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[wombat]

Clearly I do not understand, as I'm dating a girl who has 4,100 pairs of shoes and I have two.

Now, wait a minute. Shoes are different from purses. You never need to buy another purse because all the ones you have hurt your feet.

[linnea]

It is one of my highest goals to live ahead of my paycheck. My goal is to have three paychecks in the bank, which will take me 14 months to accomplish after I pay off the last of my debts in July 2008. I also want to buy a house. One of the women I work with said that she bought a HUD home with only $500 down, but she also lived with horrible stained carpets until she could afford to have them replaced. Most of the HUD homes are also completely lacking in any major appliances (the tenants usually steal anything that isn't nailed down after they get foreclosed upon), and I think I'd rather use the same amount of money to buy get a mortgage on a semi-decent condo instead of having to spend $5,000 on new appliances and new carpeting for the HUD place.

My sister and her boyfriend are going to Australia for three weeks this summer. I wish like hell I could join them, but I'll only have 9 days of vacation by that point. It would be supremely retarded for me to take leave without pay, and I wouldn't even be able to afford the damn plane ticket. Sigh. Once I get back on my feet, I can start prioritizing and saving up for those big-ticket items like a trip to Oz or tickets to the opera or ballet (or my coveted handbag).  I was reading on a frugality board that one woman forgoes certain creature comforts, like cable television and long distance, so that she can afford season tickets to the opera each year. A (crazy, hard to get along with) roommate that I had in college was 45 years old and delivered automobile parts as her full time job, yet she was so frugal that she would periodically take off for 3 months at a go and backpack through foreign countries.

[jay-ell]

one woman forgoes certain creature comforts, like cable television and long distance,

I haven't had either of these in several years.  In fact, we gave up our land line this year because I don't see the point in paying for three phones for two adults.  The cell phones aren't going anywhere, so...bye bye, BellSouth.  Even though we only have 500 minutes to split between the two of us -- the cheapest, lowest-rate plan we can get --  we rarely go over our allotment because everyone we know/call regularly is on Verizon.  So we basically only pay for calls to land lines -- doctor's offices, my son's school, my mother-in-law.  It works out for us, but it's not for everyone. 

Things I am willing to spend money on: high-speed internet, name-brand toilet paper, weekly yoga classes, having my brows waxed four times a year, getting a really good haircut every six weeks. 

Luxuries I can live without: dining out every Sunday, the daily newspaper, fabric softener, paying someone else to change my oil, professional manicures, Netflix, having too many magazine subscriptions (I gave up Bon Appetit but I'm not giving up Interweave Knits). 

This is all part of what Cort said about not letting yourself feel deprived.  I would seriously suffer if I were so poor I had to buy store-brand toilet paper.  But I didn't watch cable much when I had it, so I don't miss it.  I think I discovered all this when Pedro was out of work, and we basically cut everything out of our lives besides food, housing, and utilities, and added back in the things we really missed as we could afford to do so. 

Worked for us, anyway. 

[wombat]

Wow, what's so bad about the store brand toilet paper?  We like the Safeway brand better. The brand names are too soft and mushy.

Being the newspaper-writing business now, I'm very sorry to hear that the the daily paper is a luxury you don't need. (Damn, why do I keep finding myself with useless job skills no matter what I do?)  But, fabric softener - yeah, I'm not even sure what that's for.

[jay-ell]

Wow, what's so bad about the store brand toilet paper?  We like the Safeway brand better. The brand names are too soft and mushy.

Being the newspaper-writing business now, I'm very sorry to hear that the the daily paper is a luxury you don't need. (Damn, why do I keep finding myself with useless job skills no matter what I do?)  But, fabric softener - yeah, I'm not even sure what that's for.

I don't know, I just...I have a very delicate tushie.  Pedro and I are in agreement on the toilet paper issue.  It's important.  Then again, we don't have Safeways around here, so maybe Safeway makes a good TP, as compared to, for instance, Target brand? 

As a journalism minor, I also feel semi-bad about not getting the paper.  But really, I only read the comics in the print edition; our local paper is almost entirely available online.  And seeing as how the only excuse to get the print version are the Sunday coupons, the environmental impact of having it delivered to my house seven days a week seems a bit too high a price.  For us.  YM, of course, MV. 

[linnea]

It's all a tradeoff. I buy the $7.99 package of ultra-rad Charmin Deluxe and it lasts me at least 2 months. Then again, I almost never have guests and that is only for me. With a family, the Charmin would be much more costly.

With the cheap brands, I burn through a roll much faster. It's stupid, but I will not do without the Charmin. Then again, I probably do most of my pottying at work since I'm there for 11 hours a day. But even when I was unemployed and spending all my time at home, the Charmin lasts a very long time. We used generic paper when I was growing up, and in college I had several roommates who insisted on buying Charmin. At first I HATED it, it was like using a damn Belgian waffle. But now I vastly prefer it.

I NEVER want to be like a freegan who uses a washcloth set by the toilet (shudder of disgust). It would be different if I had a bidet, but I do not.

[wombat]

JL, can't you get just the Sunday paper delivered?  Every paper I've ever known would do that.  It's a nice thing, the Sunday paper. Lounging around the living room reading real pieces of the Sunday paper is such a civilized tradition. It's totally different from reading it on line.

I know, it's a losing battle. I swear, someday I'll find me a profession that isn't going down the tubes faster than I can figure out how to be successful in it.

[Doc]

Toilet paper is important.
Toilet paper and meat are what I will happily spend too much money on, I don't wanna be wiping with no half ply and I don't want my mince to be struggling out of the pan.

Also I just got to feel proud of myself because this thread reminded me to check the account where I've been automatically saving 20% of my pay and I have over a fortnight's pay in there now, totally rad. I still feel I should be saving more though, you know? I don't have many major expenses after rent, bills and food and I'm planning on going back to uni in '09 so having a decent nest egg will be a requirement.

[KeithHernandez]

I steal Toilet paper from work and agree with the SUnday paper only.

[jay-ell]

Sunday-only is still too much.  We did that for a while, but again, I only clipped the coupons (which I then promptly filed and forgot to use) and read the comics. 

I'm not going to have the luxury of lounging around reading the Sunday paper again for at least five years.  Kids under five are NOT conducive to lazy Sunday afternoons. 

[wombat]

I'm not going to have the luxury of lounging around reading the Sunday paper again for at least five years.  Kids under five are NOT conducive to lazy Sunday afternoons. 

But isn't that what cartoons on TV are for?

But back to another thing: the phone.  I can't imagine giving up my land line phone even though we both have cells also. I guess this is because I am incredibly old?  It's partly that we've had the same phone number for over ten years and I can't begin to imagine tracking down all the places that have it and changing it.  But that's just an excuse.  I just feel like I would be so... adrift.

[linnea]

But isn't that what cartoons on TV are for?

But back to another thing: the phone.  I can't imagine giving up my land line phone even though we both have cells also. I guess this is because I am incredibly old?  It's partly that we've had the same phone number for over ten years and I can't begin to imagine tracking down all the places that have it and changing it.  But that's just an excuse.  I just feel like I would be so... adrift.

When I first moved out, I had a land line. I couldn't even tell you what the telephone number was, and we rarely used it. All I really need is a cell phone and internet access. I keep in contact with my out of town friends through email, messageboards, and social networking sites. I haven't made a long distance telephone call in ages, probably not since I left Alaska. I like the fact that I get free long distance from my cell phone company. And with having to pay $65 a month for my damn cell phone, there's no way I'm going to pay extra for a land line.

[Doc]

I only have a landline because we can't get adsl without it, but we barely ever use it. Our monthly bill is usually line rental + 5 bucks worth of calls.

[wombat]

But here's the thing: a cell phone is so little and fragile. If you lose it or drop it in a frog pond at work, you're totally without a phone and no one can call you. We have like five phones on the land line and they're all much too large to lose.

OK, what are all these important calls that I would be missing?  I don't know. Our phone service broke a while ago and I think it took us at least three days to notice. And then as soon as I got it fixed, I realized how nice it had been not having to spend every evening looking at the caller ID when the phone rang and not answering because it was a sales call.

[AlohaDawg]

But here's the thing: a cell phone is so little and fragile. If you lose it or drop it in a frog pond at work, you're totally without a phone and no one can call you. We have like five phones on the land line and they're all much too large to lose.

But letting out all that wire when you drive someplace so you still have your phone sucks. But not as much as picking it all back up.

OK, what are all these important calls that I would be missing?  I don't know. Our phone service broke a while ago and I think it took us at least three days to notice. And then as soon as I got it fixed, I realized how nice it had been not having to spend every evening looking at the caller ID when the phone rang and not answering because it was a sales call.

I'm confused. How did you not notice that every evening was no longer spent looking at the caller ID for three days?