railenthe | 100 Things #2: Savings Successes.

I'm going to apologize in advance for any typos that happen in today's 100 Things entry; I'm so worn out from work over the last few days my eyes have actually sort of stopped focusing properly. I'm surprised I'm clear-eyed enough to see what I'm doing now; I haven't been able to concentrate on reading all day because of it. I wonder if it's got anything to do with the fact that I haven't had a cup of coffee in three days. Vertigo's taken up a permanent residence in my head, and massive confusion upon waking up reigns. I can't follow myself from one end of a thought to the other, I'm so disoriented. But I'm going ot soldier on with the second thing on my list: Success in Saving.

My job isn't an impressive one. We don't often get a lot of pay for housekeeping, and the hours, when the winter season sets in, are a crapshoot—I remember one year, I made exactly $102 in December. Not much at all.

The problem is, I like stuff. I like having stuff. I love technology—I want the new gizmos out there, and I want them as soon as I can get them. I like trying new foods, and new methods of cooking things, and I LOVE to be able to eat the highest quality things that I can. I like rare trinkets. Rare, limited-printing books are a siren calling me, and I must have them.

Only problem is, that all takes money.

I don't mind working with it. It's life, after all. You need money to do things. Price tags often override my stomach when it comes to shopping for the best foods; similar overrides happen when I see a piece of technology that I MUST HAVE but don't have the money for.

My method is a bit low-tech: I begin with a change jar. (It used to hold vitamins.) When I find lose change, it goes into the jar. I tape a note to the jar so that I don't forget what it was that I was saving for, and to keep me from grabbing anything else when I've made the goal. I'm going to be honest—it takes a while to get most of the things I'm looking for.

But when I finally do, it feels like a victory. And because of ho(w hard it is for me to get the nifty things that I like, that sense of victory remains with me for a long time.

Even if certain people that I can think of dismiss this as being "eccentric." Fellas (and some of the ladies out there): Do you want to start a fight? If the answer to this question is "no," then please, please, please, don't call your mate "eccentric" when they get excited about the things that they do. It's a good way to get decked, dumped, and trashed on whatever social network mashup that they use. If you value your relationship, remove that word from your vocabulary. (Rant over.)

Henh? What am I saving for next? Hm, well, I have my eye on a high-end phone when the Republic Wireless beta hits my area. After that, I'm thinking new microwaeve cart. (I've gouged so many damn scratches into my floor, just because the thing still mostly works and because dude, microwaves are fricken heavy. I might be stronger than I look, but I can't heft a microwave oven from two townships over on a bus and two trains.)