Free Fun

Dear Blog,

I think some people really do believe ignorance is bliss.  I saw something today about credit card debt - about how by paying off only the minimum payment, thanks to interest, it could take you decades to pay off debt.  See, I thought that was pretty self-explanatory.  I always treated my credit card like another debit card, except this one gets me a "credit score" so some day I can buy myself a car or house or other such things.  I don't buy anything I couldn't pay off right away if I had to.  That's the principle that my parents have always used.  If you have money you owe, and you don't pay all of it off, and money keeps getting added to what you owe...

Doesn't that make a lot of sense?

I'm not big on spending money I don't need.  I don't really need to see movies; if it's one I want to see, I tend to wait until it's out on DVD and get it from Netflix.  I don't really need new clothes, though I know if I put myself in a situation where I could buy them I will - so I don't go to the mall much anymore.  And what's the point in eating out, when for less than a third of what I would spend I can make my own lunch/dinner/breakfast, which much healthier ingredients?  Literally, nowadays it's oatmeal for breakfast (I've been using the packet kind, only because I'm a bit rushed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but the rest of the week, if I have oatmeal, I'll probably spend the extra two minutes and put it in the microwave - that is about 30 cents a serving and it's super filling).  I'm healthier because I've become adverse to eating things from packets, with all their processing and additives and chemicals (and, in the process, I've become greener).

Here's an example:

I dropped my gym membership.  To be honest, I don't like the gym.  It's embarrassing, and I don't know what to do when I'm there.  But I do have a gym at school (not like I've ever used it yet, though I've been eyeing a yoga class...), if I need to, and that comes with my school fees.  The thing is, I grew up outside; Scotland is so wet, year-round, and yet most of my best memories come from hours of running around outdoors with my friends.  I knew what their gardens looked like far better than I knew what their bedrooms looked like.  I walked to school unless the weather was too dismal for it (and snow doesn't count as too dismal for walking), and the two weeks I was grounded, and unable to use my bike, was enough to keep me from ever getting myself grounded again.

I still love it outside.  I love to go for a walk.  It was really nice out today, and I had such a great walk, listening to worship tunes on my iPod.  I loved, over winter break, going for a wander through the hills.  The trails around here are pretty incredible.  I even persuaded my brother or a friend a time or two, and it's a great chance to talk (and not spend any money!  Sadly, most of my friends are big on the spending-money thing).  I can't wait until it's permanently as warm as this (I've become too accustomed to California; I could not walk to school in the snow anymore), and I can be out again.

So, there you go.

I would love for my friends to want to go see a movie and go out to the discount theatre in Simi Valley, or rent a movie and make an evening of it at home.  I would love for my friends to want, instead of going out for dinner, to find a recipe we're all interested in, pitch in for the ingredients, turn on the tunes, and cook together.  I would love for my friends to want to go for walks and chat and wander through the park and catch up.  I would love to pass books on to my friends and know that all that paper isn't sitting on the shelf being wasted (because as long as it's on the shelf, it's not being read, and it's being wasted).  Did you know I found out there's a lot of people who seriously don't go to the library?  People who are avid readers, and every book they read is from a retailer.  That's pretty screwed up.  I could do for free what they do all year, and enjoy it just as much.

This has been a bit of a rant, but seriously.

Credit cards aren't free money.  It's saying, "i forgot my cash, this is an IOU, and I genuinely mean I'll pay it back."  Life is pretty enjoyable - really, truly, lovely, in fact - without spending much, or any, money.  It's frustrating to me that people don't even realize that not spending is an option.

- Judith