Although I’m proud of taking on this (Modified) Minimum Wage Challenge, I’ve been worrying that my overall life is not that different and therefore there are no stories to tell. I’ve been wondering why this has been a relatively smooth transition.
I came to the conclusion that I haven’t had to give up a lot of things. When I had little money I did without, and got used to it. When my debt was gone, and then my income increased, I didn’t upgrade my lifestyle much, and when I did upgrade, it was in small ways.
We didn’t start buying convenience food when we could, so I don’t miss it now. I’ve always bought the cheapest bulk oatmeal, so I haven’t had to give up instant oatmeal with flavors, or fancy low carb oatmeal, or cold cereals that are expensive. We didn’t start buying precut vegetables, or frozen pre-made vegetables and sauce, or frozen meals. We didn’t start buying the more expensive fruits and vegetables like asparagus and pineapple, except as rare treats.
We never got a dishwasher, so washing by hand is what we do. We rarely bought many cleaning items beyond bleach and ammonia which we used diluted and sparingly, and didn’t have a variety of Simple Green and 409 and other cleaning agents. We never paid someone to clean the house.
We didn’t have TiVO or satellite TV or a Plasma TV or Full cable to give up. We felt that getting Netflix and the $9.95 cable to get us a small number of channels was quite luxurious. (I’m still keeping them on the Challenge, partially because My Guy is a partner in these bills and I do not want to negatively affect him with My Challenge. We thought long and hard before committing to baby cable and Netflix and made the decision together).
We didn’t switch where we bought clothes, such as Ross Dress for Less, though we may have bought more items. We didn’t buy new CDs, or DVDs, or accessories. We weren’t into household decorating items except for the infrequent item we fell in love with.
I never bought lattés or any coffee out. I never bought soda or water from vending machines. I kept packing a lunch.
So there wasn’t nearly as much for me to cut back on, because we never added it once we had more money. And that’s why my Challenge may be boring. Some stories that I can not tell:
-> I’m adjusting to making my own coffee in the morning.
-> I’m getting used to our once a week housecleaner not coming.
-> I’m getting used to only having a handful of channels.
-> I’m overcoming my desire to clothes shop at Macy’s and Nordstrom.
-> I’ve switched from the Salad packs to buying the lettuce, yea for me.
-> I tried beans for the first time in a while, and they’re not bad.
-> You know, making oatmeal isn’t so hard, why did I ever buy instant?
-> I’ve discovered the bread thrift store.
-> I’m experimenting to see if I can handle store brand shampoo.
Here is what I want to tell people who are moving out of debt or have increased income: don’t add on luxuries you don’t need, because you can’t miss them if you haven’t had them.
If you don’t have it you can’t give it up
May 14th, 2006 at 05:23 am
May 14th, 2006 at 10:54 am 1147604078
May 14th, 2006 at 11:37 am 1147606669
May 14th, 2006 at 04:36 pm 1147624593
However, most are second nature now...so it's never too late to make a positive change in your circumstances and choices!!!
Fellow bloggers and lurkers.....If you haven't, why not start today?
May 14th, 2006 at 07:29 pm 1147634998
I think what's key is deciding what extra means something to you. If you have a little extra money and you have always dreamed of having new appliances in the kitchen, and you cook a lot and know those appliances will be used all the time, that's not a bad upgrade. But upgrading just because you can when you are rarely in the kitchen doesn't make sense. The upgrade I plan on keeping is travel-I do it relatively inexpensively, but I could not have travelled internationally twice a year when I had a much lower income.
May 15th, 2006 at 02:20 am 1147659617