Seven Things

Obviously I am way way behind on my reading but I came across this blog post at Making Sense of Cents and thought I would add to the collection of posts on this topic.
The idea is to list seven things you can't give up, seven things you could give up, and seven things you have already given up.  Here's my list:

Seven Things I Can't Give Up

1. Internet access (the internet provides my income, social life, education, etc).
2. Starbucks (I've tried!  I can't!).
3. Tithing (this is something I am compelled to do every month).
4. Reading (I am a voracious reader...at least I get free books at the library and online).
5. The hubby (we are like Siamese twins, always together and we like it that way).
6. My cell phone (it, like the internet, is my only connection to the outside world).
7. Helping people (it's just what I do).

Seven Things I Could Give Up

1. Eating out (we don't eat out as much as we used to and now only eat out for convenience but I can certainly do without it).
2. The dryer (now that we are in Las Vegas, I really should try hanging clothes outside to save money. I'm lazy though).
3. Facebook (I use it to keep up with what family is doing but it is inane and a waste of time).
4. Nail polish (it's a hassle keeping my nails looking nice now that I do it myself...maybe I will just go with the natural look).
5. Traveling so much (hopefully we will get a place and settle down soon; I am looking for a happy medium between staying home and traveling).
6. The need to feel responsible for everyone and everything (it's a bad habit).
7. Wheat and dairy and chocolate (I waver back and forth between a good diet and a not so good diet; I have given these items up in the past but keep going back to them).

Seven Things I Have Already Given Up

1. My car (we are now a one car family and it saves us a TON of money).
2. Credit cards (ditto).
3. A home (we have been "homeless" since February and traveling.  I never thought it would be possible to give up the security of a home but we did and it isn't so bad).
4. Designer everything.  I used to have to have a new (designer) outfit every time we went to the club.  I loved designer purses, designer shoes, designer home decor...basically if there was something to boost my ego and spend a lot of money on at the same time I was there.  I'm not there any more and it isn't as traumatic a change as I thought it would be.
5. A job.  At the beginning of this year things kind of culminated in me not having a job for the first time since I was 16.  For some reason I seem to have more money now than those days when I would panic nearly every day about how much my check would be, what would happen if I lost my job, how I could stand one more day with a hideous co worker, etc.
6. Friends.  It's odd but when you don't have a home and job, you don't have a lot of "built in" friends.  I have a handful of very good friends and that's it, not dozens and dozens of work and neighborhood-related friends who were more friends out of convenience than anything else.
7. Spending money I didn't have (including credit cards, loans from friends, overdrawing my bank account, etc).