We spend too much money because of image. I envy my frumpy friends who don't care how they look. They dress comfortably in t-shirts and bargain basement blue jeans. Some of them even make the look seem real. But they make less money than I do so I pity them but in reality they are living a more productive lifestyle than I am. I am so jealous of them despite my envy.
You have to be fearless in this Obamaesque economy with its pale low-paying jobs and lack of growth opportunity. The President is proud of his healthcare plan even though millions of Americans still go without health care. Worse, many of us who do not have health insurance make more than the people who got Obama's health plan subsidies; and guess who pays for those subsidies through unfair taxes?
How did we decide to spend less this year? By not buying health insurance. We'll pay the tax penalty instead because it is cheaper to do that. But the tax penalty just makes the situation worse.
In order to spend less I spend more time browsing clearance tables, shopping at discount stores whose clothes never fit me, and looking for leftover bargains on big sale days. To look like I was once cool I buy last year's discontinued clothes. I shop the cheaper knockoff brands at Wal-mart and say, "What, this old thing? I just threw it on because I was in a hurry."
Wal-mart is the scourge of "spend less than you make" because everything looks so inexpensive there. You buy two of everything and everything that you really do not need. And add to that the stress and tension of standing in line. Shopping at Wal-mart is a very unpleasant experience for me and I try not to do it any more. It would help if they fixed the wheels on their shopping carts but I think they let the rot as a cost-saving measure.
When I convince myself I should really try to save money again I scour the printable coupon Websites looking for coupons I can use. I hardly ever find them. Coupons are not the magic saving solution everyone wants them to be. When you have the right coupons you can save 90% on the price of a good item. But getting the coupons is much harder than using them.
When I look back at all the purchase decisions I made in the past year I want to ask myself, "Why did I spend that much?" But I know the answer. I really felt I needed something and could not find anything better, less expensive, or close enough to drive to.
Maybe if I shop online more and buy enough things to qualify for free shipping I could save money, but finding the right deals is not easy. Amazon is not the most consumer-friendly store on the Internet. They are upselling you all the time and some of their deals are too tempting to pass up.
I think what I need to do is find a cave somewhere in the deep forest and live there for about five years. Maybe at the end of that time I will have saved enough to come out and enjoy the sunshine again.
