Ok, I just wrote a huge, long extraordinary post, but it looks like it was lost to the internet gods...
Yesterday I got a lot of "need to get done" stuff done. (Laundry, grocery shopping, some cleaning, trash out, etc...) It feels nice to have most of it off my chest. I still have a little more to do, but A LOT is done.
I am feeling very focused. There are several things I want to get done in the next 5 years. (for those of you that don't know, I'm leaving for a circumnavigation in 5 years.) I am feeling inspired to really work on my projects. There's only 10 months to get anything in Philly done before I leave. Then we're going to the USVI what can I do there? Where's next. I was thinking maybe Mexico. I think I also want to live in Hawaii for a while before we go. And I want to go to California, so that kind of all goes together. ... But in all this, I need to keep working on my art that I want to get done before we leave.
Speaking of things I want to do... (Heres an example of making the best of a sucky situation.) Right now, I have a four people, living off of $300 a week. I want to be able to figure out a way to make that enough and comfortable. I am reading self-help, financial, and cruising books looking for hints and tips to be comfortable on small amounts of money. A lot of it is attitude. My goal, aside from living on small amounts of money myself, is to get together enough information to put together a book about living well on very little money. ...Wouldn't it be amazing to learn how to live on small amounts, (whether you're trying to save money or just have a very small income) and ENJOY it. Since I'm living on such a small amount I'm paying attention. What makes me feel better, even though I don't have money? Why? I'm also reading about creativity and finances and how other people live happily on little money.
That reminds me of something else. You know what really pisses me off? Some homeless. Ok... They panhandle, I have no problem with that, (though I perfer the ones that are trying to offer something for your money... like playing music or singing... in FL some would make flowers out of palms). The thing that ticks me off is the lack of responsibility they have. Yes, some are crackheads, and their going to buy crack. Fine. But those asshole who buy fast food PISS ME OFF! You give'em some money cause they "need food" and they head over to the fast food place. What I would do, (and did when I was homeless and of course still do), was buy a camping stove. there are little ones that only are about the size of a tuna can, then buy canned food. You can buy cans of veggies for like $0.50 at a wholesale place or save-a-lot... less then a dollar for a meal... or Ramen noodle soup. That's even cheaper, but you need some kind of a pot or pan.
Ok, this has nothing to do with what I was originally trying to post... but tough.
Yesterday I got a lot of "need to get done" stuff done. (Laundry, grocery shopping, some cleaning, trash out, etc...) It feels nice to have most of it off my chest. I still have a little more to do, but A LOT is done.
I am feeling very focused. There are several things I want to get done in the next 5 years. (for those of you that don't know, I'm leaving for a circumnavigation in 5 years.) I am feeling inspired to really work on my projects. There's only 10 months to get anything in Philly done before I leave. Then we're going to the USVI what can I do there? Where's next. I was thinking maybe Mexico. I think I also want to live in Hawaii for a while before we go. And I want to go to California, so that kind of all goes together. ... But in all this, I need to keep working on my art that I want to get done before we leave.
Speaking of things I want to do... (Heres an example of making the best of a sucky situation.) Right now, I have a four people, living off of $300 a week. I want to be able to figure out a way to make that enough and comfortable. I am reading self-help, financial, and cruising books looking for hints and tips to be comfortable on small amounts of money. A lot of it is attitude. My goal, aside from living on small amounts of money myself, is to get together enough information to put together a book about living well on very little money. ...Wouldn't it be amazing to learn how to live on small amounts, (whether you're trying to save money or just have a very small income) and ENJOY it. Since I'm living on such a small amount I'm paying attention. What makes me feel better, even though I don't have money? Why? I'm also reading about creativity and finances and how other people live happily on little money.
That reminds me of something else. You know what really pisses me off? Some homeless. Ok... They panhandle, I have no problem with that, (though I perfer the ones that are trying to offer something for your money... like playing music or singing... in FL some would make flowers out of palms). The thing that ticks me off is the lack of responsibility they have. Yes, some are crackheads, and their going to buy crack. Fine. But those asshole who buy fast food PISS ME OFF! You give'em some money cause they "need food" and they head over to the fast food place. What I would do, (and did when I was homeless and of course still do), was buy a camping stove. there are little ones that only are about the size of a tuna can, then buy canned food. You can buy cans of veggies for like $0.50 at a wholesale place or save-a-lot... less then a dollar for a meal... or Ramen noodle soup. That's even cheaper, but you need some kind of a pot or pan.
Ok, this has nothing to do with what I was originally trying to post... but tough.
VIEW 6 of 6 COMMENTS
From: StevenGlad you liked reading it as much as I did. Gotta say I'm a bit hypocritical (very hypocritical!) as I make and spend piles of money ruthlessly. And I wrap up my own ego in my possessions way too often. Like junk, it's addictive but it doesn't make me happy.
Exactly. Our society has trained us from birth to be this way. We have been raised to believe spending will make us happy even when we "know" it won't.
I think the key is finding what DOES make us happy. Then we focus and allow ourselves to spend on THOSE things.
My spending problem is I spend, and like a drug, I feel good right then. And then, when I get home, I feel guilty. I like the thing, but not enough to override the guilt. But when I've done things that feed into things I enjoy, and I complete a project I feel good instead.
For example, I don't feel guilty when I buy cloth to make clothes. Or when I buy books I know I want to read, or a movie I love. But when I just buy little things like fast food ornI don't know... just little things that get money spent on them like that... I feel so crappy.
When I lived in Key West I did a lot less of that kind of spending. I also didn't have cable tv! I'm looking forward to being unhooked from the marina, even though I like some tv shows, I prefer the benifits of being "off the grid" more.
I figure if I can learn to manage my money in a large city, I can manage it anywhere I go.