Thrifty Thursday 8

Money, emotions and belief

If you haven’t tried bubble and squeak it’s not hard to make. You just mash together some left over boiled potato with boiled white cabbage and mould into a shape and then fry it until golden brown. I put eggs on top of mine and served it up with green beans! Delicious! So what did it cost? The eggs are from caged hens and cost £1.25 for 15; so they are about 17p for 2 and the beans and bubble and squeak cost about 18p. I made a meal for 35p! It was nice too!

If you use free range eggs and organic vegetables the cost goes up sharply. Free range eggs are 3 times the price at 24p each and organic veggies are expensive too; but they taste better and they are healthier aren’t they? There is a no evidence to show for sure that they are healthier and little evidence that they taste better. I know people who will eat organic at home and then go into a fast food joint for the next meal and eat absolute garbage that is loaded with salt, fibre and sugar. We are encouraged by the media to be emotional about our food and our money. They trade on our weaknesses and we all tend to compete with each other and become envious of people who have something better. French wine is better because they say so on the television. But is it, the French themselves recently said it took a connoisseur of wine to tell a genuine French vintage wine from a counterfeit made in China! There is little actual difference in taste. What is the difference between a Barclaycard and an American Express Gold card? The latter has prestige and a £25 a year fee!  You are a sucker to pay that fee, even if they do offer cash back.

Your clothes need a designer label too, don’t they and they are better aren’t they? Some designer clothes are cut better but some are no different than the cheaper equivalent and you have to learn to tell the difference. You can’t rely on the advertising and spin. The same applies to own brand versus well known brands. You are constantly exposed to advertising, publicity and branding that will influence what you believe, who you vote for and how you spend your money. Don’t be a sheep and follow the flock, think for yourself and ask if eggs from caged hens taste the same as free range eggs. If you think free range eggs taste better, do a taste test!

The stock market

I’m researching shares this week. You can buy shares in public companies through a stock broker, share dealing service or a bank. I use my bank and they charge for buying and then again for selling the shares. The stock market also takes it’s cut with its  spread between the price you buy at and the price you sell at. As with everything, the rich get a better deal. Free range eggs are 2 dozen for £4.00, gold is cheaper if you buy lots of it and shares work out cheaper if you buy millions of pounds worth; not hundreds of pounds worth. I have alerts on a few share prices and the bank has emailed me when the price has changed. I am looking to buy at lower prices, but it is obviously risky in the current climate to buy at all. The price of all shares is bouncing around because shareholders and more importantly traders are emotional about buying and selling. Some shares are cheaper now and worth buying, you should keep your emotions under control and buy at the lowest price and diversify as much as possible to minimise the risk. I’ll try to tell you what I have bought in future blogs and a long time into the future I hope to tell you I made a few quid!

You might like to read last Friday’s frugal blog and last Thursday’s thrifty blog was good. I took some good photographs this week and particularly like those in yesterday’s Neodigital Art blog. There are lots more on the Home page.

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