By Anthony Donnelly
Saving money and getting healthier must certainly rank in most people’s top 10 list, not only smokers’. I’m surprised more people aren’t smoking, especially with America still stuck in the quagmire of a recession, unemployment squeaking up close to 10% (an indicator of a depression), and a stimulus plan from our Administration that can only cause greater inflation and a huge tax burden for future generations. I offer this article as a light-hearted, potentially useful post to cheer up an otherwise dreary economic outlook.
Being as I’m heavily involved with the barter industry and saving my clients thousands of dollars via my Merchants Barter Exchange companies, I’m always on the lookout for helpful tips and suggestions for people to become more efficient and save money. I’ve read many money-saving tips online, some ranging from very useful, all the way to the ridiculous. I’ll let you decide which are which!
One woman was promoting watching TV via the internet rather than paying for cable – great, if you like the shows that are covered online (or are willing to break the law and download illegal dvds!) Another suggested using the paper in junk mail for printing off emails – I pose the question, if it’s really even necessary for her to print the emails off in the first place? Wasn’t that the whole point of a ‘paperless’ environment? Some obvious money-saving tips for eating out less, cooking at home and brown-bagging your lunch, are just common sense suggestions, but does it really make economic sense for everybody? I live alone, and don’t have much time, so for me it’s actually more economical not to dine in.
I’m glad to read that there are many commentaries about neighbors and neighborhoods bartering with each other. It really makes a lot of sense and is a well-proven method to save a whole lot of money. Let’s say you hate yard work, but can’t afford a lawn service any more. I’m sure if you ask around your neighbors you’ll find a helpful person with a riding mower (perhaps even a teenager that needs something to do!) and you can do an oil change or tinker on their vehicle while they prune your yard. Maybe you love to paint, but hate to cook – this might be a good one for me! I’d love to have a neighbor cook for me for a month in exchange for painting their house.
But what about smokers’ saving money…? Yeah, well this one really is up to you to decide – personally I’d rather go cold-turkey, but each to their own! I wish I could remember the site where I read this wonderful tip, but this post was really only an afterthought. If you want to save on the increasing cost of cigarette smoking (wait for it…) check the public ashtrays and the sidewalk! There are lots of half-finished cigarette butts lying around and they’re free.
Like I said, this was meant for comic relief, I hope you enjoyed this little ray of sunshine in an otherwise cloudy Obama-filled socialist day.
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Anthony Donnelly is a majority licensee with Merchants Barter Exchange, blogger, writer, and really bad golfer. For more information about saving money with barter, or owning your own MBE location and making money during this tough economic period, click here: http://barterfranchise.com
