Cheap Week
I’ve spent a lot of mental money this week. My closet? 90% donated to clothing recycling, 10% retained, and off on a second-hand store spree. Thanks to graduate student finances, and a pile of papers all due on the same day, I have exhibited great restraint. That restraint is why we’re still debt-free, despite the fact that two of us are living in NYC on a graduate student stipend. Huzzah for us. I hate it. However, I remind myself that there are worse things in life than living a life of frugality, and think about other things such as what to bake, and whether I’ll ever see rabbits in Prospect Park. And, to be honest, the reality is that we’re just fine. I just have constructed a story of poverty in my head that affects the daily choices I make regarding food, yet we still have enough to occasionally go out with friends, to pay our rent, eat well, pay for insurance, buy transit cards and even head to Europe to visit family. That doesn’t look like a deprived life. Yet by constructing such a story of “deprivation” I’ve effectively changed the way I interact with the world, making it possible to pay for what is needed. Interesting. I think it’s time to start telling stories of abundance in my head, and see how I feel after a week of that.
I’ve spent very little in the way of actual cash. Today, $19.04 (credit) on groceries at Key Foods, including a pack of cupcake liners just in case I miraculously finish my paper tonight. It’s not going to happen, as I no longer understand my own reasoning, but it was a nice thought.
Tuesday: $3.69 (cash) at Whole Foods for a loaf of bread, and $81 (debit) to MTA for my month-long transit pass.
Monday: $12.00 (credit) to Metro North for a ticket up to Yonkers as a chaperone for a group of undergrads headed to visit the science barge. Fabulously interesting: it turns out that all I need to get my solar house dreams going is a barge and a lot of really big grants. I tucked that information away in a mental pocket book. The instructor reimbursed me the next day.