The Enhanced Supplementary Leverage Ratio is your new bicycle
A very interesting article.
Saving Money
America Saves Week
This week is America Saves Week, where people are encouraged to save and invest money for a brighter tomorrow.
Middle of the Winter
The roads are covered with salt, and generally are real cold and nasty. We’ve readed yet another arctic blast that’s going to jack up heating bills again. At this point though, the days will not be as cold as January-December, and the cold doesn’t bother me as much, so I doubt the heating bill next month will be quite as high.
I delayed paying off my credit card until the end of the month to avoid getting dinged this month for a low bank balance as happened last month. Money is always tight after saving for retirement, my lift kit, and general savings. I’ve cut way back on gas expenses, but there is always bills for supplies, rent, and utilities. This is a three-paycheck month so hopefully I can dig myself out of the hole this month, and maybe even pay back the $200 I loaned myself in December, but hell I don’t know. It’s going to be tough.
Money is tough to manage, especially when there are so many damn things competing for it.
Thrift Shops
There is a view in our society that shopping at the Thrift Shop for clothes will somehow get you an inferior product, or will make you feel inferior. Yet, for some things, its make sense to look at a good thrift shop, and try to find out what you get can at a reasonable price.
Thrift Shops not only save you money on the clothes, they also save useful material from going to the landfill. Many people buy expensive clothing to wear for one or two occasions, only to stuff it in the dresser or hang it into their closet to be forgotten.
Some people have funny feelings about buy used clothing. It feels funny to think somebody else has worn a pare of clothing before you have put it on. Of course, our society is full of all kinds of creepiness and weirdness, if you only think about it. Be assured however, that used clothing places must either carefully wash or dry clean all their clothing before selling it.
When we choose to make do with what we have existing on our planet, and not demanding the extraction of new materials from the ground, its good for all of us. And while we cant survive entirely by shopping at the thrift shop, for the occasional blazer or suit pants, it might just fit the bill. And your saving the environment and a money at the same time.
