(no subject)

[raincitygirl]

OK, new rule for the next four weeks. Between Saturday, October 1 (today) and Saturday, October 29 I will not spend any money online. No music, no DVDs, no books, no ordering clothes (I have plenty already). I SHALL be strong!

Really interesting article from Obsidian Wings re: how humans never migrated out of Africa. Oh, but they did, I hear you say. Go read the article, and you'll see what OW is talking about.

On a related note, has anybody read Chris Stringer's newish book, Lone Survivors: How we Became the Only Humans on Earth? It looks intriguing, but it's expensive and I made a rule which I intend to keep. Also, it's supposed to be controversial. If it's good, I may buy it on October 30.

How is everyone on this rather cloudy and depressing-looking Saturday?

Comments

[madripoor_rose]

You can do it!

Actually raining here. I'm plugging away at yet another old videotape, and making some chicken gravy to freeze because I had some broth at the best-by date.

[raincitygirl]

Thank you for the support. It's going to be difficult. Chicken gravy sounds yummy on a cold and rainy day.

My handyman arrives at 10 am (so 40 minutes from now) and I just finished taking EVERYTHING out of my biggest closet so he can do his thing. Now I want to lie down before he gets here, but the bed is piled high with stuff out of the closet. Maybe I can nap on the couch. Oh, and YMW is pissed at me for moving everything around. Hopefully she'll get over it.

[saturnofthemoon]

No online shopping for a month? You've got a lot of willpower.

[raincitygirl]

Actually I don't have a lot of willpower, which is why this will be an exercise in agony!

[saturnofthemoon]

Stay away from Amazon. :)

[ancarett]

Drizzly here. I've done all sorts of errands - picking up a historical mystery from the library on the rec of another online friend, pet stuff, groceries galore, etc.

We chatted with Eldest as she was walking home from a long study session at Robarts Library and coached Youngest about how to best study for a midterm this week.

Now I'm roasting pork tenderloins with root vegetables to serve for dinner. Smelling lovely!

[raincitygirl]

Yeah, it's started drizzling here too. Yay for getting the errands done early on Saturday. Glad you had a chat with Eldest, and I will cross my fingers Youngest does well on her midterm.

Yummy, yum, yum. I may just fly a few time zones over and invite myself to dinner!

[out_there]

I've had to set my alarm for church because I keep sleeping in to 1030am if no alarm is set. I don't feel that tired but I clearly needed the sleep.

Otherwise, I spent my Saturday watching Penny Dreadful s2.

Between Saturday, October 1 (today) and Saturday, October 29 I will not spend any money online.

It's terribly rude, but I almost want to ask how much you usually spend online. Mostly because my first reaction was "oh, that's easy, who actually spends money on that stuff every month?" and now I'm wondering if the answer is everyone but me. Hmmm.

Then again, I guess my discretionary funds end up being spent at Bunnings (home improvements) and occasional meals out/take away food. It's just a different form of spending.

[raincitygirl]

Ooh, I haven't seen S2 yet. Please don't tell me anything. It's good that you're getting lots of sleep, but awkward if you have to go to church.

It's easy to spend money online, at least for me. A book here, a few songs there, and I generally buy about a DVD a month. Plus, there have been some great sales at the two places I buy clothes (I loathe clothes shopping in person), but just because something's 40% off and returnable doesn't mean I NEED it. The clothing is more of an occasional thing, but I now have plenty of clothes for autumn and winter.

The other stuff (books, DVDs, music) doesn't seem like much at the time, but when I total it up after the credit card statement arrives, I'm usually, "Wow, I managed to spend more than I thought I had spent." It's not a huge sum of money, but it's a drip, drip, drip of small amounts. I've got to get tougher with myself, getting books and DVDs out of the library, etc.

So in other words, I'm not going to give you a dollar amount (the dollar amount varies each month, anyway), but it's easy to do, especially if you hate, loathe and despite going into physical stores.

[out_there]

but it's a drip, drip, drip of small amounts.

that is it, isn't it? If you can control those little drips, it's amazing how the bank balance stops leaking away.