Tags
feeling wealthy, full fridge, gas in the car, gratitude, little falls green garbage bags, stamps, wealth
Hubby and I don’t have a lot of money and I grew up in a family that didn’t have a lot of money. Even though I’ve never really experienced wealth in the sense of having loads of money in the bank, there are a few simple things that make me feel wealthy.
1. Having at least a half a tank of gas in the car
2. Having a book of stamps in my wallet
3. Having green garbage bags in the pantry
4. Having a fridge full of food
Perhaps I should explain #3, which was the inspiration for this post.
Our city uses a system of colored garbage bags for picking up trash. There are green bags and blue bags, depending on what side of town one lives on. The bags are over a dollar a piece but supposedly cost less than having a traditional can that gets picked up each week.
We ran out of bags and hadn’t purchased new ones before garbage had to be set out a couple of weeks ago. That’s when I realized that having green garbage bags on hand makes me feel wealthy. There’s something about not being able to take out the trash that’s unsettling. It makes me feel slovenly. Green garbage bags prevent that feeling because, even if I don’t have enough trash to fill a bag and put it on the curb, I have the option of putting out the trash. That option is what makes me feel wealthy.
How about you? What small or simple things make you feel wealthy?
I’m not looking for those grand things in life that people express gratitude for, like wonderful relationships and spiritual enlightenment. Of course those things make us feel wealthy, as they should. I want to hear about things that give a feeling of wealth out of proportion to cost or importance of the items, i.e. green garbage bags.
Every morning, as I go from room to room opening the window coverings, is when I feel that sense of wealth. I love the early morning hour when I open our home to the world, ready to start a new day. I especially enjoy opening the curtains in our dining room; curtains I intentionally hung from wooden rings so that when I swing them open, they clatter against each other, making such a satisfying noise.
This is actually a big thing. Every time Bernie and I make a visit to our two distant children in the southwest, i think about people who are so broke they can’t afford to see the people that they love.
Jacki – I love that you feel wealthy with a sound. I’ll have to think about the sounds that make me feel wealthy.
Judy – I’m starting to understand the difficulty of visiting children in far-off place now that our kids are in college. Not only is gas expensive, the timing of breaks with our own schedule can make for some interesting driving arrangements.
It makes me “feel wealthy” when we apparently came up with the same topic with the same title at the same time. Remarkable. Two possible explanations. 1) Great minds think alike or 2) The nut doesn’t fall far from the tree. Keep up the good work Mary. — John
I believe both explanations work in this situation, John.
Hello, I host a game every Sunday called Sunday Stealing, This weekend we are going to steal this meme from 2008! http://woowooteacup.wordpress.com/2008/09/24/twenty-questions-meme/ We always credit the theft and post a link to your blog and profile! It’s great PR! you can email me at mr.lance@live.ca if you have any questions! here is a link to the blog: http://sundaystealing.blogspot.com! Stop by this weekend and check it out!
Cool beans, Mr. Lance. Hope your readers have fun with the meme.
Having enough food in the pantry/freezer that I don’t have worry about having food to eat. Being able to put enough gas in the car that I’m not worrying about running out of gas. Knowing that there is still money in the account the day before pay day.
Yep, Dee, all of those make me feel wealthy too.