Sound advice.

For some reason, I enjoyed this article by Kelly Marages. Maybe I'm simply perverse, or it's because of years of accumulated annoyance from seeing my contemporaries waste resources, as in this quote from the article:

I read a roundup of first-person accounts in a magazine recently about what it feels like to be laid off. This is the kind of article that can be helpful, or even just voyeuristic -- making some feel better for still having their jobs, allowing others to enjoy that I'm-not-alone feeling. But in the end, I can't imagine that many readers got through it without getting angry. One woman, a former finance exec, talked about eating leftovers. "We never did that before," she said.

Oh, the horrors. She had to eat leftovers. Actually, I want to say some unkind things like "Not the sharpest tool in the shed, are you?" or "You must not be responsible for the day-to-day feeding of a family". Leftovers are a wonderful resource and labor-saving invention. Whether it's a big pot of soup or some leftover takeouts, if you are crafty, you can spin it into several days worth of meals. These are days which you didn't have to cook or figure out what to feed your family, but merely popped said leftovers into the microwave and steamed a few fresh veggies from the garden. In short, leftovers equal freedom from drudgery.

Part two: she's a "former finance exec". She is probably interested in accumulating wealth. There are several ways to go about this. One is to have a high-powered job or a stroke of luck. Another is to be frugal, and if one is fortunate enough to not live in poverty, save whatever wealth comes one's way. Yet another is to pursue both methods at the same time.

Perhaps if she'd been savoring leftovers with her high-powered job all along, she wouldn't have to stress out quite as much over being laid off.