bye-bye land line telephone

[gfretwell]

This one works pretty good. I have 2 transmitters, one in the house and one on the roof of my screen cage. Between them I get pretty close to that 300'

[HerHusband]

Comcast cable internet is crazy expensive, but I don't have any other options for broadband internet.

All I get from Comcast now is internet service. They do have a VOIP phone service I could bundle with it, but it still costs more than I can get through other providers.

Anthony Watson

[HerHusband]

Ahh... 45. I remember 45... Sort of. Well, not really at all. :)

If I had saved all the money I've wasted repetitively on little things (soft drinks, bottles of wine, dinners out, travel, etc.) I would be a wealthy man.

Still, it's better to enjoy life as it comes. I plan for retirement, but could easily die tomorrow. Make the most of every day... I'll never be 45 again.

Anthony Watson

[Don Y]

Yup. When folks exclaim over some of the monies I pay for equipment, tools, etc. I just point out the "excesses" (IMO) that I see in their purchases: dress shoes, vacations, dinners, hiring out for things they can easily do themselves, etc. When they think about those and see them as NOT excesses, I tell them "I see *my* purchases the same way!"

We don't plan on being a "burden" to anyone (including each other) in our old age. OTOH, we've seen our share of friends dying before they had a chance to enjoy "retirement" (or, whatever you call the portion of your life when YOU call the shots).

Or, folks squander that time on activities that we consider "sad" (i.e., work your whole life to reward yourself with days of sitting in front of the TV??)

[Stormin Mormon]

I've known a couple people over the years, long enough to see how they spend money. I've come to the conclusion that each person has some hard and fast rules. And some strong rules. Often, the hard and fast rules make no sense to me.

One former friend totally refused $10 gas money so I could take him to a store out of town to save $75 or so. Aparently, "RULE: NEVER GIVE FRIENDS MONEY" was louder than "save $75".

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Stormin Mormon:

One rule that stuck with me was "Never spend more than 33% of your gross income".

Stationed at Hickam AFB in Hawaii, working the swing shift, and hitch-hiking into Waikiki every morning to go surfing on different occasions I happened to get rides with two different old guys.

The first one was selling stainless steel cookware door-to-door and driving a clapped out old car - because he needed the money to eat. His story was that, when he was young, he always had a new car, was always ready to throw his money around for a good time.... and now he was 65 and living hand-to-mouth.

The second guy had been a bartender all his life. He was a good 10 years older than the first guy - driving a new rental car, and staying at one of the top hotels in Waikiki. His story was: "Every dollar I ever earned, I divided into thirds: one third for Uncle Sugar (i.e. taxes), one-third for me (to be spend), and one-third for the bank (savings)..... I'm not what anybody would call rich, but the world is my oyster."

Needless-to-say, the second made an impression.

I never managed to fully live up to the 33% rule, but came pretty close

- and I have to say the guy was definitely on to something.

[Don Y]

What people "value" seems to vary, greatly.

Also, those "values" typically change over time.

I tend not to "want much". OTOH, I've always been able to buy whatever it is that I wanted (as long as I wasn't being unrealistic in my desires).

One observation that hit home when I was younger was how much "kids" (apparently) cost! A guy I worked with was excited to be *finally* purchasing a new microwave oven (back when microwave ovens were $500 appliances). I couldn't understand his excitement: first, a microwave oven is just "functional"... it's not a "toy" of any kind (to get excited over); second, the fact that his comments suggested he had been PLANNING this purchase, for some time. I.e., that he didn't just go out and BUY one when he decided he needed/wanted it!

I knew he made roughly the same pay as me. And, their income should have been roughly comparable to mine. So, why wouldn't he be able to just buy what he wanted, when he wanted it? (no, not a substance abuser so what could be soaking up all of his income?)

Then, realized the key difference was that they had kids and we didn't! ("Wow! Could kids make THAT big a difference in lifestyle??")

[Of course, his wife might have been a clothes horse or they may have had some unusual medical needs -- youth doesn't guarantee freedom from health issues...]

[Micky]

I almost left one of mine outside all night, with rain scheduled for tomorrow morning. I had to get out bed at 2AM to get it, and now 2 hours later, I'm still up. At least it didn't have any dew on it.