Comments on: Routine Mistakes

By: kristine

kristine — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 03:07:37 +0000

Maggie- and yes, if their children were required to attend public school- that would improve in no time as well. Not requiring Congress to use the very services they regulate and fund gives them no true vested interest.

By: Maggie

Maggie — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 18:25:14 +0000

Trent,
To address your thoughts about the debt-ceiling and congress, let me say that I think term limits on these offices would curb some of the “running for office” that these office-holders start doing as soon as they are in office. When you know you only have a certain amount of time to get your constituents agenda in front of your peers, you might work harder to do that and spend less time collecting money for your next campaign. Also, if these people had to pay for health care and insurance, there might be more interest in getting a good bill passed. Just saying!

By: Cassie

Cassie — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:04:31 +0000

Eating out and book or electronic toy buying are certainly not a waste of time or money when they are done with intention.
We’ve found that when we considered our dining out experiences we often spent a lot more money to consume food that was neither as good or as healthy as what we could prepare at home and we did it in an environment that was not as comfortable.
Now eating out is a treat, we do it much less frequently and choose a place where the whole experience is extraordinary.
Our social life hasn’t suffered, friends love to come to our home for dinner.

By: Brian Carr

Brian Carr — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 11:09:33 +0000

My biggest routine mistake is wasting time. Every morning I intend on getting on the computer and knocking out a post or two for Saving Without A Budget, but invariably I end up reading emails, checking Facebook, etc. 45 unproductive minutes later, I start writing…

By: Kate

Kate — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 10:40:30 +0000

I recently ran across a checkbook register from several years into my marriage. I was amazed at how much we ate out! The spending time with my husband wasn’t time wasted, but the excessive amounts of money spent on restaurant food sure was.

By: Pat S

Pat S — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 00:07:21 +0000

I’m in the middle of establishing a new routine after divorce. One part of that routine has been a much more structured approach to blogging and interacting with others online. It has helped create a sense of community despite the upheaval of my wife leaving.

By: krantcents

krantcents — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 23:35:59 +0000

Routines can be good and bad. Reflecting on the bad ones and making changes is the smart thing to do. I like my routines and habits. As an old(er) person, I developed great routines of bicycling,weight lifting, reading, conversations with my (adult) children every night, blogging, conversations with my wife, friends and a little TV. Not all routines are bad! You will notice there was no money involved in these routines. That would be another conversation.

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 22:08:45 +0000

Now I’m going to get on the bandwagon of stopping the negativity, he said it was routine to go out to eat (and he did consider it wasteful when they weren’t meeting their other life goals at the same time) and that it’s not wasteful it is truly a part of your leisure time (and one might add, a part of your budget).

My husband and I ate out a lot together before we both went back to grad school (at the same time). After getting to a point where frugality wasn’t a choice because of our menial incomes, I’ve realized how much eating out means to me now and it’s something I truly value more than ever before. So…my $.02.

By: Tracy

Tracy — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 21:36:14 +0000

Ditto what Andew said

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 20:22:36 +0000

I think it’s somewhat of a shame that you view your restaurant meals with friends and your wife strictly in terms of time wasted and money spent.

Sharing meals with other people is one of the hallmarks of a balanced life.