Does money really equal happiness? I don’t think so. But it can provide for sheer conveniences and make life much easier in the long run. This week, I tackled the virtue of frugality, which essentially amounts to spending less, and saving more.
What I actually spent this week was roughly $0. If you factor in a few other factors though you could make the argument I spent roughly $16. Whichever the case, I think I was relatively successful in my spending habits exhibited this week.
Consumer Spending: As a consumer contributing to the U.S. economy, I’m allowed to “spend” every week. With that said, I didn’t spend a dime this week on anything. Not a dime on food, fun, or activities of any sort. How did I manage said madness? Easy. I ate at home for a majority of the week, starved from 12PM all the way to 10Pm on Tuesday to avoid eating out (work–>class–>home), munched on snacks and food provided by my wonderful friends, and ate two slices of pizza at Circle K (for which I owe my friend roughly $6 for). My friend raised a good point saying every time I drive, I’m technically spending money (because of the gas costs). However, I only spent about half a tank of gas this week, which amounts to roughly $20. I had a gas card with 20 dollars on it, which I bought three weeks ago for roughly 10 dollars. I filled up half my tank and thus only used the subsequent discount I already had to get anywhere this week (which was mostly work, school, and friends’ places).
If you count CPK & Gas money, I spent roughly $16 this week. If not, I spent $0. At the same time, I cashed in my Piggy Bank and Chase freedom reward points to receive $12.77 and $23.88 respectively, making a net profit of 36.65. That’s also not to take into account the amount of work money I made this week which roughly equates to $474.42.
Free Activities
As a result, I had to engage in “alternative” activities for excitement in my life. This included the consumption of tea, bike riding with a couple of friends all the way to the Block of Orange (and avoiding personal consumption of Jamba Juice when arrived at said destination), running, reading, constructing swords and fighting/larping with them, and of course hiking @ The Griffith Conservatory. I reached the realization that even though these activities were “free”, they were still fun. Who would have thought sword battling with three people in someone’s backyard would have been an enjoyable activity? Of course, bike riding reminded me of my childhood since that is what me and my poor sister would do around the neighborhood when we were kids. Doing these activities taught me that having fun does not necessarily equate to spending money.
Free Stuff
At the same time, free doesn’t always mean a good end result. I was able to obtain a free movie ticket from KnowledgePanel for participating in their surveys (SUCCESS), and though that was a good thing, prizes on the Internet aren’t necessarily very good. I entered a raffle for a 100 Target gift card on HitPredictor, and also cashed in my points for 2 mystery CD’s. The picture of the prizes are below, and I’m going to be rather blunt in saying that the CD’s have terrible music in them (a rather subjective opinion). If anyone wants these said CD’s, I’d be happy to frugally hand it over to you for free.
The End Result: I saved money. And though I’m not going to spend $0 next week, I will be sure to equally engage in as many free activities as I do in spending activities. I wasn’t miserable this week despite not be able to “eat out”, and won’t be miserable for the following weeks if I choose to refrain from those said activities again. I give myself an A.
Next Week: Industry. Lose no Time. Be always employ’d in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary Actions.
I’ll take Rock Star Supernova from you if you don’t find anyone else to give it to. Even though free doesn’t always equal good, at least you’re not wasting money on discovering those things that you don’t like, so it’s still okay in that regard.