I do fresh flowers, too! From Trader Joe's - it makes me feel good.

Picking the garbage? Or shall we say curb shopping! Dh came home with a Little Tykes Country Kitchen and Sand box. The faucet was broken off and the decals were missing so I called the company and they sell replacement parts. I got a "replacement package" which also included play food and the phone that was missing, along with the faucet and decals for $6.40+ shipping. I would hate to buy one of those things new, the thought of all these giant plastic toys in landfills...

I am desperate for storage in Grace's room and found a great bookcase for $20 on Craig's List. It is the Pottery Barn Dollhouse bookcase and they never used it! I am also selling on there, too.

I'm all about the free these days, so library, library, library with the kids. They have crafts, babytime, reading programs, free museum tickets and dvd rentals...and used credit card miles to get tickets for Wizard of Oz musical. I am pretty frugal, though and did these things all along...

It's much larger than it appears.
{{gwi:1445544}}

We did a big splurge and supported the auto industry and bought a new mini-van. We went to buy certified pre-owned and discovered we did better buying brand new because the prices have come down so much and better interest rate.

Hmmm, well here is a biggish splurge. I just hired someone to remove the old knotty pine paneling from my den, insulate behind the walls, replace the big window, and put crown molding in the living room. This is kind of nuts since losing my job is a real possibility. I do have the cash to pay for it plus more to live on should I be "pink-slipped."

I have never been much of a splurger, but I continue to pay a lot for my hair and when I see a clothing item I want, I get it. I used to buy jewelry when I saw something I wanted (not the REAL stuff), but now I don't.

Not much. But we never have.
However, we ate out last night...6 of us for a grand total of $85 and that included the tip!! OK, it's a very reasonable buffet place, but that was our splurge. I'm not doing much for the economy except trying to keep US from being the receipients of already tapped welfare programs.
The economy didn't do much for me either....(think 401K->201K).

Deanna

We're flat broke because of the economy AND we're on a diet. Our splurge was fresh strawberries at $2.00/qt dipped in chocolate sauce.

We are not letting the media get us down. Don't listen to all the bad news folks! Sure there a lot of people losing jobs, but there are many people getting promotions and other businesses are doing quite well. We just put new windows in our home. We could not sell it for what we owe so we decided we are staying put for a while and wanted to upgrade. We also just bought a few new appliances. I know we are lucky to still have jobs and many folks do not. I feel blessed, but I also do not believe everything the media says and I think eventually our economy will turn around and we will be fine. Sure hope so.

Duane

We look forward to getting a quart of organic chocolate milk when we go to Indianapolis for groceries. It's $6 and tastes like drinking pure chocolate. Calories and cost, it's a good thing we go only once every week or two. ;-)

The recession is real. The economic numbers are real. Turning off your television doesn't change that. Give me a break. People are suffering.

I guess because the recession hasn't personally hit us we're not doing anything different, although I feel we're fairly frugal to start with. We too have been "stimulatin'" the economy, bought a new car in Dec (course, previous to that we didn't own one that had been made in this century) and have undertaking a few home improvements, which I thought were quite overdue. Oh, and a new washer & dryer are coming, I've been shopping these for a while, wanted a front loader partly for the energy savings and partly for the spin function as I hang out the clothes to dry quite often. And hopefully it will be easier for the kids to reach, they're a bit short to reach the top loader and recently I've had a hard time going up and down the stairs so they've been helping out in the laundry dept., bless their little hearts. Although they may not be thrilled to learn it's going to be part of their permanent duties!

The car was bought on credit, rest paid in cash, job is stable for now, we've been unemployed before (thus the schooling in being frugal) and feel like we'll deal with whatever comes along when it comes along.
I do feel for all those who are hurting, we have been there done that and it ain't fun.

Lisa

Maggie, I live in Detroit. You don't have to tell me the economy is in trouble. I read the paper and watch the news. We have the highest unemployment rate in the COUNTRY! So yes dear, I am not out of touch. Perhaps I didn't make my point as clear as I would have liked. We have one life to live here on earth. Many people are in trouble, but you know what? I have been unemployed when we had a so-called boom...remember silicone valley and all the billionaires were being created in the dot-com age, and then in real estate when values were being inflated to a ridiculous degree. I lived the same lifestyle then as I do now. I just want to say don't let all of the doom and gloom make your life miserable. We have ways to have hope, perservere and climb out of this. Good times will be had again. I just hope sooner rather than later. For those folks losing their homes and jobs, my heart aches for them. I have compassion. I'm just trying not to let every news story get me down and make this one life I have a miserable one. Happiness often is a choice.

To the topic at hand, my big splurge this year will be what it has been for the last decade. Soil for my containers to grow my heirlooom tomatoes. Tinkering in the garden and greenhouse gives me a peace that is soul enriching. Enjoy the little things in life. That is a good thing to do in any economic climate.

Duane

I think you may be right, Duane, that things will get better. I hope so! But I must say it's harder to be happy now that I am so worried than it was when things were better. I'm an optimist, but things can get you down.

I have no idea why you think REPORTING the news is the problem. It's the news! I always suggest that we treat TV and radio news like newspapers: Watch or listen to the news once or twice a day, just like we used to read the paper once a day. (How often do you reread a newspaper story?) That way you don't see the same news over and over again, waiting for an update. That's what makes it seem so much worse for some. Me, I'm a news junkie and want hard news, not fluff, and I miss old newspaper-style stories.

Since the lives of unstressed people are longer than the lives of stressed people, that one life here on earth may be a lot shorter for some of us than for others.

Thanks for clarifying, Duanne.

I agree with you Shermann. This 24 hour news cycle we have makes for some interesting stuff but the current crisis remains a deep one that has effected the entire world. We at least have safety nets in place in this country, which is not the case around the globe.

I don't have any problem with reporting the news. Truly I don't, although I do have to say good journalism is hard to come by these days. Most television news is mostly fluff stories, sports and weather. And Maggie, sometimes I think it might be to our benefit to turn off the t.v. and give the bad news a rest. I'm not saying ignore the obvious, but perhaps in this day and age it is too easy to let the constant bombardment of bad news affect us. Go for a walk in the park or around the block. Put in a funny movie and laugh. Get absorbed into a great book for an hour. We have t.v., radio, internet, news on our cell phones etc. to such a degree that maybe, just maybe we should tune it all out for a while. It isn't going to help to make ourselves sick over everything. That will only make it worse. Physically and mentally we can make ourselves unhealthy by dwelling on all the bad. Yeah, sometimes it is hard to be happy. Many of my friends, relatives and both neighbors on each side of me have lost their jobs in the last couple of months. And they owe more on their homes than they are worth, even if they could sell them, which they can't.

But, dang it, we as americans, and yes, other people in the world as well, have been through tough times. Our folks and grandparents went through the great depression and a couple of World Wars, not to mention Korea and Vietnam. They kept going, did what was needed to put food on the table, and our generation and the next can do the same. I'm done with this topic now. If you don't agree with me fine. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and we are lucky that in this country we can agree to disagree and be proud of that right.

Duane

I don't disagree with you, Duane. It just doesn't apply to many people that are trying to put food on the table and certainly are not sitting around watching CNBC. They don't have the luxury to decide if they are happy or not.

Duane I love your attitude!

We are not living much differently than we have in the past... but we were always pretty frugal. Maybe going out a bit less often but we don't give it a thought if someone wants to eat out instead of in. We have great Mom and Pop restaurants in town and avoid the chains.

As far as splurges? Well - I am redecorating the Florida room - fresh paint, new upholstery, etc and am already gathering ideas for the master bedroom. I guess all the redecorating is keeping me happy and not thinking about anything too serious. Give it a few weeks and I will be spending every free minute in the garden so my splurges will be outside stuff (plants, garden decorations, etc).

Alexa

Duane I love your attitude too!

We Splurged. Just booked a 5 night cruise to the Eastern Carribean.

Yep times are hard, business is slowing down to a crawl we're feeling it but life goes on and it's our only life so we better enjoy it every now and then.

This is the first time in 15 yrs my husband and I have gone away together for more than 3 days in a row. It's time.

Duane I like how you think.....

These times haven't affected us financially but it does give us pause on how we view our way forward.

My idea of a splurge is shopping for a specific item at , our local Oakville butcher or fish monger, or going to the St Lawrence Market in Toronto or maybe one of the fabulous Polish delis in West Toronto.

Outrageously expensive compared to the local super market but it makes me feel so good to buy something extravagant, cook it and enjoy a lovely meal with my best friend........sometimes I even let Clive join us! LOL

Three cheers! It's very good, indeed, to see that people are spending money! Those of us who have no money to spend because of these hard times are counting on those of you who do have money to spend to get the country and the world out of this mess! Buy! Spend! Splurge! The more the better! And now, not later.

We are not feeling the heat as much as other parts of the country. I do know and hate that people are suffering... I refuse to watch the doom and gloom on the television.

We are blessed, somewhat lucky and I have always been a bit frugal on most things in life. I enjoy my family and my home life more than anything. So that is where I concentrate most of my time and money.

I've been stimulating the economy by clearing land, replanting trees that were lost during the hurricanes and I'm having work done in my yard, finally!

I do splurge on the special personal things I do for myself. I will skimp on other things before I give that up! LOL! I'm here for one life and I'm living it the best way I know how and trying to feel good at the same time. We will not be going on vacation this year so I will have more money for the land.

Times are tough and I pray for all that are going through a hard time.

Given everything going on, I feel like this is a splurge although it's really just the result of procrastination - after almost three years in our home, we're finally having a front walkway, retaining wall and landscaping done in the front of the house. Found a great local small business to do the work and are thrilled so far.

Duane, I agree about not watching too many new reports, you're just adding to your own mental anguish when you hear it over and over. I turned off the TV, I can't stand to hear it anymore. If there were anything new it would be different and I've reached my threshold on the gloom and doom. Well, there's an exception, of course, I turned the TV back on to watch Michigan State beat UConn to get to the championship game. I'll turn it on again tomorrow night to watch them play against North Carolina. Yeah, I know, they aren't good enough. It's impossible. They couldn't beat Louisville and they couldn't beat UConn. Anyone who watches TV knows that too. Heck, even President Obama knew they couldn't make it to the Final Four. (grin)

Anyway...

My job is secure, but Elery's 401K took a huge hit. Ah well, we'll work a little longer. Unemployment in my county has just topped 18%, so that's one in five out of work. I'm well aware that there's a problem and it's significant, but it's nothing we haven't been through before and we'll be fine this time too. I'm hoping we pull out of this recession by the time Ashley finishes her internship and is looking for a job.

My splurge was going to Texas in February. I don't splurge much or often. Elery and I both drive vehicles that are 10 years old. Because we must maintain separate residences until retirement we have two house payments, two heating bills, two electric bills, and now with the farm, three property tax bills. Add two daughters in college and we don't splurge much.

It'll be way cheaper when we actually live together....

Annie

I've been without a full time job for two years. Most of my spare time is taken up either with working two or sometimes three part time jobs, or job hunting. I don't watch tv because I don't have one. Had one that only got local PBS station but it stopped working when things went digital. Had a VCR but it broke, can't afford a new one. I hate to be a party pooper, but when you are unemployed, you can't splurge. EVER. Not until you get back to working again. The only "splurge" I get is to post here, and to do free stuff online, since I have to pay for an Internet connection to do the consulting work I do. I splurged a couple of times this winter by turning the heat up to 70 degrees.

Friends give me stuff, that's alway nice. It's like Christmas. Visiting my folks over Christmas break was fun, they had all the food and heat my little heart desired. A trip to the library would be fun but I dont' have time, working too much. If you're employed and your job is secure, by all means SPEND and SPLURGE away, it will help those of us who are unemployed. And if you know someone who is unemployed, let me tell you, they are hurting, and hurting big time, particularly in the instances when the sole breadwinner is out of work. Do something nice for them, have them over for dinner, take them out to a movie, buy them a little indulgence that they will no way buy for themselves. Splurge on helping others.

My big splurge is having two kids in college! Alright that's not a splurge exactly, but for now, it's a major expense, major enough to keep me from spending a lot elsewhere, no matter what the state of the economy.

We don't eat out often (2-3 times a month); dvds come from the library (I'm fortunate to have access to two different but good library systems so I'm always flush with movies to watch); I can't remember the last time I bought new clothes; etc. But all my frugality is by choice, we're fortunate to be relatively secure in our jobs and making a reasonable wage.

My "big" upcoming splurge is an annual girls only trip to San Marcos for Outlet Mall shopping (and a local monthly flea market in Wimberley as well). I don't plan on spending a whole lot but it will be fun to get away.

Aside from that, home improvements are always on the forefront, but mostly on hold till college expenses die down.

Splurge on helping others.

Thank you, lpink for that thought and reminder!

This is the third time I have been unemployed for over a year. The first time was after I graduated from college. I survived on the leftovers from my parents. I still have some of the stuff I scrounged from the garage and basement and trash. My mom sometimes sees her old stuff at my house when she visits, and says, "Oh, that's what happened to that." She doesn't even remember throwing it out or giving it to me. The second and third times, I have been able to survive because I live very frugally when I am employed, so have a lot of savings. People are amazed at how I was able to save 20K in five years on a very limited income, but that's how I normally live.

I'll never forget the first time I went shopping after I got the job that ended my last 1.75 year unemployment stretch. I had gotten a job in a new city and as luck would have it my friend had just moved there and bought a house, so I was staying with him until I found a place to live. He didn't have a bath mat for the shower so I went to a home store to get one for him as a gift, and while I was there I also spied a spaghetti strainer which I bought for him also. It was so nice to see something and say, "Yes, I can get that for him as a gift." Also, during that same shopping trip I spied a little glass votive candle holder in the shape of a frog. Cost $5.00. I really liked it because I love votives and I love frogs, they are a powerful mythical symbol. It was the first time in two years I was able to buy something I wanted, not just needed. I call him magic frog and he goes with me when I move from place to place trying to stay employed. Every time I move to a new place I christen it by getting out magic frog. Right now he is packed away, hoping for the day I am again employed full time. BTW, I don't believe he is magic, that's just a name of a frog in a folk tale book I have.

Last year my friends sent me a spice kit from Penzeys because they visited and know how much I love cooking. Another friend send me a red nightgown. Another friend calls every couple of months to check in on me. Another friend invited me down to his place for Thanksgiving, and sent me to the store with a passle of money to buy food to cook up a big and elegant spread, knowing how much I love to cook. Those are my splurges, time with friends, staying at their house.

Hey, L, you get back to Michigan to visit your family you know you can stay with me, I'll take you blueberry picking and we'll make jam and I'll send you home with a ton of canned stuff. It's just so much more fun to can with "company".

Annie

lpink - what do you do for a living?

Lpink, I've met you and it's hard to understand how someone as bright and cheerful as you being unemployed.

I would love to remember exactly what you do for a living also.

Lpink is a college professor with a specialty in horticulture.

Annie

At least I think she's a "professor", they change what they call people so often....

Annie

I only have a Master's degree in education, hence my difficulty finding a full time college teaching job. I tell my students to call me "Master Pinkmountain," but they usually call me Professor, just out of habit. But technically professor should be reserved for appointed faculty, and I'm just an adjunct. "Instructor Pinkmountain" doesn't sound very tony. BTW, Pinkmountain is not my real last name but I would prefer not to post it on here.

It's true, even bright, talented and ambitious people can find themselves unemployed and struggle to find work! Particularly in a field like biology. It's great if you specialize in people, but I specialize in plants, ecosystems and water. And teaching people, not research. Once fall rolls around again I will be able to substitute teach too, since I am also a certified high school biology and environmental science teacher. I'm better at teaching college though. I apply for 3-5 jobs per month plus a constant string of other job-search related activities. It consumes my whole life. But if I find myself between temp. jobs this summer Annie, I may have time to come up and pick berries, or even cherries. My folks just sold their place in upper MI though, so I have no where to stay up there anymore. It was my dad's idea, he hated their place in Whitehall. Mom and I liked it but didn't have the right to force dad to maintain it.

We live a pretty good lifestyle and we're fortunate that our house is paid for and have no outstanding credit card bills. I keep one credit card and only use it for things that require one like a hotel or car rental. I make a purchase on it a couple of times a year so the cc company doesn't try and screw me for not using it enough or something LOL
On top of that I'm the king of 2nd hand!!! The male 2nd hand Rose. I never get a thing that aint been used. LOL
It's a complete turnaround to a few years ago. I cringe now at the thought of having to spend money on new when I can better second hand at a fraction of the cost.
That includes clothing as well, except for stuff like socks and shoes and underwear, sheets and mattress most of my stuff is hand me downs or from Value Village etc. I've got enough Polo Shirts and golf shirts to last me the rest of my life.. Most were never worn but were given me by my late dads best friends widow when he died last year. The man was a clothes horse.
Just bought a "new" car, it's 2 years old and should be good for another 8 I hope, or more.

I think what really changed my mind was how crappy and cheap all the new stuff is. Most of it is utter garbage.
My comeback on people who say they wouldn't buy second hand because they don't know where it came from etc is that those same people don't seem to have any problem sleeping on second hand beds ,mattresses and sheets in a hotel or eating from second hand plates and cutlery in a restaurant that have all been used by countless hundres if not thousands of people before them.

Now I'm talking about me here,, the one that I live with maybe not so much with the clothes etc.. buys new but he has no problems sitting on a second hand chair, that's what antiques are anyways aren't they LOL Or using my second hand stove that I featured here a while back, or the second hand dishwasher and fridge that came with this house. It all don't have to be new.
And then some of this 2nd hand stuff I buy I resell on Ebay for good money. In fact just last week I sold a $5 Singer knitting machine thingamebob for $202 plus shipping. That pays a bill or at least offsets all the other junk err stuff I buy LOL

We haven't been personally hit by the economic downturn, but DH & I started out with less than nothing (married young w/ college loans to pay off) and we've always been budget conscious.

Year before last we found a piece of land by a lake and built the home we hope to retire to someday. In the meantime, we are maintaining that as well as the house we're living in. Even though it is modest in size, building the lakehouse was the biggest splurge we could ever have imagined, but I'm so glad we did it. We would never consider making such a move now.

We travel there every weekend we can, and it is a manageable work commute for DH in the summertime. Our lifestyle there is very low key. Family and close friends visit often and our "splurges" are to provide brunches and casual meals. I recently bought a pizza stone & peel for making homemade pizza. I guess my cooking gear/toys are my major splurges. But we rarely eat out, except for at a family-owned breakfast place near our home on Sat. mornings when we can't be at the lake.

We snowshoe, cross-country ski and walk the dogs on the snowmobile trails in the winter. In the summer we kayak, fish, swim, hike and pick berries on the nearby mountain.

Duane made some good points. While we shouldn't be reckless, we ought to keep in mind that we'll be no better off living miserably than if we take an optimistic point of view.

Just be careful admitting what small things you enjoy. The government is listening and writing tax law as you speak.

This is the first recession I've held a full-time job during it. I'm not really certain what to do with the spending money I have. If I hunker down and quit spending it will make things worse for others. If I blow my cash and then lose my job I'll be kicking myself for spending like an idiot when I had some money.

It looks like inflation is really taking off. Two bags of basic Purina pet chow cost me $35 yesterday! My beer is up 10 cents per can. My generic painkillers are up 50% over the last prescription! LOL.. maybe I should spluge on a cemetary plot.

Oh well... at least I still have the GW/CF!

: )
lyra

California sales tax just went up this month to over 9%. Our car registration is also going up drastically, and my business is being taxed more from all directions. At least health insurance, which we pay 100% for our employees ONLY went up 7.5% this year - I was expecting worse.

I am doing my own mini tax revolt by buying anything I can online from vendors such as Amazon, who does not (yet) charge California tax.

Do I feel bad about that? Heck no. California state government is corrupt and vile. To heck with them. I already pay the highest state personal income tax in the country, along with a slew of other taxes, state and fed. I am rather sick of the whole dang thing. Governments must tighten their belts when their revenues are down, just as they loosened them for a full-on pigout when money was rolling in.

Wow - sorry for the soapbox venting!

Splurge? I am personally doing well and not letting myself be psyched out by the media. I have worked my knuckles off and scraped by and eaten lots of tuna noodle casseroles to build my business and lifestyle and support employees and share with family and now I'm middle-aged and dang it, I am going to enjoy myself.

Love, G-Dub :-)