Our Own "Stimulus Package"

So, there's much talk about the economy, bailouts, stimulus package and it seems the news media is reporting every single hiccup, burp and event taking place in Washington D.C. I for one, don't think that it is the governments job to bail out anyone, especially big companys with CEO making salaries that would feed a small country.
My better half and I sat down yesterday to see what we could do to stimulate our own economy. There are things we have talked about for some time, but we decided to take the hard stand now.

Good bye Dish TV! Good riddance! Sure I hope I don't miss 100 channels of shopping networks. I know I will miss reruns of NCIS, Mark Harmon is such a good actor and I have a thing for gray hair, but tough times call for tough measures.
Good bye Netflix! Only $10.00 a month, but we just can't figure out movies to watch, there's such poor entertainment these days.
Good bye insurance on the cell phones. Such a waste. If we really have to we can get one off ebay.
Discussed getting rid of the cell phone, but decided that for now we'll keep it.

Savings per month.......about $130.00.

We also went through our statements carefully and found that there were two different items being taken out that we weren't aware of. One of them was only $10 a month, but for the past 15 months it was something we didn't need. Called the company, they said, woops and refunded us $150.00. The other company said they wouldn't refund us $11.95 a month for the past year, but we cancelled them. So add another $21.00 to the $130.00 above.

We also decided to rent the apartment again....sigh....I loved having a canning kitchen. I love having the extra space for junk, but that's some valuable real estate that could be used for other things and this house is plenty big for just the 3 of us.

I also went to Albertsons to see if I could get excited about the BIG huge coupon sale they were having this week. I looked and looked and tried to get excited about the HUGE savings. I even put stuff in my cart. But then put it back and walked out of the store empty-handed. I just don't buy that kind of groceries, so would it be a savings? Sure, cake mixes were about 75 cents, but make my own cakes for much less. I don't eat Progresso soup, I don't need fruit roll ups, and don't buy boxed cereal. I know people were going out of there with cases and cases of the stuff, but nothing made me happy.

I also decided that we'll be eating less meats and more dried beans and veggies. Eating more of my home canned goods if we need a snack. Those peaches are delicious.

Maybe one of these days we'll get rid of the cell phone or the land line, or maybe I'll have a huge yard sale and get rid of a bunch of junk.

My better half is required to take a week-long furlough between now and the end of May...without pay. Better that than a layoff, but it's a little scary out there!

Just trying to be prepared for the wild ride we seem to be having!