Hero: American Dreamer
An inspiring story if there ever was one is the story of Adam Shepard, $25 dollars and pursuit of the American Dream. So Adam, a young college educated gentlemen did an experiment. He left home with $25, a duffel bag of clothing, and basically set out to prove that one can still achieve the American Dream. He completely left his support structure, including family and friends and had nothing. He ended up living in a homeless shelter, finding a job with a moving company, and inside of 10 months – without using his networking or college education skills (after all, how much of a college education do you need to balance a small pay check and move furniture) he had bought himself a truck and saved $5000. You can read more details in this article.
I find such a deal of inspiration in this story that is hard to fathom it. Especially when I consider the job skill set that I have, the great job (and even 2nd job that I have had up until recently) and that I still on occasion find myself short heading into the stretch before pay-day. Now granted, I do have some expenses that are hard to get away from given that I own horses. However, I have a lot of expenses beyond those that I still spend that are small in their own right, but add them up over time and they start to be a big one. It is the little things though that one would have to be a lot more diligent about if one were forced (or chose to) live on a much more strict budget.
For instance, I think back to this past weekend and little expenses incurred:
- $16.00 bad Indian Jones movie for 2
- $8.00 coffee and snacks while driving here and there throughout the weekend
- $7.00 fast food dinner Friday evening
- $4.00 a guess here for gas, but 3 separate trips to grocery that was within an easy walking distance
- $20.00 lunch at a diner (I didn’t spend it, but would have if they hadn’t pick up the tab)
- $5.00 breakfast on Tuesday morning as I headed back
Ad all that up and it is $60.00 – which would go a long way toward any number of things for me as a single person. That is nearly what I spend on groceries for lunches for an entire month (granted I eat out 1 to 2 times a week – but that again would just add to the point I am making).
So, feeling inspired I am thinking of somethings I can do to check a bit of this and noting some things I am already doing. Maybe a few of these are helpful for you and maybe some are not. There are some added bonuses too to the green side of thinking as well, which I will try to note also.
- Already keeping my movie viewing down to once a month or less of late. As it is now summer, maybe see some double features at the drive-in, where you get two movies for $5.00 instead of the $8-10.00 at theaters. Also, if I do see at the theater, it must be a matinée. Additionally, note the drive-in allows you to bring in your own food and such instead of buying $8.00 popcorn and $5.00 sodas. Good news here is that I have seen very little that I am interesting in seeing coming out soon, and Indiana Jones was, in my opinion, so bad as to turn me against movies for a while.
- Well, I have never been a fan of Starbuck’s as a general rule, though I did have a phase for a short while. I have liked other coffee shops and I am guilty of enjoying a $5-$6.00 super espresso latte full of extra unjustifiable calories and fat. Worse usually to go, which is a paper or styrofoam cup. No more of that though, not in a while of late. Instead, go to the coffee-house and drink in the setting from a mug, regular or flavored coffee (which I personally enjoy just as much) which is usually all you can drink – even better) for a $1 or $2. Beyond that, when traveling – most of the time I try to make a pot of coffee before hand fill my thermos and use my own travel mug. No additional paper and no paying $1.29 – $2.00 for a large cup of Joe that maybe cost $.25 to make and is often time burnt or at least been around awhile.
- As much as Bitzer is going to be dismayed about no longer getting double cheeseburgers, I have to cut out the fast food as much as possible. There really is no justification for it other than just quick and convenient and that is not much. After all, $1.50 for a single flow on a the soda is just too much to bear for me the more I think about it. And I certainly do not need the extra fat and calories to be found in such things. I enjoy some healthy snack foods that I can for a much more reasonable price and have them around for a longer time most of the time – just requires a bit of thought and planning.
- The grocery store trips were just a bit of poor planning about things and not really knowing for sure what was going to be happening over the weekend. However, all the things purchased on the various trips could have been done in one trip. Short of one trip that included purchase of a wheel barrow all the trips could have been walking trips too – especially given the laid back nature of the weekend. I certainly could have used the exercise too. I did make one walking trip to the farmers market, Bitzer enjoyed that and got petted by a few 100 people along the way to boot. Also, gas is going to go higher I am sure. I am looking for a bike for around home on the weekends. One last thought though – nearly $4.00 a gallon for gas (that is a bit over 30 miles for me in the car), $1.50 for 64 ounces of coke (syrup, water, carbonization, lots of calories if not diet and if diet well questionable chemicals), $1.29 for a 20 ounce cup of coffee, and $5.00 for a mocha latte grande (full of extra undesirable things) – which one are we paying too much for?
Thanks for the inspiration Adam Shepard!
