If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

we have been bleeding money since we retired and have ben fixing up the house. The reason we did so much so fat was that in other houses we took our good time  about doing some special things and then maybe a year after getting myy dream kitchen we found we were selling and someone else was going to get the deacdes of fun my nnew kitchen could have given me.

 

And being older I wasn't sure we wanted to be painting room and doing carpentry work as senior citizens. and I wanted to enjoy this house ASAP because I could get run over tomorrow and would have missed those soapstone counters or warm ttles and bidet. but it has been expensive and while we are nt poverty stricken by anymeans we eant our investments to last and let us live the comfy lifestyle we got oh too accustomed to.

 

 this weekend we had one of those money budget meetings where we look at the hemorrhage spots to see where we  ned to live less insanely.

 

Joint areas were cable TV- we rarely watch anything live other anymore, once deadwood and sopranos ended that ended our live TV time. And cell phone contracts. SO Jim took on the cable tv people to change our contract ad  I called T Mobile. Right now we are paying 54 a month for two phone with gazillions of minutes we never use. Jim used one minute last month and I used 47 minutes, only because I happened to have them.

 

I called T-Mobile to change to a prepaid pplan. what a laugh. each  phone would incur a $200 early termination fee. that's almost all of a years fees. so when i acted like I might just cancel the service altogether and let them try to collect the money- hinted at sweetly and absentmindedly as only a belle can do- well,  he suddenly came up with the special  outdated plan only available to long time T mobile users of $19. a month for each phone and then in July 2008 I could change to prepaid plans with no penalty. Isn't that amazing how he found that plan?  

 

My personal bleeds were  in my purchasing of fiber, dyes, yarn and cloth- I have been essentially out of control and spending hundreds every month on these hobbies. I need to stop that and start using up my cache or finish the dozens of uncompleted projects that fill drawers in my studio. Shoes were a little out of control but I was switchig to a new climate with new foot demands and needed some new warmer clothing afte rmore than a decade in the deep south. DVD's and CD's I was exceptionally good and only moderately bad about book.

 

Every penny we save means that working part time for either of us doesn't have to becoe a need because we both adore making our own time. I could work part time in the afternoons but getting up and being somewhere everyday at 8 am would be hellishly hellish hell.

 

It's economy time.