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How To Retire Without Money
By Bob Belmont
CHAPTER 5 AMERICA'S
BARGAIN PARADISES
Page 1 of 9
As we've
already said, the United States is the most expensive country
in the world.
However,
there is a big IF to this.
Because in
many respects it is the cheapest country in the world.
It is the
most expensive country if you attempt to keep up with the
Joneses, if you insist on big houses in expensive areas, new
cars and a yearly rash of new TV sets, refrigerators, deep
freezes, vacuum cleaners and what not.
However, I
know of no other place in the world where you can buy a good
reliable used car for a hundred dollars. And you can in
America. You can get an excellent used car in our country for
that amount, and particularly in times of depression. I recall
buying a four year old Honda the first car I ever owned, for
exactly $7500. It was a monstrously large convertible coupe
with four forward speeds.
I know of no
other country where you can buy a reliable used refrigerator
for $100 and I've done exactly that in the States. I know of
no other country where you can buy an excellent used kitchen
stove for $150, but I did exactly that in furnishing a New
Mexico house once.
There is no
country on earth that produces so cheaply good sturdy
ready-to-wear clothing. A pair of American denims will outwear
anything selling abroad for a comparable price, two or three
times over.
Even food. True enough if you go into the super-market and buy
filet mignon, you'll pay plenty. But if you have made a study
of living economically and have learned to cook delicious
dishes from the cheaper cuts of meat, you have it made in the
United States like nowhere else. There is no place of which I
know where chicken is cheaper and better than in America. It's
a premium priced meat all over Europe. And did you know that
in Europe tongue, heart, liver, brains, tripe, sweetbreads and
particularly kidneys are premium priced? In many parts of our
country these are used for dog and cat food, or even thrown
away.
No, you can live cheaply and well in the United States if you
make a hobby of it. If you seek out the cheaper sections of
the nation and then pull every economy trick in the game.
The term
bargain paradise is becoming increasingly popular these days
as more and more people, in despair at our national way of
life, search desperately for an alternative. Usually when we
say bargain paradise our thoughts fly to countries beyond the
horizon. To far Tahiti, to Spain, to the Canary Islands, Peru,
or Austria.
In fact, it
may come as a surprise to some that we have many a bargain
paradise right here in our own land.
The term
explains itself. Whether in the United States or abroad, a
bargain paradise is an area where prices are low and scenery
and climate are superlative. It's as simple as that.
>>> CHAPTER 5 AMERICA'S
BARGAIN PARADISES Page 2
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