It's after 4 on a cold dark December day and I'm sitting here in front of the computer, with nary a light on in the house. I don't really consider myself a thrifty person but there are some things I really hate spending money on. One's electricity during the day for lights and the other is heating oil.
For some odd reason, buying heating oil is to me the same as burning dollar bills. But since my house is heated by an oil-fired furnace, some has to be bought every winter. But that doesn't mean I plan to buy a lot of it - I keep the house warm enough to prevent any pipes from freezing but the rest is done through extra blankets and plenty of warm sweaters and fleeces to get through the worst of it. Luckily, I love wearing cozy clothes so this has never been a hardship.
And while I do like electric light, paying for it is not something I enjoy so I deliberately refuse to turn on any light, even at this time of the year, before 4 pm.It helps that I prefer natural light, especially the softer light at the end of the day. As a result, my electric bill is pretty low but I do live in a province where the electric utility seems to come up with new ways to gouge the consumer on an almost monthly basis - my usage keeps falling but the darn bill keeps going up!
I'm not thrifty when it comes to my weaknesses, tea and chocolate. I know of people who actually re-use their tea leaves - that's not going to work for me - but I'm also willing to try anything so it's led me to some pretty good lower-cost alternatives. Sometimes taking a chance on a new product or a sample given out at a shop can lead to great new taste adventures. So it's all about spending what you have on what matters to you.
And yes, heat and lights are important but I'd rather splurge on other things.
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