying to do lesson plans and work on my
research at the same time) Now that I have, I'd like to try
to stick with the paying the entire credit card thing and
start putting some money in savings.
> My trip to Sweden last year was on
> frequent flyer miles, entirely from credit card usage
> (however, AmEx gave double miles for signing up so
> it was a lot faster accumulating)
Since I am free and clear of my no fee credit card with no
bonus anythings...what type of card could I find to help me
accumulate fee miles for flying? I get nothing for every
dollar I spend:(
>
Thanks for all the tips!
I'll see if I can brainstorm any good ones.
Tracey
******
Armory of the Abstract
http://speakeasy.org/~traceyb
sk8gundy
> On Tue, 13 Jul 1999, Sande wrote:
> I'm a huge killer of fruits and vegetables. I'm going to
> have to get better at this one.>
Well, I don't know who it was but there was talk on the Healthy
Foods thread abt making fruit blends smoothees instead of coffee
in the morning. I've been doing that and it's like you're
drinking a meal in the morning. And very quickly, a whole
cantaloupe is gone.
<loofahs>
> > grew squashes, they grew all over - now they're drying
> > out and becoming loofahs, the natural sponges.
> Do you need a specific type of squash to make a loofah (I'm
> loofah illiterate). How do you dry them? This sounds
> interesting and economical.
Yes, I think it is a specific squash. I couldn't tell you what
it is except that it's an Asian food mart item. When the squashes
were all over the neighbours, (to the side, to the back, and to
the other side) we told them to pick them up and eat them or
throw it into our yard. And the woman (Korean) neighbour in back,
she said, Oh, but those are the sponge squashes. She didn't know
you could eat them. We don't do anything to dry them other than
leave them in the garage.
<Free Admission Days>
> matinees. Parks are a great free thing as you said and in
> this area sometimes you get a deal and there is a theater
> group putting on a play. Talk about affordable
> entertainment. And I've found many opera and theater
> performances that have special two for one nights. It may
> not be close to the opening night, but the show is just as
> good.
Our city's Shakespeare in the Park is coming again... If we go,
need to bring bug spray... and I have one that is a Pleasant
Herbal Odour and not Deep Woods Scent :)
> > 20. Use a credit card - First off, always pay your entire
> > credit card bill.
> > My trip to Sweden last year was on
> > frequent flyer miles, entirely from credit card usage
> > (however, AmEx gave double miles for signing up so
> > it was a lot faster accumulating)
> Since I am free and clear of my no fee credit card with no
> bonus anythings...what type of card could I find to help me
> accumulate fee miles for flying? I get nothing for every
> dollar I spend:(
American Express - 55 dollars for membership fee, 50 for Membership
Rewards
Airline Credit Cards, whatever frequent flyer program you want to
choose - It's 1 mile for $1. Usu, a membership fee.
But there are other credit cards that are no membership fee, and
have some kind of point system and you can accumulate points for
flights.
Or if you go to Shell, there's the Shell credit card, if you go
to Shell, you get how much %age off, and 5% off in general.
The fastest way to accumulate mileage is to switch phone companies.
And then on your phone bill, you get 5 miles for each $1 spent.
There are other mileage accumulators too... My shopping card at
the Supermarket gives 1 mile for every $2 spent.
Sande
lsitening to the Rosemarys
=======****> "What! No rat salad?! This is a day without sunshine."
i of goth Having dreams about a.g.f.'ers? See a.g.f. dreams
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palms/1629/dreams/dreams.html
Pauline
<Pine.LNX.4.05.99072...@grace.speakeasy.org>,
Tracey <tra...@speakeasy.org> wrote:
> Do you need a specific type of squash to make a loofah (I'm
> loofah illiterate). How do you dry them? This sounds
> interesting and economical.
This link provides instructions on how to plant and clean them:
http://www1.sv.cc.va.us/pmoore/hobby1/PeggysLoofahPage.htm
pauline
Mare
>.what type of card could I find to help me
>accumulate fee miles for flying?
think most major card co has SOME card that does this- i.e there's prolly a
visa- prolly an MC- I dunno whoat tho....
I have a GM card that's earned a silly ammount of points to a new gm vehicle-
yeah- THATS gonna happen. I stopped using it when I got my (2) sony citibank
cards- get free CDs! Free radios! TVS!
But THEN- my sony card maxed out in the middle of the month between the time
they recieved my payment- because the idiot "platinum" card had a $1,500 limit.
Using the card for business purposes, this was a HUGE pain in the ass- so I am
now again using the GM card because of the credit limit- and also because I
figured at a max of 1500 point per month- I am NEVER going to get that sony
TV!!! I even called em and said- hey! why does a "platinum card have a 1500
limit!" Lady didnt know what to say to that!
once you get on the "good credit" list- all this junk just falls on you- cc
companies galore- offering something to "get your money". Ha- free 30 day loan
is ALL a credit card should be.
or- financing- some cc's offer intro rates so low they can be used as a short
term loan- I think we just got a 3.9% offer....
mare