2009-06-29 - 6:26 p.m.
Then I will go home and mooch off my parents! Whee!

I cannot spend ANY money this week, other than I what I need to put gas in my car to get back to my parents'. When I got home yesterday, I went through all my bills and somehow my paycheck is barely going to cover it this month. All because of those two stupid visits to the dentist. My dental insurance freaking sucks. You know what else freaking sucks? Being a grown up. When did this happen?

You know, for as much as I gripe and joke about being poor, I never really feel like I lack much of anything. Sure, I drive a 13 year old car, all my furniture (save for my enormous, much beloved, and hard earned bed) is plastic and I eat the same food over and over and over again because I know I can get out of the grocery store with something mostly nutritious for less than $30 if I do. Sure, I don't make very much, but it's (usually) enough for me. Making 8 bucks an hour last summer and really being on my own with rent and bills to pay and no outside assistance set me up nicely. Because living on that truly meager sum makes it pretty difficult to complain about what I make now.

Except for this month. I'm trying to figure out if I can afford to buy a plastic tarp for my bike. That's how broke I am - I'm going to come within dollars of reaching absolute zero. I know I could use a credit card, but if I use it too much I'll just be in this exact same position next month because I absolutely pay those suckers off every month. I came home from my 10 days away to discover that RD had moved my beautiful bike off the porch and into the grass. Which would be fine except for she has the sprinkler on the timer and for the ten days I was gone, it was completely drenching my bike 3 times a day. Come on! You people know how I LOVE that thing. I don't know how RD could have missed my affection for my baby. Leaving it in the sprinkler to rust does not sit well! So, she is going to deal with dead grass under my bike because I am putting a giant waterproof tarp over it . . . as soon as I can afford one, that is. At least I'll be taking my bike to my parents' with me at the end of the week, where it can enjoy an entire month of being in a garage when I'm not riding it.

I feel like I should eat real food for dinner . . . hmmmm. Hopefully, I have something edible downstairs. I know there's a ton of food that needs to be thrown away since it all expired while I was gone. I think I can make it til Friday without spending money on food at least.