Living for today - Planning for Tomorrow
Wow. July is finally upon us. For months now, we’ve been making plans for various exciting events this month. For starters, it’s our daughter’s 5th birthday this month. Instead of spending a ton of money on a huge party, we have decided to take a little bit more reserved approach. We have invited just a couple of our daughter’s friends and their families out to
This doesn’t sound all that different than an article you might read in the US. The only difference is that Macedonia has a 35% unemployment rate and poverty is huge. Families use the motto "You only live once" to rationalize the huge expense and potential debt for years. They actually get bank loans to throw the parties. I think that most of these parties are
There I was. Patiently waiting in the turn lane at an intersection. I was about 4 cars back at the light. Traffic had built up behind me and there was a brand new green Toyota Camry right behind me. All was well. As the light turned green I started to anticipate being able to go forward. I hadn’t moved an inch when I felt a
With the price of everything going up, I’ve been very conscious of our energy use both in our cars, and in our home. I’ve always been one of those people that turns lights off anywhere that they aren’t necessary. We have been very good about only using lights in the rooms that we are in over the years. Having a five year old running around
I have to confess something. More and more these days I’m finding myself thinking about what it would take to check out of the rat race. I don’t care about having the fanciest stuff, or the latest and greatest tech gadget. I really want to have the option to just do absolutely nothing as much as I want. I think it stems from a few
For the last couple of years I’ve been thinking about when our furnace would finally quit. The way my luck goes, it will die in the middle of winter so I decided to shop for a furnace during the slower months for heating companies. I was able to work with two neighbors to pool our business together. We had a few hvac companies come out
Gas prices suck. For many people, who have built their lives around long distance travel and large vehicles, gas prices really suck. I’ve been reading lots of articles about people who travel 120+ miles round trip to their jobs every day. Ouch. Most of those people aren’t driving hybrids either. I’m sure just about everyone has made their way to the Internet looking for ways
A friend of mine sent me his horoscope today. It reads: Wow. I haven’t seen a horoscope so directed at consumerism before. I think the horoscope gods should consider rotating this horoscope each month. You can’t tell me that Taurus’ are the only ones that need to hear this message.
About 6 months or so ago my neighbor told me that he wanted to get rid of a weight set that was taking up space in his garage. He had purchased this about 9 months before that and had probably paid in the neighborhood of $600-700 for everything. I asked him how much he wanted for it and he said, "Oh, just give me $200
Something that has always interested me is people’s connection to "stuff". Don’t get me wrong. I have the same issues as everyone else. If I’ve paid money for something, I feel a strange obligation to keep it for as long as I’m breathing. Lately I’ve really been trying to call myself to the carpet when I think I need to keep something indefinitely. What I
