a minimalist's dilema

I hate spending money.

I don't know how this happened. I used to spend my allowance as soon as I got it on candy, or I sent it away to the Animal Humane Society. During my Freshman year of college I was constantly over-withdrawing. During my Senior year, my Checking account got down to $3, and as high as $6,000. During both times, I felt equally the same.

Now I worry about how much money I have. I have thousands of dollars, and about eight thousand more will get put into my account in a couple of weeks for financial aid, but I still grimace whenever I slide my car or hand over a twenty to the clerk at Walgreens.

What is with me?

Well, I think this issue is connected to me being a minimalist. I live in a small loft apartment. I have a small dog. I ride a 150cc moped. I have cushions on the floor for eating, no dining table, no chairs, no rooms, just one room. one desk, one bed, one chair, a simple bathroom, a tidy kitchen, one small dog bed, a small bookcase.

That's it.

Today I bought a printer. a good deal. $39.99 for a combo printer/scanner/copier.

I need one. I'm super busy, and not-on-campus to use the computer lab. As a future teacher, I will need a combo printer/scanner/copier. It will save me a lot of time. And my time is precious. I had to convince myself for 2 days that buying this printer was a good idea.

So it did buy it today, and I had to take it out of the box so that it would fit in the milk crate on the back of my moped. Already this printer defied my laws of simplicity. Anything too big to fit in the milk crate doesn't belong in my life. Even Nina the Pug fits in the milk crate! So Here I am the crazy girl riding a moped with a printer in a milk crate held steady with a bungie cord.

When I got home I had a mini breakdown while setting it up. It was so large! and with the ink cartridges and paper and connection cord it cost over $100. To me, this felt like $100,0000000. And I had to tell myself to get away from the printer, and take Nina the Pug for a walk.

So we went on a walk,

and when I got home,

I felt a bit better,

and then I printed out my Artifact Brochure that is due tomorrow in my Social Studies for the Elementary School Class,

and I felt even better,

and then I printed out my course calendar,

and I felt a bit more better,

and now I'm okay.

This program is going to require me to buy LOTS of stuff, so I just need to get over it. In the fall I will be a first year teacher, and maybe I will even have to suck it up and buy a small, used car, or else a trailer for the moped...

Yikes.