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Is it free?

June 2nd, 2006 at 01:27 pm

That is my slogan a lot of times. One of my friends is telling me all about this great club sandwich that he got from the cafeteria. It had roast beef and bacon and turkey. It was *reaches hand over cubicle wall with index finger and thumb outstretched* this thick and eight inches long. Came with a pickle and fries. He went on still until I asked. Yeah John sounds great...but was it free.

This usually gets the answer well it was only...which I cut off with 'if it isn't free, or at least less than this can of tuna or peanut butter sandwich i have, I will have to pass.' I am sure they all think I am living in poverty thanks to these comments. And in some of their minds I am. I do not even have cable. Most of the guys I work with are like 'what do you do at night if you aren't watching TV?'

I talk to my wife, spend time with my kids, you know family stuff. I give some of them credit, their kids are older and TV time is family time. Some of them also do the family thing until their kids go to bed then they sit on couch and watch TV. And some nights my wife is tired and goes to bed early. On those nights I write or play online poker (I started with $20 and am up to over $700 plus I have a lot of free stuff as well.). I watch a few shows that I do not need cable for. I have cable modem, because my wife and I prioritized high speed internet above TV shows. Anything on ESPN I can get updates on ESPN.com.

I can not seem to get through to these guys that I have my priorities a little different. Even a great deal on a sandwich is not as frugal as my eating leftovers from last night's dinner. An $8 buffet, even if they serve salmon and filet mignon, is still $8, and out of my lunch budget. Of course these are the same guys that passed on free pork BBQ to go to a BBQ joint. One guy paid $375 for a video card and memory chip to upgrade his computer. Was all excited because they would cost $450 so he could not pass on the deal. He sold his other memory chip to another guy here for $20 because he did not have any more open slots. His old video card is twice as powerful as what I am running and when I asked what games or programs he was running that taxed his old card, he responded with how well that card ran. He had no troubles at all. So why did he buy a new one??

Sure my card is 2 years old and was the low end when I bought it. But nothing that I run pushes beyond its limits. I actually have 2 more open memory slots in my computer, but again microsoft Word is only writing as fast I can can type, so adding memory will not make my stories write themselves. My computers are connected to a switch box so I can share one keyboard and monitor. I have had several offers for 17 inch monitors for $50 or $75. That is a great deal on a monitor, but then I'd have to put it somewhere. My wife and I could play games together again if we could both be on the PC at the same time, but we don't. I may never understand why some people do not see things for what they really are.

9 Responses to “Is it free?”

  1. annab Says:
    1149257890

    I started to write a reply to this and it got really long. It also follows up with something I wanted to discuss for today, so I'm going to quote you in my blog. If this doesn't work for you, let me know and I'll scrub the post.

  2. contrary1 Says:
    1149263266

    Is It Free??................I've had this inscribed on my brain for most of my life. I would rather live my life, even tho others might think I'm just steps from the poor house. If they look further, I'm not shaken by life 'stuff' that happens and I'm able to take advantage of true opportunities that come my way. Is It Free?? is something great to teach our kids too!

  3. Money Talk$ Says:
    1149266104

    I would be honored if you quoted my post Anna

  4. annab Says:
    1149266862

    I just posted it -- it's a long one (as usual) Smile

  5. miclason Says:
    1149268890

    I was the first among my friends to be hit by financial reality...since, they have all HAD to come on board due different circumstances...it was tough at first, when I was the only one...I still get the "I want, I want, I want...what do I want?" bug sometimes, but, not as often as before and, I also find I'm a lot more "exclusive" in my purchases than before...I prefer high quality at low prices, and, if I cannot find it, I'd settle for slightly higher price or slightly less quality, but I won't buy something of poor quality just because it's cheap...I'd rather NOT buy at all... and, I also don't feel bad anymore whenever I cannot buy everything that I see that I like...I've discovered the joy of comparison shopping and knowing that I'm getting my money's worth for the few things that I buy!

  6. lrjohnson Says:
    1149272900

    I'm so with you. It goes along with my "afford it" line of thinking. Just because I can afford a new video card, a sandwich, a barbecue lunch, does NOT mean I want to spend my money on it. People mistake my lack of thinks for poverty, but it's because certain things aren't as important to me. I have "limited" cable, because I can waste enought time already with the 8 or so channels. I can "afford" fancy pants cable, but why? It's nice to be in a pack of people who understand why we say no to expenses. It's not about deprivation, it's about evaluating and meeting our needs and wants in a careful way.

  7. flash Says:
    1149545016

    Funny, I was getting ready to blog something similar! When did spending become cool and saving become uncool? None of my "heros" are spenders, but they certainly are SMART and WISE about financial matters. And important things like family. Time. Life. Well said!

  8. Money Talk$ Says:
    1150118476

    If I suddenly got a huge raise, I would continue bringing my lunch, drinking water, and not having cable. It is not a matter of skipping just to get by, it is the principle of not wasting my money on things I do not need to own or need to do. I probably would buy a new video card, but not the top of the line model. I would buy a little more steak, and would set it right next to the ramen noodles in my grocery cart. What would I do with the extra money if I do not plan to change my lifestyle, you ask. Put some away for my children's college. Put some away for my retirement. In fact by maintaining a low cost life, I am preparing myself for retirement...early. My children's futures and not working until I am 102 years old is important to me. Going out to lunch every day and having 167 channels on my television is not.

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