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Iwasnotbornfrugal. Everything in me cries out to spend, acquire, spend, achieve, amass! I am drawn to the ex- traordi- nary, the luxuri- ous and the unique. I live with visions of grandeur and opulence. My fond- est dreams include cus- tom-tailored clothing, do- mestic staffs, $600 silk bed sheets, manicured gardens and Dooney & Bourke All-Weather Leather, exotic cars, lim- ousines and private jets. That's just how I am. For me, practicing fru- gality is not really fun. Oh, there's an occasional situation from time to time when scrimping might be slightly amus- ing, but on the fun meter of life, planning and bud- geting, paring down, do- ing without when it seems that everyone else in the world is prospering be- yond belief — none of that can hold a candle to care- free shopping and living as if money were no ob- ject. Self-imposed finan- cial limits are confin- ing and often prevent the spontaneity and excite- ment of reckless aban- don involving unlimited funds. My dilemma is that I do not have the means to indulge in a lifestyle equal to my natural-born tendencies. Those of you familiar with my story know that my feeble at- tempts to play out my nat- ural tendencies landed me in a lot of trouble. I took the treacherous path of incurring debt to ac- quire things I couldn't af- ford. Living under moun- tains of ever-growing debt is not living ... it feels like dying. So if living naturally brings pain but living fru- gally isn't fun, is there any hope for the unnatu- ral frugal type? Yes! It re- quires new behaviors. Vol- untarily. Attitude is key. If you can change your attitude, everything else will fol- low. No one can do that for you because unless there is a heart change from deep inside, the change will be neither genuine nor permanent. Here are some baby steps you can take to start the change. Don't confuse frugality with poverty. The fear of feeling poor keeps many of us entrapped in finan- cial bondage because the shopping and spend- ing produce a false sense of feeling rich. Both feel- ings are unfounded. Un- less you are a permanent resident of Moldova, you probably have no idea what "poor" really is. Fru- gality is a smart and dig- nified activity. It takes the ability to reason and ap- ply self-discipline. Never forget that while you may not have it all, you have enough. And that's more than many people in this world can say. Learwn self-talk. Non- frugal types often suffer from major cases of the I-wants whenever they find themselves within the vicinity of a mall or other commercial estab- lishment, often resulting in compulsive purchas- ing. If this describes you, try a little shopping self- talk. Instead of coveting and envying every won- derful thing you see, as- sure yourself that if these things were really neces- sary (really necessary ... like a kidney transplant or milk for the baby) you could find a way to pur- chase them. The neces- sity test usually dismisses the matter right then and there. If the desire still lin- gers, make yourself con- sider what would be re- quired if all those things really were yours. There's cleaning and mainte- nance, repairs and dust- ing, insuring and fueling, worrying about the possi- bility of theft to say noth- ing of all of the packing required should you ever decide to move. By the time you get through that exercise, you should be sufficiently ex- hausted and thankful that you can enjoy those beautiful things without committing to ownership. Personally, I have many wonderful things that I "store" in the lovely shops at a local mall, South Coast Plaza. They are well taken care of, and I can visit anytime I want. Come up with realis- tic alternatives. I recently met a man whose wife works in a Nevada ca- sino. She would habitu- ally put a roll of quarters into a slot machine ev- ery workday. He showed her that her weekly $50 could pay for the boat she really wanted in just two years if she would simply put the quarters in a sav- ings account rather than in an electronic bandit. They now have their paid- for boat, and she's saving for her next dream having given up the slots com- pletely. Just a change of attitude. For me, practicing fru- gality is not always fun the way it must be for you natural-born tight- wads. Actually, it's rarely fun. But the results are so well worth the effort that I will never go back to the pain of living beyond my ability to pay. I haven't bounced a check in 25 years. I have savings and investments. I buy with cash. I have no credit- card debt. I don't dread evening phone calls, and I no longer have to hide the mail and shopping bags. Now that I think about it, there are lots of things I've been called to do in my life that that aren't particularly fun. Like dental visits, childbirth, cleaning toilets and weed- ing. But so far I've not been excused simply be- cause I don't like them. And I enjoy the results so much, I willingly repeat these activities over and over again ... except for the childbirth. MaryHuntisthefounder of www.DebtProofLiving. com, a personal finance member website. You can email her at mary@ everydaycheapskate. com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, 12340 Seal Beach Blvd., Ste. B-416, Seal Beach, CA 90740. EVERYDAYCHEAPSKATE When frugality is not fun CORNING Billed by orga- nizers as "one of the fastest growing show in the coun- try," the 6th annual North- ern California Vintage Trailer Rally is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Satur- day at Woodson Bridge RV Park in Corning. These vintage trailers are the ones your parents took you camping in, or traveled the country with kids tow- ing the trailer with an old Chevy wagon. Here is your chance to relive that time again. There will be more than 70 vintage trailers to see on display. Many of the trailers will have all kinds of period correct memorabilia on dis- play for you to see. If you are working on a vintage trailer, come and see what restored trailers are like or what improve- ments can be made. There will be a swap meet on Sat- urday where you might find that hard to find part. Organizers expect to have several classic car clubs show up and welcome any classic car to come and join the rally. The RV Park will be sell- ing hotdogs and hamburg- ers at noon. The park is at 25433 South Ave., Corning. For more information, call Tony Alvarez at 916 539-3383 or send an email to aalvarez57@hotmail. com. CORNING Vintage Trailer Rally set for Saturday The Sun Country Quil- ters Guild will be present- ing a Quilt Show Saturday and Sunday at the Tehama District Fairgrounds in Red Bluff. This year the guild has chosen two of its members, Sharon Cox and Marjorie McGraw to highlight with a special display of quilts. The two friends will be available throughout the show both days to visit with show at- tendees and talk about their quilting experience. Cox began quilting in the summer of 1994 after pur- chasing a "Teach Yourself to Quilt" book. From then on she was hooked, taking every available class. She soon joined the Yreka Quilt Guild serving as both trea- surer and secretary. Right after moving to Red Bluff in 2002, she joined the Sun Country Quilters Guild, serving as president twice since that time. Cox serves as the guild's retreat chairwoman and is most proud of spearheading an affordable, educational and fun-filled 3-day retreat for all of the members to en- joy in the community. Or- ganizing and carrying out these events has been per- sonally fulfilling and is also much appreciated by mem- bers. Last year more than 80 quilters were able to at- tend the full featured quilt- ing retreat, with members already looking forward to another great event this coming autumn. Like many quilters, Cox is accomplished in knit- ting, crocheting and sew- ing clothes, but as she says, "None of them has influ- enced me like quilting. I es- pecially love the friendships I have made through all the years of quilting." Besides spending time with family, travelling and attending quilting re- treats and classes, she en- joys teaching her favorite techniques to others at lo- cal fabric shops and guild workshops. When asked to choose her favorite quilting style, she said "I think my favorite patterns are appli- que and now I'm really in- terested in wool applique projects. I also like pat- terns that combine pieced blocks with applique or em- broidery." McGraw lives in Cotton- wood. After graduating from Arizona State Uni- versity and having taught Home Economics and Spe- cial Education in Los An- geles, she moved to Cot- tonwood in 1972 to teach at Anderson High. While teaching classes in sew- ing, cooking, needlework, family relationships and child development, she en- joyed students interested in learning about the same things that she loved. When her own children entered high school, Mc- Graw found more time for creative sewing, making her first quilt from poly- ester fabric and old jeans. "It was so heavy, I couldn't sleep under it. I tried many other hobbies; macramé, beading, crochet, knitting, spinning, weaving, gar- dening, but nothing inter- ested me as much as quilt- ing." After a friend sug- gested taking an applique class together, Marjorie was hooked. Today, McGraw en- joys piecing the most. "It re- minds me of the puzzles I enjoyed as a child." She en- joys hand work and looks forward to more hand quilt- ing, and combining quilt- ing with garment making, beading and home décor. Sharing quilted gifts with family, she also shares skills with a granddaughter inter- ested in sewing and teaches at quilt shops and guilds in our area and beyond. Living in Cottonwood has given McGraw easy ac- cess to both the Sun Coun- try Quilters and Redding Quilt Sew-Ciety since the late 1990s. In addition to working at quilt shows and serving as vice-presi- dent and programs chair- woman, members have en- joyed her chairmanship of many other committees. Quilts and garments at the Featured Quilters aisle will show off McGraw's skill, a skill also shared several times at Pacific In- ternational Quilt Festi- val. As McGraw has heard and truly believes, "It is not your aptitude, but attitude that determines your alti- tude. We are only limited by our own imagination. I will never stop trying some- thing new in quilting." The community is en- couraged to attend the show on April 25 and 26 at the Tehama District Fair- ground to learn more about these two talented women and view all of the other quilts and displays at the show. Doors open at 10 a.m. each day of the show. SUN COUNTRY Show's featured quilters announced COURTESYPHOTOBYBOBMCCONNELL Featured quilters Marjorie McGraw (le ) and Sharon Cox. Mary Hunt SterilizationTech/FT Red Bluff: Maintainesdentalinstruments in strict accordance with sterilization & disinfection protocols. X-ray certification preferred. A complete application is required. Apply at nvih.org email: jobs@nvih.org fax 530-342-7507 or mail resume to: Northern Valley Indian Health Attn: HR, 845 W. 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