I'm so boring (and so are my tips)

Every time I set out with an earnest "This time I'm really going to start blogging again," it turns out to be a bust. I feel overwhelmed, uninspired and just overall not much like writing. I can't build enthusiasm without momentum, or momentum without enthusiasm.

Earlier this week, I read Mighty Bargain Hunter's take on Why frugality tips suck and I really think it hit the nail on the head as to my problem. Any list of tips seems to me to be pedestrian and boring, overdone and repetitive. "Turn off your lights! Use less laundry detergent! Pay off debt!" Anyone who reads frugality blogs already knows what I'm telling you.

But I guess I always knew that. The blogs I like to read either have frequent deals updates or recipes (which I would not be all that good at), or tell a story, let me feel like I'm really getting to know the person on the other end of the blog. So, I know, in my heart of hearts, what it is I need to write. I need to write about my own journey. Sure, there will be frugal living suggestions throughout that, but mostly what I need is honesty.

So, this time, I'm really going to. . .

Oh bother. Oh well, if you're still listening, let me know that you'll make the journey with me.

Feeding what pig?

On my way to work yesterday, I heard a story to NPR about anti-saving commercials that have been airing in Finland. The basic premise of these commercials which feature a demonic looking piggy bank (go ahead, click through to the NPR blog and look, it's worth it. I'll wait.) and the tagline "Don't feed the recession." The basic premise is that by saving more money, frugal folks are essentially hurting the economy and furthering the recession.

I'm not an economist, but that sounds to me like a lot of bunk. Sure, spending less means fewer retail jobs available, but how many of those jobs are already taken by people who buy so much crap that they can't get by on one job? If we all just stopped spending so much, we could all work less, and there would be plenty of jobs to go around. What's more, putting money in the bank will help the banks, which I'm pretty sure have been having some trouble lately. Since congress seems to have avowed that saving the financial industry is crucial to saving our economy, maybe that's a pig that needs to be fed.

I don't know, maybe I'm totally off base with this. Are frugal folks bad for the economy? Should we feed the pig?

Simplifying again

I don't know how it happens, but somehow around the middle of the academic year, my life always ends up full of junk. Some of it is physical junk (piles and piles on my desk, stuff on every shelf of my closet), some of it is time commitment "junk" (I've had to be somewhere every night this week), and some of it is psychological junk (worries, anxieties, anger). No matter how clearly I try to set goals, priorities, and expectations, I never seem to make progress because I am always putting out fires. Even when I have a moment to myself, I just feel so overwhelmed that all I want to do is crash and vegetate. I can't see through all the junk.

I remember in my last life, in my last move, I only worked part time and we lived on almost no money. I baked bread, we never went out to eat, our furniture was all from Kmart and Ikea (okay, so most of it still is). There were a lot of things that I didn't like: I didn't really have any friends, I wasn't putting away any extra money. But there was a lot about it that I remember fondly. There was quiet in my life . I went to the library, and read actual books for pleasure. I had time to write, to walk, to breathe.

I don't think that that's a life I can really completely get back to, and in a way I probably wouldn't want to. But I do want to clear out some of the junk that is between me and some kind of peace. I want to stop the flow of stuff into my life, even if I can't get rid of some of the stuff I have. I need to find ways to carve out moments of peace for myself.

I don't want to set any more goals or requirements for myself because, in the end, I think that will just bring me even less peace. What I do want to do is give myself permission to say no, and to accept that sometimes I am going to have to or want to say yes and not to beat myself up about that either. I want to use the things I have (lotions, candles), give away some of the things I don't want, and let go of some of the things I do that don't add significantly to my life.

No more newspaper

I cancelled my newspaper subscription this week.

The truth is, I don't really read the newspaper. Most of my news I get from the Internet. The newspapers would just pile up and every couple weeks I'd have to take them to the recycle center without even reading them.

A few months ago, I cut back to just weekends, but I kept getting the newspaper mostly for the grocery coupons. With a good grocery couponing strategy, I know I can save a huge chunk of money on my grocery bill. The truth is, though, that between using up my stockpile and my CSA baskets, I haven't been buying as much food lately anyway. I don't use more than 2 or 3 different coupons. So, instead of having to sort through a whole newspaper, I'll just buy multiples of the few coupons I use from a clipping service or trade for them on a message board.

By cancelling my newspaper subscription, I'm saving $50 over the next three months, as well as saving time, stress, clutter, and waste. Woo hoo! I feel freer already.

New carnival!

This week's Carnival of Personal Finance is up and running, and Pecuniarities did a great and creative job of hosting.

My favorite articles of the week:

Live frugal but in moderation

What would you do if you lost your job tomorrow?

What's in my pantry?

Lots of great stuff, check it out!