I am having trouble living simply
 

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

I've been raised like that---more is better, bigger is better--bring it on. Teenager in the 50s. Damn!!!

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

At least you got something in exchange for fiat. Do you think if you wait next year the price will be twice as low as now?

If you are buying on credit- just make sure you send the payment before grace period ends.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

But you are making the effort and recognize needless purchases as a problem, which puts you miles ahead 98% of the U.S. population. I am consoling you .. since I just squelched 200 bucks on a new monitor .. but darnit, after 12 years of owning computers its high time I got a 20 inch flat screen off a guy who really needed the money.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

try not to carry FRN with you. just your Driver's license and CCW...leave the debit card and cash at home.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

1080P flat screen is my next purchase, but its like north of 1 Grand. 720P is not high def enough. I'll wait and see. And this is just for a 27 inch.

Yes I want a 32 inch computer 1080P HDTV.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

While we are all preparing for the worst - we have to hope for the best.........

And while we expect the worst - sometimes the worst never happens.....

A lot of people thruout history have wasted theirs lives expecting events (political, geopolitical, religious) that never happened........and went to their graves having little or no fun and enjoyment - a complete waste.

So, to me, its another Tao thing........sure, do all the right things to prepare..........but don't kick yourself for buying a CD or DVD or even a monitor screen now and then.

As long as you are storing away the usuals (PMs, food, water, ammo, etc) you are doing more than most - but you have to do a few things now and then to enjoy your life.

Give yourself a break!

Cheers!

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

Well said!

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

:rolleyes_m: Well now...we all get the fever occasionally :>)

Might want to stock up on chainsaws,guns,ammo,and alcohol for serious drinking and barter purposes.

DVDs might come in handy when TSHTF...movies and educational stuff like field dressing rabbits and squirrels might become pure gold for most of the populace...since most of them will be starving.
Carpentry,plumbing,electrical,auto repair and edible wild plants are just the ticket...expand your knowledge and get the jump on your neighbors :>)

Just kidding Hive...spending a few dollars on yourself is not exactly criminal...we all do it.

:D:D:D

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

I haven't bought a bottle of whiskey in a month. I keep driving past the liquor store with money in my pocket, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Too many other "necessities" to deal with first. Oh well, the Gin i've been drinking isn't too bad. Priorities priorities. Did buy another case of baked beans though. No gas shortage in my future.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

One thing that helps me is always comparing a potential purchase to buying gold. I look at a new book or a nice new apple computer (my old XP machine is old, but still works fine), and I would really love to buy them, especially the computer. But then I stop and ask myself if I really need it, and decide that I'd much rather buy three ounces of gold (more like 2.5 at today's prices) than that new computer. In 4-5 years, it'll just be another old computer that I'd like to replace with the next nice new one, whereas the gold I can keep for a lifetime.

I think I've realized that I just don't get much satisfaction out of stuff anymore, especially when I look at the big picture. Buying a new DVD or something is fun for the first time you watch it, but then the enjoyment fades away. I'd rather spend time with friends or family and save my money. I've decided it's more important to get out and stay out of debt, and save for the future, rather than to blow money on junk that I'll regret later. I've got a stack of 15 or 20 DVDs that I want to sell on ebay to remind me (all bought back before I "found" PMs).

There's a website I've been reading quite a bit of, www.thesimpledollar.com . The author is a terrific writer, and the articles just flow so freely from one to the next. I'll click on one, read it, and end up reading 15 related ones in a sitting. :bear_tongue: When it comes to investment stuff, he does tend to go more with the traditional investments, but did do an article on precious metals. I read it more for what his main focus is: living frugally, avoiding debt, saving, etc. It's very encouraging and full of great advice and ideas.

Another thing you might try is keeping a small notepad with you, and write down every single purchase you make for a month. Ever book, cup of coffee, lunch, CD, candybar... anything and everything you buy, write it down. At the end of the month, you can add it up and see how much you spent on junk, and how much was actually worthwhile expenditures. While I think I've been doing great at not buying junk, I bet I could still benefit from this exercise.


Gin, tonic water, and some fresh lime. :s9:

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

I like to drop a couple cherries in mine. :beer:

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

Hive, if you visit the Simple Dollar site (www.thesimpledollar.com), I'd recommend you start on the right side, under Categories, and read through as many articles as you can in the sections under Bad Spending Habits, Cost Comparison, Debt, Entertainment, Frugality, etc. I really think you'll be inspired and encouraged to live more simply and frugally. It's been very inspirational reading for me, and I've recommended it to a few relatives, as well.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

Ayn-one, that went, on a diet knows, what you mean...

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

A wise person once said:

"I have the greatest of riches: That of not desiring them."

:wink:

Edit: i should say this doesn't apply gold of course, we all know how things work right now, you would be crazy not to get gold. :D

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

Yeah, wise words from the opitmist. The optimist has to be right everyday. The pessimist just right once. I have a feeling the dollar optimist theory is blown out the water and now we have to batten down the hatches to prevent water from flooding out the engines. I went a step further, years in advance, and purchased a small row boat after pressing the abandon ship beacon.

The worst is not being able to say goodbye to cherished loved one. Okay, we shalll meet again is how they say in France.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

Stop worrying about it so much. You don't have to live like a monk in a monastery.

Look, seems to me you have the right mindset, you're aware of the need to prepare for the bad times ahead and have made progress in that direction. That doesn't mean you can't treat yourself once in awhile. And by doing so, you won't suffer from burn out either. Too much harping on doom and gloom will do that to you.

Relax, life is to be enjoyed and we ought to enjoy it, but let's all of us also realize that we have to keep our eye on the prize and keep working toward our goals of being able to weather whatever storms come our way.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

I am down to spending Jack Diddly unless it is coins.

I used to spend a lot on books.

I still spend a lot on whats called "Family" and they have a way of spending your money for you. LOL

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

Good golly man, get over it.

I'm thinking of taking a grand and going to the local strip club and having a hoot of a time. May as well, it is de-val-u-ate-n so fast that next week it will take two grand to git the same stuff.

Really though, like SoftServe has said, gotta take the blue pill every once and a while for a vacation. Either that or go postal.:shocked_ma:

AE

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

I quit drinking. That saved some big dollars (and actually made my life much better).

Measuring things in the price of gold helps tremendously.

The good news is that big screens are getting cheaper. I remember my plasma TV cost $1,200 FRN last year!

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

As I have said many times - I am not an optimist.........I am not a pessimist.........I am a realist!



Its not MY fault reality sucks!!!!
(And when it doesn't suck - it blows!) :wink:

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

From what I've been reading you need to get over 42" before you can even start to tell the difference between 1080i and 1080p. Let us know. I've put off getting rid of the 35" CRT because I am waiting for the prices to come down a little more on a larger set. I love the 32" I bought last year.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

I have a 118" screen, and a new $1000 receiver to make my blu-ray movies sound better.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

32"? For a 720p save the bucks and grab the 32" Olevia for $500. I got one it is comparable to models costing hundreds more. Want a 40" 1080p and have to have it now? Get the Samsung.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

Same problem, went on vacation to Jersey and bought 1/4 gold and 50 ounces silver, dam it.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

Cheap 1080p from Costco.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...=13&lang=en-US

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

Spending money on coins and books is a good thing IMO. Education never hurt anyone, unless you count the school of hard knocks. :wink:

I'm of the mind that I should save/invest but that I should also enjoy life while I'm here. So, every week I buy some PMs, stash some cash, and buy myself something fun. Be it brewing supplies or a game, I do it every week and don't feel bad at all about it.

Blorp

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

Darn it thought you meant 1880p coin, was ready to buy.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

A co-worker of mine once told me of watching a friend who had saved every penny she ever made get sick and die of cancer. From that day forward his motto has been "save for tomorrow; live for today." Seems to me there's great wisdom in that.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

It is good to save, to an end, one must have an end to the means. To hoard every dime you make and worry about what if tshtf will land you in an early grave. Yes save but live also, and don't forget to eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. And also take a page from Shakespear, neither a borrower nor a lender be.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

I splurge to create income.

I commonly find myself spending $1500 to make $1000.

It's hard work, but somebody's gotta take the bull by the horns.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

Great advice. :applause_

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

Can you afford the things you buy? Do you enjoy them? If you're not going into debt, and you're not buying just from compulsion, what's the problem? If the SHTF, don't you want some good times to look back on? I've been doing the suvivalist thing since the mid-70s. I hate to think how much of my life I would have wasted if all I'd done was prepare for the bad times!

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

I have.
You could cultivate desirelessness and look into what the Buddha taught.
It will help temper your need for stimulation.
I'm just sayin'...

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

"What you resist persist." Don't think anti-spending. Rather, think pro-saving and pro-increasing your income so you can afford to both spend and save.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

I wouldn't worry too much about that. For a lot of the reasons already mentioned. Having trouble living simply beats the heck out of simply having trouble living. :D

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

You married AL?:rolleyes_m:

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

Living simply starts with eating simply.

No spice.

No, let's see where can someone find the spice of life within reasonable means?

Maybe it can be had thru acceptance?

Accepting society for what it is, and getting a peaceful word in edgewise, would be more than enough for me.

The wit of sarcasm can... when used in certain amounts of reason, could help to ease the pain of living in a disposable world that would rather gorge on the underbelly and entrails of consumerist moral.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

Just about six months ago I spent $10,000 on an new (to me) motorcycle. Just think how much gold/silver that would buy! Can't ride PM's though! It's just a toy, I didn't need it and I don't feel bad at all. Have fun till the SHTF, just be prepared for when it happens.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

I don't really splurge anymore, the closest I come to that is buying $4 pineapples once or sometimes twice a week. That, and on occasion I indulge *ahem* my bad taste in clothing. That spot between 'drowsy' and 'too tired to remember the eBay password' is too large and well-trodden. :D

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

Take out a piece of paper and list all of your wants and needs in priority order along with the estimated cost of each item. Carry the paper with you. Make a pledge to yourself to acquire things on the list in that order (or close to that order). Make a pledge that if you add something to the list, that something of equal or greater value must either be cut from the list or be pushed to the bottom.

If a motorcycle or TV is at the top of the list, then fine, buy it. If 715 more ounces of silver is at the top of the list, then buy that first. Don't let shiny unplanned and heavily marketed bobbles screw up your priorities. You may not have the willpower to do without crap, but a least have the willpower to honor your own priorities, or you'll feel like crap.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

That is a 720P. 1080 P is much higher def than 1366X768. They afraid and are having liquidation sale. When i bought my 42 plasma, I should have waited for 1080P. But who would guess a better one would come out.

1080P smokes 1080i. No competition.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

What you should do is set up a budget. Divide up your post-tax income using percentages into necessities, entertainment allowance, savings, and money you can blow on things you want.

A good rule of thumb is to try to save/invest 15-20%, spend 65% on the necessities of life/debt repayment etc. and spend the remaining 15% or so on staying sane with some regular entertainment, spending, or saving for bigger things you want, or your hobby.

It's amazing just how frugally you can life when you try to. You can economise, yet still eat really well and have an excellent quality of life. It does take discipline however... and you have to stick to that budget no matter what...

If you are unable to exercise discipline over yourself, forget what I just told you and throw it all out the window, because you will never be in control of your finances.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

I got a samsung 52" LCD 1080p.

Now I can watch Kudlow on SEE-N-BS

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

Develop spenders bulimia, just go shopping and get it out of your system then take it all back the next day and demand refunds lol.


Seriously though, one of the main reasons I love metals is because it allows me to go out shopping at pawn shops, coin shops etc, and get that shopping bug out of my system without really spending any money since all I am doing is trading paper for precious metal. Works great for me!

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

Lots of excellent posts.

Hive, my wife and I consider spending some on fun as part of our 'be frugal now' plan. Most people are not going to be frugal till they are forced to it. By being willingly frugal now, we allow room for a book or 2, a CD, or even an occasional Chinese take out or pizza or BBQ or something.

We just keep it in bounds. A rifle sounds like preps anyway.

I got us a huge flat screen tv for a very small price from ebay last year. It will likely be our tv for 20 years as little as we watch, but it is HD and everything and we enjoy movies on it a lot. It gets broadcast channels since I dumped cable and we kept our netflix subscription because we enjoy watching movies at home and do not mind waiting for the dvd to come out.

We make 1 or 2 pots of beans a week and eat hamburger from our whole grass fed beef we bought a lot, and we generally have 1 meal or less per month from a restaurant. We route carefully to save gas, and I am continually finding ways to use less electricity without giving up comfort.

But we spend some on enjoyment. That is the big advantage of living simply before you are forced to, really. You have room for a treat here and there.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

Think of the irony of having all your preps in place, but feeling deprived because of the scrimping you spent to get there.

Live a little. Buy that CD. Or do what I do: Go to yard sales. First, I find the most amazing preps at them for next to nothing. Second, I find books I never would have even thought to look for which fill my gaps in knowledge. Same goes for CDs--I've discovered a lot of interesting music for a buck. and it's a lot more enjoyable to haggle over something than just paying the tag price--unless it's such a steal you just want to get it out of there before anyone realizes what it's really worth.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

Dude, that was profound. :-)

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

mmmm pass the splif

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

my mom and dad saved stons had lots of investments, they also didn't splurge too much...

Anyways, dad got sick had blue cross blue shield, paid 80 percent, this was 20 years ago.

My mom still ended up paying almost 500,000 in doctor/hospital fees.

Lost everything even the house and the rental house.
Save prepare, but don't forget to have fun!!!!
Every few months we go to a nice restaurant, 200-500, or a broadway show, opera, 200-400 a night. Or out to the concert w/dinner sitter and tickets, these things run us about 500 a night, we do it every few months. Worth the memories.

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

QWAK,Generly people are like greedy little kids and want EVERY THING and want it ALL NOW which obviously is not posable if one is calm and rational and dealing with reality. That having been said,when we do hit "the WALL" for what ever reason,lose of a job,illness or accident etc., the first reaction is NUMBING FEAR that ALL is or will be LOST and at that point we reach a FORK in the road so to speak, ware we are forced to make choices as to how to procead. Some decide to just "GO FOR IT" and will take up elegal activities to get $$$ this is very common and almost with out exception leads to incarseration or a very short life. If one can remain calm and not give in to the fear, anger and frustration and let that pass then they begin to see small opertunities that can be exploited and wile it is not easy or fast, do offer alternitives that are less dangerous.

It thakes time to alter ones established norms and gradgualy feel less of a victeam and a little more in controll of ones life but it does happen and in fact given enough time the changes become the NEW NORM and given even more time one can look back and see that the transition (as hard as it was) as actualy being a good thing and life not so bad or as hard as it first seemed.

IF one can assume the perspective that "LIFE is an ADVENTURE" and that making choices is what it is realy all about and NOT just achieving as much wealth as posable, then they can minimise the sence of lose and not lose or over look the small opertunities that change always offers, some of which may well reveal and ultimitly bring with them an even better life with much more than they had before!

CHANGE is SCAREY but it also brings with it the opertunity to be CREATIVE in how we chose to deal with change and this is how REAL PROGRESS happens "IF" we do not cling to what WAS and insted embrace WHAT IS and just deal with it!

LIVE the ADVENTURE! Stop trying to LIVE the FANTICY! The ADVENTURE is REAL, the FANTICY is NOT!

the DUCK

Re: I am having trouble living simply
 

As usual you are an inspiration DUCK. This in itself is quite profound.

If we awake each morning with our basket of expectations, disappointment will likely carry the day. If we do as you suggest and instead embrace what IS and deal with it, we can hardly do anything short of exceeding expectations.

This does not mean that plans and goals are useless or impractical, but only suggests that the path may sometimes deviate from our expectation. This may be particularly true when taking the road less traveled.