So, after writing my Just a Buck entry, I started thinking about the things you can buy with a dollar. It's pretty sad, actually, but even going to a dollar store, the things that are actually a dollar are few and far between. I kind of want to start suing every dollar store that I find for false advertising, but I'm too lazy.
Now, I like nice things, don't get me wrong, but I also hate spending large amounts of money on things that I could buy for cheaper. Ok fine, I guess that makes me stingy, but I like to think of it as thrifty. I was amazed, as I was grocery shopping the other day, to see a semi-large pack of licorice on sale for a dollar, so I quickly grabbed it and threw it in my basket along with my staples. At another store, I saw these "throw blankets" on sale for a dollar each, and it seemed like a great steal so I grabbed two of those. Hey, just a dollar each, right!?!
Finding something to buy that is actually a dollar is like finding a little treasure, and something in my brain just goes "You MUST capitalize on this NOW!" So I do. Well, before I knew it, I'd probably spent $10 on one dollar items. Those sneaky stores! They are really good at finding ways to take my money.
I wonder how much money I've spent on one dollar items when it's all added up. Probably at least a couple thousand dollars in my life.
I guess every buck really does count.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Just a Buck
I don't carry cash very often. Occasionally I'll pull a twenty out of the ATM when I know that I'm going to a poker game, a restaurant where I'm going to need to tip, or a place that I know only accepts cash, but for the most part its plastic only. The last time I got cash out of an ATM was probably 2 months ago.
I pulled a twenty out then, and have been spending it down over the pas couple months at random places when I didn't want to or couldn't use my card. $20 to $15, then to $8, and then to $4, and finally to $1. Just one. No change left over even. A single dollar. In fact, I forgot I had it most of the time. Every time I opened my wallet I would see that single lonely bill just sitting there, waiting to be used. But it didn't mean much to me, even the extremely poor college student that I am. I mean, what can you buy with a dollar these days anyway?
A worthless dollar.
However, as I exited the grocery store today to see the fairly well dressed pregnant woman uncomfortably approach me and explain that her credit card didn't work and she needed gas to get back home--even a dollar would help--my mind immediately flew to the single lonely bill. The worthless dollar. The dollar that meant so much to this woman whose watery eyes were begging for anything. I opened up my wallet and gave her all the cash I had. One dollar. She sounded so grateful as she gingerly placed the bill in her purse and thanked me.
On the way home I was thinking. I carried that worthless bill around for weeks. It started off a beautiful crisp twenty, and as time progressed it became smaller and smaller until the single wrinkled denomination became the backdrop to my wallet. But it still had a purpose. The whole time I was carrying around that extra 1.00 grams of paper so that I could give it to her and she could get home. Every time I went to school, it was with me. Every time I went to practice, it was with me. Every time I pulled my wallet out of my pocket and carelessly tossed it on my desk before I went to sleep, the dollar was in there. Waiting. The twenty became reduced because I wanted a pack of gum from the gas station, and further because of an In-N-Out burger, and even further because of a chocolate bar, but the whole time, that one dollar was saving itself for someone that really needed it.
A priceless dollar.
I know someone out there is carrying a dollar for me. I'm going to need it someday, and I'll be very grateful.
I pulled a twenty out then, and have been spending it down over the pas couple months at random places when I didn't want to or couldn't use my card. $20 to $15, then to $8, and then to $4, and finally to $1. Just one. No change left over even. A single dollar. In fact, I forgot I had it most of the time. Every time I opened my wallet I would see that single lonely bill just sitting there, waiting to be used. But it didn't mean much to me, even the extremely poor college student that I am. I mean, what can you buy with a dollar these days anyway?
A worthless dollar.
However, as I exited the grocery store today to see the fairly well dressed pregnant woman uncomfortably approach me and explain that her credit card didn't work and she needed gas to get back home--even a dollar would help--my mind immediately flew to the single lonely bill. The worthless dollar. The dollar that meant so much to this woman whose watery eyes were begging for anything. I opened up my wallet and gave her all the cash I had. One dollar. She sounded so grateful as she gingerly placed the bill in her purse and thanked me.
On the way home I was thinking. I carried that worthless bill around for weeks. It started off a beautiful crisp twenty, and as time progressed it became smaller and smaller until the single wrinkled denomination became the backdrop to my wallet. But it still had a purpose. The whole time I was carrying around that extra 1.00 grams of paper so that I could give it to her and she could get home. Every time I went to school, it was with me. Every time I went to practice, it was with me. Every time I pulled my wallet out of my pocket and carelessly tossed it on my desk before I went to sleep, the dollar was in there. Waiting. The twenty became reduced because I wanted a pack of gum from the gas station, and further because of an In-N-Out burger, and even further because of a chocolate bar, but the whole time, that one dollar was saving itself for someone that really needed it.
A priceless dollar.
I know someone out there is carrying a dollar for me. I'm going to need it someday, and I'll be very grateful.
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