Working Class of 2007

My name is Rebecca, and I am "taking some time off."

This is the first semester since I started college back in 2007 that I am not attending school.

I have gotten lectures from friends about how I need to be going to school. The lecture I received from my mother was, "you know you'll have to start paying back student loans, right??"

Student loans are the exact reason I am not going back to school for now. I am ba-roke. Not baroque (that would be cool), just living paycheck to paycheck. I have been in school three years and I don't even have an associate's degree to show for it. People have told me, "well, once you find out your plan it'll fly by." Let me tell you something, buster. I've had FIVE plans. I've started each one only to get lazy and not go to classes.

I have friends who graduated last semester and are telling me, "it feels SO WEIRD not going to school!." I can pretend I am with them in their bachelor's degree club when I say, "right?? Forget homework!"

Maybe my plan is to forget about school for a while so I can find a new plan. Planny plan plan.

Introductions First

I suppose I had better make my first post an introductory post. I have another one all lined up and ready to go but NO better make a name for myself first.

My name is Rebecca, and I am a homebody.

I am curious.

I am 22 years old.

I am living on my own for the first time in my life.

I am broke.

I decided to start a blog (another, I guess. How many blogs do I need?) to help motivate me to learn more and to get out more. SO....you're welcome.

EDIT: I FINALLY added a funky fresh background, now my blog is on it's way to being hip.

Grocery Shopping

I had $6.39 in my bank account. I was determined to get tomato soup. I had bread and cheese at home, so my plan to make a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner was on. I had a container of butternut squash soup I could have used, but I didn’t want to risk a taste-clash. When it comes to food, I’ll eat anything. But when I only have six bucks in my account and I’m low on other food supplies, I’m going to stick to what I know and trust thank you very much. Besides, squash soup with grilled cheese, that's way too much yellow for a meal.

I tend to wander into grocery stores with staggering speed, I’m determined to get in and out fast. I speed-walked into the store only to get stopped by a Spanish-speaking man who was pushing a cart at snail speed. I noticed one of my teachers from high school (who I know I pissed off) out of the corner of my eye and needed to get around this guy ASAP. I know the teacher didn’t recognize me, he’s had hundreds upon hundreds of students, but I still felt super awkward. I tilted my head down and tried to get a move on. Move, hispanico, move!

I turned left to head to the soups and a cluster of chatting teens blocked my way. Seriously? Is it “be in the way Wednesday”? I turned down the cleaning supplies aisle and made another left to soups. Granny with a cart! Taking up half the aisle! My God this was a nightmare!

Finally, staring at the soups, I moved toward the healthier, organic soups. $3.99 for a big box of spicy tomato. Mmm. But wait, if I splurged on spicy organic, then I can’t get an iced coffee in a can. I moved towards Campbell’s. Ugh. So much corn syrup and sugar. And $2.69? Maybe...
I continued down the aisle and came to the Spaghettios. I had flashbacks to drug-induced cravings and three a.m. cooking sesssions in which we mixed cans Spaghettios with meatballs and canned raviolis. We were gods. I though to myself, “$1.89 for a can of Spaghettos with meatballs...that could go with grilled cheese. That’s a lot of carbs though...” Eating well on a budget is a bitch.

A guy around my age with a basket walked past me, straight to the Ramen. He knelt down and started dumping boxes and boxes of 5/$1.00 Ramens into his basket. I looked at him. He looked at me. Here I was, price checking Spaghettios and he was loading up on Ramen (which seemed to be $4 worth). There was an electricity of understanding between us. We were young, broke, and hungry. He was in and out like lightning. He obviously had more practice and wasn’t facing sodium restrictions.

I settled on Progresso Hearty Tomato (110 calories a serving, 2 servings in a can, I could have it for lunch tomorrow!) for $1.99. Not bad. With my savings I also decided on a Gatorade--those assholes didn’t carry any of the canned mochas I wanted--and Snickers bar for a treat.

Secret of the day: Use mayo instead of butter for your grilled cheese.