What if?

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Knife's Wife

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Apr 16, 2005
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Other threads have inspired me to think about what I would if I lost my shop tomorrow. What would I do if I had to live on minimum wage.
It made me remember what things in life our necessities and what are luxuries.


Here are a few thoughts.

Give up cable TV and go back to the dreaded 3,5,9,.

Give up having a household with 2 cars, maybe even both cars

Give up my cell phone and my kids cell phones

Give up buying more closes than I need and more than a few pairs of shoes a year.

Give up buying water and Soda (soda was a once in a great while luxury when I grew up)

Not replace the pets in my life as they pass on.

use public transportation

reuse my ziplock bags

Clean with bleach and water, instead of all the other products we purchase.

just getting started making my list....

Joan
 
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Joan,

Why not make a list of things you will do and have in the new year WHEN you are even more prosperious?

It's not about what you give up, it's what you have that money cannot buy like family, friends, love, and compassion.

Sorry, I'm more of a right brain (left handed) thinker!! :scatter
 
I already have family, friends, love and compassion. This was not to cry over what my life is about to become or not become. It has nothing to do with the election or how I see our demise or prosperity. It was solely an inner reflection on what I would do if I had to go back to making $9.50 or even $7.00 an hour.

I grew up with no money, but lots of love, family and friends. Money has never a big deal to me, I have always valued everything in my life over money.

Joan
 
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My cup's never half empty.

It usually runs over, and if it doesn't I'll find a smaller cup.

My darn employees live on close to minimum wage and I don't know how they do it.

And I'm hoping for higher minimum wages and having to provide them health insurance, something I've wanted to do all along anyway but the rates have been so stickin high since Dumb took the economy down the drain.
 
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I am a positive person and good god i will go down fighting if it comes to it as i am sure you will but yes i would start with a few things on your list. Could not get rid of sky though, even though i rarely watch television if i was stuck with the four channels it would be unbareable especially on a saturday, sport sport and more sport!!

I think i would go and work in a department store like Marks and Spencers and get a good staff discount!!
 
sky, for those of you who don't know, is "cable/satellite tv" in England
 
Other threads have inspired me to think about what I would if I lost my shop tomorrow. What would I do if I had to live on minimum wage.
It made me remember what things in life our necessities and what are luxuries.


Here are a few thoughts.

Give up cable TV and go back to the dreaded 3,5,9,.

Give up having a household with 2 cars, maybe even both cars

Give up my cell phone and my kids cell phones

Give up buying more closes than I need and more than a few pairs of shoes a year.

Give up buying water and Soda (soda was a once in a great while luxury when I grew up)

Not replace the pets in my life as they pass on.

use public transportation

reuse my ziplock bags

Clean with bleach and water, instead of all the other products we purchase.

just getting started making my list....

Joan
I've always been a fiscal conservative and gave up my fancy cell phone a long time ago when the rates went sky high and depend on a simple cell phone(pay as you go type), don't watch too much tv, so we never had cable and made the kids play out or do sports in school, and we've downsized to bare minimum in the shop. The hubby commutes on a motorcycle, the kid parked his mustang and uses his bike to go to community college and his jobs. Unfortunately, 4 shops around closed and so, business is steady. I'm hoping one day to sell the shop both real estate and the business or just the business and let them rent from us. We'd still live simply and plan to sell our residence and move into smaller quarters when it's time to move on and retire.
 
Other threads have inspired me to think about what I would if I lost my shop tomorrow. What would I do if I had to live on minimum wage.
It made me remember what things in life our necessities and what are luxuries.


Here are a few thoughts.
Give up cable TV and go back to the dreaded 3,5,9,.
Give up having a household with 2 cars, maybe even both cars
Give up my cell phone and my kids cell phones
Give up buying more closes than I need and more than a few pairs
of shoes a year.
Give up buying water and Soda (soda was a once in a great while
luxury when I grew up)
Not replace the pets in my life as they pass on.
use public transportation
reuse my ziplock bags
Clean with bleach and water, instead of all the other products
we purchase.

just getting started making my list....

My husband and I actually talked about this a few months back - already gone are our cellphones and cable is next to go. We don't watch tv much at all anymore - what we do watch we can find online.

I already use and re-use my ziplocs (thanks Mom!) and I buy a lot of my food items in bulk or through a specialty shop to reduce costs. I now plan all our meals ahead to keep costs down, I make my own bread and I buy vital items like rice, pasta, canned goods on sale.

It's not because we're trying to make ends met, we're just trying to be smarter so that we can buy what we really want without going into credit h*ll.
 
My husband and I actually talked about this a few months back - already gone are our cellphones and cable is next to go. We don't watch tv much at all anymore - what we do watch we can find online.

I already use and re-use my ziplocs (thanks Mom!) and I buy a lot of my food items in bulk or through a specialty shop to reduce costs. I now plan all our meals ahead to keep costs down, I make my own bread and I buy vital items like rice, pasta, canned goods on sale.

It's not because we're trying to make ends met, we're just trying to be smarter so that we can buy what we really want without going into credit h*ll.

Ditto We never had cable tv or dish -

I was always called the "frugal" sister ; my sisters would say "just like Aunt Vera" :) (another frugal family member)
Good thing cause my hubby lost his job last fall and is still unemployed. All that frugality is really coming in handy!
I grow a big garden - canning and freezing, plus we grow summer cut flowers which really helps the cogs at the store.

About the only new clothes I buy are shoes and undies. I've even learned to darn socks with my Grandmothers darning ball (she grew up in the depression and the stories she told) We are doing ok, but not getting ahead. Hubby has a job interview next week yeah! [everyone say a prayer or two please :) ]

But hey a new enterprise has sprung up! Michigan just passed the medical marijuana bill. So maybe I can grow a new crop in my greenhouses which have been empty the last couple of years. Bloomz where can I get some good seed??? :smoke:bloomz:
 
I already have family, friends, love and compassion. This was not to cry over what my life is about to become or not become. It has nothing to do with the election or how I see our demise or prosperity. It was solely an inner reflection on what I would do if I had to go back to making $9.50 or even $7.00 an hour.

I grew up with no money, but lots of love, family and friends. Money has never a big deal to me, I have always valued everything in my life over money.

Joan

Joan, we too both grew up in families, one immigrant, one not, where money was NEVER a family force, and we lacked NOTHING essential
I think there's a good chance you may already be in the minimum wage class in this business, but, the "true" reflection IS, how you DO, what you do, with what you HAVE!!
Being frugal, is different from being "cheap", and those of us, that grew up in families with NO money, STILL have no money, BUT, we gots family values, that many people have either NEVER had, or have conveniently "forgotten".....
I truly think you deserve a green dot or two...great subject, wonderful life analogy.
 
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