很久不见的好友Lisa, Karen和Gina一起吃饭。三个人都说，现在手头很紧，彼此交换勤俭持家的经验。Karen 说，
K: We've stopped going to the theater! We used to take the kids every Saturday, but with each ticket costing about 10 bucks, it adds up to a couple of hundred dollars a month! These days we just rent a movie and stay at home.
G: But you know, even though we can't do as many things as we used to, I feel like our family has grown closer since we've been spending more time together.
Karen说，原来每星期六都要带孩子去看电影，但是电影票一张十块钱，10 bucks, buck is spelled b-u-c-k, buck 是口语里提到美元时常用的词。
一个月下来，一家人看电影就要两百块，上面用到的it adds up to是加在一起的意思，把这笔钱省了，一家人租影碟在家看。Gina说，虽然没那么多钱玩这玩那了，但是一家人经常在一起，our family has grown closer，感情反而更亲密了。
L: That's true for us as well. We play board games at night with the kids and when we watch movies we do it as a family.
It's funny, but the recession is forcing us to get creative and actually...it's kind of fun!
K: You know the old saying: troubles can be a blessing in disguise.
L: I think it all depends on your attitude. If you stay positive, saving money can be a fun challenge. But being depressed about it doesn't help anything.
Lisa也有同感，因为经济衰退逼得大家不能花钱买娱乐，不得不回去陪孩子玩游戏，一家人一起看电影，反而其乐融融。老话说，troubles can be a blessing in disguise，塞翁失马，焉知非福。Lisa表示同意，说一切都取决于心态，如果心态是positive，积极的话，省钱也能变成一件开心的挑战，萎靡不振doesn't help anything，于事无补。
G: Another thing that has really helped our family is instituting the thirty-day rule.
K: What's the thirty-day rule?
G: Well, every time we think about buying something we don't really need, we wait thirty days and then ask ourselves if we still want it. A lot of times after thirty days, we can't even remember why we wanted it in the first place!
Gina说，为省钱，她们家还采纳了thirty-day rule，三十天原则，就是买一件东西之前，必须等30天，如果30天后还是想买的话，才可以买。Gina说，a lot of times，很多时候，30天过后，她们早就记不起来当初为什么想买了。三个人省钱还有什么高招吗？我们下次继续听。