Comments on: “I Spy” a Saving Opportunity

By: Penelope @ Our Fourpence Worth

Penelope @ Our Fourpence Worth — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 21:39:04 +0000

Yes, it really does come with practice and being the the frame of mind. We are always looking for savings opportunities in everyday things and have a lot of fun in it.

My sister is especially good at coming up with ideas for things to do or make from old things. She got into it from reading “The Borrowers” series by Mary Norton. After reading those books a couple of years ago, she started seeing multiple uses in everything. I’d recommend these books to those who wish to get into the mindset of “borrowing” everyday objects to work for you in unconventional ways.

She wrote a blog post a couple of weeks ago on uses for cardboard food cartons, one of which was turning a Jell-O box into a notebook for me to use as a shopping list notebook, as I do all the shopping in our household and it’s a small size that can fit in my pockets.

She also recently built a desk and decorated the drawer with a knob salvaged from a steam iron that had be dropped (and broken), Anise spices (which sort of resemble sea stars), and swirls drawn with hot glue. You can see a picture of it in her post called The Frugal Art.

I’ll have to check out the I Spy books next time I’m at the library. We somehow missed those while growing up. We really enjoyed Where’s Waldo, though.

By: Shannon Christman

Shannon Christman — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 22:51:38 +0000

Bitina,

A lot of it comes with practice. Be observant of the world around you, discipline yourself to ask, “How can I save in this situation?”, and don’t give up if you don’t see the answer immediately.

The more you look, the easier it becomes to find saving opportunities.

By: bitina

bitina — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:02:57 +0000

I understand the philosophy, but how do you actually do this? If you don’t know how to look in the right place, how do you find it? You make it sound easy, but if it were, then we wouldn’t have to look. It doesn’t do any good unless you can teach people how to find these hidden things. If you can’t teach how, then they will always stay hidden.

By: Alexandria

Alexandria — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:56:51 +0000

There have been studies that show this too. “Lucky” people are less creatures of habit and more likely to look for opportunities where most people miss them. For example, they are more likely to spot cash on the ground where others would just walk by and not see it.

Good analogy. I have to say I love I SPY too. I think the kids are getting sick of it, but it’s always my first choice. Guess I am not the only one.

By: ben

ben — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 07:57:54 +0000

Habit is one of the biggest money wasters we all have. It really does pay to look at the way you do things from an outside perspective from time to time. Not doing so ensures that you throw away money.

By the way, that’s a great photo!