Not a lot going on with me at the moment, mostly scraping along while I try to find myself a new job. A few points to share from the trenches of brokedom:
– My $3 a meal effort seems to be working well. 30 days a month x 3 meals a day x $3 meal is $270/mo for food, and I’m ahead of that pace even counting the few times I’ve gone out in the last couple months, and the food I bought for my Super Bowl party (though to be fair, I froze the considerable leftovers and have been eating them myself).
The fact that I’ve been eating much less food than I used to (at least as measured by volume) and drinking very little alcohol due to my ongoing diet and exercise program is probably helping this initiative considerably.
– The one thing I have to stop doing is just spending days in the house watching TV and movies, and surfing the internet. The fact that not leaving the house is a much cheaper proposition than leaving the house has led me to several movie marathons and sessions of power-watching TV series.
I’ve seen dozens and dozens and dozens of movies and TV shows in the last couple of months, but there’s one distinct downside: I feel like I’m turning into a zombie.
I should at least go sit out by the pool and read for an hour, or ride my bike aimlessly, or something that does not involve staring at the TV or the computer. Otherwise I’m going to need glasses, and I don’t think my COBRA covers vision.
– One thing that’s killing me: Now instead of being able to see my work friends at work, I have to go to their various houses to see them. With gas costing about $3.20 a gallon and many of them living way the fuck out in the Valley, this is getting to be an expensive proposition.
I’ve already spent the same on gas this year as I had this time last year (not counting my trip to SF to pick up my TV), and I haven’t been driving to work, for work, from work every day. Stupid giant LA with its severe sprawl and piss-poor public transportation.
– Finally, I’ve been selling a bunch of old electronics and such through eBay, but the prices people pay for DVDs there just don’t make it worth it. Have any of you guys ever sold anything through Amazon Marketplace? You seem to be able to get more reasonable prices for used DVDs through there, but I recall hearing their cut of the sale is really huge.
Anyway, hopefully I’ll be working again soon, and can go back to eating 3 meals a day at work, and being too busy to go out rather than too broke.
i’ve sold books and the occasional dvd through amazon marketplace. depending on how you price things, amazon’s cut can be close to or more than what they give you to cover shipping. i’ve not had any problems with it, though.