The Beauty of Silver or 25 Things I Used to Take for Granted

Posted on February 2, 2008
Filed Under frugal living |

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I was looking in the mirror yesterday and noticing the silver that was appearing in my hair. For a minute, I thought to myself that I needed to go get my hair cut and colored. Then I stopped. It certainly isn’t in my budget this month and probably won’t be next month. I decided that I liked the silver lining anyway.

It did, however, make me think about the things that I used to take for granted. I would just do them with no thought about cost or consequence. I came up with quite a list. I’m not saying that I don’t still do these things but I have found myself stopping and questioning whether I really need to do them more and more.

Hair Cuts: I really had to grapple with getting my hair styled for pictures at the shop but I finally decided that I was getting $200 worth of pictures free so I would spend the $20 to get my hair done.
Hair Color: I am going to do without coloring. I am getting used to the silver lining and actually starting to like it.
Filling up the Gas Tank – I never really paid much attention to the cost of gas but filling my tank has gone from $33 to $53 in the last year.
Lunch out at work: I still do this a couple times a week but I feel guilty about it.
Small home repairs: This is killer. Those little things that keep adding up.. new screen door, faucet for the kitchen sink, etc.
A Soda – Gosh, I used to live on diet soda. Now I drink homemade tea or tap water that’s filtered.
Fast Food (double no no, bad for budget and diet)
Postage: Stamps are freaking expensive these days.
Driving to the store ( At 10 miles to the closest grocery store, I don’t make quick trips to pick up a single item anymore. It can generally wait until I am going anyway.)
Dinner Out. I used to spend about $15 a week on dinner out at local eatery. I have pretty much cut this out entirely.
Heat – I have a fuel oil furnace. Fuel oil costs all most as much as Gasoline and my tank is a lot bigger. The heat stays down at 65 or below most of the time.
Office supplies: A lot of this was just excess pens, notebooks, stationery, etc.
Birthday Cards: Have you ever noticed how expensive they are?
Gift bags and bows: Again, I have spent more on the card and the paper than I did on the gift. Simple wrapping paper does just as good a job.
Starbucks Coffee: I really miss Latte’s but have found that I can make them at home and they are just as good except I have to fix them myself.
Rubbermaid disposable storage containers that you can put leftovers in after dinner. I use my Tupperware now or a ziplock bag.
Dog toys: This seems silly but my dogs were never without chew bones and toys. They do get chew hoofs because they last a long time but toys have been few and far between.
Tips: This is not an expense but I used to take them for granted and now I count them as gallons of gasoline or milk.
Paper towels: Do you know how many paper towels you can use in a day? Bad for the environment and bad for the budget. I am using microfiber clothes more and more these days.
Newspapers: If I bought all the weekly and daily newspapers here, I would spend about an extra $5 a week. Friends and I share the weekly and I only get the Sunday Daily for the coupons.
Books: I used to have hundreds of books. When I moved I gave most of them away. I buy mine now at the thrift store if I can. It saves about $7 on a paper back book and has expanded my reading considerably as I read what’s available.
A Penny: How many times have you walked by a penny on the ground without picking it up? Or dropped your extra ones in the Need a Penny bowl? I don’t do that anymore. They go into the emergency fund jar. I have about $20 just in pennies since May when I started.
Broadband Internet: This is something that I grudgingly paid for so I could do closings but it hurts. When I moved down here I could not imagine not having it.
TV: This was something that I really didn’t mind giving up. I got Directv for about a month after I moved here but turned it off as it was costing me $35 and except for the morning news, I rarely ever watched it.
Makeup. It is really expensive to be beautiful. I figure that I have between $50 and $75 worth of regular everyday makeup. Since I don’t wear it at work, I’ve been hoarding it but it’s about to run out and I doubt I will replace it anytime soon.

I could probably add to the list if I spent a little time at it. I think it’s a good to be more aware of what I am spending but sometimes I feel like I have been grounded. Eventually, I will break and go buy a banana split with extra chocolate that way I can blow the budget and the diet at the same time.

What about you? Do you find yourself taking less for granted these days? I’d love to hear about it.

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Comments

5 Responses to “The Beauty of Silver or 25 Things I Used to Take for Granted”

I'm Grace. on February 2nd, 2008 10:14 pm

acu#13 and #14 are best handled at your local dollar store. Dollar stores have lots of crap, but their cards, ribbons, gift bags and giftwrap are just fine.
CindyS on February 2nd, 2008 11:10 pm

Good Point! Yes, when I lived in Northern VA I used to shop at the dollar store for different things. Kitchen gadgets are another one that you can save big. Dish mops, sponges, etc.

Now if it just wasn’t an hours drive to the dollar store. It’s right next to Walmart though so I do make the trek about twice a month.
Bouncing Back on February 4th, 2008 5:48 pm

I shop at thrift stores for dog toys. I get kids plush toys (the kinds without the plastic beads in the bottom to make them squishy), and cut off anything that I would deem questionable (choking hazzard) for the dogs. I pay anywhere from 10c to 50c per toy and the woofies love it.
Empress Juju on February 5th, 2008 1:00 am

New clothes!

I used to treat clthes like they were disposable!

Now I buy clothing very rarely, and I take great care of what I do have.

I’ve been dropping a little weight, and instead of running right out to get new ones, I’m having my clothes altered. Spending a little to take in my pants is a lot cheaper than buying new!
CindyS on February 5th, 2008 2:05 am

Bouncing back, that’s a great idea. The dogs don’t much care if they are meant for dogs or kids and we have plenty of thrift stores around.

Emperess_juju, I know what you mean. I have lost weight and only bought what I need for work. Altering might be a good option though. Maybe I will pull some of those clothes out of the goodwill bag.