Using Alternatives!

Just read an article in one of the $ blogs I read about a group in San Francisco who all got together and pledged not to buy ANYTHING new (excepting food & medicines & so forth) for a WHOLE YEAR. 

One of the interesting points is that they focused on "alternatives, not deprivation."  Now that perfectly puts into words the philosophy I have followed all these years.  My aim was to make my life BETTER, not starve myself!

So, for example, I just ran across some FREE music workshops being held at the John Anson Ford Theatre here in Hollywood & I immediately signed me & my husband up for ALL of them throughout the summer.  What a great opportunity to expand our musical horizons!  Ditto my FREE acting class at S. M. Emeritus College (even with the commute).

I have gotten used instruments and furniture and appliances & cars & a used sailboat (it's amazing how boats depreciate).  I buy used books and shop in thrift shops for clothes. Actually, I do so well there that I rarely shop in "real" stores other than the 99 Cent Store!

And then I stock up on socks for my husband, and bras for me, when they appear. We are pulling in the belt this week - but with everything stocked, it won't be really noticeable.  I will just not shop for a while & live off what I have....And Mark is updating his professional wardrobe, believe it or not, at some suburban thrift stores we have found!

It's about playing the "alternatives" game - and for me, it's fun mentally to tote up the points.  The $6 sandals (new) = at least $20 elsewhere.  The necklace I made out of cord & a charm I got as a freebie - (worth @ $10 in a dept. store).  That sort of thing. 

I have made up for lack of $ by being clever. (Gee, I got another Social Security statement & how I lived on what I earned is still a mystery to me.)  I used to joke that I had 3 jobs - my acting/artistic one, my temp job, and the job of living off what I made!  And not much has changed.

My frugality allows me to pursue my freelance acting/music/writing (in my bargain apartment) while Mark brings home the major $.  I can even save on gas by working from home most of the time.

Alternatives - a conscious choice - that's what it's all about.

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Alternatives not Deprivation

Think of different ways of getting what you want.