Cure? Is there a cure????? I think you are outa luck on that one Kathleen. LOL I keep telling myself to just not go to any of the stores that have the neat dishes and accessories--but I do love to browse and see all the pretty things. However, looking makes me want some of those and more of that! Even my little 4 year old GD told me she has the "I wants", I told her I have the same problem. I asked her if she was ready to go to work so we'd have more money to buy things. She said "Gramma, I don't know how to work, but we could ask my Daddy to give us some money so we could buy them!" Out of the mouths of babes! LOL Of course I told her I thought that was a wonderful idea! ;o) Luvs

If you should happen to be a GM retiree ... ... I'll bet that you're wondering just what "your means" is to be. Had I suggested, eight years ... five years ... ago ... ... that one of these days GM might be considering going bankrupt ... you'd have laughed me out of town! I'm not suggesting that I considered that a possibility, myself - I didn't. Will you let me change my recommendation that *everyone* should have at least 3 months' worth of income, but better 6 - 9 months, or, even better, a year's worth of income in case the one that you'd been counting on ... died? How about - five years worth? These are uncertain times in which we live. And about to get uncertainer. I'm feeling sad about the folks that I've recommended that they build those 3 mos. to a year of financial cushions ... who chose not to do so - for whatever reason. I'm not big on, "I told you so". Dad used to say that it did no good to cry over spilled milk. Better to go hunting for a hungry cat ... or a rag or a mop. Good wishes for having your financial house in order - it sure is nice to have some wigglin' room. ole joyful

cowboyind, Here I thought you were just getting a "buzzz" out of it. (;^)) Hadn't noticed that, as a matter of fact. Whether your message was hypothetical or not - the issue of the number of hypothetical hours remains the same. We earn "before-tax" money, but buy (most, i.e. non-deductible) goods with after-tax money. Which makes the concept of whether we want to exchange that amount of effort for so much money to buy certain goods even more relevant, for the number of hours is (almost) *always* larger. Another good idea along this line is, if we think that we really do want to buy the item, to ask ourselves whether we might be able to arrange to get the item at even less expense using another channel. For example, buy a (used) item at an auction, estate sale, etc. where there are quite often some really good bargains to be found. But - take care. Be sure that you know the market value of items that you desire before going, and keep your emotions in check. Sometimes, in the heat of an auction, people get their egos involved and bid items up to higher than retail value. Linens and some household accoutrements often go for next to nothing at auctions. With, often, a number of other itmes in a box - that you may be able to sell individually later in garage sales for more than you paid for the whole box, originally. So, you got what you wanted free - didn't you? Who can beat that? Unless you can get someone to pay you to take certain items off their hands. How often have you run on to such offers? Garage sales are a good source, as well. I bought a couple of (snmall) radios last year for $1.00 and $2.00. Good wishes to you and yours, ole joyful

Well, after reading your further posts I think it's sorta a cute idea but certainly not useful in the long haul. My personal suggestion would be to say stop trying to find cheaper TP & concentrate on building wealth. A good place to start that process is by getting more education; no matter your current level...get more. Also, a music degree is lovely but unlikely to be useful in creating wealth. :) Learn how to grow your wealth (probably will mean even more education for many people), learn to diversify your money yourself (mutual funds only create wealth for those who sell them to you & the fund managers), pound into your brain the difference between earned income, dividends, & capital gains then set goals to reduce your dependence on earned income, learn to use leverage properly with acceptable risk (yes, that's not only possible, it's necessary build real wealth), set an annual budget & strive to fund that budget annually - not monthly (an annual budget was the single most important thing we taught our kids to strive for after their education...again, this may require even more education so choose your classes wisely), learn to think like a CFO not the CEO, & I could go on but I think you get the idea. You can't save your way to true wealth. It's created by a combination of education, putting forth effort to make good networking connections, and then learning how to make your money work for you. We tried the saving your way to financial freedom thing...it didn't work. Yep, we had a savings account. Good for us. But, it wasn't wealth. It just meant the wolf wasn't yapping at our door every month. DH went back to school (started life as a math high school teacher) & got his Juris Doctorate. We had kids & he went to night school - took 5 years. We incurred student loans that took many years to pay off. So what? The income that degree provided unlocked doors that would have been paddlelocked before getting that education. It didn't stop there either...he's retired now & still taking courses. Just getting the education though isn't enough to create wealth - there are millions of non-wealthy liberal arts degree owners in America. Choose wisely. Don't forget to make networking contacts while in school. Many of America's mega-wealthy met while in school. This is less in the technology field but the concept is still likely to yield powerful results 20 years later. I know, I know...we're supposed to be offering ideas about how to stretch a dime. But, I'm giving an alternative. Rather than saving a dime...earn another dime. It's easier & works better if your goal is to create true wealth. It may even mean postponing (not giving up) your desire to live in a rural area away from cities, crowds, yada yada. You will have to go where there are jobs available in your chosen field until you're no longer relying on earned income. /tricia (who is recovering from a tough couple days of doctor's appointments & crabby, but honest)