The Last Day of the Food Stamp Challenge

The last two days have been all about Harry Potter. I had a half day at work on Friday and I went home and have been reading off and on ever since. Last night I made more fried rice, finishing off the last of my 6 eggs and my onions too. Then I sat down with nice full glass of water of and watched "El Laberinto del Fauno" (you know it as Pan's Labyrinth, a misnomer considering I don't think they ever say Pan). Despite its high production value, it is just plain creepy. But perhaps it was true to its fairy tale roots, most actual fairy tales are pretty creepy. Try reading Grimm's originals some time and you'll know what I mean. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I liked it. It beats the shit out of "Legend" with Tom Cruise, which is the closest thing I can think to compare it to.

Today was sort of a ghost day, I made fried peanut butter sandwiches, which involves buttering your sandwich bread and frying them in a pan much like grilled cheese sandwiches. I also ate some more of fried rice. Didn't go anywhere, and didn't have much human contact beyond my parents calling and a bit of Google talk. I sort of drifted in and out of sleep. It's one of those days where you are surprised to learn that it's dark outside already.

As you know, my goal has been to spend no more than $10 dollars a day. I've plotted out my daily spending using Excel and if I taking out those shoes I bought during the wedding, my spending will average about $10.04 per day if I spend nothing until the end of the month. Not bad, but still shy of the goal. I won't be counting traveling expenses or dry cleaning in the future so I might actually be able to come with in my goal next time. The point is kind of moot though, because tonight at midnight, I'm going to buy food and beer and end this fast. Remember, if I've learned any thing it's that the poor should get at least a 33% increase in their weekly food budget. It just makes sense.

Shine on you crazy diamonds.

Breaking it down.

Starting Balance: -$51.25

In: $20 (2 days)

Out: $0

Balance: -$31.25

The Gotham Frugal and The Boy Wizard

Yesterday I received the final installment of J.K. Rowling's tale about a boy who finds out he is a wizard at the age of eleven and then spends 7 years fighting some evil wizard who's ass he mysteriously kicked when he was just an infant. It's very popular. In fact everywhere I go in New York City, in the subway, in the park, on the street, I see people carrying this thick grey book with the yellow spine.

This is actually the first time I looked forward to a Harry Potter release. Previously I'd been a casual fan, reading the books as I got to them. Last winter when I was holed up in the crawlspace above my friend's refrigerator (a domicile not unlike the one-time residence of our bespectacled and scarred hero) I polished off the last two books in the series. I found them to be more fun than the previous 4. The movie is high on my list of things I must do, but the scratch ain't there.

One of the things I like about the reading the book the week of its release is that I everyone else is doing it. I doubt many would call me a conformist or the guy who hops on every band wagon that rolls past, but I have a strange sense of fraternity with the other 9 million people reading the book here in America as well as the other millions around the world. I probably wouldn't get along with but 1 out 100,000 of these folks but at least we can agree on this: That Harry Potter kid is pretty cool. I'll be glad when I'm done because then I won't have to dodge every piece of media that summarizes the events of the book.

Reading is fun and free, I pre-ordered the book so it won't make the breakdown. Tonight I ate more of my lamb stew, which is less impressive and expensive than it sounds, though delicious all the same, and I read book 7. This morning I picked up some dry cleaning which is expensive around here. $22.50. That will make the breakdown, though never again. It's going on the budget and will be a permanent part of my monthly spending.

The Daily Breakdown

Starting Balance: -$46.25

In: $10

Out:
Dry-Cleaning $22.50

Balance: -$58.75