{"id":97,"date":"2010-01-16T13:40:33","date_gmt":"2010-01-16T20:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/dw_blog\/?p=97"},"modified":"2010-01-31T11:10:52","modified_gmt":"2010-01-31T18:10:52","slug":"old-dog-new-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/dw_blog\/old-dog-new-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"Old dog, new economy"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been spoiled my whole life. Never been poor.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s nothing to be ashamed of, no more than being poor is. It is simply our circumstance for a million reasons, including dumb luck – good, tragic or in-between. I’ve never been truly wealthy but until very recently I never had to pinch pennies, either.<\/p>\n

And, brother, I did not!<\/p>\n

About a year ago I lost my job and spent three months collecting unemployment checks. It put a temporary dent in our lifestyle and knocked a huge hole in my self-esteem which we won’t deal with in this report.<\/p>\n

(You’re welcome.)<\/p>\n

I did eventually get a new job but at just 25% the salary I had been used to for the past twenty years or so. 25%! Now we’re talking lifestyle dents Geico would just write off as a total loss.<\/p>\n

And then — this is the really funny part, the Oliver Hardy-like, slap-yourself-in-the-face consternation moment — I recently lost that new job, got yet another, newer one, and am earning yet less!<\/em><\/p>\n

Isn’t that a hoot!?<\/p>\n

I just bought a big bag of dry kidney beans.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dry kidney beans will be the metaphor for this epiphany and maybe my entire life.<\/p>\n

When my best high school buddy, Ray Hunter, and I moved into our first apartment in 1969 we went to the grocery store and bought a lot of stuff we didn’t know how to prepare, including a big bag of dry kidney beans. Ray’s mom always had some so we considered it a mysterious staple, a necessity. We also bought two steaks to celebrate our new independence and our first meal in our shared home.<\/p>\n

We bought chuck steaks and tried to fry them.<\/p>\n

Since that glorious, giddy evening at Albertson’s forty years ago I have never again purchased dry beans or chuck steak. I figured they were a terrific waste of money.<\/p>\n

And now, at 58, I’ve learned something drop-jaw amazing:<\/p>\n

Did you know kidney beans in the can cost more than twice as much as if you’re willing to buy them in a bag and simply soak them in water overnight?<\/p>\n

I know a lot of things about a lot of things but that’s something I didn’t learn until today. More to the point, though, is that even if I had known that, until now it wouldn’t have mattered a — well… a hill of beans to me.<\/p>\n

I recently bought the Albertson’s generic-brand of Grape Nuts<\/span>\u00ae<\/span> <\/strong>and it was three dollars less than the same size Post\u00ae<\/span><\/strong> brand box! THREE DOLLARS SAVINGS ON A SINGLE BOX OF CEREAL!<\/em><\/p>\n

For the first time in my adult life there is no such thing as “junk mail.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

I anticipate the daily arrival of retail coupons and supermarket ads as if they were Christmas cards or love letters!<\/p>\n

I’ve learned to make beef jerky for our dogs in the kitchen rather than spend twenty bucks for it at the pet store!<\/p>\n

The crockpot is my best friend!<\/p>\n

Somebody stop me before I buy a Flowbee<\/a>\u00ae <\/span>and start cutting my own hair!<\/p>\n

Saving money is wildly fun!<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’m clipping coupons, I’m rifling through cookbooks I’ve never opened, exorcizing all references to specific brands.<\/p>\n

Bless me and yet save me, I am a born-again-for-the-first-time penny pincher!<\/p>\n

And I promise —<\/strong><\/p>\n

…I swear to you!…<\/p>\n

— when I start turning my underwear inside out I will seek help.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Copyright 2010, Dave Williams. All rights reserved.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been spoiled my whole life. Never been poor. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, no more than being poor is. It is simply our circumstance for a million reasons, including dumb luck – good, tragic or in-between. I’ve never been truly wealthy but until very recently I never had to pinch pennies, either. And, … Continue reading “Old dog, new economy”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nOld dog, new economy : The Aging of Aquarius<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theagingofaquarius.com\/dw_blog\/old-dog-new-economy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Old dog, new economy : The Aging of Aquarius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I’ve been spoiled my whole life. 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