Thursday

Discovery of the day: The Change Game

I'm pretty broke right now, an unfortunate result of a confluence of external events that will probably continue at least through Labor Day or until my daughter gets a j-o-b. I've cut back quite a bit by limiting my lunch-hour shopping trips to the mega-mart and the fancy-pants grocery store to one each per week. Unless I am out of something critical, of course. Also, I have instituted a 'No Amazon.com' policy for the duration. That's been really tough.

However, I am still hitting Sbux in the afternoon for a hit of my $1.68 drug of choice (tall decaf brewed coffee w/cold soy). I figure it's a small luxury and it makes the afternoons at my desk that much more bearable. However, I'm not carrying much (read: any) cash on me these days and using the debit card for $1.68 strikes me as ridiculous even though people do it all the time and it's not nearly as embarrassing as writing a check for a loaf of bread, which I admit to having done a few times way back in my distant pre-ATM-and-debit-card past. (Yes, I'm that old.) So almost by accident, I've started financing my afternoon delight with the loose change I have laying around.

So far I've cleaned out my hugastic purse and my car, and I've started working through the change cup on my dresser. I have accumulated a little zip-top baggie (of coins) in my purse that should get me through the rest of this week. I also have a larger loose-change container in the kitchen that may well get me through the rest of the summer. And if I get desperate, I could probably get away with raiding my boyfriend's stash on the top of his dresser.

Yeah, it's silly, but it's fun. And it gives the baristas at my usual haunt something to giggle about, as I count out $1.70 in mostly dimes and nickels. The extra $0.02 goes in their tip jar. Everyone wins!

And if you've got a job opening in NYC, either in the theater arts or the hospitality industry, for a beautiful 25 yo woman with an MFA in acting from a prestigious university, please let me know....