Oink

Piggy Bank

I got a pleasant surprise in the office this morning. It's nice to be recognized for hard work once in a while.

Recently I've been using Livemocha to refresh my French because I'll need it on my next trip. The other users on the website seem to be normal. When I submit my sentences to be evaluated, they catch my errors and correct me. That's the best way to learn. Because you want to try to avoid embarassing yourself next time, you remember the rules better. It's a great website that I encourage others to use.

You may be asking yourself why I took a picture of a pig today. Well, I wanted to blog about saving money today, so a relevant picture is of a piggy bank for saving money. Everyone is talking about how to save money these days. For example, the Wall Street Journal wrote in a blog that you could forgo cable TV if you watch hulu.com for instance.

Personally, I've always been pretty frugal, but now I am pinching my pennies even more. For example, I try to cut down on my visits to Peet's coffee and try to bring lunch from home more. Even those who are still employed and are earning money don't want to spend because the somber mood is contagious. Slowly, Americans' spendthrift ways are coming to a halt.