show me THE MONEY!
- Vickey Vittes
- Apr 23
- 8 min read
BEING caught in the perpetual waves of our country’s mercurial financial landscape is like a daily
trip on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. The rise and fall of the stock market in response to Trump’s
whimsical game of Tarriff Roulette is giving me a severe case of fiscal whiplash (ouch…my neck!).
Amidst all this fiscal uncertainty, one thing I can tell you for sure: we’re circling the drain of
a recession, if not already in the bowl, and it’ll just take one good flush.
This feeling of financial chaos in our government is upsetting and frustrating, and we can all do
without the stress. It’s important to focus on the agency we do have in the choices we make about
where, how and on what we spend our money, which is a freedom as yet uncontrollable by any
institution…no matter how much Elon and his moronic chainsaw try to convince us otherwise (really,
it’s a miracle he didn’t cut off his own head with that thing).
In researching methods of fiscal conservancy and environmental responsibility, I have discovered
some changes that seemed like little choices at first but have ultimately made a significant
difference in my bank account, my stress level, and my conscience.
ON THE PERSONAL SIDE:
I learned about the Berkey system when I was in Nutrition school in 2020. At the time, I was broke
(from school tuition) and daunted by the price point. Then I thought about how very much I hated
constantly trying to fit my BPA-free plastic water filtration jug into my Lilliputian “apartment”
refrigerator and did a little math, sucked it up and prepared to purchase. As it turns out, Berkey
doesn’t ship to California, but Alexapure does and it’s exactly the same thing. In fact, Alexapure
filters last longer than Berkey, and Alexapure is much more affordable. Much.
2. GET A BIDET¹
This is one of those changes that is both environmentally responsible and (potentially) fiscally
responsible although it really requires some financial calculations, because a quality bidet isn’t cheap.
Here are the issues I had to consider: from where do I buy my toilet paper?² (Costco Kirkland
Signature Bath Tissue, currently$24.99 for 30 rolls = $0.83 per roll)³
How many people are in my household? Just me. How many rolls are used per month?
Liberally about 5 = $4.15 per month. This means that one case will last me
about 6 months. Two cases will last me an entire year, and at $24.99 each, that’s $49.98 per year
in toilet paper. A quality bidet to fit my tiny toilet, which is small to fit into my thimble-sized bathroom,
will cost me in the neighborhood of $350 on the low end (pardon the pun) unless I don’t mind getting ice
cold water shooting up my nether regions. And I do mind…I really do! Even if I used three cases of
toilet paper per year, at $74.97, and even if the price goes up a bit, it’s still more cost
effective for me to continue buying toilet paper. Why??? Because I RENT! If I owned my place,
it would be Bidet City for me.
3. USE CASH
Although this needs no in-depth analysis, let me just elaborate a bit. Yes, I hear you: you’ll be
losing a. Airline miles; 2. Cash-back dollars c. Points for gift cards, and #q. whatever else you
can think of. I don’t disagree, and there are times when it’s simply not practical or feasible to
pay with cash but whenever you can do, do it. Why? It’s real, tangible cash-money, which makes you
painfully aware of each dollar you spend, hopefully prompting you to ask yourself, “need… or want?”
and, at the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist (although right now I feel it's apt), it’s
untraceable. The interwebs, The Federal government, the Muskrats…no one can trace your purchases,
and it’s spending in real time. Cash coming out of your bank account right now…not a Bill to Be
Paid Later.
4. SUBSIDIARY CELL PHONE PROVIDERS
Here’s what the Big Guys – Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, don’t want you to know about their trifecta:
they’re overcharging for services you can get so much cheaper on one of their “inferior”affiliates.
PSYCH! Don’t fall for it. Over the past 18 months, I’ve tried two different “inferior” cell phone
providers and have been happier with each than I ever was with AT&T. With more dollars in my bank
account, thanks. These providers use the same towers as the “Big” providers, and that’s their
secret. Initially I moved from AT&T to Visible Wireless, but moved over to MintMobile due to
Visible’s political party affiliations. I am currently on a 5GB monthly plan, which is more than I
need by quite a bit, and in February I paid $180.00 for the ENTIRE year. Yes, that’s right. And the
service is excellent.
5. STOP BUYING RETAIL
You can find anything online. Even better: you can find anything pre-owned but still in excellent
condition online, and not just on eBay. Type “Best Online Thrift Stores” into your search engine
and immediately over 50 results will show up on page one alone. Everyone who knows me know that I
almost never shop for new anything; I just don’t believe in it. To me it’s like buying a dog when
there are so many amazing dogs in shelters waiting to be rescued (no judgement on those who buy;
it’s just my belief system). I’ve been shopping for clothes on ThredUp for years and stick with
them because I know they’re truthful about the condition and quality of their merch. For
electronics, I like Backmarket; I’ve bought most of my tech from this site over time and have
never, ever had a negative experience. Buying pre-owned just makes the most fiscal sense; even if
it was made in China, it’s American now.
6. OTHER RESOURCES
Some of my most-used, much relied upon resources are the following (all come in app form):
a. GOODS UNITE US -A site for politically guided shopping (use your voice and shop your choice!)
b. GAS BUDDY - Locates the nearest and cheapest gas stations in your area and offers a GasBuddy
card for discounted fuel
c. FETCH REWARDS - A really user-friendly shopping rewards app with many features
d. GOODRX - The OG of pharmacy price comparisons; often the coupons give better discounts than
insurance coverage pays
e. VITACOST.COM - I shop this site on the regular; it’s my source for best prices on high quality
supplements (and I take 14 supplements daily so that’s a LOT of savings!) and pantry products. They
offer a wide selection of organics and have regular deals and sales.
BUSINESS RESOURCES :
7. FEES AND CHARGES:
PayPal vs. Square vs. Stripe vs. Venmo: know your credit card processing apps, their fees…and read
the fine print!*
a. PAYPAL: Your basic PayPal online processing merchant fees run 3.49% + $.49 per transaction.
PayPal now offers Venmo processing, with the same fees, and Pay Later, which will run the buyer
4.99% + $.49 per transaction. PayPal has a more extensive payment structure, but this is for QR
code sales, and in- person sales, but I’m citing the basic online fees as so much commerce is done
online at this point.
b. SQUARE: Square also has a tiered fee system which is modality-dependent, the most common of
which seems to be online invoice payments. This is their highest transaction fee point at 3.3% +
$.30 per transaction. Still considerably better than PayPal. I used Square for a long time because
of this and their other convenient features, like not having to wait a year and a half for my
payouts (PayPal really likes to hang onto your money) and their financial reports.
c. STRIPE: Stripe has an extensive offering of payment options, but the simplest fee structure is
the basic manually entered transaction at 2.9% + $.35 – the cheapest of all of the options. This is
the app I use now because it’s simple and consistent, and I can build a static percentage into all
of my client invoices without have to do mental gymnastics based on what the weather is in the
Khartoum, whether it’s a day that ends in “Y”, if there’s a foreign conversion rate that adds
+/- .02% and if my head will spin off its axis.
8. BE A RULEBREAKER
Buy off-brand/recycled printer ink. It won’t kill your printer, I promise. HP/Brother/Canon/Epson
just tell you it will because they want to get more money out of you. Obvi. I have used these
vendors with excellent results: https://www.1ink.com/ and https://www.123inkjets.com/. Again,
I promise recycled printer ink won’t kill your printer, but if it does…
9. BUY REFURBISHED ELECTRONICS
As mentioned above, I love BACKMARKET for almost everything electronic refurbished. I’ve had only
great experiences with this company, and I’ve purchased three iPhones, my FitBit, two iPads, and my
Apple Homepod mini. You can also go straight to the manufacturer and purchase a refurbished printer
(or any given item) which I’ve done with Epson and HP, and it will save you money, save the planet
from more landfill, and – from my experience – refurbished items perform just as well as new about
95% of the time.
10. BE A CHEAPSKATE
When I started my practice, back in Days of Yore, I had a bookkeeping client who tried to reuse
everything (or at least keep it alive for as long as possible…and then even a little bit longer);
she would use backs of grocery receipts for scrap to leave completely illegible notes for me, used
duct tape to hold her ancient electronics together, and used the back sides of every single piece
paper for printer paper. She made me want to poke myself in the eye with a sharp stick.
Nevertheless…I did learn one or two good lessons, one of which is: be a cheapskate when it makes
sense. I reuse printer paper on printouts that are for my temporary use (paper is expensive, yo!).
I reuse manila file folders - some have lasted me an embarrassingly long time (10 years - don't
judge!). I don’t throw away paper clips because…well, why would I if keeping them means I don’t
have to buy them? Approach everything with the mindset that our resources are limited
because…well…they are.
11. DON’T ASSUME (It makes an ASS out of U and ME)
I know this goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: if you don’t have a Costco membership - or
at the very least a Sam’s Club membership (but conscience check GOODS UNITE US on this one) – get
one! Please oh please don’t default to Amazon (PLEASE!) and don’t assume the prices will be cheaper
for office supplies at an office supply store. As of this writing, the cheapest case of copy paper
at Staples is not in fact the Staples brand Multiuse paper; it’s Hammermill Copy Plus at $44.99 per
carton of 10 reams. The same case is “on sale” at Office Max/Depot for$55.99, but if you don’t care
about the brand their lowest price for a case is $42.99; Costco has truly crappy deals (their
lowest price per case being $63.99), but Sam’s Club bests them all at $40.96 per case.
Even Amazon can’t beat that, with its lowest price per case of Amazon Basic Copy
Paper at $44.99 ($42.74 with Subscribe and Save).
12. STOCK UP
This applies to both your personal and professional finances. We’re in a Bear market, no matter
what “they” say. If prices haven’t increased appreciably right this minute, I predict that within
six months we’ll be all be looking back, wishing we’d had better foresight and been better
prepared. Have better foresight now! Don’t go broke trying to build a tariff war bunker (and please
do not accrue credit card debt for this), but if you can cough up the cash and stock up for the six
to eight months (a year is better but even three months will help), you will buy yourself so much
more than supplies: you’ll be more clear headed and able to focus on work; you’ll sleep better and
stress less. A lot can happen in three or six months with this shockingly mercurial administration,
and we all need to stress less. Governmental officials who are ruining (oops! I meant to say
“running”) all aspects of our country’s finances will, in all likelihood, be gone in six months and
(hopefully) replaced with better actors who will right our economic ship. In the meantime, batten
down the hatches, because - in the words of the great L. Frank Baum who authored The Wizard of Oz:
*At this point almost all of my clients pay me via Zelle bank transfer of via Venmo directly or, occasionally, check (not through PayPal Venmo). I think the fees have gotten out of control and we're all being gouged unnecessarily. The only way to get these fees lowered is to stop paying them...in my opinion.
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