You’d think it would have happened before now, but I’m starting to become much more budget conscious. See, in Pittsburgh, the cost of living was really low. I could live on 18k/year easily. And since I got a job almost immediately in Pittsburgh, I didn’t have to break a sweat too much. My costs were covered by my paychecks without much conscious effort.

But I’ve figured out that I’m pretty lucky: most of my favorite foods, the ones I happily eat every day, come in bulk and at low cost. My oatmeal? Only costs $4 and makes 30 meals. The spices and fruit I add in cost a bit more, but they also come in many-meal quantities.

As much as I love Farmer’s Markets, I’m still grateful for the local fruit and vegetable store – I can get Golden Delicious apples for 79-99 cents per pound, and four meals’ worth of broccoli for $2. And three cucumbers for $1 is also normal.

I’ve been indulging in wraps – have to admit that sliced bread goes a lot farther, so it’s fortunate that I’m flexible on the “wrap vs. sandwich” question.

Yogurts are only about 80 cents, and I like them frozen almost as much as I like ice cream and real frozen yogurt.

And of course, tea and honey don’t cost too much and go a long way So long as I mostly stick to my own tea and stay out of Starbucks!

So on the food front, I do pretty well. It’s books that are my weakness…. I’m trying to use the library as much as possible, but the system here isn’t as good as it was in Pittsburgh. Still, there’s a library in walking distance and that’s something to be happy about.

Money aside, I’ll be grateful to have a job again. I find it difficult to organize my day without a job… harder to indulge in pleasure activities without having done work. And scheduling anything is out the window until I have a work schedule.

Starbucks is hiring…. and they offer benefits to even part-time employees. But I’m going to hold out and see if the job placement agency comes through with anything before jumping the gun on a food service job. Don’t get me wrong…. I could learn to love working at Starbucks. But if I can get an office job, it’d likely be preferable on a number of levels, and look a bit better on my resume despite the customer service experience at Starbucks. Plus there’s the possibility that an office job might pay enough for me to get an apartment… I’m still holding out for that hope.