SAVING MONEY = THE T-WORD

Pauline and Caroline on the train to work


Over the past 4 seasons of the Martha Stewart Show I have been driving into work--mostly for convenience--I can come and go when I please. For years my husband has been telling me I should take the train. I won't have to worry about traffic (rainy days and Fridays are the worst) and best of all we'd save money. I thought of every excuse not to take the train. I told my husband that between parking and a monthly pass the cost was about the same (I hadn't even checked--but the line sounded really good). The truth is that I was just plain lazy.

One day after going over bills my husband and I were trying to figure out ways to save money. My husband brought up the T-word. My line about "parking and a monthly pass costing the same"was about to be demystified when my husband went on NJ Transit and plugged into their website our driving information. It turns out that if I were to take the train we would be saving $500 a month. That's $6000 dollars a year! Who knew? Certainly not me because I was too lazy to find out. Those statistics were motivating enough for me to at LEAST try the train for a week and see how it worked out.

Week 1 (last week) made me think I would never use the T-word again. My worst possible scenerio that could happen--came true. I got on the wrong train. I thought it was going to New York. My fears rose suddenly when the intercom announced "Hoboken--last and final stop". I prayed I heard wrong. But when everyone exited the train I knew I had to get off too. I ran to a customer service kiosk and pleaded for help! "I got on the wrong train and don't know what to do! I need to get into NY". A very nice women with a thick spanish accent told me the best thing to do was to go back. "Go back, go back" she responded. All I could think was--"I just spent 40 minutes on a train...and now I have to go back?" After I calmed down just a bit--she repeated herself--most likely because I just didn't move. This time I realized that she wasn't saying I have to go back...she was saying "go to the Path". That's the path train. I was able to get the Path Train into NY--and all was made better. After a few more tries on the train I realized it actually wasn't bad at all. Of course I am a slave to the T-word's schedule...but that's ok.

Today my daughters Caroline and Pauline came into work with me. It's only week 2 of taking the train but you should have heard me leading the way. Explaining to my daughters how the train works, how to find the right track etc. You would have thought I was the conductor or something. What a difference the train makes...a $6000 difference!