Back to the Money....

Good Evening Friends and Neighbors.  My hope is that you are all prospering in your efforts to throw off the Down-Pressor Man!

I have heard from you Sisters and Brothers, I have heard the agreement, seen the nodding of heads, felt the affirmation, yes I have.  We know what we need to do, don't we?  Yes, we need to pay down or pay off the debt with which the Corporate Demons saddle us.  We also need to spend less of our capital, the capital created with our labor.  We need to spend less of our capital and what we do spend we need to spend more wisely so that we aid our Brothers and Sisters and at the same time deny the Down-Pressor the fruits of our labor.  

But how?  How do we keep that which is ours, ours?  This is the lament I hear my Brethren.  We have talked about lots of different ideas for reducing the amount of cash flowing out of our households and into the hands of the corporations.  Here are more ideas and small strategies that may help us, all of us, in the struggle.

1)  Restaurant Coupons.  

Brothers and Sisters, if there is one sure-fire way to cut down on expenses, reducing the number of times we eat out is probably the surest.  The Reverend would not be speaking the truth if he told you that he always eats at home.  No Ma'am, I like a good meal in a nice joint more than most folks, and treat it as one of the joys in life.  So what, then, are we to do?  One of my favorite things is using Group-On or Living Social or one of the Entertainment books to get coupons for my favorite restaurants.  As most of the Brethren know, Living Social and Group-On are like getting free cash.  You can spend $ 15 for a coupon that is good for $ 30 at a local eatery.  This is a smart deal if it meets a few conditions.  The first condition is that we aren't using credit for these purchases, but paying off the balance when the bill comes due.  The second helpful hint is that its only free cash if we were planning on going to eat out anyway.  Then we are saving money off of what we already had in our budget and of course we are all keeping a budget now, right Sisters and Brothers?  The Entertainment books are a way to throw a little fund raising money at a local organization and getting a whole bunch of coupons for about $ 40.  Used even sparingly, the Entertainment books will more than pay for themselves in short order.

2)  Turn off the TV

That's right Brethren, switch the Bozone producer off.  Turn it off!  Watching less TV mean watching less advertisements for crap that we don't need, won't use, and will end up throwing in the landfill.  Turn the blue light off!!  Brethren, pick a few nights a week and declare them family TV-Free evenings.  We can spend that time without advertisements and with the ones we love!  

3)  Used books, free books

With those TV-Free nights giving us more time for productive pursuits sans pitchmen, what better way to fill the quiet time than a good book?  Brethren, one thing almost every neighborhood has is a used book store or paperback exchange.  Get to know the proprietor of the store in your neighborhood.  Book mongers are inevitably interesting folk.  The original book exchange is your local library.  Sisters and Brothers, library cards are free!!  If you haven't been to your local library recently, you will be amazed at all of the things you can check out for free:  DVDs, Audio Books, even artwork!!  That robber baron Carnegie built a lot of our libraries and I urge us to take advantage of his ill-gotten gains!  Lastly, for our more techno-geek Brethren, there are free books on the Kindle ap and even an ap that is called "Free Books".  I love the free electronic books and keep several on my devices so I always have reading material when I am traveling about our fair, green globe.

4)  Make Extra when cooking and...

When we are cooking at home, Brothers and Sisters, the trick is to make a double batch or lasagne, a double casserole, a bigger pot of stew or chili.  Lots of dishes lend themselves to left-overs that are actually better the next day.  No one loves morning pizza like the Rev and the Genetic Envelope.  The trick, good Brethren, is that it often costs only a small amount of cash for a second batch of grub, thus leading us to the next item.

5)  Brown bag that lunch

Sisters and Brothers, as we set off for our working day, we can save a bundle of cash, and eat in a more healthy fashion, if we pack some of those lovely left-overs in a nice, recycled brown paper bag.  Or a Yogi Bear lunch box, or one of those cool tupper-ware bento things, whatever floats your left-over boat.  No matter which carrying device we choose, the outcome will be more jingle in our pockets as we save that fin that lunch as going to set us back. 

There are lots more cost cutting tricks out there.  If our Brethren have more ideas, please, send them in and the Rev will toss them out for the benefit of all.

In the meantime, remember who has the power and who produces the capital.  It is each of us, Sisters and Brothers.  We create the means, and we can take it back.  And that is the call Good Brethren:  Take It Back!!  Take back our capital, take back the fruits of our labor, take back our government from the greedy Corporate Demons and take back our financial independence!!

Be well, live large and out loud, and Strike a Blow!!