There Ain't No Devil, It's Just God When He's Drunk

It's no secret that I'm known amongst my friends as being somewhat overtly frugal (not including when I'm around yarn). During my time at university, I was constantly heckled for the sometimes outrageous lenghts I would go in order to save a few dollars. Eating expired food was one, as was sustaining myself on beans on toast for few months, hitting up every and all events that advertised anything 'free' (India night? I see you have free Samosas...Discover Buddhism? Is that free tea?) I even camped outside a local 'Historic Day' event while I was supposed to be working just to snag a piece of free cake, and forced a bunch of friends to accompany me to a 'free food' event at our college, where all we had to do was sacrifice our dignity and self-respect by posing for cheesy photos and participating in 'ice breakers'. You mention free, and I am so there.

And while I get teased for this it's good to know that I'm not alone- apparently everyone on my grandma's side of the family is just as keen to save a few pennies.

Like my cousin. She is also an avid knitter and entered some of her projects in the local county Fair. My mom, speaking to her on the phone, dropped that she hadn't been to a fair to see a family contribution in ages, and might consider driving down (like 3 hours down) to see it. Cousin was quick to mention that the fair was costly (around $8 or so) to get into, and that rather than spend money on an entry ticket, my mom should do what she always did- go on Thursday, which is cookie day, and bring a large donation of home baked cookies. That way, you totally get to get in for free!

I, personally, see nothing wrong with this- I mean come on! Pay for fair entry with cookies? Brilliant. I'd do it. My mom, on the other hand, isn't exactly cut from the same domestic stock that we are- in fact, I can't even remember the last time she baked cookies that didn't come from a pre-made Philsbury package.

So at least I'm not alone in my world of hyper frugality and thrift. Rock on.

I realise that I've been eating a lot of food lately that are long past their expired date. But to be fair, fresh food costs money, and I don't really have a lot of that at the moment, seeing as how I
stupidly ran away from decided I needed a break in between jobs at the NHS and the NLS. This extra time, while giving me plenty of time to knit to my hearts content, has also left me to forage around in the dark abysses of the cupboard for edibles. So far I have found and consumed

1. Bag of popcorn, best used by August 2008

2. Bread, failing to notice until slice 3 that it was speckled with little blue dots of mould

3. Cheese, equally covered in mould, which I simple cut off before putting on the unknowingly mouldy bread

4. Tea, best used by October 2008

5. Bengal Lentil Mix from Trader Joe's that my mom sent across 2 years ago with an expiry date so faded, it's tough to tell it's for last year, this year, or 10 years in the future

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?