Oodles of Noodles

If you have ever been broke, you know what I'm talking about. Sure they come in other brands, like Ramen. Nothing reminds me of how broke I am more than having an assortment of oodles of noodles in the kitchen. It's a damn shame when you start to get creative with the noodles. You know what I mean... Throwing veggies in there, adding other spices. I once made gumbo with the noodles; at least that's what I was trying to make.

But you know what? I like the noodles. They remind me of a time when life was as simple as watching cartoons. A time when my biggest money concern was whether I should buy a quarter water and a bag of chips with my last 50 cents, or a snickers bar.

So here's to shrimp and broccoli noodles (I mean shrimp flavored oodles of noodles with broccoli in it)... who the hell has money for shrimp?

Cheaper By the Hour

Many things that I used to spend money on seem pointless to me these days. I'm in shock when I realize just how careless I was with my money. Don't get me wrong: I'm still a broke ass student who has to forgo many things that I want. I'm just better able to determine what I need and make those purchases. I have noticed that I'm becoming cheaper and cheaper with each passing hour. I not only think twice about each and every purchase (from a fall jacket to gum), I think like 99 times about each and every purchase... ($1.59 for 12 pieces of gum?! I have mint flavored dental floss in my purse!)

Am I being too extreme? I feel like spending money is getting scarier and scarier. Am I creating some kind of psychological problem for myself? I sure hope not; therapists are expensive!

Broke N Thrifty

For the last month and a half, I've been cooking every single meal and spending less money buying food. This has been working very well for me. I always figured I just didn't have the time to cook, but when I hit a rough patch (I was broker than broke) I had to start cooking. When the rough patch was over, I continued cooking because I really enjoyed not spending a ton of money eating out.

Thursday, I ran out of groceries and would not have time to go to the market before the weekend. So I had to buy lunch. I went to a restaurant that I used to eat in 2 to 3 times a week before the rough patch. Lunch cost me just under $10. I wanted to cry. I know it's only ten bucks, but I thought about how I used to buy lunch every day and some days I bought dinner and breakfast too. Food is expensive! What was I thinking? No wonder I was extra broke! I'm still broke, but not like before when I couldn't imagine why I didn't have any extra spending money.

Now I browse the circulars and gladly clip coupons for my groceries. I don't even shop at the same super market every week. I also discovered that my cable service provider gives me 2 free movie tickets if I go to the movies on Tuesdays. I never thought I'd have time to see movies on a Tuesday... then again I never got free movie tickets before.

In any case, it's not as hard as I thought it was to be a broke ass student. I think I'll be able to manage after all.