I have a history of over-spending. I used to love to tell myself that I was helping the economy. Like the economy was my good friend that fell on hard times, and I was doing a good deed or something. My Coach purse, Uggs and new Dior mascara were actually souvenirs of charitable contributions to a worthy cause, similar to those little address labels that St. Jude's sends if you write out a check to help the children. However, I recently decided that if I don't start helping myself instead of the miserable economy, I will need charity. I put on my thinking-cap and brainstormed design schemes for my cardboard sign, but just as I was about to get out my glitter and markers, a miracle happened. I don't want to say too much about it, suffice to say that I won't have to resort to begging yet.
Statistically, the probability of two miracles happening to the same person is very small. I recognize that there probably won't be another one coming, at least not for awhile, so I am learning how to be cheap. Who would have guessed that I might have a natural aptitude for it? My secret is not so much strict budgeting as mooching. I have eaten at least seventeen free meals since returning home, not including the meals that came from the groceries that my mom bought me. Those groceries, combined with the $33 of food that I bought myself, have constituted the other meals. This includes meals that I eat at work, which are brought from home, not purchased at the cafeteria, as was my practice pre-Africa at the cost of about $12 per work day. I also spent about $18 per shift in parking tickets. Now I walk.
Changes that seemed impossible to make before I left have happened with very little effort since my return. It was easy at first because I didn't have a choice, seeing as I literally had no money when I landed, aside from the $90 in my pocket. Since my miracle, it's been easy to be cheap because the temptation to spend isn't there. I don't want to waste money now that I have friends that don't have any, and literally struggle to survive. So I put my Netflix on hold, refuse to pay for cable, try to drive my car as little as possible, haven't bought clothes or alcohol and got a library card and checked out some books instead of hitting up Barnes & Noble, like my Dad has been preaching since the days when I spent every penny of my allowance in the young adult section of Little Professor Books. Inspired that I only spent $90 in three weeks, my Dad gave me $100 five days ago to conduct a little experiment. We want to see how long I can make it last, not including bills. So far, I have spent $1.70.
