Preparing for Penury

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've been sliding steadily down the scale of financial well-being for the past few years, aided and abetted by the rising cost of my health insurance premiums.  In addition, this year the online institution for which I work cut back on the number of classes instructors are allowed to teach, and the web design firm that also employs me took on a boatload of unpaid interns and slashed their regular workers' hours.  I could have withstood all this had my faithful old car not finally died last fall.  My plan was to buy a solid used replacement, but Barry (I think this is another Guy Thing) insisted that only a new car would assure me of reliable transportation for the foreseeable future.  Ouch.

The Decline and Fall of My Bank Account

Stage 1 (full employment)	Stage 2 (freelancing)	Stage 3 (on the precipice)
New car	Maybe I should trade it in for a scooter	How long will my 40-mile commute take on the bus?
Weekly cleaning service	Of course I can do it myself	A clean house is overrated
Monthly landscape service	Ditto	Sleeping Beauty’s hedge must have looked like this
Eating out regularly	Cooking was always one of my favorite hobbies	Might be time to try one of those cleansing fasts
Buying retail	Making friends at Goodwill	So I lost 25 pounds and look like a bag lady – I dare you to laugh!
Monthly hair cut and color	Professional cut every two months and color at home	Long hair is supposed to be sexy; I’ll tell everyone the gray streaks are highlights
Professional pedicure every two weeks	DIY pedicure once a month	I have feet??

Fortunately, now that I've replaced my health insurance coverage I can put off premature liquidation of my IRA for a little while longer, but the halcyon days of Stage 1 are gone forever.  Know of any smoking deals on motorscooters?

"Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons."  - Woody Allen