There Are Only So Many Pieces

This thought popped on the horizon while going through my morning routine and thinking about the busy day ahead. It begs me to pause. Ask a question, “Is this true?” I analyzed it with lightning speed and came to the realization. It’s time to reallocate my resources. There is only so much to go around, and there are times it feels like, “Everyone wants a piece of me!”

There are only so many pieces of me!

This recent question of resources revolved around money. This past week I chopped some expenses and was questioned, “Are you sure? We miss you already!” Last month, the question revolved around the flood of information choking me. I cut some news feeds, exited from some email lists, and even gave away a piece of my mind. A conversation came to mind someone else recently posted that essentially sounded like this:

It seems when we want to say something negative
We start with the familiar phrase
Let me give you a piece of my mind!
It’s always a negative, never a positive
After a while?
You have no mind left!

Have you ever heard of an old Spanish coin called “Piece of Eight”? It was worth so much as a whole coin, but then you could break it along prescribed lines into eight smaller pie-shaped coins. The whole was worth 8/8ths. Break it apart, and it’s worth only what you have left in your hands.

This is how I was feeling. My whole was being broken apart, and I was giving too much away.

How do you recover from having given so much away?

Let’s use the analogy of money. There, I got your attention!

• Trim a penny here, there, anywhere, everywhere, and before long you have a dollar. Do this everyday and before long you’ll have enough to consider how best to save, spend or invest.
• Look for opportunities to add to your bottom line, even if it means picking up that slung handful of coins.
• Shop for price before convenience. An extra block or two may give you fuel much cheaper. I will drive miles to save 40 cents per gallon. When your truck holds 35 gallons, and you need to fill it up, that’s nearly $12 of savings!
• Review your expenses often – just look through your bank and credit card statement. Question everything! Why did I _________?
• Before spending anything, ask those common questions from school years: Why? Who? Where? When? How? What? By the time the questions are answered maybe that spending bug will have died!

Revisit These Scenarios Often

I’ve learned where to buy which groceries from and what stores are the ones of last resort when I have to spend money. There are some gas stations I never visit! Watching the gauge and determining the need, I always opt-out for the better-priced location.

Unless there’s an imminent need, don’t buy until it’s on sale! I still have the price tag around here from a shirt I bought 25 years ago. They wanted $60, and then they priced it down to a sale of $40. Then the season was fading, so they marked an extra 50% off. Finally, it went to a clearance rack, and I got the shirt for $2. (If you know me, the shirt is probably still in the closet!)

Find Your Guidelines

I feel like there’s a lot of my grandparents in me by genetics and observance. They lived through the Great Depression, several World Wars, and the constant upheaval of life. My granddad told me the year before he died they would have nothing if it weren’t for my grandmother. She knew how to stretch a dollar!

Through the years, I’ve learned from those in the whole spectrum. For example, I’ve learned what not to do. From watching the entire spectrum, we learn how to define our guidelines. Still, investing has not been my friend. It’s scary to put money into something that may not produce what everyone thinks it will. Still, if I had bought $1,000 of some particular tech stock initially, I could be a millionaire. To this, I say, learn early how to invest and be willing to ride it out through the ups and downs. It could pay off big time!

I had a Junior High teacher that bought a new car every two years. Why? Not sure. From his example, I learned that’s it’s best to buy what you need, with quality in mind, and let that beast last a lifetime. My truck has 355,000 miles, and I’ve owned it for nearly 18 years. I’ve spent less than 3,000 on maintenance items like head gasket, water pump, alternator, u-joint. Otherwise, it’s just what it costs to do regular maintenance! Keeping it agile is essential! Its age is telling, so I bought some new light fixtures (headlights and taillights) to update the cracked and grungy. Now, I need a new front seat. Voila! Another 18 years of driving!

Stick To It

I’m a victim of the latest gadgets. It probably has something to do with working in IT for 33+ years. I do not want to be on the “bleeding edge,” but I don’t want to miss the “leading edge” else it’s outdated before I get full use of it. I’ve learned to stretch my tech as far as I can go with it until it’s time to replace it. Then, as with my truck, I spruce it up to make me feel good about what I have and replace it only when it no longer meets my need.

Perhaps this is why my mindset allows me to keep old things. Is there value in them? Probably not. But there are good memories about where I’ve been. If you step into my world and want to buy, I would be very tempted to sell. But to readily toss it aside? No. Not me. Not yet.

Sticktoitveness… That’s the word!