{"id":17785,"date":"2017-07-24T15:02:33","date_gmt":"2017-07-24T21:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flovalleynews.com\/?p=17785"},"modified":"2017-07-24T15:02:33","modified_gmt":"2017-07-24T21:02:33","slug":"a-boomers-journal-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=17785","title":{"rendered":"A BOOMER\u2019S JOURNAL:"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tom<\/a>
Tom Anselm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How Not to Spend Money: Live in World of Indecision<\/strong><\/h2>\n

by Tom Anselm<\/h3>\n

Well, friends, Jill and I have been really frugal these past months. Just the other day, we went shopping, looking for a few things for the house. On the list were a night stand for Jill, a non-Smart TV, an end table for the family room (because the one we have is too big and we have to push the chair over too far and it blocks the sliding door to the deck), and a headboard set for the master bedroom since the one we have is, well, old.<\/p>\n

I guess we hit about three stores, from Macy\u2019s to Value City to Weekends Only, and while some had stuff we were close to pulling the trigger on, we just didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

When we got home, I said \u201cHey, babe, we just saved about $2000!\u201d It was like a reality show, only . . . real, you know? And then, I thought of just how stupid are most reality shows, especially the ones where people go house hunting. Even calling one show \u201cHouse Hunters.\u201d And then . . . I had this idea.<\/p>\n

\"keep-calm-and-save-money-255-241x300\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 We could have our own reality show. You know, call it \u201cTom and The Lovely Jill Go Shopping and Save Thousands by Not Buying Anything.\u201d Maybe too long? Or \u201cReal Life in the Land of Indecision.\u201d<\/p>\n

We could do what we do best (see above), and at the end of the show, we could have an expert panel of decorators and house-fixing-up people give their opinions on what we should have bought. We could get the stores we don\u2019t buy from to sponsor us, because the Expert Panel of Experts would say what we should\u2019ve gotten from each place, their stuff being so great!<\/p>\n

Back to the other day, for another example. We got to the department store. Looking for that Dumb TV. I walked over to the salesman by the dryers.<\/p>\n

\u201cHi, I was wondering if you worked in TVs\u201d I said, since there was no one waiting on us even as we stood around for about 15 minutes.<\/p>\n

He looked at me as if I had leprosy.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo I work on TVs?\u201d he said, with a facial expression somewhere between condescension and abject boredom.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, no, I mean do you \u2026 can you answer a few questions about the TVs? I said, quickly seeing this was going to be a waste of time.<\/p>\n

\u201cTVs. Well, I don\u2019t work on them, I sell them. I\u2019m with these people right now,\u201d he said, waving his clipboard dismissively at a couple about 20 feet away looking at dryers. Like I even saw them, dude.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell\u2026 thanks,\u201d said I, returning to the wife with an \u201cAin\u2019t no way in heck I\u2019m buying anything from that (bleep).\u201d See, we\u2019d have to bleep it because it\u2019s a family show, right? And true to the show\u2019s theme, we saved a couple hunnert right there.<\/p>\n

To the other stores defense, most of the sales personnel were very helpful, offering us ideas, talking about the goods, not pressuring us at all. Jill eventually got great deals on an end table and a night stand a few days later that fit perfectly. By herself.\u00a0\u00a0 At a totally different store. Gotta watch this trend, if we are going to pitch that show.<\/p>\n

Oh, by the way. Our next big shopping adventure will be replacing my 2007 Fusion. Now that would be a great episode, right?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How Not to Spend Money: Live in World of Indecision by Tom Anselm Well, friends, Jill and I have been really frugal these past months. Just the other day, we went shopping, looking for a few things for the house. On the list were a night stand for Jill, a non-Smart TV, an end table […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,9,16,17,20,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blackjack-spanishlake","category-columnists","category-ferguson","category-florissant","category-hazelwood","category-health-seniors","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nA BOOMER\u2019S JOURNAL: - flovalleynews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=17785\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A BOOMER\u2019S JOURNAL: - flovalleynews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How Not to Spend Money: Live in World of Indecision by Tom Anselm Well, friends, Jill and I have been really frugal these past months. 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