I’ve been swamped lately. I know it’s a temporary thing, and that soon I’ll have all the time I need to maintain this site, but in the short-term it’s frustrating. I have grand plans, but am unable to do anything about them for a month or two. Meanwhile, here are some great articles from elsewhere:
My favorite post last week came from Simplicity in Kansas. The author interviewed his 84-year-old mother about her first-hand memories from the Great Depression. She shared dozens of ways that she had learned to save money: growing and canning food, living without utilities for five years, re-using everything. We Americans have lived with plenty for so long that it’s difficult for us to imagine having to do some of this stuff as a matter of course.
Not all Americans live with plenty, though. A GRS reader pointed me to a pair of articles from science fiction author John Scalzi. The first is called “Being Poor” and lists 50+ examples of what it’s like to be poor. My family was relatively poor when I was a boy, so a few of these are familiar. But only a few. Scalzi’s second post, “Out of Poverty”, features his five tips for charting a course out of poverty:
- Get an education.
- Take responsibility.
- Get help.
- Learn patience.
- Filter out the stupid and ignorant.
Several readers sent me a Michael Shermer article from the L.A. times about why people believe weird things about money. This story demonstrates again that money is more about mind than it is about math. “When it comes to money, as in most other aspects of life,” Shermer writes, “reason and rationality are trumped by emotions and feelings.”
Finally, No Credit Needed recently shared his debt cures for living debt-free. NCN has been debt-free for two years now, thanks in part to the strategies he lists here.
GRS is committed to helping our readers save and achieve your financial goals.Savings interest rates may be low, but that’s all the more reason to shop for the best rate.Find the highest savings interest rate from Ally Bank, Capital One 360, Everbank, and more.
This article is about Spare Change
Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.
Discover is a paid advertiser of this site. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. See the Discover online credit card application for full terms and conditions on offers and rewards.
SEARCH FOR RECENT ARTICLES
Scalzi is great. He actually had another recent article on money. This one is more aimed at writers, but it has some excellent general advice as well. http://scalzi.com/whatever/?p=362
loading....
Totally off-topic, but when Scalzi’s “Being Poor” blog post was being spread the PF blogsphere two years ago, I started poking around his site and found the excerpts to his novels – before I knew it I became an instant fan.
Just finished reading the last of Old Man War’s trilogy. Not as good as the previous novels but definitely made the marathon flight more enjoyable.
Funny thing was, back then I thought he was some just-started writer publishing his own sci-fi works and marketing it on his personal blog…
loading....
I am fortunate to have my Grandparents yet, they are all in their 90′s and were farmers during the Great Depression. Their ethic was passed down to me. Use things until they are used up. Wear things until worn out. THEN REUSE. Both my Grandfathers related a story about the year pork prices dropped so low in Wisconsin that it wasn’t worth the gas to drive the hogs to market. One decided to get what he could, and a year’s work netted him $2.00! The other decided to eat or barter his hogs, to this day my Mother will gag at the smell of cooking pork. They have many stories about hardships and making do without cash, but my Grandmother reminds him that they always had DRINKING money! That helps me keep my priorities straight. Thanks for your excellent blog. JCG.
loading....
I read Shermer’s “weird things about money” article, and I don’t buy all the examples. Some of them do indeed display irrational beliefs, but the very first one he cites shows an understanding of the relative worth of money, something that the experimenter doesn’t seem to grasp as well as the subjects do!
Currency amounts don’t mean anything in absolute terms. Ask anyone who’s lived through out-of-control inflation.
I don’t know what “other people make $X” really means, but let’s say it’s the median average income in your country, city or region.
If you have $50,000 a year while “other people make $25,000″, then you are wealthy. You are going to have options that most other people don’t have.
On the other hand, if you have $100,000 a year while “other people get $250,000″, then you are poor in that society’s terms. I don’t think anyone would prefer that.
We are asked to “assume for the moment that prices of goods and services will stay the same”, but that is just silly.
Why do you think American retirees on Social Security are moving to Mexico?
loading....
I should not have read Scalzi’s article. It brought real tears to my eyes because I grew up that poor. It’s amazing to me now to look back at how I lived from age 9 to age 15, and how I live now, and see just how fabulously rich I am.
loading....
I like the idea behing “Being Poor”, but I don’t think he has a clue. Right here, in America, being poor can also mean:
-Not having a TV
-Not having a car
-Hoping EVERY ailment will go away
-Yelling at your kids for wearing out shoes by playing at recess when they could just stand around and not wear out said shoes (and the shoes cost under $20)
-Having no heat. At all. Because you don’t have electricity.
-And even being homeless.
I mean, by this guy’s standards, I only stopped being poor a couple of years ago, and while I did have a really tough time making ends meet, I always knew people who had it worse.
loading....
Those 5 points seem pretty prudent.
Thanks for the post.
loading....
I love this sensible post. Btw, the link for
“first-hand memories from the Great Depression”
seems to be broken and I really wanted to read it so I found it using google and it is here…
http://tinyurl.com/dcubua
loading....