They'll do anything to get you to buy crap you don't need...

From a marketing standpoint this makes sense. From an anti high-mass consumer standpoint this is sorta gross.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129187210&sc=fb&cc=fp

I'm sorry, 20 pairs of shoes is not 'one item.'

I'm not sure if I could do this. My line of thinking is if it's used, it's already in the world and I'm not hurting anything or anyone because it's not new. I'm not using 'new' resources as it were.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1812048,00.html

Taxes

A registered Independent, mainly because I don't pay enough attention to affiliate directly with one party or another, I recently asked my dad about why the Tea Party followers love Reagan. I found it interesting that at a recent Tea Party rally my parents attended in Michigan they bought t-shirts that featured a Reagan quote, which I now can't remember. While I know that there wasn't a 'Tea Party' during the time prior to the Revolutionary War, I figure a quote by Benjamin Franklin or Samual Adams would be more befitting of a Tea Party t-shirt quote. While my father and I talking politics really pisses my mom off, I just had to ask why the Tea Party supporters love Reagan so much.

It all comes down to money, as always. Reagan cut taxes and therefore more money was spent thus spurring the economy. Now I was a teenager during the Reagan era and I don't remember any of this except, of course, when John Hinckley tried to impress Jodie Foster with his marksmanship skills.

With all of this money being spent the economy improved while the country slowly became drunk on having more, more and more. I readily admit I'm a super-naive and politically uninformed gal, so this is merely an observational query; while all of the Reagan tax cuts helped spur the economy did they also lead to the extravagance of the nineties and the aughts? Extravagance in material things and excess in lifestyles?

I can't tell you if tax cuts are the way out of our current situation and I have no idea if Reagan had it all figured out. The thing I wonder all the time is how much do we all need. How big of a house, how new of a car, how many pairs of shoes or cute little black tops or that new $1500 couch? Tax cuts or not, stimulus package or not, I think one thing the Great Recession is teaching us is that less just might indeed be more.

http://www.reporterherald.com/Sports-Story.asp?ID=21951

It's catching on...

Something to look for at secondhand shops - there are some out there that way overcharge. While you want a secondhand store that is organized and clean be on the lookout for those that are too nice. Just like in a retail store, if the overhead is high you'll see it in the pricetag.

Luddite-like

It started with the canceling of my trash service. After paying 40-something dollars every other month for so-called trash service I made the most frugal decision I think I've ever made. I went out and bought a gigantic Rubbermaid storage bin on wheels, called the trash company to cancel and I've never looked back.

Now, I have friends who think I'm turning into a crazy(ier) lady because I take my garbage to the dump instead of paying to have someone take it away. I seriously beg to differ! I put my trash into a trash receptacle that sits outside of my house (just like everyone) and about every 6 weeks or so I fill up my car with not only my big, covered trash bucket but also all of my recycling. I drive about 6 miles to the county dump, pay about $5 and rid myself of the rubbage. I really think I'm sort of brilliant for thinking of this.

After canceling the trash service I find myself on the constant lookout for other ways to stick it to the man (in my own small way). I really hate being told what I have to pay for. You know, like you have no other choice in the matter. Paying for Internet service - not doing it. Paying for cable - nope. Paying for air conditioning - again, not going to happen. I've quit using my dishwasher too. After two $300 plumbing bills to try and figure out what was wrong with it I decided washing my dishes in the sink made more financial sense.

While clearly not a true Luddite, I guess I would say I have Luddite tendencies. I did buy a new CD today. I count it as a gift and only the 5th new thing I've purchased in a over 6 months. After all, everyone can use a little Eminem.

Possibly the Best Idea Since Kinko's

What is up with the rampant proliferation of self-storage places? Seriously, if the world blew up and aliens came down to discover what this human thing was all about they would think we spent every waking minute accumulating STUFF. In their history museums of the human race they would have stuffed animals, car parts, salt and pepper shakers and Precious Moments figurines.

Public Storage, the company that seems to be the Kinko's of self-storage businesses, have been running ads all about storing your stuff. They show a couple going through all the stages - getting married, moving in together, having a kid, etc. With every stage comes more stuff thus the need for Public Storage. Maybe there is a bigger need lately what with people losing their homes and all but the ads are really focused on storing the stuff that doesn't fit in your house.

I recently heard a story on NPR about these two sisters that stored their parents stuff after they passed away. They were planning on keeping it in storage for a short time until they could get together and go through all of it. This makes sense. What ended up happening is a couple of years went by and they realized they had spent over $5 grand to store a bunch of stuff they ended up donating!

I don't know about you but I've always looked at self-storage places as a sort of emergency-type business. If you're in between homes or getting divorced or want to store a human head - ala Silence of the Lambs. We have a storage unit at work but I'm an event planner and there really isn't a good place in my office cube to store 20 glass candle holders or 30 directional signs from the bike tour. Makes sense for us to have a storage unit. Makes no sense to have one for random crap you can't seem to do without.

On the home front, I ended up buying a new greeting card for a wedding. This is just laziness on my part. I could make a pretty one at home but am too lazy to take the time necessary to make one good enough. I also ended up buying a new front derailleur for my bike after buying a used one that didn't work very well. I look at this purchase mostly as a safety issue. Plus, I bought it from a local bike shop so that helps, right?

We're half-way through the year - so far, so good. I really think I could live like this forever.

If You Buy Something Alone Did You Actually Buy It?

One of my favorite books, "Into the Wild," by John Krakauer, has got me thinking lately. Specifically Krakauer's assertion that, "Happiness is only real when shared." I really loved this idea when I read the book and then saw the movie a few years later but when I read the quote again in a recent issue of VeloNews in an article about riding your bike alone, it gave me pause. Not to give too much away about myself (and maybe I already have?) but I live alone, just me and my dog, Cadence, I ride my bike alone most of the time, run alone most of the time, watch TV alone, well, you get the picture. I also do most of my purchases alone. I would venture to guess that a lot of us do. Side story: I remember going to the grocery store with a new boyfriend years ago because we couldn't stand to do anything apart at that point and after finding several industrial sized cans of random food items in the cart I decided that maybe grocery shopping was something I could do by myself. I think it was his way of telling me he was bored out of his mind without being rude about it. He was sweet but I digress.

Most of us shop alone for clothes, for food and the random crap we all need to keep going. Big purchases are usually done with someone else, I suppose. When we spend more than $100 there seems the need for consensus thinking. "Is it the right color?" "Am I spending too much?" "How do you think it will look with the current decor." "What credit card should I put this on?" "Does this make my butt look big?" Whatever.

So does all this buying alone make us sad? Are we not happy when we buy a home alone (I did) or a car (did that too) or a vacation (done many times)? I think we are, at least I am. I don't deny that doing things with others brings a different kind of happiness and lots would argue a 'better' kind of happiness. But while I spend a lot of time alone I also spend lots of time with my friends and family and I simply don't 'grade' my happiness in that fashion. I'm either happy or I'm not. Being alone when buying a house or a car or going on vacation alone shouldn't diminish the experience. Is it merely the act of telling someone about it, making it more real, that is really what Krakauer was getting at? It's like that old saying, "If a tree falls in a forest, does it make a sound." Well, duh. Of course it does. And if the tree could talk it would tell you about it as you walked by.

I've also got public storage units on my mind but will torture you with that at a later date.