Well, we broke down and replaced our 10 year-old dinosaur of a printer. It still worked great.....I know.....why replace it? No one carried the ink in-store anymore. I was going to have to order ink online and have it shipped to Staples so I could avoid shipping costs. That didn't sound very "simplifying" to me. I did the math and it made more economical sense to buy a new one and who can beat $75 for a printer/copier/scanner right!?!
Let's do the math: 1) I checked my scrapbook from last year and I paid a local drug store to print approximately 100 prints at 29 cents each. I bought the fancy HP photo paper and I now can print my photos wirelessly from my laptop and Smartphone! How cool is that!! I am saving about $14 a year if I maintain my 100 prints. Plus, I can print my photos as I go and update my scrapbook instead of spending weekends at a time when I finally get around to printing my pictures. So far it has simplified my whole scrapbooking experience and that's always a plus! 2) Ink for my new printer is significantly cheaper. My old dinosaur cost $86.26 to replace the black and all the colors. My new printer costs only $32.73 and only has a black and 1 color. END TOTAL: I'm saving a total of $67.53 this year by printing my pictures and ink costs (and that's only buying ink once....I buy ink at least 2 or 3 times a year)! I've pretty much paid for it once I have to buy my first new cartridges.
A couple of months ago Chris and I were reviewing our life insurance policies and I realized that we were still paying a smoking rate for Chris and he quit smoking 15 months ago!! WOOHOO.....So proud of my husband!! Anyways, we went and updated his policy and had to undergo the blood tests and exams and such. We just got our letter in the mail stating that he passed....duh....and we are saving $53.96/month plus we increased his benefit amount!! That's an additional $647.52 a year!!
I'm CHANGING my ways......who would have thought? We recently broke our glass juice pitcher so I ran into Ross when I was in Auburn. And I ONLY bought a juice pitcher (for only $3.99). No clothes, no cute picture "for when we move into the big house," no cute outfit for my dog who looks so sad when when I put it on her, NOTHING but my juice pitcher. I'm finding myself asking "do I NEED this.....or do I WANT this?"
What about you? Anyone venturing on this journey with me? I would love to hear how things are going with you ;)
Minimalism is not the lack of something.
It is the RIGHT amount of everything.
