I Have No Money and I Must Scream

Okay, so I exaggerate. I have a little money.

However, every now and then I do have the urge to scream since I've been running on a book-buying moratorium since January 15. My last book-buying moratorium was last year and I'm sure everyone can remember how grouchy I was back then.

At first I figured the moratorium-- to cut back on my ever-growing to-be-read pile of books-- would last from the 15th of January to the end of the month. However, due to budgeting problems, the moratorium is currently running into... when I have the cash to end it, I suppose.

Because of this, I can only salivate upon seeing a paperback copy of R. Scott Bakker's The Warrior-Prophet or the hardbound copy of Paul Park's A Princess of Roumania on the bookshelves. Or John Shirley's City Come A'Walking or Flann o'Brien's The Third Policeman or Michael Stackpole's A Secret Atlas or Alberto Manguel's Stevenson under the Palm Trees... you get my point.

*sigh*

Oh well. I heard deprivation is good for the soul.

Which leads me to my next question: how do you balance your budget anyway? What with the rising taxes, it seems like it's becoming harder and harder on the spending power.

I drive a car and sometimes it's almost comical the way I'm always on the lookout for a gas station that doesn't charge the average for a liter of gasoline. (There are times I sometimes run on almost-empty because I'd rather find gas up at a station that doesn't charge as much.)

And the cigarettes! Huh! You know how much it costs for a soft-pack of Marlboro cigarettes nowdays?

*sigh*

So how's your new year been?