This new year I want to focus more on one of my favorite topics: How NOT to be a Starving Artist.
Things are better off for us now than ever, but with a bigger paycheck comes bigger expenses. Now we have car payments and insurance, work wardrobes and higher house costs.
We still, and probably always will, pinch our pennies hard enough to keep Abe squirming. Far from feeling deprived, saving money makes us feel empowered. Take our latest, greatest find, a dining room table, as an example.
We have been waiting awhile to find the perfect table. It had to be compact because we use a nook in the kitchen as a dining area. It had to be sturdy but not heavy, durable and above all, dirt cheap. Yesterday I found it at a new thrift store I was visiting.
It fit all our criteria: light hardwood with wide, comfortable chairs that will be easy to recover when they get too worn. The design is unique and the whole thing fits perfectly in our nook. Best part was the price. Originally marked $45, the attendant quickly offered to me for $25 simply because I hesitated over the price (which I thought was a great deal anyways). For another $5, plus tip, we had the whole thing delivered and set up by dinner.
We don’t see our $25 thrift shop table and chairs as a deprivation or a mark of being poor – instead we like to think of all the money we didn’t spend that can now be used on something more fun. Tonight that happens to be a bottle of wine to go with dinner.
Shopping in thrift shops for furniture is one way we live well on less.