Thursday, February 16, 2012

The stingy bone's a twitchin

I'm four days away from payday and I'm afraid all I can think of these days are my own money woes. Moving to the city, followed by the resounding thud of the economy hitting rock bottom has led to an increased awareness of my spending habits. As my family will gladly tell you, I have never been much of a miser. I prefer to consider my lifestyle as a series of "well controlled indulgences." I'm learning all sorts of fun and creative ways to save money. In my family we like to call it "the stingy bone," which I believe replaces the "funny bone" in those of us some would call "dry." The following is a list of fun ways to save a penny, or kwatcha, depending on your country of origin.

10 signs you might be cheap
1. You mix your laundry soap with water rather than purchase dish soap
2. You design and make your own feminine hygiene products
3. In the heat of the moment you come to and realize you've been screeching at a 60 year old man who is try cheating you out of 10cents for a handful of dried garbanzo beans
4. You consider toilet paper a luxury, not a necessity
5. You wake up in a sweat only to realize your nightmare was real: you really did leave the bathroom light on
6. You wash your hair in the sink instead of showering so you don't waste the water
7. Just as the tube of toothpaste looks like it got run over... then you cut it open
8. Instead of just buying more oil you just keep using the questionable stuff sitting at the bottom of the frying pan
9. You find yourself internally bargaining when shopping "If I get the wrinkly cucumbers I can have electricity for another 12 hours!"
10. You catch yourself asking the starving child in Africa "Hey, are you going to eat that?"

*no this is not a plea for money, seriously, don't send it
** ok, some of these might be a slight exaggeration

3 comments:

  1. Hello!

    You have a very nice blog, and it is really cool to be able to read it. The stuff you do as a PCV is amazing, hope you are having a great time!

    My name is Rajko and I am from Montenegro, small country in southeastern Europe. I was wondering if it's possible for you to help me with my project. I am trying to collect postcards from every country in the world, and I still miss Malawi in my collection. So far, I've managed to collect postcards from more than 200 countries, and having postcard sent from Malawi would make my day, and I would be forever grateful to you! Of course, I can send you back anything you would like to receive from my country, just let me know what. I also have my postcard blog, where I show my collection day by day, you are very welcome to visit it: http://mnepostcards.blogspot.com/

    Thanks a lot for your help in advance! Here is my email: rajkogolovic@gmail.com

    Looking forward to hearing from you.

    Yours faithfully,
    Rajko

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rajko,
    Thank you so much for your kind words about my blog. Its always thrilling to know people are reading and enjoying it, and I would be happy to send you a postcard! I will respond to your gmail to get your information.
    -Katie

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Katie!


    Thank you so much! You made me incredibly happy! :)

    I'm looking forward to your email. :)

    All the best to you,
    Rajko

    ReplyDelete