Tis the season to be broke

There's a song - from the early 70's (1972 to be exact) by Gilbert O' Sullivan called Alone Again...Naturally and I've been singing it this morning with my own twist. Broke Again...Naturally.




It seems everyone is broke - not just me. I don't know if they have a bit of a shopping habit like I do but despite the shopping habit it seems times are especially tight (tighter than in the past) for me and people in 'my circle'. Or maybe it's just that more and more people are talking about it...Talking about living paycheck to paycheck, using the evil credit cards, juggling payments, trying to figure out how the hell to pay for Xmas...(B has gotten that figured out thanks to his diligent contributions to his Xmas club).



It's flippin' frustrating - I want a bail out!



I'm not the best person when it comes to managing my money - as I usually manage it by buying or charging whatever I want without much thought about the consequences but I have been getting better - at least I like to think so. I try and buy my groceries at Wal-Mart even though I think they have crappy produce that I refuse to buy and I feel like it's sucking my soul out every time I enter, I try and use coupons (thanks mom), we don't eat out much at all - we've stopped ordering pizza twice a week and I have really really tried to stop charging things. Oh and I also cut out buying lunch from the cafe downstairs - saves at least 20 bucks a week right there. Now I stock up on a big tub of oats and have oatmeal for lunch - I can eat lunch for a month for like 10 bucks when you factor in the fruit and honey I add to make it extra yum.




Even with these money saving tactics it feels like we are always penny pinching and having to be careful. I want to be frivolous and carefree and spend what I want without having buyer's remorse or worrying about spending the grocery money on new lip gloss.



There are times when I get very indignant about the whole broke thing and think 'Screw it, I don't care if I don't have the money, I'm buying what I want'. Then I go and do something foolish like charge my instant gratification fix. It's a very mature and responsible way to deal I think. And yes I'm sure my actions represent something negative about my generation and contribute to the state of the U.S economy but on the flip side I have some fabulous new lip gloss!