Mo money, mo problems

I do realize that I said I would be writing about either girls or swearing next, but something else has been on my mind lately. Actually, girls are always on my mind but I need to get this out of brain and onto the page before females reclaim that brain space. I've been a little bit stressed about my spending habits lately.

I used to be really good at saving my allowance when I was a kid. To go a few months without spending a penny just so that I could buy a discman in grade 7 was no big deal. Something would catch my eye, I would sit on the decision for awhile, do my research and then start saving until I could afford it. I still have the same stereo system that I bought in grade 8 and it continues to serve me well.

These days, my taste for quality products has not changed but my self restraint has diminished. A lot. It becomes a problem when you buy nice things and you buy lots of things. It doesn't help that the Saskatchewan Student Loan program deposits a large lump sum in my account at the beginning of every year. I think student loans are the biggest factor in my shift in spending patterns. I never had large sums of money at my disposal before and I couldn't resist making use of them. It may seem surprising then, that I haven't landed myself in financial trouble yet, but when the money runs out, I just stop spending. When I have, I spend and when I don't, I don't. Maybe I just don't value money as much as others, but it doesn't exactly bother me when I can't spend money, I just get a little more creative. And that's a good thing.

One of my classmates in my course on French film did a presentation on a film about gleaners in France the other day. They're essentially people whose lifestyle revolves around the fact that they survive on the excesses of society, scavenging the leftover fruits of harvest and reducing the amount of product that goes directly to waste without ever being used. It really was inspirational to me and not a day goes by that I don't see something awesome that someone fashioned out of trash.

I've spent enough. It stresses me out sometimes, all the transactions that take place in my life and I'm not sure why. It just seems a little unnatural at times.

Moving from Saskatchewan to Ontario, I couldn't exactly bring any furniture with me. Because of that, my room has been a little cluttered and I figured a trip to Ikea for some semi-cheap, semi-stylish furniture was in order. Instead, I've been stealing empty milk crates from behind Dairy Queen on a regular basis as well as some scrap lumber and a display rack that I found outside a local retail store. It's not much, but it's a start.