i recently got a great deal on the most fun vehicle i've ever owned, and even more recently got a bag full of clothes for $17.48 at Goodwill on a special "everything's $2 day". i am stoked! yes, all of my life i've been a thrift-queen, frugal-franny, and digger-in-bargain-bins. you know that lady whose face you don't see because she's buried under the crazy bargain-bin pile? yep, that's me. but i have no shame. i've learned to love and embrace this part of me - heck, i'm even quite proud of it. it's this thriftiness (i choose to think of it as a conscious awareness practice), combined with a lot of trust, which has given me what i consider to be the abundant life i've always lived. i want to note that included in abundance is the immense generosity of many loved ones and the universe, which has plenty for all. but i highgress ... where was i?
oh yes, i was speaking of sales, bargains, coupons, deals, freebies, barters, mark-downs, wholesale, gifts, airline miles, etc - LOVE them. however, the down side of this is when you let your heart shift a bit more to the greedy or penny-pinching side. i've gone there in the past and tried out 'freebie websites' to get deals and make some money, but ended up wasting a lot of time and energy, and losing money in the end. i realized i'd become too focused on the deals and what i could get, rather than what i actually needed. and it bit me in the ass. duly noted for future - keep motives clear.
so, this being the holiday season and all, i thought i'd write some thoughts about this particular passion of mine in hopes that maybe some of you would become more conscious about where your money is going or not going, as you peruse the aisles at Shops-a-lot or the Web that wants to trap you and feed you to the Spider of Commerce (insert creepy music). there's tremendous satisfaction in knowing that you managed to get groovy stuff for your loved ones and still have money to pay rent next month. believe me.
so, be creative, be wise, be aware. and look for the "buy one get one free" sign!
