Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Cold Turkey: Day Sixteen

I make myself sick. Here I am not purchasing any collectible for a full month and instead of saving money I’m spending it hand over fist. That pisses me off. Instead of going into my next paycheck with well over $200 in my “extra money” account, I’m heading down the home stretch with less than $10.

Why? How could this happen? Because I’m lazy, weak, and I can’t say no to woman giving me puppy dog eyes. Here, let me explain….

In the last eight days, I’ve eaten breakfast or lunch at work 12 times. At roughly $4 a meal, that’s $50 right there. Instead of waking a few minutes earlier and making lunch or eating breakfast at home, I’ve spent an extra $50 I shouldn’t have been spending. Just because I’m lazy I’ve managed to whittle away any savings I might’ve had doing this stupid experiment.

Of course, I can’t blame my belly for everything. No, for whatever reason, I decided August was the time to buy boxer shorts and socks. God, when did clothes no one else sees become so expensive? Eight socks and four boxers for $30? That’s fucking ridiculous. Of course, if you look at the receipt, you also see deodorant, cleaning supplies, and the new NCAA 07 Xbox game. Guess which of those items piss me off the most. Instead of comics and cards, I have cleaning supplies and underwear? Bullshit!

Then there’s my wife. She recently quit her job to follow her dream as a freelance writer. I knew this meant less money to be throwing around by going to the bar, eating out, or just spending cash on the weekends. What I didn’t realize was that our desires to do such things wouldn’t slacken or that I’d be the one picking up the tab from here on out. That’s not a big deal. Not really. You need to have some fun and I love going out with Stephanie. But when it’s an unexpected expense that tops $100 in a mere five days, it becomes a problem.

So yeah, I’m grumpy as all hell today. But what really sent me over the top was realizing that I sold some comics for $50, too, and I’m still out of any savings I was expecting to have from the first half of this cold turkey month. You want to know the best part? Picturing what I traded those comics for. Did I sell my Batman comics for socks and underwear? One night out with friends? Food at work?

There’s just nothing like giving up something you love, something that’s been a part of you for a very long time, and have nothing to show for it.

3 comments:

Rich said...

That sucks. Thing is, what you'll find is that if you continue not spending on collectibles, the other expenses will drop away. Chances are you won't need any more underwear in September, so that'll be $30 right there ;-)

Anonymous said...

That does suck, and the thing is, it is happening to me as well.

I have come to the conclusion that comics don't really matter in the scheme of things (other than my Amazing Spider-man collection) and have started selling my near complete collection of Uncanny X-men among other things.

Some of the more collectible issues have been going for $30 - $85 a piece and do you think there's any extra money about?
Nope, it's all been frittered off elseware (household items).

I'm starting to think is it even worth selling now, and just putting them away for a bit longer. It's making it a bit stressful though!!

Anyway, I'm hoping, like you, that it will all sort itself out soon. Just think how broke you'd be if you were buying boxers and comics. Keep up the goodwork.

James said...

Buying boxers and comics. That would suck. haha.