Save a penny for a rainy day. I have a few tips how

My friend in his poem states how he longs for work. The words of advice I can give him is save a penny. I remember you guys laughing at me for being penny wise. I would like to share with you why I was and am that way.

When you come from a country with over a billion people to a land where $1= Rs. 50 or so and PENNY is Rs.5. every penny counts. I don’t care if it’s a penny on the ground that most people say u spend more energy to pick up than it is worth. Being Indian we also have to take into consideration that in America we don’t have an uncle or an auntie to give us job security. We are all replaceable. With another more efficient cheaper version or as with a newer model that may just be in India. It’s like a compute operating system is the same just product in new packaging. Same Indian mind new Indian body.

To most Americans it may be funny when we Indians do stuff to save money. To an American its foolish. To an Indian its being wise. There is a logical explanation for each one of those

1. Wash paper plate and plastic silver ware (its only curry and look at it from this prospective the plate now has a modern art design on it)
2. buy 100 rolls of toilet papers when we see it on sale ,
3. We never buy bin bags, but use your saved grocery bags for it. (We need to cut down on plastic it’s not bio degradable. Those bags need to be good for my trash)
4. You feel like you got a good deal if you didn't pay tax (with the sales tax at 9.75 in Ca who wouldn’t)
5. You only make long distance calls after 9 pm
6. Or that we think that $1 is a good tip its (Rs. 50 for crying out loud. that can feed a child for a week in India)
7. We head towards the clearance section as soon as you walk into a store (It may be outdated fashions in America its new to me.)
8. Buy A small drink at fast food restaurant (the refill are free)
9. We drink plain water instead of Coke for lunch (it’s free and good for you 2)
10. We frequent to garage sales every week (one mans trash is another mans treasure)
11. You will find fast-food sauce packets in your kitchen drawer (it’s good to cook with they just gonna throw it in the trash if u don’t take it home)
12. We buy a Toyota or Honda car only because it has better resale value (who doesn’t want to get the most bang for their buck)
13. We go back to your apartment for lunch (we know what we cook is healthy)
14. We know all the $2.00 theaters in your city (the movie is just a month old and I haven’t seen it yet)
15. We pay our bills the day they come in the mail (why pay the huge fees)
16. We spend 2 days cleaning your apartment before leaving so you can get full security refund from landlord ( hey its hard earned and its only fair that I took the apartment clean I return it clean)
17. We always have a coupon for lunch. (Being in advertising I know that the coupons were designed for advertising. We are just carrying out a service by letting the advertiser know he is doing some thing right and its working.) I wonder why people are embarrassed by coupons.

A funny story about the last point. My friend and I were sitting at a restraint and checking out what coupon we want to use. Another friend walked in and he said. No wonder u guys are single. My friend looks at him and said. If I found a girl from back home she would have joined me and taken out a coupon for free drinks and fries with that to add to the order. She would just get the most bang for her buck.

If you look at some of the things we do not only saves money but is also saving the planet. In addition I can also make the argument that is reducing waste. I Live in Los angles now and we need to save for a rainy day. Especially with the recession! So my friends be penny wise don’t judge some one who is an immigrant for being frugal. I guess we can learn a thing or two from them how they save and work hard for future generations to succeed and how to pay our bills on time and live in debt. 

P.S.
We also have a load of cash in the matteress from all those years of being penny wise