owlectomy

meaghanchan posted about the cost of living, which reminded me of the most hilarious financial advice book ever. "Young, Broke, and Fabulous," by Suze Orman.

I concede that there are people in the world who do need this advice:

-City dwellers... you don't need to take the taxi home ALL the time, because it's expensive. Just take the taxi when it's dangerous to take public transportation.
-You do need a car if you don't live in the city... but you don't have to trade it in after three or four years. Try to keep it for six or seven.
-You don't need to see a movie every single week. Think about how much money you can save by cutting it to two movies a month.
-How about waiting eight weeks between haircuts instead of six? (yes, that's WEEKS).
-Don't dry clean ALL your clothes. Of course, dry-clean the ones that are dry-clean only, but if you're just being lazy taking your washable clothes to the dry-cleaners, don't.
-Bring a lunch from home instead of spending $10-15 on lunch every day.

(On that last point, I must confess I don't actually bring lunches from home very often, but I have canned soup on the days I am at home, and don't spend all that much at the cafeteria).

Sometimes you read a financial book like this one and say, "...Oh. I'm not stupid with my money after all."

Should I be talking about living frugally when I just spent over $100 on fabric for a costume I'll get one or two uses out of? Well, maybe not. But I'm young, broke, and a heck of a lot more fabulous than someone who's spending all their hard-earned cash on seeing a movie every week and taking the taxi home. ;)