THE GOLDMINE
While the costs of housing, medical care, food, utilities, and insurances (NEEDS) continue to rise crippling regular folks, there is a goldmine of free entertainment and information. I sound like an old woman talking about walking to school in the snow, but it's true. We are so rich.
MUSIC- FREE
When I was kid, I'd wait until they played my favorite songs on the radio. I would have a cassette tape in my boombox and my finger ready to push the record button. As a teenager, we would drive 30 minutes to the independent record store to buy alternative music. Back then, I must have spent $120 a year on music. Today, I can't tell you the last time I bought a music album. You can hear any song online for free anytime you want. Instantly! No digging through used music stores with fingers crossed. No begging for a friend to burn you a copy of their album. No dropping $14 on an album when you only really liked 3 songs. No feeling devastated when your boombox ate your beloved mix tape or your CD started skipping. What a goldmine!
ARTICLES/NEWSPAPERS- FREE
Where do I even begin? Ranger Rick magazines? I'm kidding. My father was always clipping articles from the newspaper. We would read the funny pages together and play hocus focus. On Sunday, we'd check the sales ads, news stories, weather forecast, and the job section for employment opportunities. For the cost of a dollar, all that information was definitely worth it. I mean EVERYONE read the newspaper! No one reads the paper now. By the time the newspaper gets published, the news is already old. Today, you can get instant news, weather reports, job listings, craigslist, what's happening in your town and world for FREE. You can also find the sales flyers for any store online and even check to see if an item is in stock!
TELEVISION/MOVIES- FREE
It hurts to think about all the late fees I've given to a Blockbuster. Do you remember walking around the store to find a movie and waiting in line to pay for it? Or, all the times they ran out of the popular movie? Now you can watch a movie anytime you want. You don't have to rush to some independent theater or film festival to catch an obscure movie. The last movie we paid to see was Wise Blood on Amazon for $3.00. We didn't even leave the couch and within minutes we were watching this offbeat 1979 film. We quit paying for cable 2 years ago and don't miss it. We save a thousand dollars a year, read more books and still watch what we want online.
ADVICE- FREE
Do you remember when you could only get advice from people you actually knew in real life? And how bad that advice was? Now you can get free advice from EXPERTS on anything from getting a wine stain out of your carpet to what's that sound coming from your car. Just thinking about all the money and heartache I've saved by googling advice from people that actually know what they are talking about. What a treasure!
LONG DISTANCE- FREE
RECIPES- FREE
MAPS- FREE
For years these freebies have been paid for by advertising. I have never clicked on a side bar ad EVER to buy something. NOT one time. Have you? I just can't imagine this gravy train going on too much longer. So print out some free recipes today!
WHAT'S IN YOUR FREEZER?
I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to go to Walmart anymore. It's clear we are shopping with lunatics, and we need to act accordingly. Living in our small town, it's almost impossible to give it up completely, but I'm shooting for once a month. How can I stock up for a once a month superstore run? Well, I'm still working out the details. One thing I know for certain, I REALLY need to clean out my freezer! I will no longer use my freezer as a very expensive junk drawer of randomness. I'm eating through my freezer and then I'm strategically filling it back up. Every inch of that bad boy needs to be filled efficiently and packed with stuff that we get at Walmart (God willing.)
Think about it. What is really in your freezer? Why are we paying electricity costs to run a storage unit for freezer burned and rejected foods? Is your freezer an icy crap holder? Or, is it a tool? Go explore, eat through what you can, and fill it up with stuff you actually like.
WORTH A LISTEN
Darling Dear by Jackson 5. My summertime soul kick continues. I think the world needs more la-la-las so here's one more:
The La La Song by Roddie Joy. It's a velvety love song with la las and HAND CLAPS. What more could you want?
Thank you so much for stopping by and reading. Keep praying for all those who have died this week and their families. Don't be discouraged by the people who say thoughts and prayers aren't enough. That's hogwash! Praying is the most POWERFUL thing we can do in the fight against evil. Be safe and God be with you!
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