Each week, I’ll present a low-cost meal (or a meal that demonstrates a lot of options for cutting costs) that my family eats for dinner and enjoys. Many of the recipes will be vegan or vegetarian, with options to add other ingredients for non-vegetarians.

At this point in late September, we’re starting to reach that point of using what things are still coming in from the garden along with the things we can find in our freezer and pantry to make new dishes. We’re also starting to move into more “fall”-type dishes, such as heartier soups and stews.

Our vegetarian gumbo is a great example of all of these things at once.

What You Need
You’ll need a half a cup of flour and a half a cup of your preferred vegetable oil to make the roux, a key flavorful part of the gumbo. You’ll also need a variety of vegetables – we used a small onion, a small bell pepper, a stalk of celery, a diced tomato, a handful of green beans, two sliced carrots, a handful of sliced okra, and a bit of cumin, paprika, and oregano for spicing. This will all be served over rice, so you’ll also need that.

The Night Before (or Early That Day)
The biggest preparatory step you can take is to simply chop up all of your vegetables in advance. This is a great prep step that you can always do the evening before or the morning before a meal prep.

Preparing the Meal
The first step is to get your rice cooking so that it’s ready when the gumbo is finished. Rice is quite simple to prepare, so I won’t focus on the details of that here.

The next step is to make the roux, which is essentially just a mix of flour and fat. Since we’re making a vegetarian gumbo, your fat will come in the form of a vegetable oil. Simply stir together the flour and oil over medium-high heat for about ten minutes, constantly stirring, until it begins to turn a bit of a caramel color, something like this (I perhaps added a bit too much flour to the roux here, but it’s workable).

As soon as you have roux, add the stiffer vegetables (like the onion, bell pepper, and celery) and cook for another five minutes, stirring a lot at the start to distribute the roux, then regularly thereafter.

At this point, add all of the remaining ingredients and about four cups of water. Stir thouroughly and then let it simmer for about forty minutes, stirring regularly.

When everything’s finished and the vegetables are tender (the carrots are probably the best ones to check), simply put some rice in a bowl or on a plate and pour some of the gumbo on top. Delicious! We served it with a fruit medley.

Optional Ingredients
You can get away with using pretty much any vegetable in gumbo, though I would consider tomatoes and onions to be pretty essential, and okra to be nearly so. Simply use up whatever your garden is providing or whatever vegetables you can easily acquire.

If you wish to add meat, you can easily add sausage and chicken to this meal. Cook the sausage and chicken in the pan before you do anything else. Remove the meat and leave the fats behind, using them as the “fat” portion of the roux that you make by simply adding flour to the liquid in the pan after you remove the meat and stirring it rapidly.

I woke up to several emails this morning about Bank of America’s new plan to charge a $5 monthly fee to debit card users if they use those cards for purchases:

Bank of America will begin charging a $5 monthly fee at the beginning of next year for customers who make debit card purchases.

Whether you use your card for one purchase a month or 20, you will pay $5 per month starting in 2012. It doesn’t matter if you select “debit” or “credit” at the point of sale.

If you don’t use your card at all, you won’t be assessed a fee, and you can still use ATMs as much as you want without getting hit with the new charge. Plus, customers with certain premium accounts will be exempt from the charge.

Obviously, this is big news for Bank of America customers, but I think the impact of this will affect the customers of other banks as well.

A few Bank of America customers will jump ship. Most will not. While this type of fee is annoying, most Bank of America customers affected by this fee will largely ignore it and just pay it each month. Some will jump ship, sure, but the bank wouldn’t be charging this fee if they didn’t believe it would be a net gain for them.

Should you jump ship? If you rely on your Bank of America debit card for making purchases, this will essentially become a $60 a year fee. That would be incentive enough for me to jump. However, I probably wouldn’t jump immediately. Why?

I expect some other banks to follow suit. Bank of America wouldn’t be making this move if they didn’t believe it would help their bottom line. Given that, I fully expect other banks to match this move in the next year or so.

Thus, if I were with Bank of America and thinking of jumping, I wouldn’t jump until the end of the year when I can see if any other banks are adding similar fees. The longer you wait, the more time you have to see if the banks you’re eyeing are adding such things.

Other banks will laud their free debit card usage in an effort to attract customers. Over time, fee-free debit card usage at the point of sale will become a feature to promote rather than an expectation, sadly.

This may push people to simply use credit cards exclusively at the point of sale. This is what I do already, so such fees by my bank wouldn’t make any difference to me. I simply use a credit card for all point of sale purchases, then pay off the balance in full every month.

Should you make this leap? Using credit cards as your primary purchasing vehicle requires some level of self-control. If you have a history of getting into debt trouble with credit cards, I wouldn’t make this move.

Of course, my belief is that this type of move is part of what Bank of America is hoping for. They’d rather have people carry a balance on a Bank of America credit card and one way to do that is to gently discourage people using their debit cards to buy things.

All in all, this isn’t a great move for banking customers, but it’s not devastating, either. If I were the customer of a bank making a move like this, I would probably be tempted to switch banks, not just because of the fees, but because it sends something of a signal that I wasn’t a fan of a move like this.

Jenny writes in with an interesting question that was originally in this morning’s mailbag, but my answer became long enough that I decided to make it into its own post:

I went through all of the budget exercises in the financial guidebook and created a budget for myself. The only problem is that when I was done and I tried to follow it, it felt really restrictive. I stuck to it for a few months, but it was just miserable. I didn’t like how some set of rules told me how I could spend my money.

I guess I don’t understand how people make budgeting work. How did you do it?

First of all, you’re living by a lot of financial rules by simply existing in our current economy. If you have a job, bring home some pay, and keep yourself from being in too much debt, you’re already playing with a mountain of rules. You’re already making a lot of hard choices about what to buy simply by existing.

Every single one of us would behave differently if money were no object. If money were no object, I’d start construction on my dream house tomorrow, but I can’t because money is a concern. I can’t have everything that I want right now.

Thus, we prioritize. We choose to buy some things now and hold off on other things. This is the normal course of life. We can’t have everything, so we have to choose.

All a budget does is make you sit back and think about those choices. Without budgeting, we largely make those choices on instinct or on some vague idea of where we’re headed.

A budget means that you’ve sat back, thought about your choices outside of the temptations of the moment, and chosen a different path. That path depends wholly on what you want from your life and from your future.

Does it mean you give up some freedom of choice in the moment? It sure can, depending on how exactly you budget things.

The question really is how much is that freedom of choice in the moment worth? Is the ability to buy a latte whenever you feel like it worth giving up a steady path toward your financial goals?

I don’t think there’s a single correct answer to that question. For me, I’ve lived on both sides of that coin and I’ve found I prefer living a life that’s headed toward financial goals rather than a life of increased instant gratification.

Everyone is wired differently, and because of that, everyone should budget differently. An approach that might work for you, Jenny, is to automate saving for your goals. Simply make sure that you’ve got separate accounts for the goals you have for the future and set up automatic transfers from your checking into those accounts.

Then, for a while, use just your debit card for impulsive purchases. You can have just as much freedom as you always had at that point, as you’re still bumping up against the real limit of the balance of your checking account.

Yes, you won’t have as much money for free spending as you once had, but you’ll have the feeling that your money is going somewhere productive and that you’re building a better future for yourself. In the end, that’s the real goal of the budgeting process.

What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to five word summaries. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question.
1. Saving for multiple housing goals
2. Children sharing bedrooms
3. Staying positive in volatile markets
4. Early childhoold illnesses
5. Board games as gifts
6. Student loan payoffs or savings?
7. Master limited partnerships?
8. Bigger emergency funds?
9. Upromise credit card
10. Fringe thoughts

Recently, my son’s school had a “parent’s day,” where a parent was encouraged to come to school and eat with their child. I packaged up a lunch at home and took it with me to eat with my son. We ate together in the lunch room of his school, then he showed me his classroom and I met several of his friends. Afterwards, he gave me a big hug. I think it meant a lot to him.

This is something that would have been difficult to do at my previous job. I might not earn money like I once was earning it, but I have something else that’s worth a lot more.

Money isn’t everything.

Q1: Saving for multiple housing goals
[My question is] specifically about your current house and future dream house–how are you managing holding the two in tension? Are you paying as much as possible on your current house with the hope of using that principal for the dream house or are you diverting some savings to a future house goal (even though you lose the guaranteed return of your interest rate?)? If you had to do it all over again, how would you sequence your house purchase?
- Alison

It would be very easy to simply make extra payments on our mortgage instead of saving ahead for a future home. There are two reasons we don’t follow that route.

One, the interest rate on our mortgage is very low. If our mortgage rate was 7 or 8%, we would have a good reason to just wipe out the mortgage first. However, our rate is a lot lower than that. Over a sufficiently long period (the period that we’re looking at for these savings), we should see much better returns on other investments.

Two, putting money into our home mortgage isn’t very liquid. Putting the money into an investment account is much more liquid if we were to need to access it at some point.

At some point, we may empty out our savings and just pay off our entire mortgage at once. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there, however.

Alison has a second question.

Q2: Children sharing bedrooms
Somewhat relatedly, I’ve noticed that you mentioned have all your kids sleeping in the same room and yet also talking about having lots of extra space–what’s your philosophy for having them all in the same room? I would think they would wake each other up? But I know nothing about children.
- Alison

When I was little, I shared a bedroom with my two older brothers. In fact, I shared a bed with them until I was five or so.

This is actually one of the best memories I have of them from when I was little. I remember us all being jammed in there, joking around a bit, jostling for position, someone passing gas, lots of laughing, and things like that. It was probably the best bonding I had with them.

Similarly, my wife shared a bedroom with her sister for many years and she had a similar experience. It really built a bond between them.

We have two rooms we could easily convert into bedrooms if we so chose. For now, though, I think our three kids are getting a lot of value out of sharing a room.

Q3: Staying positive in volatile markets
I was wondering how you stay positive when there are times of wild market volatility. I sometimes see losses pile up for several weeks and I get worried like so many other investors do. Do you have any advice on how to ride out the doldrums of the bear market or a recession?
- Jeff

I just don’t look at my balances. Seriously.

Every goal for which I have money in the stock market is a long term goal. I don’t expect to have to touch that money until at least ten years from now. Between now and then, I expect that there’s going to be rough patches, but the consequences of those patches don’t bother me.

The only events I’m really worried about are events that would cause me to lose a lot of money no matter what I was invested in, such as a rapid devaluation of the U.S. dollar.

Q4: Early childhood illnesses
I have a 6-month old. Our first child. I constantly worry about him! He’s had a few health issues, but nothing serious. He seems to catch everything, a product of taking him to daycare I suppose. But I worry about all things–health, development, happiness, eating, etc. I know this is very new and overwhelming, and that the worry never goes away. But does it become manageable at some point?
- Todd

You’re probably going to keep worrying for a long while. Wait until your child starts walking is capable of wandering off and then when he/she starts climbing on things.

The best thing you can do is just let your child do as much on his/her own as he/she reasonably can and watch. You’ll soon realize, step by step, that your child can do a lot on his/her own. For me, that was incredibly reassuring.

At this point, my five year old can wake up in the morning, pick out his clothes, take a shower, get himself breakfast, get his backpack together, and leave for the bus without a single bit of help from me. I can’t think of a better sign that he’s doing well than that, and it reassures me.

Q5: Board games as gifts
I’ve been thinking of getting my wife a board game as a gift for us to play in the evenings. She enjoys playing video games that aren’t “twitchy” and has played cards quite enthusiastically with my family in the past. Any suggestions?
- Lucas

I would probably choose a game without incredibly complex rules that’s not too long and also open-ended and changes each time you play it. I’d also pick something that would work with more players, but works really well with two. Here are some options.

Carcassonne involves building a village out of tiles. As you’re building, you place your villagers in the town to score points (essentially claiming fields and buildings for your villagers).

Ticket to Ride involves connecting cities on a map of the United States with matching colored trains. Your goal is to make a series of connections between cities that will enable two distant cities to be connected together, as you have goals that consist of distant cities. For example, you might connect Vancouver to Portland by connecting Vancouver to Seattle, then Seattle to Portland.

Dominion is a card game where you’re each assembling a set of increasingly better cards. You have a wide range of cards to choose from to add to your set as the game goes along and the earlier not-quite-as-good cards are used to “purchase” the better cards.

All of these work for at least four players (Ticket to Ride and Carcassonne work for five) and all work very well for two players as well.

Q6: Student loan payoffs or savings?
I am currently 23 years old working as a full time teacher. I am starting my first year of full time teaching, second year of teaching in total. I’ve been aggressively paying off my student loans since I’ve graduated. I started at $10,930 when I graduated in May 2010 (I worked all the way through college) and now I’m down to $3000. I pay off my credit card debt every month and I’m maxing out my Roth IRA. I have a $1000 emergency fund, as well as $3300 in other various savings goals (car, wedding, vacation etc) that could be used in case of an emergency. I just started attending graduate school part time in the evenings to continue to develop my skills. Should I continue aggressively paying down my undergraduate student loan debt (400+ per month for me) or should I put that money towards paying for graduate school without taking out more loans? Currently, my district does not offer tuition reimbursement, but I still want to continue my program. I’ve paid my first class in full, and I’m currently saving up for my second class in January. I only have $400 saved right now, and I will need to pay for the class by January 30. I won’t be taking enough classes to qualify for government student loans, so I would have to take out private loans. Should I pay down my undergraduate debt and then take out new debt for graduate school, or should I make a smaller payment on my undergrad loans and save more aggressively for graduate school?
- Reggie

It really depends on how stable your current employment is. The more stable it is, the more I would lean toward graduate school savings. The less stable it is, the more I would lean toward paying off your loans to maximize your monthly cash flow.

What’s the state of your school district? Are they making big cuts or are they pretty stable? How does your state handle education policy? Do you have any seniority or are you the first on the cutting block? Are you in a teacher’s union?

These are all factors that indicate the stability of your professional position. As I said before, that would be the biggest factor in what I chose to do here if I were in your shoes.

Q7: Master limited partnerships?
A friend recently recommended I get into MLPs (master limited partnerships). I wanted to get your opinion on them. I’ve started to do some research on my own but I’m a bit of a financial novice, particulary when it comes to investing and I’m having trouble weighing the pros and cons. Also, do you generally have MLPs as part of a tax deferred retirement account or not?

I have an account with Vanguard that consists of a Traditional IRA retirement fund and a non-retirement account for long-term savings – there’s about 10K in each. I’m considering moving towards dividend investing in the long run. My husband and I make about 100K (combined) per year and he has an additional 401K. We use a CPA for filing our taxes — I understand that MLPs might add another level of confusion…
- Chelsea

Master limited partnerships are essentially a way of investing in energy companies. The vast majority of MLPs are companies that own oil or gas pipelines, which means that they pay out a pretty steady dividend.

Because they’re a partnership, people who own a share of an MLP can claim the depreciation of the equipment as a deduction on their taxes. This is actually one of the big reasons people own an MLP – they provide a steady dividend and usually give a tax deduction to boot. However, the dividend isn’t usually a huge dividend – it’s the pairing of features that make them attractive.

Because the tax deduction is such a big feature, it doesn’t really make sense to put them into a tax-deferred retirement account, so I wouldn’t put them in my IRA. As for the other side of the coin, I don’t think MLPs really pay off unless you’re earning quite a bit more money than you are, as the deductions become more valuable at that point.

Q8: Bigger emergency funds?
At almost every PF blog I’ve read, including yours (great site, by the way!), there seems to be the standard advice of having 3-6 months in an emergency fund. Many even say only 2-3 months. I find this a little irritating because that’s been the standard advice for a very long time and it did not seem to change when the recession and high unemployment came along. Even before the recession, it took me almost two YEARS to find a full time position, and I have both bachelor’s and master’s degree in the STEM fields. So I think the emergency fund size should be at LEAST 12 months at a bare minimum. I prefer 18-24 months. I know that’s extreme and I know it’s very hard to save up that much (I currently only have 8 months and I do not feel that is enough). So, why are people still saying 3-6 months, or even at the lower end of that range?
- Ronald

There are a lot of reasons for that.

For one, there’s a assumption that if you’re unexpectedly downsized, you’ll receive some sort of compensation, either in the form of unemployment insurance or in the form of a severance package. This will certainly help.

For another, there’s an assumption that your expenses will actually drop a bit if you’re not going into work each day. There’s no commuting costs, there’s reduced food costs, and so on.

The big one, though, is the assumption that you’re going to actually get out there and find some form of employment pretty quickly. If I were unemployed more than a week, I’d be applying for a job at pretty much any retailer I could find. I’d then spend my evenings and off days circulating resumes and going to interviews. This would keep some level of income coming into my home, which I could then use my emergency fund to supplement.

You’re correct, a six month emergency fund isn’t enough to live off of for two years. However, I don’t think that one should ever live off of an emergency fund unless absolutely forced to.

Q9: Upromise credit card
Do you think the Upromise credit card is worth signing up for? I have my debit card linked to my Upromise account but I’ve only gotten $18 in the last 3 years. I think the interest rate is a bit high but the rewards seem good. I would appreciate your thoughts.
- Taylor

The Upromise card mentioned by Taylor is one that puts a small percentage of purchases into a college savings account for your child.

In all honesty, the Upromise card offers rewards at a rate comparable to a lot of other rewards cards. The appeal of it is that it puts those rewards directly into college savings.

Remember, we’re talking about amounts that will buy textbooks, not tuition. It’s certainly an option for rewards, but it’s not strictly better or worse than any other. The rewards program that’s best for you is the one that matches how you spend your money, so I’d probably still recommend getting a Visa or Mastercard that matches, say, your gas station or your most frequently used retailer.

Q10: Fringe thoughts
What did you think of the season premiere of Fringe?
- Erik

As I’ve mentioned on here before, my wife and I watch very few television series. One of the few we do watch is Fringe. We record it, then watch it on a weeknight that’s convenient for us.

I think that Peter is in some sort of limbo and I think September is going to end up going against the rest of the Observers and help him. I felt like September was feeling … guilty, maybe … about having done whatever they did to Peter.

I also think I find the alternate universe more interesting at this point. Every character save Olivia is more interesting “over there,” in my opinion.

Got any questions? Email them to me or leave them in the comments and I’ll attempt to answer them in a future mailbag (which, by way of full disclosure, may also get re-posted on other websites that pick up my blog). However, I do receive hundreds of questions per week, so I may not necessarily be able to answer yours.

Saving Pennies or Dollars is a new semi-regular series on The Simple Dollar, inspired by a great discussion on The Simple Dollar’s Facebook page concerning frugal tactics that might not really save that much money. I’m going to take some of the scenarios described by the readers there and try to break down the numbers to see if the savings is really worth the time invested.

Matthew writes in: Electric vs gas lawnmowing

This is an interesting issue because one of our neighbors uses an electric lawnmower for her yard. We use a gas mower. Thus, for these calculations, I looked at data for several different electric mowers and used numbers from our own mower for comparison.

Initial cost The initial cost of electric and gas mowers both vary widely for various reasons, usually related to engine size and the width of the mower. Generally, gas-powered mowers seem to be about $50 less expensive for comparable features.

Cost per mowing A typical electric mower can mow about a third of an acre with a single charge. A typical pushed electric mower requires about 3.5 kilowatts to recharge, and with an electriciy rate of about $0.11 per kilowatt hour, that’s about $0.38 per recharge.

As with electric mowers, there’s some variability in gas mowers. Our push mower is pretty typical. We can mow about half an acre on a single tank, and our tank is about 2/3 gallon. At a price of $3.50 per gallon, that’s about $2.35 for a single mowing.

Per acre, you can use an electric mower for $1.04. You can use a gas mower for about $4.70. How much of an impact this has depends heavily on the size of your yard. The larger your yard, the more worthwhile the electric mower will be.

Time per recharge Here’s where the “catch” is with electric mowers. Once you’re out of charge, you have to spend 12 hours (or so) with the mower attached to an outlet in order to recharge the engine. On the other hand, if you run out of fuel with a gas-powered mower, you simply add more fuel and restart.

Of course, with some electric mowers, you do have the option of simply buying a replacement battery, keeping the replacement charged, and swapping batteries if one of them runs out. This requires a mower with a replaceable battery, the extra cost of the second battery, and the initiative to keep both batteries charged up.

Yes, there are also some mowers that actually stay plugged in as you mow, but the cord hassle with those mowers – and the fear of what might happen if I cut that cord – would keep me from ever owning one.

So, which is the better deal? From my perspective, if you have a tiny yard (0.1 acres or less), it’s going to take a very long time for the energy savings for the electric mower to catch up to the initial savings on the gas-powered mower. Similarly, if your yard is larger than a single charge of the electric mower than cover, the hassle probably won’t be worth it.

The sweet spot is when you have a yard that begins to approach the size that a fully charged electric mower can cover – say, 1/3 of an acre. You’re going to be using the mower enough that the savings on energy use will quickly add up over time and eventually overtake the initial extra cost of buying an electric mower.

Simply put, if you have a tiny yard (0.1 acres or less) or a big yard (much over 0.5 acres), a gas mower will save you money. Otherwise, an electric mower is probably the better deal.

How do I select the links that I use in the weekly roundup?

Each day, I visit quite a few personal finance blogs and blogs on related topics such as personal growth. If I see an article I like, I add it to my “roundup” folder.

When I assemble a roundup article (usually on Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning), I just go through all of the links in the “roundup” folder and choose the ones that stick out at me from that group. The number varies, but I try to keep the number of links between four and seven. I think that less than four ends up excluding some great stuff, but more than seven is too many for people to really enjoy.

Navigating The Mixed Messages Of Our Consumer Culture Mixed messages are everywhere. The only way to get ahead is to understand what you value independently of advertising and popular culture and stick with that. (@ matt about money)

Your Will: Give to Kids Equally or Not? I’m definitely in the “it’s your money, do what you want with it” camp. There’s no need to give your estate equally to all of your children. (@ squirrelers)

Does It Pay to Become a Vegetarian? I have not seen a significant increase in overall food spending since becoming a vegetarian. I haven’t seen a big drop, either. I’ve just noticed a shift in the types of things we buy at the store. (@ totally money)

To Boost Your Self Control, Beware the “Licensing Effect” This is a real phenomenon. If you give yourself permission to “cheat” in one fashion, it becomes far easier to cheat in other fashions and before you know it, your goal is kaput. If you make a pledge to yourself, keep it. No exceptions. (@ happiness project)

Recently, a friend of mine offered up an interesting thought on personal finance issues: “You know what the worst part about getting your money straight is? The waiting. It doesn’t happen overnight. It can take years. All of that waiting on your debts to go away is just excruciating.”

I know exactly what he means – and it’s not just the debts either. The same thing can be true if you’re saving for a down payment for a house or simply waiting until you can make the next leap in your career.

Personal finance success often means waiting. Patience is pretty much a required virtue.

It’s an interesting contrast to many aspects of day-to-day life, where speed is valued and instant gratification is the rule. It’s no wonder, given how other elements of life work, that many people struggle with the patience needed to make personal finance work for them.

How can you play and win the waiting game when it comes to your money? Here are some things that I do in my own life.

Automate everything I make most elements of my finances completely automatic through automatic transfers and other mechanisms. I never have to talk myself into moving money into savings each and every month. It just happens without me taking any action on it.

Money gets transferred to my retirement savings. It gets transferred to 529 accounts for each of my kids. Several of my regular bills are paid. And I don’t have to lift a finger. It just happens.

Don’t look at your balances Come up with a plan for achieving your goal before you start, then don’t even look at your account balances until you’re close to that goal. Seriously. Looking at your balances forces you to reflect on how long it is until you reach your goals, adding to the sense of waiting.

I just don’t look at these balances at all. Whenever I examine a statement, I’m mostly verifying that things are being deducted and contributed correctly. The balance itself just causes me to reflect on the distance I’ve yet to travel.

Set a mix of goals Most people think about personal finance in terms of big goals, such as paying off big debts or saving for big things. In truth, you can feel success with personal finance and get the sense of achieving goals if you choose some shorter term goals, too.

I’m usually saving for some specific goal or specific item that I expect to come to fruition within the next several months. Right now, for example, I’m saving for a walking desk for my office. I’ll be able to achieve that goal in the next few months, giving me a strong sense of success in my endeavors.

Share your experiences It’s a lot easier to manage a big, long term goal if you know you’re in it with others. Don’t be afraid to talk about the challenges of being patient with your friends. You’ll probably be surprised to find that they’re dealing with much the same thing that you are.

Over time, I’ve found it a comfort to talk to my friends about personal finances when I focus on the struggles we all have in common. Simply knowing that they’re in it for a long haul as well makes it easier to deal with. We’re all in this together.

Patience is a vital virtue when it comes to personal finance, but it doesn’t have to be a weight dragging you down. By simply taking a few basic actions to combat impatience, you can make the whole process easier as you head down the road to success.

The products you buy will not make you smarter.

They will not make you successful.

They will not make you more attractive.

They will not make you popular.

They will not make you a better person.

They will not fill your hours with joy.

There is only one thing that can do all of these things, and that thing isn’t found at Amazon.com or on the shelves of your local grocery store.

That one thing that can achieve all of this is you. Not products. You.

If you want to be smarter, don’t buy a product. Instead, head to the library and pick up some books to read on the topics you want to know more about, then spend some evenings actually reading them. Take things you don’t understand in your life and take the time to understand them. Ask questions and seek answers to those questions.

If you want to be successful, don’t buy a product. Instead, work hard. Be reliable. Produce results. Try to look at everything you do through the eyes of your employer (or client or customer) and ask yourself what you would need to do to appear valuable to the situation.

If you want to be attractive, don’t buy a product. Instead, get some exercise. Go for a walk each day, for starters. Practice good hygiene and bathe daily.

If you want to be popular, don’t buy a product. Instead, talk to people. Don’t let your fear of making a fool of yourself hold you back – everyone makes a fool of themselves sometimes. Strike up conversations. Go to meetings of people with similar interests and ideas to your own. Invite people over to your home for dinner. Most importantly, when you’re in a public environment and you see someone you know, go over and talk to them.

If you want to be a better person, don’t buy a product. Instead, make a concerted effort to help others and be kind to them. Watch yourself for cruel remarks and actions and focus on cutting them out of your life and your thoughts.

If you want to fill your hours with joy, don’t buy a product. Instead, do whatever it is that really makes you happy. If you can’t do that, then spend an afternoon completely in the service of others who really need your help, like working at a food pantry or building a Habitat for Humanity house.

Notice how nothing described above involves buying a product, yet they all result in the kind of change that you want in your life. Even more important, products you buy won’t achieve those kind of changes.

You can’t simply buy the person you want to be. You can only achieve that through your own actions. Keep your money in your pocket and work on yourself instead. You’ll find that, before long, you have the best of both worlds.