Can you live within your means?

I shop alot but I feel like I shop well.
example: not buying the 80$ scarf at club monaco. I know what Im doing.

 

OMG, $80 for a scarf. Are you kidding me?

 

not one bit. And I really wanted it. You see? That right there, that's self control.

 

I wouldn't pay $80 for a scarf unless it could service me sexually.

 

In the scarf's defense it was 100% silk. And really really pretty.

 

I'm sure the scarf was nice.

 

hahahaha :tongue:

 

Send me $80 and I will buy you a top-quality, hand-woven 100% silk scarf and send you pictures of the silk worms it was made from. With the change I could eat for a month.

 

Wow. How much would a scarf be out there? How much is food?

 

(and fyi I obviously know it was ridiculous )

 

I'm not good with money. I've always felt some kind of disconnectedness from it. I didn't have to and practically couldn't work as a teenager since I lived in Honduras where "student jobs" don't exist. I blow the little money I have on cigarettes, booze, food, books and drugs... even though that's all I really need. I only work during Christmas break and the summer now. I don't want to work while I'm at school. It's very hard to find an on-campus job, and even if one does find a job it's usually some pointless office work that is guaranteed to drive me insane. I had to do some office work over Christmas... and I felt like blowing my head off after a couple of days of monotonous data-entry. Plus, I don't particularly want to work while I'm at school... I see people who go to school and work and it seems like they're missing out on life. I'd rather be a little low on cash than slave my youth away at a brain numbing job.

The prospect of a real job when I grow up intimidates me. I'm expected to make good money, but I honestly have no real idea of what I want to do with my life or how I'll make a living. It's as is I keep on expecting something miraculous to happen that will make me not have to work ever again in my life. Hopefully I'll figure it out... I think I got enough of a head on my shoulders to find an enjoyable way to make money.

For now I try to make enough money in the summer to keep me going strong till winter, and in the winter to keep me going strong till summer. It kinda works out.

 

Food is probably the cheapest thing in Thailand. A meal costs less than a beer.
I can eat a fresh cooked dish with rice or a filling bowl of noodles(not instant) for about 60c US. I rarely if ever spend more than $3 on a meal, and that is splashing out.
As for the scarves, I'm not exactly sure. They vary depending on quality of silk, your bargaining abilities and the size of the window in the shop, but I know a friend whose Mum produces, spins and weaves her own that would definitely cost less than $40(probably a lot less).

She lives in a tiny little village in the middle of nowhere, but her scarves actually make it to the tourist markets.

 

Thats so pretty.... that she can do all that... I like it.

 

We've even ate some of the silkworm larvae. Not that great though.

 

we liquidated everything. we were within our means until i got laid of and the stock market crashed after 9/11. dave was a financial advisor. lost all his clients, didn't have time to get more before he had to get a new job. he worked for $13/hour, living in a camper all over the southwest. we took in a couple renters to pay our mortgage until we could get the damned house sold. there were a lot of times without heat, payday loans for groceries, etc. i didn't have a car for a few years, sold it to make a mortgage payment.

so, basically, we started from scratch. it took us years to pay off everyone, including the IRS, who's been garnishing dave's wages for a year. but even while we were doing all that, dave managed to invest $100k for retirement. pay yourself first. we didn't any of the luxuries or fun or anything. we lived in some really shitty places, drove a really shitty car, etc.

 

Every penny I make goes towards medical supplies, paying off my debt to my parents, and gas. I don't really have money for stuff that I want to buy (which would pretty much just be weed and an apartment, that's it), but I get along fine for now. Once I get hired permanently instead of through this temp agency i'll get benefits and won't have to spend so much on medical supplies. I'll be living the simple life..once i pay off my parents, my money will be going towards a living space, gas, food, and weed. that's all i need.

 

My money goes towards my phone bill, clothing and cosmetics, and going out (dinner, dancing, liquor, etc). Soon it will be going towards school and a car too.

 

last year when i had two jobs, i used to spend it on weed, gas, car payments, and occasionally things on eBay, but after those things i still had money left, and let it sit in my checkin account. i try to be as frugal as possible.

 

Considering when I was growing up I never had anything of my own, everything I had I had to work very hard for, so I don't like to spend money on things I don't need, especially items. But I don't have kids, I am not married, don't have really any outstanding debt (besides medical bills, which I am paying off) just paid off my car, I pay my house rent, and utilities. I do not waste my money on items, though I do waste some of it going places.

 

I live within someone else's means.