30 DAYS OF...

So I've started watching Morgan Spurlock's show, 30 Days, finally and I've only made it through the first episode before succumbing to the need to blog. I'll warn you, there will probably be several rants about this show. The first episode finds Morgan and his girlfriend living for one month on minimum wage. Ah, the memories. To be honest, I've never had a minimum wage job; however, I spent 18 years at the mercy of the generosity of strangers. Let me tell you, they ain't that generous. And if you think being paid $5.15 an hour seems degrading and humiliating, try $2.11 an hour which was waitress minimum in the sunshine state of FLA until I left the service hell that was my life for an eternity. I shouldn't complain too loudly, it did go up when the national minimum wage increased from $3.65 to the current rate. Yeah, it went up a whole 10 cents!
But I knew this going into it and with tips you should be making well over $5.15 which I did. What struck me about this show is how much I could relate to what they were going through-living day to day, focusing on how every penny is spent, constantly worrying about whether bills will be paid. Yup, that was my life for nearly 20 years. And, unfortunately it still is in many ways. I rarely splurge and buy something just because I want it. Now I have to decide whether I really need that frivolous purchase. Hell, I fretted over a $10 puzzle while on vacation! I'm happy to report two things as far as my vacation is concerned:

• I never once used my credit card. It was with me, but I didn't even think about using it.

and

• I bought that damn puzzle! To hell with it, I was on vacation.

So how have I changed after years of living in poverty. I do think more rationally about buying things (perhaps it's a downfall, but I am learning to treat myself again). I am much better at saving money now. And the biggest thing I'm proud of is the fact that, after some help from my parents, I am out of credit card debt and have not relapsed. I even have a card that hasn't had a balance in over a year and a half. That's amazing for someone who owed well over $15,000 at one time. Learning to respect money is important. The only thing I wish is that I could relax just a little more about things. I still worry from time to time about whether I will be able to pay my bills. But that is a fact of life when you live in lovely Silicon Valley. I deal with it because I do really like it here.