Michael Janzen

Well not literally I just got tired of paying for it so I canceled my wife’s phone (which was out of contract), moved my SIM card to her phone, and downgraded to the cheapest monthly plan. I keep my iphone on airplane mode and use it around the house and on any open Wi-Fi. The only thing I can’t do is make a phone call or text message… but I rarely do that and now I get to spend the money I save on debt reduction. Just think of the money and time we’d all save if we were able to have one phone number and one email address.

As money tightens Julia and I are changing our habits. Shopping at our familiar grocery stores (Raley’s and Safeway) is now a thing of the past. We decided to try shopping at Save Mart today and walked out with our jaws dragging on the floor, figuratively speaking.

We were able to pretty much buy all the normal name brands we usually get for what seemed like half the price. HALF THE PRICE!!! Right now that is going to really come in handy and I’m kicking myself for shopping at the price gougers for so many years. I’m not going to dwell on figuring out how many tens of thousands of dollars have I wasted shopping at those places. Instead eyeballs are focused ahead on savings and simplicity.

I guess this is one of the many silver linings of this Great Recession, learning the benefits of frugal choices and not simply continuing old bad habits. I’m also a pretty good bagger

(Photo snapped on the way out the door with cell phone.)