Does anyone else remember Sex and the Single Girl by Helen Gurley Brown? 
She has a chapter on money, and I always remember her saying to make sure and spend your money where you'll get the most Happiness Units in return.
Well, it's corny but it's a good point. I'm looking over my spending for the past year, trying to see where I haven't gotten enough happiness units for the money. Those are places that will be easy to cut.
The first obvious category is book/cd/dvd buying (exclusive of Netflix). I spent $132 and the shocking thing is, all but $33 of this was on mailing costs. Mostly for various swapping programs, which were supposed to save me money. The fact is, I sent a lot of stuff out and so far have gotten little in return.
I haven't bought a NEW book in over a year. I bought one DVD that was so obscure even Netflix didn't have it. The rest of the $33 was for used books, most of which I bought to try and sell (unsuccessfully).
So, although $132 is that much in the whole scheme of things, it really didn't buy me much of anything.
I'm going to budget $84 in the coming year (36% reduction), and try to get a lot more for the money. First priority will be trying to get something for the credits I've already earned at the swap sites.
Happiness Units
May 27th, 2006 at 03:22 pm
May 27th, 2006 at 03:36 pm 1148744174
My perspective on 'happiness' has sure changed the last couple of years...used to be eating out for lunch everyday when I was working was high on the list....now, finding a great bargain at the grocery store is where most of my units would come from. (I have cut all but the barest frivulous spending)
Where books are concerned...I am a library fan!
May 28th, 2006 at 01:38 am 1148780301
I also remember her saying, don't buy anything you don't love, ESPECIALLY if you're on a budget. It's a question I still ask myself before buying.