Welcome to The Underground Economy. It is a great place to really save $$$$ by opting out of the usual materialistic mindset. I was an Economics major and know a bit about the workings of ‘the system’. While I appreciate forums, blogs and advice on specifics on how to save money, I think there is something fundamental being missed here. You need to devote all of your free, non-working hours to follow on all of the great details on how to save pennies, dimes and dollars, but that is just it. We can’t keep up. We can’t save enough to get ahead with this lousy economy and prices rising so fast. Also, none of us have the time to follow all of the great advice that is out there, and besides, as I said before, we are missing the boat.
We don’t need to know how to save money on gas, not use dryer sheets or get out of debt. What we need to know is HOW TO CHANGE OUR MINDS! We are programmed into thinking we need to spend when we really need to LEARN HOW NOT TO WANT TO SPEND. This is where the Underground Economy forum comes in. The members who want to share their ‘frame of mind’ that makes them a member of the Underground please post. Post about how your are earning more by spending less. Let’s talk about the value of time, hidden costs of watching TV and why we spend when we don’t need to. In this regard I would like to share an article written in another group I belong to. I asked the author and he thrilled for me to share his wisdom with you. Here you go.
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STEVEN IVORY: Old Fashioned Modern Man
*The twenty-something man installing my smoke detectors immediately
stopped his casual patter and focused on the sight in my bedroom. "What
is that?" he asked.
"It's called a television."
"I know that. What's that on top of it?" He was serious. I
explained that the antenna, a.k.a. rabbit ears, provides the television
a viewing picture.
Struggling with this concept, he asked if the antenna allowed me to
get more channels than a cable or satellite hook up. I told him the
antenna only afforded me "regular TV"--local and network programming.
He finished his installation job in wary silence, wearing on his
face the strategically composed expression you see on would-be victims
in low budget horror flicks, feigning calm in the sinister shadow of an
ax murderer.
The kid probably never met a person without cable, and thus never
met someone who's never seen one episode of "The Sopranos;" who wouldn't
recognize a single member of actor Adrian Grenier's "Entourage" and
hadn't seen "Sex In The City" or "South Park" until the reruns came to
"regular TV."
Then again, he probably doesn't know anyone who's never owned a
microwave oven, either--or an iPod, or anyone who has never texted a
message or used a Blackberry.
But his age has little to do with it. Friends my age and older are
astonished that I've never used an ATM and that I still pay my bills by
so-called snail mail. My round, shiny chrome Toastmaster was already
30 years old when I found it at a West Hollywood yard sale 20 years
ago. It's still toasting bread.
My new cell phone is only my third, ever. Clerks gathered around to
gape at my retired flip model as if it were a relic from an Egyptian
tomb. They said it was rare for a cell phone to last nearly ten years.
I told them that if you use a phone to make and receive phone
calls--and not play games, watch TV, films and videos or hit people in
the head with it--then it probably will last for a while. They were
dismayed that I didn't want a phone that took pictures, but I needed a
phone, not a camera.
Right about now you're probably thinking I churn my own butter.
The truth is that I love technology. Inventions that make life easier
are testament to man's vast ingenuity. I marvel at the computer age and
bow down to the Internet, even if I genuflect via dial-up. I believe
space travel is as important as the continued exploration and
understanding of planet Earth itself.
However, the wholesale embrace of technology doesn't always serve
us cerebrally. Our blind trust in engineering often equals to an
increasing mistrust in ourselves.
Take the Pod Person on the news the other day whose automobile
Global Positioning System (G.P.S.) instructed him to make a right turn.
He did--even though he could clearly see he was heading onto railroad
tracks that "weren't supposed to be there," complete with oncoming
train. Bring back good ol' yesteryear, when real men drove the wrong
way for days on an empty tank without stopping for directions.
Call me weird, but I enjoy standing in line at the post office and
the bank. It is not a matter of pursuing more expedient ways to do
these things; in addition to business, the Human Experience is why I go
to these places: the sights, the sounds, my Latino brother selling 20
avocados for a dollar, etc.--PEOPLE!
Nothing against supermarket U-Scan machines, but if I must pay
exorbitant prices for my nourishment, I will not deny myself the
opportunity of brief engagement with a living, breathing check out
person.
I'm not saying I couldn't find some measure of pleasure in walking
around with two thousand songs strapped to my waist. But if, when out in
the world, I nullify my senses with music, I miss what I can't get
within my four walls or through a headset: the enchanting rhythms and
nuances of this wonderful event called life.
Admittedly, none of this has anything to with cable TV--except that
when I did subscribe to it, way back in the 90s, I somehow considered it
an alternative to socializing. Sadly, for millions of us the Internet
has become a chief source of that. The other day, when my online
carrier had problems, I panicked: how would I communicate with the
outside world? Meanwhile, the "outside world," strolled past my window.
When was the last time you uttered a kind word to an absolute
stranger (that you weren't trying to sleep with)? I say random,
organic communication is a space age idea whose time has come!
Recently, someone familiar with my muted relationship with
technology, reprimanded me. "You gonna look around and find that the
world has passed you by," he spat, standing under the annoyingly
incessant blinking light on a little phone clipped to his ear like a
fashion accessory.
At least when the world does clamber by, without anything stuffed
in my ears, I'll be able to hear their footsteps. In that, I take a
strange and unaccountable comfort.
This article puts its finger on the KEY to getting out from under and making your life as rich as the value you place on everything. It is our only hope because otherwise, no matter how ‘frugal’ you are you will never get ahead.
A New Philosophy
January 30th, 2008 at 12:31 am
January 30th, 2008 at 01:16 am 1201655772
I didn't read everything, but whole-heartedly agree that the mind is the first and most important change necessary towards a better financial future.
January 30th, 2008 at 01:36 am 1201656965
Cheers!
January 30th, 2008 at 02:04 am 1201658687
Please see my own blog for a continuation of my thoughts.
January 30th, 2008 at 02:47 am 1201661237
Am I a member of the Underground Economy? Not yet. I will in February, as I circulate/swap/sell my books and get rid of furniture I don't need. I can't say my expenses have gone down from not watching television, or from using the bus more than the car, as those savings get eaten up by consuming locally grown foods and increasing energy costs. I've read Juliet Schor and know all about the "a television is a 24-hour salesperson in your home" concept. I do buy used clothes and furniture.
January 30th, 2008 at 05:53 am 1201672439
FYI - I have a 30 yr old cell phone, namely none. Somehow we all made it through just fine without one.
January 30th, 2008 at 06:16 am 1201673799
January 30th, 2008 at 06:23 am 1201674202
The forums make it a little easier for give and take discussion. The general discussion forum might be a good place to bring up particular topics that you seek input on/
January 30th, 2008 at 02:01 pm 1201701709
January 30th, 2008 at 06:41 pm 1201718518
February 16th, 2008 at 09:05 pm 1203195956