Karen Levy
Account Clerk II
- April 15, 2009 • 8:57 pm PDT
- + responses
I have been doing a lot of contemplating of myself for a long time now. Yes, I am a product of the American consumer culture which is to spend, spend and spend. That is great, but so much of it is done on credit cards. I've always been able to pay my bills but the point is, if you don't have the money, don't spend it. The problem is I've had less money these days. As a matter of fact, I make more than twice the income I did ten years ago but I feel more broke now than ever in my life. It's hard to decide that you can't maintain the same lifestyle. I've decided that three things may help when all else has failed. 1) Don't slide the plastic, 2) Don't slide the plastic and 3) Don't slide the plastic. Now doesn't that sound like the ideal solution to having more money? Our now big Sugar Daddy government may not be able to rescue us because of our habits. So the solution is to take a more personal and individual route to salvation. Apply the gold leaf Buddha standard which is against all craving and desire which is part of the noble eight fold path, which is one of the precepts of the Buddha. This is a mental exercise that can be applied in quiet meditation. Also, there was another time when this green festival came to town and you could sign up for the whole weekend at their seminars. They met in the Washington Convention Center. You paid ten dollars to get in each day, but at the end of the month, I noticed I saved a lot of money. The weekend is when I normally do all my shopping, groceries and everything else. So, now that my weekends were all tied up, I actually saved some money this time. There was another time that stands out in my memory as well. I was taking one course at a community college when I was first out on my own. There was a lot of homework and studying in this one course especially if you work full time as well. After a month had gone by, I saved a lot of money because I had less time to be running around and shopping. Some of the problem is however, is that these days we have catalogues that really come in from the internet if not the internet itself where you can shop and you don't have to leave your house to do so. It must all go back to that Buddha mentality of being satisfied with nothing except gentle contemplation in order to ward off any distractions. Also, if you can put it to a beat, repeat after me. Don't slide the plastic. Don't slide the plastic. Don't slide the plastic. Walk up and down the street shaking a tambourine to keep the beat if that helps. Are there any suggestions?
